The HVAC industry might grow by 11% by 2025. The Bureau of Labor estimates that by the year 2028, there will be 46,000 more HVAC jobs created in the US alone. With the increasing demand for HVAC services and increased HVAC workforce, the competition in the HVAC market will shoot up.
In a highly saturated HVAC industry, to gain your HVAC service company a competitive edge, you must not only upskill your workforce but also dispatch them efficiently to deliver good customer experiences. With the lack of proper dispatching, even the highly skilled technicians get wasted.
Here we list down a few HVAC dispatching tips that will help your business make the best use of your resource and stand out from the competition.
What is HVAC dispatching?
HVAC dispatching is the process of recording incoming customer service requests, scheduling jobs, optimizing routes, tracking HVAC technicians and monitoring jobs. It is a holistic process of managing work orders from beginning to end while monitoring the field workforce throughout the day.
What is HVAC Dispatcher’s Job?
The HVAC dispatcher is responsible for the smooth functioning of the HVAC service business by maintaining the workforce schedules and work orders. The dispatcher acts as a bridge between customers and the HVAC field teams.
What does an HVAC Dispatcher do?
An HVAC dispatcher has the following responsibilities:
- Record incoming customer service requests and queries
- Convert service requests into job orders
- Sort the jobs based on priority, urgency and location. Group the jobs in nearby localities.
- Stay aware of all the technician’s availability, schedule and skills.
- Match the technician with the right skills to the right job and the customer’s preferred time slot.
- Inform the assigned technician about the job assignment.
- Share job and customer data, driving routes and service history.
- Communicate with customers about the technician’s arrival.
- Monitor technicians and work orders in real time.
- Arrange for additional support if required and share job invoices.
- After job completion, inform the technician about the next project.
- Maintain daily job reports and employee performance reports.
On the outlook, you might feel like an HVAC dispatcher has only this handful of responsibilities. However, when a single HVAC dispatcher has to manage more than two technicians simultaneously with manual systems, it evolves to be a humongous task.
Imagine there are five HVAC technicians performing service jobs in five different locations and the HVAC manager has to coordinate with each one to monitor the live job progress. It takes a huge toll on a single person managing so many activities simultaneously.
In such scenarios, HVAC service providers hire more dispatchers to distribute the workload. However, with more than one person handling the same task, there are higher chances for double data entry, miscommunication, scheduling conflicts, etc. Additionally, more human resources mean more salary expenses and increasing operational costs.
We do not aim to scare you out if you are just starting your HVAC service business. However, it is better to have a proper dispatch plan and SOPs in place right from the beginning to maintain harmony and sync throughout the organization’s journey.
10 HVAC Dispatching Tips to Improve and Optimize Dispatching Process
i) Collect Adequate Customer Information
The first towards business success is understanding your customers and their needs. When someone calls your HVAC service company for a service job, the HVAC dispatcher or manager must collect enough customer data that covers the customer name, address, contact details, service query, equipment data, when was it last serviced, etc.
Also, note down how did the customer reach you so that you can optimize your customer acquisition channels accordingly. Collecting sufficient data makes it easy for HVAC service technicians to get a grasp of the issue and plan their work accordingly.
ii) Go Paperless
HVAC businesses have been using traditional pen and paper-based systems to raise service tickets, store customer data, share schedule cards, and maintain job reports and business data.
When all data get stored in paper systems, there are huge piles of paper files. If you have to access particular information, you have to rummage through these endless papers, consuming too much time and effort.
Papers are prone to wear and tear and being lost because of which field service businesses lose important information. There may be data entry errors and a few handwritings may not be legible enough that lead to miscommunication.
For instance, the technician might interpret the customer address written by the dispatcher and get lost without reaching the correct place, wasting time and fuel.
Also, paper service tickets and customer data require technicians to commute to the office every time to fetch the data and then commence on the job. This again wastes their time and fuel.
To avoid all this, try going digital and storing the data on computerized systems that consume less time and have fewer chances for errors than manual pen-and-paper entries. With on-site data access, technicians can complete more jobs.
iii) Store all Customer Data in a Centralized Location
Upgrading from paper to digital solutions is a great move. However, we have seen many HVAC service business owners turn to spreadsheets for storing data and maintaining schedules.
Spreadsheets have their own limitations. For example, if the customer wants to reschedule their equipment repair to a different time slot, the dispatcher makes the change in the spreadsheet. However, the change might not reflect the technician in the field and he might reach the customer’s place only to find that the service got rescheduled wasting time and fuel.
Instead, use HVAC CRM software that not only stores but neatly organizes all data in one centralized database that anyone with authorization can access at any time, from anywhere and on any device.
Keeping customer data organized and accessible is key to providing excellent service. You must provide your HVAC field employees with a single source of information where they can look up anything they need to know.
For example, if an HVAC mechanic is repairing an existing customer’s AC duct, he can quickly access the customer’s service history from the CRM app and quickly get an idea of what might be the fault and how to rectify it.
After the job completion, the technician can upload job documents and reports on the same platform for future access.
iv) Group Jobs
The HVAC dispatcher must sort the jobs based on priority and urgency. This helps in the quick dispatch of HVAC technicians for higher-priority jobs.
Also, group jobs based on location. This enables the technician to complete all jobs in a particular locality within a single day instead of making frequent trips to the same place for different jobs. This increase technician productivity saves fuel and helps complete more jobs.
Manually sorting, filtering and grouping jobs take time. Use HVAC dispatching software that automates sorting and grouping jobs at the click of a button.
v) Optimize Scheduling Process
The most efficient way to manage your team is to assign the right techs to jobs that match their skillset. This approach enables the HVAC technician to complete the job on time with better efficiency.
You can use HVAC scheduling and dispatch software that displays all the technicians’ schedules on a single-screen dashboard and also recommends who to appoint for a particular job based on skillset. When you assign techs to a job, you can also see exactly where they are and check their entire schedule.
The HVAC scheduling software ensures that you don’t double-book or overlook technicians. You can also add notes about each job, such as what equipment to use, and whether there are any special instructions.
vi) Track Your HVAC technicians in Real-time
Use a GPS-based technician tracker to monitor all your HVAC field technicians’ mobility in real-time. This makes it easier to schedule meetings, assign work, and track progress.
Accessing real-time tracking allows HVAC dispatchers to make faster, better decisions. It also helps in route planning. When you provide real-time route optimization, field employees know exactly what they need to do next. They don’t waste time searching for the location.
The technician’s travel history recorded on the tracking app helps the dispatcher to monitor every technician’s performance and generate reports.
vii) Keep the Customers Informed
Once a customer books a service request, they want to stay informed about every step of the process. The HVAC dispatcher must notify the customer about their technician assignment and also share the ETA.
This gives the customer an idea of when the tech will arrive instead of waiting for a time unknown. Also, from the security point of view, sharing technician details keeps the customer assured about the authenticity of the person.
viii) Improve Internal Communication between your HVAC service teams
The modern workforce is increasingly mobile. As companies continue to grow, it becomes harder to keep track of everyone involved in a project. This leads to miscommunication and missed deadlines. In addition, there are often multiple people working on one task, making communication difficult.
Your employees are busy people. They’re working hard to make sure everything runs smoothly in your office. But how do they know what’s going on? How do they communicate effectively? If you don’t provide them with the tools they need to work together efficiently, they’ll start making mistakes and causing problems.
Automating internal communication allows teams to work together without having to constantly check in with each other. By automating email, phone calls, text messages, and instant messaging, you can save time and ensure that information gets where it needs to go.
For instance, as soon the dispatcher assigns a job to a technician, the HVAC dispatch software sends an automated dispatch notification on the technician’s mobile.
ix) Remind the Customers about Maintenance Services
Keeping track of maintenance service agreements and reminding customers manually to book a service job consume too much time. Customers are often forgetful, especially during busy times like summer vacation.
If you don’t remind them about HVAC preventative maintenance plan, it could cost you money. The dispatcher might also fail to contact the customer during the peak seasons which leads to customer churn.
Use an automated service reminder software that alerts the dispatcher before the service due dates of routine maintenance and sends reminder texts to customers. This will save you time and money and get you recurring business.
x) Track Technician Performance
To keep up with good service quality and excellent customer experiences, HVAC service providers must regularly monitor his/her team’s performance. Track individual technicians’ performance to find out what to improve or how to train them better.
Regular training and upskilling of your HVAC workforce are essential to keep up with the changing industry trends and gain a competitive edge. Using HVAC service business software automatically tracks every technician’s performance and instantly displays the crucial KPIs on the dashboard for you to view.
Conclusion – Adopt HVAC Service Software
In the above tips for optimizing your HVAC dispatching, we have recommended you use a couple of software solutions that make dispatching easier and error-free. However, using multiple software solutions and scattering data across many platforms makes it difficult to generate crucial business reports.
Invest in a single HVAC field service management software that integrates all the features you need to manage your entire HVAC service business. It streamlines all the business operations for your HVAC service organization.
Try Unoservice HVAC service software for free that comes integrated with CRM, GPS-tracker, service reminder and many more features.
Frequently Asked Questions about HVAC Dispatching
What are the skills required for the HVAC dispatcher job?
HVAC dispatchers must stay organized because there are many moving parts involved in dispatching work. The job requires a high level of communication skills. A dispatcher needs to be able to talk to customers about problems and keep everyone on task. He or she must be able to understand what each person is saying and relay information clearly. Finally, they must be able to plan ahead and anticipate issues before they arise.
Can your HVAC company benefit from dispatching tips?
Yes, dispatching tips help HVAC service providers to streamline the entire service operations and ensure jobs get completed on time without any errors or delays.
How do I become a good HVAC dispatcher?
Becoming a good HVAC service dispatcher means understanding how to handle customer requests quickly and efficiently. You must know how to capitalize on technology to simplify your field service operations.
How do dispatchers stay organized?
An HVAC dispatcher should be able to organize all of his/her work into one place. This means having everything from customer orders to dispatch notes in one location. The best way to keep track of all of these things is through HVAC field service software.
Why go digital with HVAC software?
Going digital with HVAC systems means you can easily access all information about your system from anywhere at any time. This allows you to monitor your equipment remotely, which saves money and increases efficiency. With digital technology, you can also track maintenance history, diagnose issues, and perform preventative maintenance.
How Unoservice HVAC software simplifies HVAC dispatching?
Unoservice HVAC service software supports features like CRM, service scheduling and dispatching, GPS-based real-time tracking, etc. that simplify dispatching by automating tasks such as scheduling, assigning resources, tracking work orders, and managing invoices. The software also provides real-time visibility into resource availability and performance, which helps reduce downtime and increase productivity.