When you own a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) business, you have a lot to juggle. From scheduling services to pricing to dispatching techs, there's a lot on your plate. You may know you need better field service management (FSM) software, but think that training your team is impossible when you're busy. Fortunately, there's another solution: training your team during slow season.
Most heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) contractors put off software training until they're desperate, then try to train during peak season when there's no time. This results in incomplete training, frustrated teams, and software that never gets fully adopted. When you onboard your techs during the slower months, they receive more complete training that leads to better implementation of new software.
In this practical guide, we'll explore how to use slow season as a time to train your team on field service software the right way, without disrupting operations or losing productivity. We'll also discuss how Sera's FSM software supports faster training and adoption, helping your HVAC business thrive.
Timing is everything when you're trying to successfully adopt new HVAC software. If you try to train your techs during the busy season, you and your techs will probably be stressed. You may run into several obstacles, including:
This means that the software upgrade you need won't come to fruition, resulting in outdated practices, slower services, and unsatisfied technicians. Slow season is ideal for training for many reasons, including:
If you want your techs to take training seriously, without distractions or interruptions to your business, slow season is the best time to implement it. This way, they won't be trying to balance cooling system repairs, heat pump replacements, or new HVAC system design with learning new software.
Training your team in new software is a process that needs to be done properly. If it's done wrong or skipped, your business can experience problems like lower productivity, increased chaos, duplicate data entry, and manual workarounds. Techs may be calling the office constantly for help, or they may work around the software instead of using it. When HVAC training isn't correctly done, features you paid for never get used, wasting your hard-earned money.
Some common training mistakes that HVAC professionals make include:
Unlike traditional HVAC training, your team can't just flip through Manual D or Manual J to formulate load calculations or size duct systems. To optimize software training, you need to provide a structured, clear, consistent, and ongoing training process if you want your team to fully adopt your chosen software.
To train your team without interrupting your business operations, it's important to keep training simple and focused. It helps to break up the types of employees and focus on what they need to know:
To make the training stick, there are a few things to keep in mind. You should train your team during slow days (or seasons) when there's time to practice the different facets of the software. Start out with simple tasks to gain familiarity, and then build to complex ones, so your team doesn't get overwhelmed. To provide real-world, hands-on practice using the software, use real, low-stakes jobs to see how they're handled and what needs to be done. You should also keep tutorial resources handy for quick reference.
Beyond not having the time to provide adequate software training, many HVAC business owners avoid implementing new software because of misconceptions or worries about how difficult it will be. Luckily, there are ways to address the real obstacles contractors face when training teams, including:
Everyone knows the saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Many people believe that is also true with workers who are set in their ways. If your team is used to doing their job in a certain way, they may be hesitant to adopt new software or change their daily practices. This is a common obstacle that many business owners face.
To overcome it, you need to show your techs how the new software will make their jobs easier. For example, it requires less paperwork and fewer callbacks. You should also start with your most adaptable team members first, so you can get them on board and then start working on the more stubborn techs.
If some of your team members feel unprepared to use mobile apps or technology on the job, you can invest in online courses, webinars, or quick training programs that help them learn the fundamentals.
Another common challenge for business owners trying to implement new software is that many think the new software will be too complicated or difficult to use. This is where platform choice matters; you want to choose a straightforward yet capable software that makes life easier, not harder. Simpler software means faster training, and, therefore, faster adoption.
At Sera, our field service management software is built to be learned in days, not months. It comes with all the necessary features you need to succeed, without extras that you don't. This makes it easier to get your team on board with learning new software.
Another barrier that often comes up with HVAC business owners is that they're not sure if their employees will remember how to use the new software in the long run. To combat this, keep tutorial and training resources handy, so you can quickly find answers to common questions.
Having quick refreshers with your team when something is unclear is easier than a full retraining. Offering continuing education courses also helps the knowledge your techs have learned in previous trainings stay fresh in their minds.
By having solutions to common implementation challenges, teams will have less resistance to the process. This leads to faster adoption and better results.
When considering HVAC software training, you'll want to ensure you're choosing a software platform that is built for contractors, not for enterprise use. Software designed for contractors has a smaller scale and focuses on the features that contractors need in the field, whereas enterprise-level software is often more extensive and has various integrated features for large operations. Having the right type of software makes it easier to train, while having the wrong type makes it more difficult.
What makes software hard to train is things like:
To make software easier to train, you want to look for:
The easier the software is to learn, the faster your team adopts it, and the sooner you see results.
When your team needs a straightforward yet reliable FSM software, Sera is here to help. Our FSM software is designed to support faster training and adoption. It is built for contractors who need results fast with reliable function. It offers:
Sera stands out against other HVAC software providers for several reasons. They include:
By offering helpful features in one system that can be adopted quickly, our software makes it easier for busy HVAC owners and reluctant techs to get trained and start using the system in time for busy season.
If you're looking to get your team ready to use new software during the high-demand season, the time to train them is during the slow season. Running a successful HVAC business isn't about buying software; it's about training your team to use it effectively. Slow season gives you the time to train right, without the pressure of peak demand. The contractors who train during slow season hit the ground running when busy season arrives.
Sera is here to help guide HVAC business owners and facility managers through software enrollment and training their teams. Our support team is always available to help guide you through the process, and our scheduled working sessions with our Customer Success Managers help put you on the right path to successful onboarding.
At Sera, we're founded on four pillars, which are Time Management, Margin Management, Cash Flow, and Growing Memberships. We incorporate these pillars into our FSM software and team training, helping contractors and business owners improve productivity, increase profitability and cash flow, and grow their memberships. To see how Sera's simple platform makes team training faster, schedule a demo today and get started.