The team at Esser Air Conditioning refers to an ancient adage when describing the benefits of Field Pro in ServiceTitan: Iron sharpens iron.
The phrase originally appeared in Proverbs, and it refers to the reality that people improve and strengthen each other through constructive and sometimes challenging interactions. If two pieces of metal rubbed together sharpens the metal, so can two (or more) team members at an HVAC business sharpen each other’s approach.
This takes place through a key element of Field Pro: recordings of interactions between team members and customers. Team members can use ServiceTitan’s AI capabilities to review their own calls to find missed opportunities, or to find moments when phrasing could have been better. They also can listen to calls other team members choose to share, and in that way learn what works and what doesn’t.
“We use (Field Pro) every day to make sure that we do better at every call,” Esser Comfort Advisor Wes Carter said. “We critique ourselves, and we actually have meetings where we critique each other.”
Which shows that Esser’s team approaches the work with a desire to get better, elevate their skills and learning from each other to get better.
“I think Field Pro made people more conscious of what they were saying and when they were saying it and how they were saying it,” said Chris Holland, Esser Service Manager and head of the Install Department.
Since Esser started using Field Pro and sharing ideas from it, close rates have increased between 7% and 10%, Carter said.
“My first reaction to Field Pro was Big Brotherish,” Carter said. “The guys were going to watch over me and critique and micromanage everything that I did, and I didn't like the idea. As time went on, though, I found that our team actually used it to kind of like iron sharpens iron.
“We looked at each other's calls. The boss even stopped looking because we were so into it.We use it every day now to make sure that we do better at every call. We look at our past calls, we critique ourselves, and we actually have meetings where we critique each other on what we do.”
That shows Holland something as well.
“It really lets me know who's actually trying to better themselves and who I need to do a little bit more training with and get them more comfortable with it,” Holland said.
Raising the game
Culture builds collaboration. One example: Carter learned from listening to a co-worker that it was OK for him to bring up higher-quality products that might cost more.
“I was always fearful of that,” Carter said. “It stopped being as scary because I learned how someone else was able to say that to a customer without any type of stuttering or fear.”
Based in California’s Coachella Valley – think Palm Springs and Palm Desert – Esser focuses on quality work through empathy, commitment and culture.
“I spend most moments thinking about how to improve people’s lives,” Carter said. “All while advancing with the industry as it grows.”
Some many years ago Carter hopped on a Greyhound in Montgomery, Ala., and took it to California in search of a better life for him and his family, he said.
He eventually wound up working in HVAC, where he found a niche. He attended Mayfield College in the Coachella Valley, earned his certification and caught on with Esser.
“Esser allowed me to get my footing,” he said. “I actually started to blossom into who I wanted to be. And there were plenty of opportunities, plenty of problems to fix. I just had to learn how to fix them.”
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The next step
As he’s grown in his job, he’s gone from doing the work to selling the work. All the while, Carter has learned that using ServiceTitan, the cloud-based software for the trades, helps him succeed.
Field Pro is a key part of that work. Its Manager Dashboard helps people like Holland identify who is working to improve by listening to the tapes as well as paying attention to the AI-generated improvement suggestions.
And Carter has some good advice for anyone considering the leap to Field Pro.
“My message to anyone thinking about using Field Pro is you feel the same way when you get to the ocean,” Carter said. “The water might be cold initially, but jump in.”
