Les Fork returns to the podcast to discuss on-call rotations. He explains why being on call is necessary and how you can make the most of it.

We are supposed to be on call for the sake of customer service; when a customer has an emergency, it's best for the customer (and the business) when someone is available to respond to the emergency. Of course, many of us dread being on call (although the paycheck might be quite nice).

You may only have one or a few techs on call, so it can be difficult to take on all of the customers each day. Although it's generally okay to speed up a bit and be less thorough, you should still be working to fix the issue at hand and tell the customer if the system needs further inspection in the future; it's also a great opportunity to propose a maintenance plan. The system should be working, the compressor should be running, and the capacitor should not be over-amping.

Some companies may offer 24-hour service, and others may not. If your company offers 24-hour service, you may indeed be on call at all hours of the day and night. It makes more sense to offer 24-hour service to commercial customers, though you can certainly offer it to a residential market. Overall, it might not be best to advertise 24-hour service because you may draw in price shoppers. (You're also at liberty NOT to offer service after hours.)

Les and Bryan also discuss:

• Managing anger and being professional
• Empathy
• Billable vs. non-billable hours
• Order of inspection
• Scheduling and prioritizing customers
• Walking customers through frozen coils
• Money talk: warranties and call-out fees
• Cleaning drains
• Tip ethics and etiquette
• Collecting payment

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