Latest / The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast / Episode 216. How to Become a Better Technician By Creating More Value

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Episode 216. How to Become a Better Technician By Creating More Value · The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast

• 0:00
  If you go out and do your daily work, you're, you know, all your workers, that's bringing the company value, but that's part of your role. That's part of your job. That's a part of what they're paying for. It's what are you doing over and above that? Then that's. Welcome to the Refrigeration Mentor Podcast.
• 0:01
  This podcast is for busy refrigeration professionals who want to learn faster and achieve more. I'm your refrigeration coach, Trevor Matthews. Here we cover everything from technical skills and industry trends to personal development. That is key to your success. And why do we talk about personal development?
• 0:02
  Because being a great refrigeration professional is key. Isn't just about your technical skills. It's also about your emotional intelligence, your communication skills, your leadership skills, and lifelong learning. Each episode helps refrigeration professionals enhance their skills, boost their resilience, and achieve a better work life.
• 0:03
  Whether you're a seasoned pro or you're just starting out, this podcast is your guide to being the best version of yourself and unlock your full potential. Thanks for tuning in. Let's grow together. Let's learn together. Now let's get a conversation going. What I want to dive in today is, uh, some of the things that I am trying to do to help the refrigeration industry out.
• 0:04
  How to become a better tech, how to bring more value to yourself and your organization. I've done lots of talks, uh, about this. before. So when you can bring that more value around, people notice that. And that's where opportunities happen. But this is not easy. This takes a lot of work to bring more value to people.
• 0:05
  Sometimes you don't know what they're looking for. Sometimes you gotta figure out what they need and want. Because there's a lot of people that need help in the refrigeration industry, the HVAC industry, but they don't know how to get out of here all the time while I need, I need some good technicians and I need some good people and I need that.
• 0:06
  But really when you, when you look at it, what kind of value does your organization want to bring your customers? And then as if you're working for someone, or even if you own your own business, is like, how do you bring more value to your company? Or how do you bring more value to your customers? And it really, I think it all comes back to education.
• 0:07
  Hands down, I think you continue to learn and grow your knowledge. That's how you bring value to others. Because when someone has a problem, you can really think about it. And maybe come up with options for them, not the solution, because at the end of the day, you, you want them to feel like they came up with the solution so they feel good about it.
• 0:08
  And when you solve that problem, it makes them look good. And that's what you want. That's what, that's what I want when I'm working with, uh, A client or a customer. I want them to feel like they came up with a solution and an idea. And then that, and that I was the one that helped solve the problem with them, maybe, or, or gave them that, that motivation to get that specific done for their wins.
• 0:09
  A lot of people, uh, it's called WMF. I've heard this years and years. What's in it for me? It's really what's in it for them. And how can you bring more value to that person that you're trying to serve? I think the more value we bring other people. The more value is going to bring you and that's hands down the way it is.
• 0:10
  And it might take a long time. It might take years to get to the point where you feel like you're getting the, what you want across. And that's, that's the big thing. You want to bring value to more people to become a better technician. You want to help your business make more money. And I hear this. I've heard it a lot over the years.
• 0:11
  It's like, I'm making the man more money. I'm making, uh, the tax man more and they're taking more money away. I'm making the. Uh, the owner richer, uh, this and that, this is your, do you, this is a part of your career is working for someone else to help build their business. And when you, when they see that you are, you're the person that is making the difference in the organization, they're going to want to keep you.
• 0:12
  They're going to give you better hours or vacation. They're the one, they're going to understand who you're for. Family, they want to get to know you more because you are bringing them value. It's actually when you work for someone It's just that's a transaction. That's a train that every hour that you put in is a transaction With them.
• 0:13
  So if as long as they pay you as long as they pay you So if you go in and you put in 10 hours 20 hours 30 hours 40 hours 50 60 70 hours 80 hours in that week And they pay you according to your agreement. That's that's a business transaction. You don't owe them anything more. They don't owe you anything more, but can you do over and above that?
• 0:14
  And that's where people, I think even me long time ago, used to not get that. I was around people who was like, no, they owe you. You work in a union, they owe you. Realistically, you don't go to training unless you get paid. And I've even had people in my training And I talked to him, can you get to a certain site during this four, six, eight week program, whatever it is, only if my, my company's going to pay for it.
• 0:15
  I'm like, only if you're going to, I'm going to teach you steps on to do the hands on portion, because this is all, all my stuff is virtual stuff at this point. And I'm like, I'm going to teach you how to get better. So you're more efficient, you're more confident, you can troubleshoot better. Um, but they're like, only if my company pays that I'm going to make it to a job site to, to do that hands on portion.
• 0:16
  Well, you're just holding yourself back. And that's, and honestly, that was in the mindset I was before, because that's the people I was around. And I asked some other people, it's like, I'm going to figure out how to make it to the site. If I get paid or not, it doesn't matter. It's better if I do get paid, but I'm going to make it to that site so I can get that experience so I can develop myself to get me to where I want to be.
• 0:17
  Not where the company, every, every company wants you to be the top technician. They want you to be so because you go out there, there's less callbacks, you're finishing jobs quicker. You're making the business more money. Your gross margin is really high. And really it comes back to that. Continuing education, but it also comes back to that mindset as well.
• 0:18
  You gotta be in the mindset that I want to help build this company up because that if, if not, you would start your own business and that is very difficult. And I'm teaching, and this is a fine line. People say that, uh, that I'm, I'm walking, but I, you know what I am trying to teach technicians. How to build businesses inside companies.
• 0:19
  Cause it's not easy to build, to go out on your own and build a business. As you could go out anyone, even all of you on here, you could jump out right now and go and make a couple hundred thousand dollars, probably starting your own business, it's hard. You're working 24 seven. You're, you're pushing yourself to the limits.
• 0:20
  You're away from your family all the time. And, and it depends on where you're at in the world. Don't, sorry, I shouldn't say it depends on where you're at in the world, but in refrigeration HVAC, and I should even say that probably anywhere in the world, you probably can make, if you start your own business.
• 0:21
  Commercial refrigeration. It could make that. The thing is, is that it's hard. I've seen lots of people go out on their own, start their own business. And after five, 10 years, just say, this is too much. I've been diving in five to 10 years. And it's all I do is work because they don't understand the business side.
• 0:22
  They're always working inside the business, not on the business. So I'm trying to teach technicians to start. Think of when you're working for someone. That's As it's your own business, do you know how much you're going to get from that? When you treat it like that, it's a totally different mindset. And I've done that at the last few companies I've worked at.
• 0:23
  And I work way different. I was more efficient. I was more effective. I was more confident. And the people inside that organization. They've seen that. They're like, holy smokes, this guy's putting the work in, trying harder, growing. We want to invest in him. And then they would, you know, and that's, and that's one of the thing, big things as a, uh, growing as a technician and becoming a better technician, think differently than most of them, most of the technicians out there.
• 0:24
  If you think of it as your business, you're going to work harder. And lots of people are like, Oh, going to be like, Oh, well, why would I do that? It's not me. It has nothing to do with me. I'm telling you, do this for six months, just do it for six months and see the difference in the last six months of the way you work and to see, see the difference inside what that business, uh, does because you can make the same amount of money.
• 0:25
  Working inside, uh, with, for someone then going out on your own, because it is difficult taxes, there's supply, got to get loans. You got to start a corporation or get a business, uh, business entity. There's a lot of work behind it. It just, just doesn't happen. And I really think I'm trying to work with business owners to help technicians make more money inside their organization.
• 0:26
  And they want to, most companies want to pay. Technicians more money, but you can't make more money by just doing hourly work. You have to come up with ideas and solutions and make the business more money. If you pull, pull in the business, an extra a hundred thousand X or 500, 000 extra million dollars a year of their bottom line, you're going to make something from that.
• 0:27
  And if not, that's, that's when you do go out and find either a company that will help you do that or start your own business, because if they're not helping you or promoting you and getting you to that next level, whatever it is, if it's. Taking a leadership role, getting in a foreman position, making more money some, some way by you pulling in all this extra amount of money.
• 0:28
  And then you do need to go, uh, start somewhere else or go find, um, another business that will, Recognize the value you're bringing if you go out and do your daily work, you're, you know, all your work orders, that's bringing the company value, but that's part of your role. That's part of your job. That's a part of what they're paying for.
• 0:29
  It's what are you doing over and above that? And that's the difference. And then when you can get into that type of mindset, how do I bring more value to the customer I'm working for? And there's lots of different strategies. It could be coming up with a maintenance plan. It could be coming up to figure out how to reduce troubleshooting.
• 0:30
  It could be coming up to how to train people inside your organization. It could be many different things. You gotta do this stuff. On, you figure this stuff out on your own time. A lot of people, once again, just like I, I used to think, Oh, I don't go to training unless I get a pay. Such a poor and fixed mindset.
• 0:31
  Get out of that because you're just gonna stay there and you're gonna be go for years like, Oh, well, unless they pay me, I'm only gonna go train. Well, if they never pay you, you're never gonna get trained then. And you're gonna be doing that same thing day in, day out, for years and years until you get to a point And you're like 50 is like should have did some training now.
• 0:32
  Now I want to transition into something else and I can't transition because I didn't do any training. I didn't take it upon myself. And that is one of the big things and becoming a better technician is that continuous learning, continuous education. And it's up to you at the end of the day because that knowledge sticks with you and you take that knowledge with you as you progress on your journey.
• 0:33
  Another one to become a better, uh, technician is getting practical, uh, like getting hands on experience, practical experience. And that's trying different things, working on different equipment, and then working on sometimes the same equipment. One of the things that I've seen and I've, uh, Talk with companies who try different things where they've had technicians just work on specific equipment all the time to get them, you know, proficient on that specific, if it's air handling, you know, rack, if it's on a chiller and heat pump, they just work on that and that's it.
• 0:34
  But then what they, what they start to notice is that. They only could send those technicians to those specific calls. And when they tried to send somebody that only worked on, say, an air handler unit to go put them on a boiler or a heat pump or onto a rack, it was very difficult, time consuming. Then they tried, okay, let's, let's have the technicians work on a lot of little things.
• 0:35
  So they'll work on a little bit of rack, a little bit of makeup airs or air handlers and stuff. Um, what they noticed that it took a lot, a lot of time to get them proficient on certain tasks, like getting them to go on a jeller, which now they can at least understand the system more either way that you do it, there's, there's consequences to it.
• 0:36
  So, and what I mean by that is that now they know a little. About a lot, or do they know a lot about a little, and I really think getting proficient on the basics, the fundamentals. I think this is one of the, one of the things that we need to help the industry develop is mastering the basics, especially of refrigeration.
• 0:37
  Cause when you understand. That fundamental level of refrigeration, the, the basics, that's where it'll take you further. Because I, I don't think, and I, even me, even the first 10 years in my, when I look back now, the first 10 years, I, I knew the basics, but I didn't, I did not master the basics. I am master of the basics.
• 0:38
  Now I understand the fundamentals. I understand a lot of advanced concepts now because I spend years and years developing these skills. And I think that's where you can transition a lot. Of what you, what you know can be transitioned into other languages. Size of our industry. And I think masternode is basic getting out and getting that, that hands on experience, whatever equipment you're working on.
• 0:39
  So one of the big things is, is something that I wish I would've did more of. I did a lot of it when I had to, and that is on call. If you want to get good at whatever you're doing quick, start taking more on calls. That was one of the things that I was fearful of. I didn't have a lot of confidence on.
• 0:40
  They didn't do a lot of service when I first started in my career was mostly install and construction. But if you want to get the best bang for your buck for hands on experience that would be taking on calls because I probably learned the most most of my stuff on calls in the situations where that were uncomfortable.
• 0:41
  Honestly, that were uncomfortable because that system's down and you need to get it up and running and you don't know what to do. And that's where it comes back to that training and education. You got to be learning all the time, but you want to get that hands on experience, take on Colmore. And honestly, you're going to fast track your knowledge.
• 0:42
  Another thing to become a better technician is the communication skills. How do you communicate with your office, your dispatch, your service manager, the business owner, the customers? How do you get better at speaking with your customer? How do you get better at bringing more value to your organization?
• 0:43
  That would be getting better skills, like communication skills. And hands down, that'll make a huge difference in the way that you can talk to your customer, to your boss. You can learn how when there's a, and understand when there's an escalation happening, what to listen for, how to deescalate a conversation.
• 0:44
  Most of us do not like to be in a heated conversation or a conflict conversation because we're not trained. We're not taught how to, and the people that we're learning from don't know how to have good communication. That's, that's it. I've seen it time and time again. And the people that I was around did not take communication skills.
• 0:45
  And they heat a conversation, either did just back down or got very defensive. And I've seen it time and time again, cause I've done it. Arguments get you nowhere, but as you get better at the communication skills, your life is going to change. Ends up deescalating the problem, bringing more value to your customers, helping them understand a lot more, helping your company understand a lot more.
• 0:46
  All those pillars are going to just help you bring more value to that company that you work for, bring more value to your customer. And at the end of the day, help you become. A better technician. And if you can figure that out, your life is going to change. It will make your life better when you make other people's lives better.
• 0:47
  I want to thank you so much for hanging out with me and the refrigeration mentor podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment. Let me know what were your key highlights. When you took away from myself or my guests, as well as if you have not subscribed yet, head over to Apple podcasts or Spotify and subscribe.
• 0:48
  And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. Let your friends know that there are people who care, who want to share the refrigeration information with you. To help them get to the next level in their career. If you have not been to the refrigeration mentor website@refrigerationmentor.com, go check it out.
• 0:49
  There's a ton more guest podcasts I've been on as well as the event page. Check out the events page because there's a lot more free trainings, as well as paid training to really help you grow your knowledge base. Super excited. Can't wait to see you at the next Refrigeration Enter podcast. Let's get a conversation going.