Day in the Life of a Service Technician
Chad asked Shawn, what does a typical day look like for you at Doug Lacey's Basement Systems?
"I start my day by jumping in my 2015 Ford Transit 250 company vehicle. You might ask why I get to take home a company vehicle every night, am I special? I wish it was that easy but the truth is, when I have a company vehicle at home it means I was on emergency call. I was the one that would have to work in the middle of the night if a family needed my help. So I guess I am special in a round about way!
Sorry back to the story, after driving to work in my company Transit I prepare for my day. My day will consist of either 3 or 4 homeowner visits with existing customers, they either have sump pumps that need maintenance or filter change outs for dehumidifiers and furnaces or re-tightening of Geo-Lock wall anchors to help achieve the goal of a straight wall. I normally carry 3-5 battery back-up sump pumps, 10 new pumps in 3 different styles and one new dehumidifier with me at all times. If I needed any of these products or any everyday service required products, I would restock them first thing in the morning.
Communication is everything to our service team at Doug Lacey's Basement systems. When I am ready for the day, I check in with the service team. We must turn over our inspection and services logs from the day before, any warranties that apply from the previous day and all other company and personal administration that is needed. We also use a electronic data base and our own service log data base that allows us to access any information from the past 28 years the company has been in business.
I like my job because I prevent small problems from turning into big ones. I just went to a house that had a old check valve that had not been changed in a long time. There was rust all over the threads and the flapper was turned sideways and was not even stopping the water. This would have blew the pump eventually or worse case, flood the basement. Small overlooked things may be small, but when the result is a flooded basement because of lack of maintenance it turns into a really big thing fast. And to think a new check valve is covered in the service charge, it’s basically free!
A perfect day for me is when I walk out of a customers home and they feel safe again. Peace of mind is priceless so I feel great being able to give some of that back. When I go home at the end of the day knowing I didn’t just give one customer back their peace of mind but a minimum of three customers back that feeling, I then think I had a perfect day.
If I am not working then you would probably find me out on a motorcycle. Winter is coming so the days are slowly turning into ski season. We work year round in the service department with rain storms and winter Chinooks, so any sport or outside activity you might find me at."
Shawn Jones started out in the Polylevel concrete leveling division and trained to become a service technician with in his first year with the company. He has been servicing homeowners for one full year and has visited more than 720 homes since then.
