Some business owners think a dispatcher’s only job is to clear the board — to make sure there are no calls left each day. Is this what you believe? If so, it’s time to update your thinking about how your dispatchers can help your business succeed.

Dispatchers Have a New Level of Importance

Today’s dispatchers have more responsibilities than they used to have in the 90s and early 2000s. Because there have been major software updates for businesses, and because technicians are more highly trained than they were 10-15 years ago, many business owners are tasking their dispatch team with making sure that every call getting sent to their technicians is one that fits the profile of each technician.

Some dispatch teams will go so far as to match the personality, temperament, and interests of the customer to the technician. Other dispatchers will focus on the opportunity available to the tech, based on the concern expressed by the customer. Regardless of how this matchmaking is happening, the important thing is that it’s happening. And if it’s not happening in your business, the time to put this process in place is now!

Recognizing the opportunities that exist in the dispatcher role will bring you more success. Period. Changing how your dispatchers handle calls can make more of an impact on your financial statements than almost any other small change in your business.

It Starts With Organization

Once you’ve decided to start using your dispatchers to benefit the company’s bottom line, how should you begin? Well, you’ll need to organize the tools and resources necessary for success.

First, create a call priority list. By creating this tool, you’ll begin to establish the importance of each call that comes to your team. Which calls could lead to more opportunities? Which calls are emergencies? Which calls could possibly wait until tomorrow? Once this is established, half of your work is done. Simply giving the highest-priority call available to the best available tech will cause an increase in performance across the board.

There! The easy part is done. Now, you get to move on to establishing who the best available technician is for each call.

You’ll need to determine your tech ranking list. This is simply a list of technicians; how you rank them is entirely up to you. Some contractors rank technicians solely on their ability to complete particular tasks. Others rank their technicians by their selling performance level. Still others determine tech rankings by using complicated formulas that would make Einstein green with envy.

It doesn’t matter how you rank your technicians, but it does matter that you rank them, and that you do it consistently. Make sure your dispatchers have the most recent copy of your tech ranking list. Even better: have your dispatchers compile the technician ranking list themselves. That way, the dispatchers will feel a sense of ownership over this new system.

After developing the call priority list and the technician ranking list, your dispatchers will now be set to start plugging the calls into the system in the proper sequence.

And there you have it: the formula for a new level of success!

The Service Manager Needs To Be Around

Now that your dispatchers are matching the right call with the right technician, it’s time to talk about your service manager. He or she will play an important role in your new success, too.

In the past, it’s possible that you frequently saw your service manager loitering around your dispatchers, waiting for a chance to pounce on a call for a specific technician. But no more! Now that you have your call priority list and your technician ranking list, your service manager will be free to focus on coaching and training technicians. They can be confident in the tools and resources that have been developed by the dispatch team to allow the right call to go to the right technician.

I encourage your dispatch team to track their results with this new system, complete with a starting baseline for the average daily revenue, as well as the average tickets for each technician. Your leadership team will be excited to watch both of these metrics start to grow – quickly at first, and then leveling out to a steady growth over time.

To all the dispatchers out there: good luck on your new role within the company! I can’t wait to hear about your successes!

Some business owners think a dispatcher’s only job is to clear the board — to make sure there are no calls left each day. Is this what you believe? If so, it’s time to update your thinking about how your dispatchers can help your business succeed.

Dispatchers Have a New Level of Importance

Today’s dispatchers have more responsibilities than they used to have in the 90s and early 2000s. Because there have been major software updates for businesses, and because technicians are more highly trained than they were 10-15 years ago, many business owners are tasking their dispatch team with making sure that every call getting sent to their technicians is one that fits the profile of each technician.

Some dispatch teams will go so far as to match the personality, temperament, and interests of the customer to the technician. Other dispatchers will focus on the opportunity available to the tech, based on the concern expressed by the customer. Regardless of how this matchmaking is happening, the important thing is that it’s happening. And if it’s not happening in your business, the time to put this process in place is now!

Recognizing the opportunities that exist in the dispatcher role will bring you more success. Period. Changing how your dispatchers handle calls can make more of an impact on your financial statements than almost any other small change in your business.

It Starts With Organization

Once you’ve decided to start using your dispatchers to benefit the company’s bottom line, how should you begin? Well, you’ll need to organize the tools and resources necessary for success.

First, create a call priority list. By creating this tool, you’ll begin to establish the importance of each call that comes to your team. Which calls could lead to more opportunities? Which calls are emergencies? Which calls could possibly wait until tomorrow? Once this is established, half of your work is done. Simply giving the highest-priority call available to the best available tech will cause an increase in performance across the board.

There! The easy part is done. Now, you get to move on to establishing who the best available technician is for each call.

You’ll need to determine your tech ranking list. This is simply a list of technicians; how you rank them is entirely up to you. Some contractors rank technicians solely on their ability to complete particular tasks. Others rank their technicians by their selling performance level. Still others determine tech rankings by using complicated formulas that would make Einstein green with envy.

It doesn’t matter how you rank your technicians, but it does matter that you rank them, and that you do it consistently. Make sure your dispatchers have the most recent copy of your tech ranking list. Even better: have your dispatchers compile the technician ranking list themselves. That way, the dispatchers will feel a sense of ownership over this new system.

After developing the call priority list and the technician ranking list, your dispatchers will now be set to start plugging the calls into the system in the proper sequence.

And there you have it: the formula for a new level of success!

The Service Manager Needs To Be Around

Now that your dispatchers are matching the right call with the right technician, it’s time to talk about your service manager. He or she will play an important role in your new success, too.

In the past, it’s possible that you frequently saw your service manager loitering around your dispatchers, waiting for a chance to pounce on a call for a specific technician. But no more! Now that you have your call priority list and your technician ranking list, your service manager will be free to focus on coaching and training technicians. They can be confident in the tools and resources that have been developed by the dispatch team to allow the right call to go to the right technician.

I encourage your dispatch team to track their results with this new system, complete with a starting baseline for the average daily revenue, as well as the average tickets for each technician. Your leadership team will be excited to watch both of these metrics start to grow – quickly at first, and then leveling out to a steady growth over time.

To all the dispatchers out there: good luck on your new role within the company! I can’t wait to hear about your successes!