e-Servicer

June 2015




The Importance of Online Reviews
By Paul Mac Donald, Executive Director

We've all been there: You need to find a restaurant in a part of town you haven't explored before. Where do you start? Google, of course, which may lead you to Yelp or another online review site. You'll probably search for the type of food you're considering, read through a few reviews and see how many stars a particular place has received to help with your decision.

 

It's not just restaurants. Virtually every kind of business today, including appliance repair, relies on online reviews to drive new sales and reinforce loyalty among customers. This isn't just an anecdote-it's been investigated. According to a study by Michael Anderson and Jeremy Magruder in The Economic Journal, higher ratings on Yelp were found to lead to restaurants selling out tables almost 20% more often. Another working study from the Harvard Business School found that a one-star increase in Yelp ratings led to a 5% to 9% increase in revenue. These studies note that Yelp and other such sites provide a valuable resource for customers to learn about businesses where information on quality is otherwise scarce.  Read More 

Why Do Appliance Techs Need to Know Ohm's Law?           

By Samurai Appliance Repair Man,  www.MasterSamuraiTech.com

  

Understanding Ohm's Law and circuits is one of the foundational skills for being a technician. In fact, if someone doesn't know this stuff, they're not really a technician- they're just a parts changer. What's the difference? Technicians understand how circuits and appliance systems work so they can use the schematic and specifications to do analytical troubleshooting and figure out the problem even on appliances they've never worked on before. Parts changers, on the other hand, rely on patterns they've previously encountered so their "troubleshooting" goes like this: "If this problem, replace that part." Come with me now on a journey of Total Appliance Enlightenment... Read More 
Regional Service Training Institute
Register today space is limited

The 2015 Regional Training Program is set. There will be 17 Regional Service Institutes (RSTI's), two day events with technical and business training.  New this year, we are adding the Institutes of Service Management (ISM's), one day intense business management training for owners. 2015 is shaping up to be the most comprehensive training program that United Servicers Association has presented. Through survey responses, our advisory board and planning committees have improved the program to deliver the most sought after technical and business training in the industry.  Read More

The 2015 USA Regional Service Training (RSTI) Program brought to you by the generous support of the following vendors. Please support them. 

Rossware cashwells Fox Atlanta Parts Samsung Tribles WL May 1st Source Servall  
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The Talent Acquisition War           

By Daniel Beaul?, Service 2000 ?lectrom?nager 

  

Are you fed up being unable to find proper staff? To see them leaving you right after you invested time and effort training them? Feeling like you always repeat yourself, or dealing with pay raise requests from dissatisfied staff?

 

And what if it were all your fault?

 

Great leaders take for granted that what happens in their business is ultimately their fault. Then, they identify the source causes of dissatisfaction and act upon them. Your staff can't be totally wrong. Instead, start by setting up an inspiring work environment and to hire and promote the right people. Read More 

Most Professional Servicer Contest
It's back, will you be the best of USA in 2016?

Enter your business into the Most Professional Servicer Contest today! Based on professional impressions entries will be rated by a panel of 5 judges, and awarded points from 1-5 in the following 4 areas: 1) Professional presentation including technician uniform 2) Service vehicle and 3) On-line Presence 4) Company Logo. The top two highest scoring companies of each category will be displayed as semi-finalists at the Appliance Service Training Institute (ASTI) in Miami FL, February 15th through February 18th, 2016.  Contest Information

The Secret Sauce  

Amidst the assortment of clients, there remains one consistent factor: The good companies want to get better. During the last 15 years, I have only been hired by the best companies.

 

When I enter a new client's facility for the first time, their optimism and effectiveness is unmistakable. "There's something special going on here," I usually think to myself. And yes, there is something special occurring there: It's the secret sauce.

 

I have found very few business models possess anything really special in terms of products and services. The Secret Sauce, in my opinion, is the person at the helm.

Read More 

Winning Teams by Winning Hearts and Minds 

By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, www.nytimes.com

Caroline Lim is the global head of human resources and corporate affairs at PSA International, one of the world's largest port operators, based in Singapore.

 

Q. When did you first start managing a team?

A. I started my career with Apple in Singapore; I remember being Employee No. 23. The Apple way was to empower people, and so already in my mid-20s I had a small team. I was in charge of compensation and benefits, running the "Apple Shop," the employee gift store. I think that because I had a solid grounding in an organization that believes in empowering people, that has stayed with me throughout my career. I must add that Steve Jobs was an extraordinary leader and he replicated the U.S. structure and practices across the world such that I felt the impact even though I was many miles away from the headquarters. Read More 

5 Telephone Customer Service Tips for HVACR Contractors

By Gere Jordan, www.hvacrbusiness.com

Despite the growth of the Internet and social media, most people still contact HVACR companies by phone. That means no matter how awesome your website is or how many followers you have on Twitter, you need to get telephone customer service right in order to grow your business. Below are five tips that HVACR contractors can put into place today in order to improve the level of customer service they deliver over the phone.

Read More 

12 Things Successful People Never Reveal About Themselves at Work

ByTravis Bradberry, President at TalentSmart
   

You can't build a strong professional network if you don't open up to your colleagues; but doing so is tricky, because revealing the wrong things can have a devastating effect on your career.

 

Sharing the right aspects of yourself in the right ways is an art form. Disclosures that feel like relationship builders in the moment can wind up as obvious no-nos with hindsight.

 

The trick is to catch yourself before you cross that line, because once you share something, there is no going back.  Read More 

Contact:
Paul Mac Donald, Executive Director
United Servicers Association
3501 N. Southport Ave., Ste. 199  Chicago, IL 60657  |  800.683.2558