Do You Get Paid to Troubleshoot AV Systems?
Nov
2
Written by:
Heather L. Sidorowicz
11/2/2012 1:17 PM
I live in Buffalo, NY. We're not known for warmth. When I was in college and had my own apartment the heat wasn't allowed on until November (to save limited funds for more important things like going out). Until then, you bundled up to keep warm. This works until you have kids. Now the heat comes on in October. (I should state that when I started this blog last week it was almost 65 degrees. Although currently it is rainy and 41 degrees out.) This is Buffalo, where a different day can mean a totally different weather pattern.
When my heat came on I noticed it was not heat at all, but cool air. Odd. Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe I didn't have my coffee. But then, the other evening, I swear I heard the air conditioner come on. Could it be? Na.
As I sat down this morning I heard it again. I ran to the window nearest to the compressor and sure enough the dang thing is on. I checked the thermostat, which claimed "heat" not "cool." So I promptly called the company that installed the system 15 months ago and explained my issue. After a brief stint on hold they told me that they were sending someone over that morning.
The guy performed a troubleshoot procedure for about an hour and a half and couldn’t re-create the issue. He thought there may be something wrong with the thermostat. After a call back to the office he said he would change it out and to let him know if I still had the problem later. The thermostat was under warranty. There was no charge.
Later that day I heard the air conditioner kick on again. This time my husband experienced it too, but he fixed it by turning off the breaker. Yeah! Heat. Another call was placed and again someone came out to check out the system.
Should I be charged?
Troubleshooting is one of the hardest things to get paid for, especially if you were the one to install the system. I know that every custom integrator has a story (and feel free to share) about a client who wanted you out to their house today to fix a glitch, believing that your truck roll should be free of charge. I've noticed that the timeline doesn't change their opinion.
I just had a client who requested that we stop at their house to take a broken flat panel TV down from above the fireplace. Once repaired, we put it back up. The client did not feel they should have to pay for this service, even though the TV was not under warranty. They said that this is why they buy local.
When push comes to shove, what is our responsibility when it comes to troubleshooting? Technology is not a perfect science and chances are that there will be glitches. But how far do you go? What is the line you won't cross? How many hours will you let go of to make sure that client is telling their friends good things about you and not spewing bad news? I don't know the answers, but I'm looking for them every day.
Here’s what I think we can do:
Sell the right products: It’s hard to be a local business, especially one with a showroom, because clients can and will find you. For this reason we only sell what we can stand behind. No more mass-market no-name products. Not even for the holiday season. Let them wait in line at Midnight on Thanksgiving. When those TVs break, they'll think to themselves, “Well, I only paid $X for it so I can throw it away." If they bought the same TV for the same price from the little guy? Oh, you’d better believe they'll be calling you, demanding that you make good on it.
Be upfront: Let the client know what you WILL do. Do you offer a better warranty (a labor warranty) if they purchase all products from you? Let the client know what you do and do not cover, upfront, so there are no questions later.
Be human: Remember that this stuff is frustrating. Try to see it from the client’s perspective. Be honest with the client; trying to cover up an issue never works.
Have good troubleshooters: Having good installers that can take a step back to figure out a problem can be priceless. Make sure your guys (or girls) can handle this pressure cooker situation. Get them trained and encourage them to “phone a friend” if needed. (Sometimes explaining the issue or getting a second opinion does the trick!)
We don't live in a perfect world, and the average person probably does not "feel" for us AV companies. You're probably going to have to go out on a job for free from time to time and troubleshoot. But if this happens too often, you are draining your profit. Let’s do all we can to make money and avoid these issues.
5 comment(s) so far...
Re: Do You Get Paid to Troubleshoot AV Systems?
Great article Heather and a very good point. Troubleshooting is expensive! One thing I think is worth adding to the discussion is taking advantage of the various tools to troubleshoot or resolve the problem remotely. This can save a ton of time and money! In the end, if you do have to make a truck roll, at least you're not sending someone out there blind.
By Mr. ihiji on
11/5/2012 11:32 AM
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Re: Do You Get Paid to Troubleshoot AV Systems?
We have been making a concerted effort to charge for all non-warranty service calls. We have in the past been very lax in charging and have left too much money on the table. Using Zoho has been a great way for us to track service requests and make sure they have been invoiced for. When we do decide not to charge we now send a no charge invoice to show the client the value they are getting for free.
By Ben Forrester on
11/5/2012 3:52 PM
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Re: Do You Get Paid to Troubleshoot AV Systems?
The best way I know to solve this problem is to prevent most of the calls by planning for well-known problems in advance. Design the system to be robust, rather than "just acceptable". One that's easy to avoid is hum/buzz/ground-loop issues. If you understand how interfaces work, you'll know that a 50-foot run of unbalanced (i.e., RCA plug) audio is a noise problem waiting to happen. Budget for and install a ground loop isolator from the start. Ditto for CATV connections. In my experience, 90% of noise problems can be easily avoided this way. But CEDIA recently decided that my classes that teach the how and why of these problems has been deemed irrelevant to their education program. I guess they prefer the "plug-n-play" fantasy promoted by equipment makers (CEDIA sponsors) and the hasty/cheap/DEADLY "solutions" of cutting of grounding pins from power cords. Truly sad.
By Bill Whitlock on
11/6/2012 2:05 PM
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Re: Do You Get Paid to Troubleshoot AV Systems?
Thank you for your comments!
Mr. ihiji - Yes, I agree there are ways/tools/devices to troubleshoot over the phone. That could be an entire article in itself! Thank you for bringing it up
Ben - Go you. I'll have to look into Zoho. I love the idea of sending a no charge invoice.
Bill - Exactly. Do it once, Do it right! So many companies try to use the cheapest products and it ends badly. Sorry to hear about your class. Troubleshooting - and being good at it - is priceless!
By Heather on
11/7/2012 7:54 AM
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Re: Do You Get Paid to Troubleshoot AV Systems?
Troubleshooting is more important than ever within the residential systems industry. In the last 3 years, CEDIA has actually revised its existing troubleshooting course, and added a whole new half-day class on HDMI troubleshooting. You will also find a whole new chapter on the topic in the Second Edition of the Technical Reference Manual. Over the past 3 years we have been dealing with budgetary and time restrictions which have resulted in a large reduction in course offerings at EXPO. Now that attendance is back on the rise, the volunteers in professional development will be looking at which titles might have the most value to our members. I think a return of the ground loops class might be a good choice. In them meantime, I assure you we never suggest cutting off ground conductors, or using lifters. In fact our courseware makes this very clear and speaks directly to the use of isolation transformers when that is the appropriate solution.
By Jeff Gardner on
11/7/2012 12:09 PM
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