by Deon Snider TD&C
It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.
Johann Wolfgang von Geothe
Dispatchers are the goalie of the service department. They are responsible
for keeping the ball in motion while guarding against others “scoring against us”. They are constantly faced with an on slot of phone calls from customers, phone calls from techs, phone calls from NAC, phone calls from suppliers and purchasers, dealing with demands from service managers, hard-headedness of technicians, stacks of work orders to be processed, schedules to be established and followed, and now have the added pressure of handling all of this in a manner that would be considered Fit and Tight. Wow…!!!! What an awesome challenge….!!!!
The dispatcher is the first point of contact our customers have when placing a service call. They are “the voice” of FSG that conveys competence and confidence. By skillfully quizzing the customer for pertinent information, the dispatcher assesses the need and urgency of the call, quickly deduces the work load of the department and schedules the call accordingly. All of this within the first two to three minutes of the initial contact. The next step is entering all pertinent info into the computer. With the speed and accuracy of a “world cup” player, they must ensure special materials are in hand, coordinate special equipment and the “right” technician who is best equipped to take the call. Juggling the schedule to adapt to the ever changing prioritized calls, the dispatcher must remain aware of the needs of each and every customer and stay in constant communication to keep them informed of when and how FSG will meet their needs. The most successful dispatchers handle all of these responsibilities (and more) in a manner as to convey not only expertise but also compassion for the needs of the customers. The skill and grace in which they handle our customers is a reassurance that they have made the RIGHT CHOICE to turn to FSG for their electrical service needs.
Now that receiving the call is handled, the dispatcher kicks the ball in play by remembering to communicate each pertinent piece of information to the tech, ensuring that the tech is fully equipped and prepared to handle the service call and sending them on their way. On occasions the tech arrives at the customer’s location and deduces that additional work is needed, he then communicates the additional information to the dispatcher who must secure a price quote for he customer, secure approval to proceed, and begin the cycle all over again until the call is completed. Once the call is complete, the tech turns in all paperwork, at that time the dispatcher / admin must enter payroll, materials for inventory, and complete the call by producing the invoice to the customer. All of this occurs an average of 437 times a month.
So far we have only considered the regular customer generated service calls. Now let’s add into the mix, National Account Central calls.
In recent Peer to Peer Meetings, we have recently identified and defined all of the steps required to handle a single NAC work order, These unique work orders require in excess of 123 steps, while not all of the 123 steps are handled by the dispatcher, rest assure that in the middle of these 123 steps is the service dispatcher…. Much more diligence and expertise is required to communicate and coordinate NAC calls.
So… Hat’s off to our dispatchers who excel in their duties. We are working to publish the SLA and Fit and Tight Rankings of the service departments. If you want to know which branches and dispatchers are the MVP’s of the company… click HERE to see the FSG Scoreboard, Currently, we are able to show the rankings of the SLA’s for each branch. The rankings shown are as of month end (last month), we are working to make them live. To help the branch be Fit and Tight, we all need to review the and check off the month end check list. (Click Here).
Once the Dispacher is able to keep our service managers happy, our salesmen happy, our technicians happy, and most of all our customers happy… Wow.. when this occurs, the dispatcher truly deserves the “World Cup Trophy”.
It is simple to join a P2P group, if you are interested in participating in the P2P – Dispatchers group, simply contact Deon or your Division Manager. We will confirm that this is the right P2P for you and you will be signed up and start receiving invitations for all future meetings. It’s that easy!!!