Many of you, me too, have been watching the Olympics the last couple of weeks and watch some amount of the Olympic games every two to four years depending on whether you watch both the summer and winter Olympic Games or only one or the other. Some sports that are part of the Olympics like hockey, basketball, and tennis we can easily watch on TV any year, whereas other sports like cross-country skiing, beach volleyball, and trampoline we’re more likely to participate in or watch friends and family take part in than ever see it in a match televised in the United States outside of the Olympics. And even though we only watch sports like synchronized diving, short track speed skating, and table tennis every four years, we still watch, root, and care who wins.

Certain sports, like swimming, have events that are over so quickly that you’d better not look away or you’ll miss it, whereas road-race cycling and the marathon running can take hours to finish.

One thing that all those Olympic events have in common is it takes a lot of work behind the scenes to prepare for the world stage. And, like sports, it takes a lot of work that your customers probably won’t ever see so that your company can excel and gain a great, well-deserved reputation. Some of the things that we can learn from Olympian competitors are:

•Training. It takes a lot of training on a regular schedule for athletes to know what to do in any situation.

Have regular training sessions for your technicians so that they know or are prepared and can figure out what to do when presented with any HVACR problem.

• Coaching. Athletes have coaches and trainers to help them prepare so they can improve their technique, learn strategies, etc.

Have someone at your company — whether it’s you, a service manager, a lead technician, or someone else — who technicians can turn to for assistance when they need help with what tactics/strategy to take in a particular technical or customer service situation.

• Equipment. Having the right equipment and using it to the best advantage can make a difference in an athlete’s performance. In golf — though it is not currently an Olympic sport, it was reinstated to the Olympics and will next appear in the 2016 games — knowing which club to use and when to use it can make the difference between shooting under par and a double bogey.

Having great equipment and training your technicians on the best ways to use that equipment and in which situations to use it will help your technician troubleshoot problems correctly the first time and help cut down on those callbacks.

• Good sportsmanship. Play the game the way it’s meant to be played — not throwing matches like those badminton teams this year.

Courtesy, dealing with others well, and politeness are among the elements that can be applied by your technicians or counter personnel each and every day with each and every customer.

And for all of those of you who can’t get enough sports metaphors, I hope you all are boxing clever with your business, and get your employees up to scratch, so that they don’t feel they’ve been sucker punched by any situation in which they find themselves. And remember, all of us here at The NEWS are in your corner.