What about you? Are you updated on your own vaccinations?

After you’ve looked into this vaccination matter with your own family and self, why not think about passing this information on to your customers and coworkers?

Really cool site with all the information you need to get started.

Send an electronic greeting card that conveys you care about their health and safety. A quick scroll through the pages here will give you a truck load of ideas.

Are you familiar with the term MRSA? It’s a term you might have heard on TV or maybe saw in a newspaper headline. I would bet the vast majority of people – like your customers, do not know exactly what it is. Send them a MRSA awareness greeting card. The cool thing about this is the card is brief and can be read in ten seconds. If your customer is aware of MRSA she hasn’t spent a lot of time on your communication. And it will register in the back of her mind that you care. If she isn’t aware of MRSA, there is a link in the card that will take her directly to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Why provide information like this to your customers?

When you provide information you are in practice with the gift of giving. It feels great to give. You should do it because you care about others. A benefit to your gesture will be that you are becoming more valuable to both your customer and your employer.

Matt Michel brings up an excellent point in reference to making the statement “I don’t know.” He says it’s okay to say “I don’t know”, as long as it is followed by ” but I’ll find out.”

The ability to take care of customer concerns in a professional and caring manner is the mark of an excellent company. Keep this in mind when evaluating prospective employers or taking a closer look at the company that you work for.

To find out more about why women desire trade professionals over bankers, visit Matt Michel’s Comanche Marketing today.

Photo by Miroslav Georgijevic on Flickr

Your work – It’s not so much the job, it’s what you put into it. We all travel a road. And on this road, we travel by different vehicles. Some are content to drive the same vehicle for a very long time. They maintain and put tender loving care into their vehicle. They are most proud of it. Others work their way from vehicle to vehicle. With each vehicle they find a little something more that they like about it than the last one. But they take care of each vehicle like it’s the last one they’ll ever have. This is how you should view each job that you have.

A little attention – Think about Mary at work. How much time do you think she has to pay attention to each of her customers? Not much, right? How then, can so many people remember and appreciate her efforts? You know the answer. Mary is real. She truly cares about people and how they are doing. She can convey this sense to people within a minute or two.

If Mary can do this in so little amount of time, what do you suppose you can do when you are in a customer’s home or place of business for over a half hour? You know. Be real. Care. Show it. Have fun. The goal is not to receive attention. But you will.

“He kept trying to insist that I needed a service contract. I asked him if his company encouraged him to push contracts. He said heck yes, that’s how he makes his money!”

“He never looked me in the eye. He spent the whole time talking on the phone to his girl friend and boss.”

“He smudged up the wall by my thermostat and tracked mud in my foyer.”

These are typical of remarks made by customers of contractors working in their home. This is what people remember about the company. Although they might have dealt with a diligent and honest salesman, a courteous office worker and an accommodating installation manager, the person who they will remember most is the last person from the company in their home. As a technician, this is usually you.

For you to hit maximum earning potential, for your development to continue and opportunities to continue your way, you want customers to remember you in a positive manner. Remember what we said about dating…

One way for customers to associate a positive experience with you is to call* them the next day to follow up with your service. Simply ask them if your service was to their satisfaction and if they need anything else. Hardly any technicians do this on their own.

You can follow up with your coworkers as well. Maybe you told them about a certain tool; maybe it was troubleshooting help; or maybe you asked how their kids’ ballgame went.

Follow up. It’s the right thing to do.

*Make sure it’s okay with your manager to follow up with customers by phone. Some companies would prefer that you didn’t.

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign tasks…teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea…Antoine de Saint Exupéry

This statement represents the essence of good management. Your manager needs to teach you and your coworkers about the immensity of the sea. If he isn’t, don’t expect much concern from him for your career and personal development. He’s not that interested in engaging your passion and talent. Instead he’s just focused on getting more work done.

What is the Immensity of the Sea?

This is the part of work that engages your talents with your passion. It is the area of work where you get meaning from your efforts and your manager gets meaning from engaging you and reaps the reward of your efforts. Not only do you get the internal rewards and meaning associated with work well done, you get internal rewards from helping other people.

The ways in which you help others can be defined in countless ways. It might be the feeling they get when they look into their beautifully landscaped yard, it might be the relief they feel when their computer is back online, it might be the efficiencies they receive from a redesigned kitchen or it might be the relief felt when a plumbing system is working and raw sewage is no longer floating about in their house. Your customers are feeling very good about your efforts and you’re on cloud nine when they show their appreciation.

Your manager needs to guide you and your coworkers towards the immensity of the sea. For on your way there, your spirit and enagement will get more work done for him, more effectively than he could ever dream possible.

While these are certainly questions that you need to delve into more deeply when your manager conducts an annual performance review* or a more formal feedback session, which should be a minimum of four times per year, you can also get answers from an informal, five minute conversation.  The key here is to condition your manager by frequently asking him these questions.  Go for once or twice per month.

Make notes on what your manager says.  And then work to improve yourself between the times you ask.  Make notes on your improvements.  When your manager tells you what you are doing well, that means he is paying attention to your performance.  And it sure is nice to hear about positive aspects of your work instead of just the negative ones.

Special thanks to Scott Savor for his input here.

*We are not fond of what is traditionally known as the annual review, here at The Technician Shop.  More to come in the future on that subject.

You shouldn’t need to be motivated by anyone to do your work.  But you can receive motivation from your manager – if he is doing his job well.  Good managers do this by intent, others will need your help.

A manager can be a source of motivation if he understands what you need to do your job, what obstacles are in your way, what type of education you need, where you are going with your career, and then helps you obtain what you need.

Give him a hand – If your manager does not seek these answers outright, you’re going to need to tell him and suggest ways to help him get what you need.

Why in all the world Dave, should I help my manager with his job?

Excellent question.  Remember, this is about you.  Yes you are helping him, but you are doing things to forge and build your career.  The best chance to give yourself when you approach your manager with this discussion, is to already be busting your butt and trying your darnedest to be the best professional that you can be.  When he sees that you are trying, he will try too.

A manager is like a fighter pilot and you are like the troops on the ground.  His job is to fly cover and support you and your job is to advance.  If either party is not doing their job…well, you know what happens – no one wins.

If you’ve been reading along here at The Technician Shop, you’re beginning to see good management practices discussed.  We suggest that you save these posts in a file for future reference.  Most technician managers are good people.  They are just trying to do their own job, keeping their boss, customers, coworkers and you happy.  There is nothing easy about the hectic pace of their job.  They need to hear from you and what you need.

Remember, it’s your career.  You gotta put in the effort.  But if you’re not getting the air cover that you need, you might have to find a new pilot.

Photo by thenewarea51 on Flickr

Bob:  Honestly guys, I don’t know how to motivate my techs.

Chris:  I here you Bob.  I lost my voice last week.  I can only scream at these guys so much.

Pete:  I feel like a cheerleader doing the company rah, rah line all day.

Fred:  These guys are morons!  I’m sick and tired of being nice to them all the time.  They never listen.

Managers are taught to motivate their coworkers.  As a technician, you need to know this.  I’ve assigned names to a few styles of manager motivation that you might be familiar with.

Prison Guard – This is strong-arm motivation.  You are yelled at, demeaned and offered no respect.

Shady Politician – You are bribed to do your job.  The manager promises you tools or days off in exchange for doing what he wants you to do.

Cheerleader – This manager has no grip on reality.  Everything is sugar-coated, nothing is a big deal and a fake, positive attitude pours forth from him.

Coach – There is a positive aspect to this style of motivation but your manager needs to be a trustful, genuine person who does not frequently use it.  This is the half time, win one for the gipper speech.  If your manager cannot be trusted and frequently tries to pump you up, chances are his grip on reality is gone.

Nancy the Nanny – This is the “aren’t we having fun today boys and girls approach?”  The manager comes up with all kinds of things to try and convince you that work is fun.  The positive aspects of this style will occur when the manager isn’t trying to force fun and is naturally fun to be around.

Core Technician Shop Learning Moment

You shouldn’t need to be motivated by someone else.  This is important folks.  You shouldn’t need to be motivated by someone else.  If you cannot go into work with the spirit of being the best professional that you can be, supporting your coworkers, taking care of your customers, doing fine work and gobbling up every thing that you can learn then you are either working for the wrong employer or working in the wrong role.

Managers however, are still taught to motivate.  In Part II we’ll help you recognize a style of constructive motivation and explain ways to help your manager with his responsibility to motivate you.

Photo by Aaron Brown on Flickr