Soup kitchens, halfway houses, and charity wards all have to raise funds, and if they don’t deliver services that are in their clients’ best interests, they’ll close down. Even teachers are starting to work on an incentive basis. Right now, in my hometown, if schools produce students who can’t pass standardized tests, teachers get their pay raises reduced or even blocked.

The bottom line is, one way or another, everyone works with a financial incentive. Listen, the customer knows you’re being paid to be there. If you weren’t being paid to be there, you wouldn’t be there! So what’s the difference? If your recommendations are based on how they benefit the customer, and not just to earn extra money, what difference does it make whether or not you receive a financial incentive?

In fact, don’t sell anything just to make extra money for yourself. If you can find a way to save the customer money in the long run and it just so happens to increase the average dollar amount of your service call, and you earn a commission or bonus, you’re doing the right thing. Because customers love to save money, your boss will love the additional profits, and your spouse and your children will love the additional income it brings your family.

Commissions are extra income that can be used to finance your children’s education, pay for that hunting cabin, or fund your retirement.

In fact, when it comes to spending the money you receive from your commissions, I have one rule — don’t spend it to pay bills or buy groceries or on other necessities. Personally, I like to see the extra money you earn on commissions go to investing for your future or I like to see you blow it on gifts for yourself or others.

CUSTOMERS WANT YOU TO MAKE A PROFIT

Do you realize that it benefits the customer for the company to earn a profit and for you to earn a commission?

First, if the company is not profitable, it’s going to shut down, and they’ll have to go elsewhere for service, so if your company is providing good service, your customers need and want you to stay in business.

Secondly, the more profitable the company is, the more generous it can be with its customers and the more lenient it can afford to be when there is a disagreement with a customer. Or, to put it another way, the company can afford to provide first-class customer service.

When your income goes up, you’re happier and know that you’re doing the right thing by getting up and going to work in the morning. When the job is paying more, you’ve got more incentive, more desire and the means to invest in better personal tools and education.

When you’re increasing profits for the company and increasing your own personal income, you become more dedicated to the job and more dedicated to staying in the trade. Consequently, you become a better service tech who is more pleasant to be around because you no longer feel you’re in a low-paying dead-end job. And all of these things, while they may benefit you and the company you work for, also benefit the consumer.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

Remember, this life you’re living is not a “dress rehearsal.” You won’t get another chance at life — this is it! Right now, during your working years, is the only opportunity you’ll have to make a decent living.

You have one chance to finance your children’s college education and your own retirement. You are entitled to go after everything that everyone has.

As techs, we do things that no one else wants to do. As techs, we have decided to spend our lives running service, and we need to be paid to do it. Don’t ever allow anyone to make you feel guilty over how much money you make or what the company charges.

Greer travels the country running calls with hvacr service technicians, demonstrating his methods in the field. He’s the instructor for the “HVAC Closers Academy” held in Ft. Myers, FL. For information call HVAC Profit Boosters, Inc. at 800-963-4822 or visit his website at www.hvacprofitboosters.com.

Publication date: 04/16/2001