There is a Problem with HVAC Sales Technicians 

Currently at a company where owner likes to roll up on porches.. big boats.. etc.. its no wonder he wants us selling change outs. Hes gotta keep up with the lifestyle. While there is nothing wrong with owning good things/toys, you have to keep your expenditures at bay. Being frugile is one of the best attributes to have as a person and company. You're able to help your people out and customers without hurting yourself.

White shirts aren't real techs, I said what I said!

I started my own business because I was sick of being forced to be a salesman and not a repair man anymore. I have more work than I know what to do with.

Morals seem to have been put on the back burner in alot of businesses. But it’s sad because the tech is put in that position because of incentives. It shouldn’t be that way. At the same time, the customer trusts the tech va a sales guy who doesn’t have a lick of dirt on his clothes/hands. That’s why I love being a one man show. I keep it simple, low overhead, and that allows me to charge a premium and still come in cheaper than alot of companies. Thanks for the content brother. Cheers

In my experience, there's an inverse relationship between tech skills and sales skills: the better you are in one, the worse you are in the other. I commiserate with my coworkers about the lousy techs that manage to sell a lot of crap, but since they bring in the bacon, management loves them.

We were bough out by an i ester and I went from Senior Technician with 30 years to Selling Technician almost overnight. Sales training everyday. 100k a year income. Then all the Old Techs were fired one by one and replaced by fresh young non skilled sales techs……..the world changes. I started my own thing. No going back to that mess.

A lot of companies have “Leader Boards” to promote a “healthy competition” for service technician sales. They track the #’s and expect you to “perform”. If your #’s are down, you’re not doing your job. I’m a service technician, not a salesman.

As a tech I have never sold anyone a part or system they did not need. We work on industial hvac systems. ,Some large, some small, but its all 40 plus years old. We are out there every week repairing the same equipment. Customers need new equipment, but no one will tell them this because the company wants that steady service work. (MONEY) After a few years the service work is twice the cost of new equipment. But no one will tell the customer this. Besides what tech wants to be repairing leaks on the same equipment every month. Or replacing fan motors weekly. Just buy new equipment please.

Salesman are like politicians! Here is what you absolutely need it's the best and greatest! Oh thanks for lining my pockets! 😁 Next!!!

I couldn’t agree more! When put in the situation of upselling and commission we are all a little biased to sell when maybe it’s not needed I’ve been in that situation and it’s hard to walk the narrow line. Great point

Techs and Sales should be upfront with the customer. IF the tech can can physically point out the Why it needs to be repaired (Hx cracked/leaking for example) and hand it over to the Sales guy for the How much its going to cost and that is what the home owner wants w/o the upsale. There isn't a problem. The problem comes in when the Sales guy (who should know HVAC) should act as a second set of objective eyes and call BS to the tech if this was a SWAG sale and the tech should be re-trained or let go. Your Company's reputation is worth far more than a quick sale. Been on plenty of 'comp. needs replace' to find out it was a bad cap or broken contactor. Fixed it and took care of the customer and not the salesman commission.

I agree, I enjoy to fix and even though the spiffs were nice at my previous company, I just wasn’t good at it, I was better at taking care of things with parts on my truck and giving the cheaper option unless I knew the system was toast, there’s a lot of companies that now only focus on sales but the amount of callbacks from lack of actual mechanics will always come around and bite them back

It’s always obvious when they are sales techs. I immediately see the red flags when they try to sell me on everything like IAQ and new equipment on a simple maintenance.

I agree with the internal conflict point. Sales is a different mindset than a mechanic. It’s a motive thing. Only way both work in harmony is if you’re the only shop in town.

Doing service repairs does not keep our installers and project guys employed. Only sales does that. They need work to. Unless you want to do service and installs.

Company I work at has separate departments for install service and sales. I think it is a good format everyone has their niche and for the most part it keeps everything honest. I've been in every department and i am in sales currently. I probably would have preferred to stay in service and i believe i was a good technician. Problem is you are going to have a hard time raising a family in todays world being a service man or a installer at least in my area. Even if you are making good money in service you are usually sacrificing most of your time you should be with your family to do so. I think this industry loses more good installers and service men simply for that fact alone. Then you get a lot of these companies being bought up by corporations that are prioritizing sales and quotas over actually providing good service. Would like to see this trade get to a point where we actually have real mechanics fixing problems and making enough money to feed their families. If we could get to that point i don't think we would have such a shortage of good technicians and installers.

Everyone including you thinks the “real money” is with change outs. I make as good of money doing service and preventive maintenance. It’s interesting how people think they can’t charge their hourly rate for repairs or preventive maintenance. I always offer my customers repair versus replacement prices, especially when the system is 15+ years old.

Service repairs pays the overhead, and sales generates the profits and huge Christmas bonuses. No one got wealth doing service repairs. Sales is were its at.

I’ve struggled with the sales/spiff situation for my entire career. I’ve worked for 4 different companies big and small and I’ve landed at a company where I have a say and we’ve attached more spiffs to “tasks” such as blower cleanings, condenser cleaning, evaporator cleaning, and maintenance contracts, things that actually help the equipment rather than adding them to parts for guys to throw at the equipment that they may or may not need. (Cough cough hard starts and contactors) 🤮

Gotta do right by the company and for the installers too. Selling is part of the game. My company takes care of me thru the long winter. Customers could give a _, unless their system breaks down and theyre sweating balls, im nothing to them

i like your point of view. makes alot of sense and total feel the same. 👍

Technician should fix sales should sell . A tech should only sell as a last resort. In my opinion . Hello Ron Swanson . Hehe

I honestly don't even consider salesmen people. Sales people disgust me.

Me like yellow jacket. But not the insect kind. Please accept this entry 🙏 😁