Your Technicians Aren’t Selling Enough - or Are They Not Finding Enough?
Your Technicians Aren’t Selling Enough - or Are They Not Finding Enough?
By Joe Crisara, Author of What Should We Do? and Co-Founder of Service MVP
When revenue from the field isn't where a home service company wants it to be, there's a conclusion managers often reach pretty quickly:
“Our technicians need to sell more.”
So we start looking at average tickets.
Conversion rates.
Revenue per technician.
Options presented.
Memberships sold.
And before long, the solution becomes:
More sales training.
But what if the technician's ability to sell isn't actually the biggest problem?
What if the problem happens much earlier in the service call?
You can't present a solution for an opportunity you never discovered.
Before asking whether your technicians are selling enough, I want you to ask a different question:
Are they finding enough?
The Service Call Is Bigger Than the Reason for the Call
Imagine a homeowner calls because their air conditioner isn't cooling.
The technician arrives, finds a failed capacitor, replaces it, verifies that the system is running, collects payment, and leaves.
Technically, that might look like a successful call.
The problem was fixed.
The customer paid.
The technician moved on to the next job.
But what else was happening in that home?
Was the system struggling before it stopped cooling?
Are certain rooms consistently uncomfortable?
Has the homeowner noticed increasing utility bills?
Is the equipment approaching the end of its useful life?
Are there airflow problems?
Indoor air quality concerns?
Maintenance issues?
Electrical concerns?
Has the homeowner experienced repeated breakdowns?
We don't know.
Because nobody asked.
And nobody looked.
That's why I don't want technicians thinking only:
“What did they call us to fix?”
I want them thinking:
“What does this homeowner need to know?”
Those are very different service calls.
An Opportunity Isn't Something You Invent
Let's get something important out of the way.
When we talk about identifying opportunities, we're not talking about technicians wandering through someone's house trying to manufacture problems.
We're talking about identifying real conditions, concerns, needs, risks, and improvements that the homeowner deserves to know about.
If you see a legitimate problem and don't communicate it, are you really providing better service?
Imagine an electrician notices something unsafe but says nothing because it wasn't why the customer called.
Or a plumber sees evidence of another leak developing but doesn't mention it.
Or an HVAC technician recognizes an airflow problem contributing to comfort issues but only replaces the failed component.
That's not avoiding sales.
That's withholding useful information.
The Pure Motive question isn't:
“Can I sell something here?”
It's:
“Is there something here this homeowner should know?”
If the answer is yes, explain it.
Then let the homeowner decide what they want to do.
The Best Opportunities Often Come From Better Questions
Technicians tend to focus heavily on equipment.
That's understandable. It's what they're trained to diagnose.
But some of the most important opportunities won't reveal themselves through a meter.
They come from the homeowner.
Ask:
“Other than what brought us out today, how has everything been working for you?”
You might hear:
“Actually, the upstairs has always been hotter.”
There's an opportunity to investigate.
Ask:
“Has anything else about the system been frustrating you?”
You might hear:
“Our electric bills seem crazy in the summer.”
There's something worth understanding.
Ask:
“If there was one thing you could improve about the system, what would it be?”
Maybe the answer is:
“I wish the bedroom wasn't so noisy.”
That's useful information.
Notice what we're not doing.
We're not asking:
“Would you like to buy an indoor air quality system today?”
We're learning about the customer's experience.
Better questions reveal better opportunities.
Sometimes Customers Have Learned to Live With Problems
This is something technicians should remember.
Homeowners don't always call every time something isn't perfect.
They adapt.
The bedroom has been too hot for five years.
The water pressure has always been lousy.
That outlet hasn't worked since they moved in.
The kitchen sink takes forever to drain.
The lights flicker occasionally.
The furnace is noisy.
They don't necessarily consider those things service calls anymore.
They're just:
“This is just how the house is.”
A good service professional can uncover those frustrations simply by being curious.
And sometimes the homeowner is surprised to learn:
“Wait - you can fix that?”
That's not aggressive selling.
That's great service.
Slow Down Before You Pick Up the Tools
One of the easiest ways to miss opportunities is to begin diagnosing too quickly.
The technician arrives.
The homeowner says:
“The AC isn't cooling.”
The technician says:
“Okay, where's the thermostat?”
And off they go.
We've already missed an opportunity.
Before touching the equipment, understand the customer.
What happened?
When did they first notice it?
Has it happened before?
What else have they noticed?
What concerns them most?
How has the system performed historically?
What would they like to accomplish today?
A few minutes of conversation can completely change what the technician knows about the call.
The customer is part of the diagnostic process.
This Is Why We Call Them Demand Calls
A homeowner didn't invite your company into their home because they were hoping someone would sell them something.
They called because something created demand for your expertise.
Something stopped working.
Something became uncomfortable.
Something worried them.
Something changed.
Something made them finally pick up the phone.
That's why we think of these as Demand Calls.
The homeowner has already told you:
“I need help.”
The technician's responsibility is to understand the full extent of that need.
Not simply rush toward the first repair they can identify.
The First Problem You Find Isn't Always the Whole Problem
Imagine someone calls a doctor because their knee hurts.
Would you expect the doctor to walk into the room, glance at the knee and immediately recommend treatment?
Probably not.
They ask questions.
When did it start?
What were you doing?
Where does it hurt?
Does anything make it worse?
Has it happened before?
Then they examine it.
The same principle applies to home service.
The obvious symptom may only be the beginning.
A failed component might be related to another condition.
A recurring drain clog might have an underlying cause.
A tripped breaker may deserve additional investigation.
A comfort complaint could involve more than the equipment itself.
Diagnosis means understanding the situation—not simply locating the first broken part.
What Are Your Technicians Walking Past?
Here's an exercise I'd do with your team.
Think about your last 100 service calls.
How many additional legitimate opportunities were present?
Not things technicians could have sold.
Things customers genuinely should have known about.
Maintenance needs.
Safety concerns.
Comfort problems.
Efficiency opportunities.
Protection.
Reliability.
Water quality.
Indoor air quality.
Aging equipment.
Deferred repairs.
Membership opportunities.
Future replacement planning.
How many did your technicians identify?
How many did they communicate?
How many resulted in options?
You may discover that your company doesn't have a closing problem at all.
You may have a discovery problem.
Average Ticket Is a Lagging Indicator
This is why I'm careful about coaching technicians exclusively around average ticket.
Average ticket tells you what happened.
It doesn't necessarily tell you why.
Suppose Technician A averages $500 per call and Technician B averages $1,200.
You might conclude:
Technician B is a better salesperson.
Maybe.
But perhaps Technician B is simply better at asking questions.
Maybe they investigate more thoroughly.
Maybe they find more legitimate needs.
Maybe they communicate observations better.
Maybe they create more appropriate options.
The higher average ticket may be the result of better service behaviors upstream.
So instead of only asking:
“How much did you sell?”
ask:
“What did you find?”
That's a much more interesting coaching conversation.
Measure the Behaviors That Create the Result
If I were coaching a field team, I'd want visibility into things like:
How many legitimate opportunities are technicians identifying?
How often are they presenting multiple options?
Are they documenting what they find?
Are they discussing homeowner priorities?
Are they creating choices around those priorities?
Are they following up on opportunities the homeowner chose to defer?
Then revenue becomes one part of the picture.
Because when you coach only the final number, technicians may feel pressure to produce a number.
When you coach the process, you can improve the behaviors that naturally produce better results.
Discovery Comes Before Options
In our earlier article about why technicians should present homeowners with multiple options, we talked about the importance of giving customers meaningful choices.
But there's something that has to happen first.
You have to discover enough to build those choices.
If the technician identifies one problem and one repair, they'll probably present one solution.
If they understand the equipment, the home, the homeowner's concerns, the related conditions, and the customer's priorities, suddenly there may be several appropriate ways to help.
That's why we've previously talked about why technicians should present multiple options instead of giving homeowners one take-it-or-leave-it price.
Better discovery creates better options.
And better options create better decisions.
Don't Turn Discovery Into a Checklist
There's a danger here too.
Managers hear this and immediately create a 47-point inspection checklist.
Check this.
Photograph that.
Ask these eight questions.
Upload these six pictures.
Checklists can be useful.
But the goal isn't to create technicians who mechanically hunt for opportunities.
The goal is to create curious service professionals.
Someone who notices.
Someone who asks.
Someone who listens.
Someone who understands why something matters.
And someone who can explain what they found in a way the homeowner understands.
A checklist can support that skill.
It can't replace it.
Finding More Doesn't Mean the Homeowner Has to Buy More
This brings us back to the Pure Motive philosophy we discussed in Stop Trying to Close the Sale: Help the
Homeowner Make a Decision.
Suppose your technician discovers six legitimate opportunities.
Does the homeowner need to address all six today?
No.
Maybe they choose one.
Maybe three.
Maybe none.
Maybe they want to address something next year.
That's their choice.
Our responsibility is making sure they know what exists.
We identify.
We educate.
We create appropriate choices.
They decide.
That's what keeps opportunity identification from turning into high-pressure sales.
Your Next Growth Opportunity May Already Be in the Driveway
Contractors spend enormous amounts of time and money trying to generate more calls.
SEO.
Google Ads.
Direct mail.
Social media.
Lead services.
Radio.
Billboards.
Referral programs.
And generating demand absolutely matters.
But before spending another dollar trying to put another truck in another driveway, ask:
What are we doing with the opportunities already inside the homes we're visiting today?
You've already paid to generate the call.
You've already answered the phone.
You've already dispatched the technician.
You've already paid for the truck.
The fuel.
The insurance.
The labor.
The marketing.
Your technician is already standing in the home.
If they're only addressing the first obvious problem and leaving, you may be spending more money trying to create new opportunities while walking past the ones you already have.
Before You Tell Your Technicians to Sell More, Teach Them to Find More
If field revenue isn't where you want it to be, don't immediately assume your technicians need better closing techniques.
Look earlier in the service call.
Are they asking enough questions?
Are they listening?
Are they investigating beyond the symptom?
Are they identifying legitimate opportunities?
Are they explaining what they find?
Are they connecting those observations to what matters to the homeowner?
Are they building meaningful options?
Because the technician can't communicate an opportunity they never found.
And they can't build a solution around a need they never understood.
So perhaps the coaching conversation shouldn't begin with:
“You need to sell more.”
Maybe it should begin with:
“Tell me what you found.”
What Would Your Technicians Find If They Learned to Look Differently?
Identifying opportunities without becoming pushy takes skill.
Technicians need to know how to ask better questions, investigate thoroughly, connect what they find to homeowner priorities, communicate their observations, and create meaningful choices.
And like every communication skill we've discussed in this series, it has to be practiced.
Our next Service MVP Total Immersion takes place September 21–25 in Brookfield, Wisconsin, hosted at Quality Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical.
Over five days, technicians learn and practice the process behind better customer conversations—from discovery and communication to presenting choices and navigating difficult moments.
Because sometimes growing your business doesn't begin with finding more customers.
It begins with finding more ways to help the customers you already have.
