The value of service technicians

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Permalink Reply by Ed Barstow on February 14, 2009 at 12:06pm

No idea what their compensation is....probably not what it should be..they are an extremely valuable part of our success as sales people who work for full service suppliers..I appreciate the job they do

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Permalink Reply by Rick Williams on February 16, 2009 at 4:49pm

I have three service technicians in my area that I have a good deal of interaction with and they are invaluable. All of them care deeply about their customers and play a big role when an office needs to make equipment purchases. The service tech can make or break a nice deal for you. So for Ken and Zack from Patterson and Lloyd from Benco, you guys rock!

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Permalink Reply by Ricklin on February 17, 2009 at 12:29pm

Service techs are underpaid, and generally underappreciated. Since I spend time in both roles, and have for many years I know of which I speak. The best thing that could happen for service techs is a national organization. There are a lot of guys (and a few gals) out there. As individuals they have no power.
While unions are pretty much dead and gone if one looks at Dental service techs a strong case can be made for a national organization (a union of sorts) to negotiate from a position of power.

Techs will continue to be underpaid, and nothing will change until that occurs.

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Permalink Reply by Stefan A. Gefter on February 20, 2009 at 2:46pm

Hi All,

I replied to the original post, but was surprise that it was pulled given the important issues it raised. Here are my US$0.02 on the matter:

Service techs are a valuable part of the customer satisfaction process. Additionally, they are often the eyes-and-ears of the organization, where the doctor may confide more in them than their sales rep.

Service techs are too often underappreciated by salespeople and management. At the same time, they should not brood or otherwise be resentful of salespeople or management because we all work hard, just in different ways. As with any employee, service techs need to find the right fit of environment and compensation where they can thrive. The gentleman who posted the original message had obviously not found his ideal situation.

It shouldn't be automatically assumed that Management will compensate sales techs for sales they make while servicing a customer. A tech's job is to fix things, not necessarily to sell. If a technician feels they should be compensated for creating a sales opportunity, then they need to address the issue with Management directly.

Stefan

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Permalink Reply by Troy McLure on February 26, 2009 at 9:47pm

I'm not high enough on the food chain to decide who gets paid what. That said, a negative service experience improperly handled can lead an office to stop doing business with you and your company. Some retail reps and equipment reps are prima donnas- they don't give respect, they just demand it for themselves. If an office of mine has positive experience with one of our techs, I make sure to document it in an email to their immediate supervisor and the branch manager. I also call the tech after a call to see how things went. I want to know if the doctor and the staff were respectful of my service technician. It is not uncommon to have a doctor will rely on tecnician's reccomndation (they are in "service") over a sales person's (who is in "sales"). Some of the best qualified leads come from your service tech. It might be good theatre to see offices rely on a mail-order to address service needs. LMAO

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Permalink Reply by ROBIN REYNOLDS on February 27, 2009 at 10:45am

Good idea from Ricklin ! Maybe he should start the service tech national organization ! This is the ideal place to begin and Rick could be the Grand Poobah !

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Permalink Reply by Josh Peterson on February 27, 2009 at 1:36pm

The value of a service tech becomes almost impossible for a company to compansate once a tech finds out what his own value is worth...when you work for a monster and youve been there a bit and your pretty handy guy and you have good habits,like showing up on time,get into the job,repair the problem,seek out alternatives for the staff and Dr so they can do some maintance to avoid problem in the future, clean up after yourself, fill out the paperwork, check the oil in the compressor, make sure there are no other items before you leave,drifting xrays? leaky sygs? sign out and head out to the next call...you are the bomb jiggity,boss loves ya, customers love ya,sales rep loves ya....Then the raise comes and its 3% year after year...Service loses money..merchindise reps get paid based on thier sales, they deserve every damn dime they get..THEY WORK...Equipment guys get the pretty good lead in,either from the merchindise person or the service tech, tough job,but hey guess what the guy was gonna buy a pan anyways and he probably bought it from your company cause of the merchindise person or the service guy or the price....and they get there commision drivin salary...if a tech wants a raise,you call the other guys,patterson - schein - burkhardt- whomever your not workin with and get your new deal, go back to the old boss and tell him its been fun and i understand you cant do better then 3% no hard feelings, i gotta get over to this other place and there gonna start me at 12% better then what im doin now,in the same territory with another hungry merchindise rep....and then its over one way or the other that tech just got a 12% raise,weather his old company matchs or he grabs up and head over to another company....OR they call around and look at the other side of doin thier own biz,visting thier doctors and askin for support of his new service / parts / equipment company and venture out that way. Service techs are the only guys who walk into the back door of a dental office, while all the reps are talking to the receptionist, service techs are the guys who can walk up to the doctor while he is actually drilling on a patient and say..Doc,after i put the fire out i noticed the 20 year old relays on the xray are fried and cant be replaced,we have a new 770 in stock for $3800 and the warehouse guy is having it delivered here today with an installer, Im gonna take this one down and get it ready for him" I met a plumber years ago that worked for rooter router that was outside a neighbors house at lunch time digging an access hole and running cleanout lines to get them takin care of, I came back a 6pm and the guy was still there..i asked him about his work habits and he told me about thier pay plan,which wasnt all the complex, he rents thier truck, they call him and schedule for him his own territory, they pay him a gradually growing billable rate based only on his calls, this was 20 years ago, so the rate was 40 bucks and hour, the first hour was split 80/20 to the company favor, by the 5th billable hour and every hour after that it had grown to a 80/20 split into the plumbers favor....so when he got a call at 4:00 on wednesday afternoon he could do the call that day when he was on the fat side, or put if off till tomorrow when the billable was on the fat side of the company...that guy made a lot of calls after 4:00...i bet most hard working techs would rather have this format then the set rate, i think patterson/schein charger somewhere around 180 bucks an hour now.....Josh

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Permalink Reply by Merv Tonkin on March 1, 2009 at 12:36pm

"Good" Service Techs either move up within their company, or go on their own. Regardless: they are usually more appreciated by the Doctors that by their own managers. These days, A smart startup store will build from the service department up.
A sharp motivated Tech will usually become a sharp motivated Equipment Rep, or Territory Salesman. It is however, especially hard to stay motivated in the Service Dept, because it's such a grueling and dirty job. ( I.E. the mechanical room or cabinet installations)
For that reason too many capable technicians become disheveled and de-motivated. A smart manager should keep a pathway open from service to sales, or into High tech support.

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Permalink Reply by Ricklin on March 13, 2009 at 11:36am

I found the earlier comment interesting, IE: service department loosing money. Oldest trick in the book IMHO. When I was a service manager that was always the tune I heard, and it's not accurate. A well run service department makes money, pure and simple.
I proved this point to my store manager, I started "billing" the eq. department for installation of new eq. and removal of old. All just on paper. And it only took about a month or two of my guys writing up an "invoice" for their install time. They all understood and were even enthusiastic about writing up the invoices, when was the last time a tech was "enthusiastic" about paperwork?
I did not hear about our department loosing money again. My guys got more respect, it did open a few eyes. I would guess that the big companies do something similar to this now, but I'm talkin twenty+ years ago

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Permalink Reply by Martin M Eichelman, Jr on March 16, 2009 at 5:54pm

I would say a good service tech is hard to find and even harder to keep. And I consider myself one. I am an owner/operator of a technical service company, have installed/upgraded/supported quite a variety of dental hardware and software, and count more than a few Doctors that rely on me for everything from the digital x-ray systems to their personal cell phones. I've also seen my fair share of end results from not so good service techs.

Relationships with retail and equipment reps are hard to come by, as most seem to already be working with someone. For good or bad, however, the technology going into dental practices isn't very advanced compared to larger businesses. This leaves the door open for less skilled service techs to "just get it working" or put a band-aid on the problem only to have it ripped off shortly afterward. And since no one other than service techs actually understands what should be done, everyone's left questioning the technology.

Compenstation? I set my rates, so I'm comfortable with my compensation. A good tech paid by the hour at a service/support company? I'm my experience they don't stay long. They go out on their own or find higher paying positions at bigger companies.

Respected by the reps? Again, in my experience, it depends on the rep. Some seem to "get it" that a good service tech can be very valuable. Others seem to have no interest; you're just "the help".

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Permalink Reply by AV on March 29, 2009 at 12:17pm

I am an independent dealer based in North Jersey. I am interested in getting into the equipment line of the industry. Can anyone suggest or recommend how to get started? Plus how does one find a good and reliable service technician? Plus is it a good time to get into this side of the industry given the current economic situation?

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