I want to write about something that has nothing and yet everything to do with air conditioning. I don’t care what business you think you are in or where you work or what you think you do for a living. You are in the people business. Somehow whatever you do to make a living impacts people. Either through products and their quality, customer service, or quality of life, somehow it touches people’s lives. It seems to me that this fact is being forgotten more and more in the me, me, me society we tend to live in.
Once I adopted the Zig Ziglar philosophy, “You can have everything you want out of life, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”; my life took a dramatic change for the better. I felt better about what I was doing and what I was charging for. I truly developed a servant’s heart. My bank account increased, my self esteem improved, my referral business quadrupled and I felt a true sense of fulfillment I had never experienced before. I do this through the air conditioning business. I will truly go to the ends of the Earth for a customer to find solutions to their HVAC problems.
I will come in early, work late, skip lunch, drive across town in the rain to get parts, call every supply house in town, call in favors, but most importantly I will admit it when I screw up and tell the truth about it, face the consequences and do whatever I can to fix it. How many companies today can say that last statement and mean it?
Last night I ran a call for a lady who had just moved to a new house that had a Home Warranty Contract (not one we do business with) at 9PM on a Friday night. The HW Company told her they could not get her the motor they needed to fix her unit for five days. Mind you it was 108 degrees. She called me and said she would be happy to pay me to locate those parts if possible and put them in, sooner because she had a three month old baby. I assured her there was not a reason to wait five days for a standard condenser fan motor, I would run by Lennox, pick up the motor and be out this evening. Let me tell you why she called me and completely trusted everything I said to her. (She has sent me I don’t know how many referrals.)
Three years ago another company came to her old house and told her she had a bad compressor. She then had me out to do a free second opinion, I agreed. She hired me to change out her compressor. I went to parts house picked up the compressor, blocked out five hours of my schedule, hauled all my tools to the backyard, set up my recovery tanks. To make a story that is starting to get long, shorter. I realized that down underneath the unit was a wire disconnected that I had not been able to see until I had everything all torn apart. I think you know what happened. I reconnected that wire, went and turned the power back on to the unit. Guess what? Compressor started up! Did I feel like a fool? You bet. I told the customer the truth. I made a customer for life. She has sent me more business than you can possibly imagine.
I could have changed out that compressor. I am sure she already had the check made out. I gained so much more the other way. I felt better, she loves me, tells everyone she loves me. I got more customers from losing that compressor sale than I would have ever gained from a dishonest act not to mention my own self respect.
I write this not to talk about myself but to show an example of how when you live by principals and stand for something greater than yourself you will be repaid multiple times. What are your principals? What do you stand for? Last night I went to bed feeling pretty darn good about myself. I wish every air conditioning technician in the world could say that. Wouldn’t the world be a much better place to live?
Trying To Save The World One Air Conditioner At A Time!
Tammy
P.S. I am very lucky to work for a company whose motto is: If you always do what is truly in YOUR customer’s best interest, you will never be wrong.