Creating Your Internal Training Schedule

CHRIS KOCH
BDR Head Coach & Trainer

Creating an internal training schedule is a great time to see what areas of our business could use some extra coaching. It is also a great time to reward our employees with training opportunities that will take them and our company forward in new directions!

Hold a Team Meeting

See what your employees desire to change or create. This can be tied into your monthly feedback meetings to see where people are looking for additional attention or desire to grow professionally and technically.

Determine Areas to Focus On

• Callbacks and warranty calls for the service AND installation departments.
• New Lifetime System Enhancements create an opportunity to update the accessory brochure with new offerings and seasonal promotions.
• New equipment is coming out in the next three to six months.
• Major updates or design changes to existing equipment.
• Customer Service is an area most employees will benefit from a refresher.
• Office functions, processes, and software changes and updates.
• Are there any areas or new markets you want to go after to grow the business?

Remember our mantra when selling Lifetime System Enhancements:

• Inform
  • Make our clients aware of what is available
• Educate
  • Answer any client questions
• Offer
  • When they are excited about an item, we offer it to them to purchase and install in their own home or business
• Get it on the calendar!
  • Schedule the training sessions every other week or more frequently as needed over the next four to six months. This shows your dedication to the training and creates an expectation that the training will be held and that everyone will attend and participate.
• Assign presenters for each training session
  • This may include your lead technicians training on technical issues, utilizing your territory manager and distributor on any new equipment or changes and Lifetime System Enhancements, and using your service and installation technicians to train on certain accessories.

In your first meeting, have your staff draw from a hat to determine which Lifetime System Enhancement they will present to the team. Update the training calendar with these assignments.

The key is to identify all the areas where our businesses could use some fine-tuning or major changes and then document the training schedule, expectations, and completions! It’s important to always think ahead so that we can prepare our teams for the future and set our company and clients up for success.

One of the most important things we can do is train our employees. Our service and installation technicians will be very hesitant to present a Lifetime System Enhancement to a customer if they do not feel confident in answering any questions from the customer. It’s our responsibility as owners and leaders of our companies to get them the training they need to ensure their success!

About the Author

Chris Koch brings 25 years of HVAC industry experience to BDR’s business coaching clientele. While Chris has focused primarily on the commercial service arena, he has a significant amount of residential HVAC and plumbing experience, including “mixed-use buildings” that blend commercial and residential markets. He has gained experience across a spectrum of operational-level service, installation, and sales roles, which were the springboard for his success across a spectrum of management roles. He has executed a start-up as a business owner and gained invaluable work experience at five different companies, completed two acquisitions, assimilated cultures, executed financial turnarounds, and developed divisions into significant profit centers.