Page 25 - The Compass 2017 | Volume 12 | Issue 4

technician within the fold—and he actively
and consistently recruits all year. Brett and
Steve have a carefully designed onboarding
process to ensure a new technician under-
stands the level of service Master Home
Services and Diamond Air customers have
become accustomed to receiving.
A newly hired technician can expect to
spend the first several days in the office learn-
ing the basics. Brett has a package of materi-
als he’s accumulated over the years; he will sit
down and review them with every new tech.
Much of it has been taken from SGI training
he attended over the years. It concentrates
on how to properly approach a house, how to
walk to the door and knock, how to converse
with the homeowner, and so on. He asks the tami krebs chattinG about a Job with (left to riGht) Jack DoDson, ray rawson,
anD ian sloan.
new-hire to develop his own scripting at that
point, too. During that office time, Brett also
has a series of videos he will ask the individ-
ual to watch.
“Then we have them ride with our lead tech-
nicians. After watching for a week, they will
let the new person run the calls, and they’ll
observe. That way, my lead tech is there to
backup if we find this new tech struggles
with some of his electrical skill. The goal is
to see what kind of work is he capable of do-
ing. Assuming he works out, that will help us
with dispatching.”
The training process doesn’t stop at that
point. Brett and Steve expect their techni-
cians to train twice weekly. Wednesday is
communication-based training. Brett will
have a video for the team to watch. They
will discuss overcoming objections or anoth-
er soft-skill strategy. Senior technicians can
skip these sessions if they want, but first- and
second-year techs must attend. During these electricians matt aDams, trevor bischoff, JD casPerson, anD Drake auna in
the miDDle of a traininG session.
sessions, both the Master Electrical Service does not need to be licensed to practice. According to Brett,
and Diamond Air techs are present. the HVAC trade attracts a lot of dishonest characters. Re-
Thursday is a companywide mandatory meeting that’s bro- cruiting has been far more difficult for Brett and Steve. “We
ken up by trade. Some of this time is used going over technical had one technician promise he could pass a drug test and back-
training or advancements. They will review company policies. ground check. We gave him a set of uniforms, and we never
They mostly use it to cover any issues that may have surfaced heard from him again,” Brett said, now laughing a bit. “The
over the course of the week. dude just disappeared. It’s because he knew he couldn’t pass
“We try to close each week with a little motivational mes- the test. That was a lesson learned.”
sage,” Brett said. “You want to give them that last push to get Brett is convinced his HVAC division has a bright future
through the week. We know the days can get long.” and can generate $1 Million in 2017. It’s thanks to a friend he
hired as Diamond Air’s general manager and comfort advisor,
Master hoMe serviCes reBranD Brent Jensen. “We hired Brent last July. We’ve been friends
Brett and Steve’s combination of marketing and recruiting have since high school. He owned his own HVAC business in Idaho,
been an effective mix. Master Electrical Service has grown to but he wanted to move back to Utah. So, I offered him a job,”
nine lead technicians, four apprentices, and it’s now generating Brett explained.
an eye-opening $3 Million, a considerable jump from only two “Brent’s doing a great job. He’s making sure the invoices are
years ago, while still retaining a strong, double-digit profit marked up properly and that we’re always giving our custom-
margin. Diamond Air has presented challenges, but it’s still ers options. I saw the turnaround immediately when Brent got
doing $500,000 in revenue. here,” Brett added.
Unlike electrical or plumbing in Utah, an HVAC technician The turnaround coincides beautifully with Brett and Steve’s

THE COMPASS | Issue 4 | 2017 25