When Russ Duker, founder and CEO of MasterTech Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, began focusing on the sales tactics of his technicians a few years ago, he noticed a trend: workers in trade industries like plumbing are experts in their fields, but often aren’t expert salespeople.
Duker (right), however, soon realized the plumbers at MasterTech were willing but not able to improve their sales abilities.
This led Duker to create Trade-Serve, an iPad app that helps technicians in trades such as plumbing and electrical sell their services. In the first eight months MasterTech used Trade-Serve, sales increased by 40 percent.
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Nathaniel Duker, Russ Duker’s son and Trade-Serve employee, said the program helps technicians in sales in a number of ways.
“Rather than having to write out these packages and options every time on a sheet, have good handwriting, have correct spelling, do the math correctly, do the math with a service agreement or without a service agreement and add coupons, all that syncs to it [Trade-Serve],” Nathaniel (left) said. “Your average technician is someone who hasn’t been to college. They’re great at fixing pipes, they’re great at talking to customers, but they’re not necessarily good at handwriting, math or things like that. So as a result, he created something that makes it so you’re actually paperless in the field.”
Trade-Serve, nearing its third year, has expanded to 40 companies across the country. The statistics prove the program’s success—customers buy a more expensive service package 20 percent of the time when the Trade-Serve application is used in a sale. A number of companies using the service said the program paid for itself within the first few days of use.
The Trade-Serve program has multiple functions. Technicians can complete paperless invoices for sales, show video sales presentations to customers and display service agreements.
The program also aids in technician training through what Trade-Serve calls a virtual ride-along. The program records every screen the technician shows to a customer and tracks how long any package information videos are shown so management can easily review a technician’s performance and use of the program. Technicians can also view training videos on-site if they are unsure of how to complete, for example, a plumbing technique or installation process.
When Nathaniel, now a business student at the University of Missouri in the Entrepreneurship Alliance program, graduates next year he plans to work full-time for Trade-Serve.
“It’s training your technicians to offer options all the time no matter where they are,” he said. “That is good customer service.”
Credits: Photos from LinkedIn.
