Astounding Service Starts Inside |
What the Astounding Service Technician Does |
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Friday, November 13, 2020
9:00 am - 10:00 am Presented by: Vicki LaPlant
Ultimate service for the customer begins with the inside staff. This webinar aids the inside staff on seeing their value and impact on the profitability of the company. The additional cost of running a business, besides payroll is illustrated. The customer's service experience begins with how inside staff handles the phone call, schedules the service call and establishes needs and expectations in the customer's mind. The inside staff is key in establishing the need for maintenance agreements, extended warranties and accessories in the mind of the customer. The webinar focuses on how the customer, the company and the inside staff benefit from providing astounding customer service. |
Friday, December 11, 2020
9:00 am - 10:00 am Presented by: John LaPlant
Ultimate service continues with service technicians. This webinar is for technicians and installers aids employees in seeing their value and impact on the profitability of the company. The additional cost of running a business, besides payroll, is illustrated as well as the costs of losing a customer and call backs. Participants also see how educating the customer about accessories - such as IAQ products, surge protectors and maintenance agreements - provide a win for the customer, the company and the technician. |
Fees
Meet the Speakers
John LaPlant and Vicki LaPlant
Service Nation
Service Nation
John LaPlant |
Vicki LaPlant |
John graduated from the University of Iowa in 1969 with a B.S. in pre-med. He obtained a Masters in Education from the University of Iowa in 1971.
John went to work for Lennox Industries in Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1972, in the Job Related Training Department teaching and developing technical training courses for heating and air conditioning dealers and their personnel. He managed the training department from 1981–1983. During his tenure in the training department, he developed and taught technical courses for installers and service technicians. He also helped develop and teach the first business management course that Lennox launched for its dealer organization. In 1983, John went into outside sales for Lennox in Atlanta, Georgia. He called on service contractors, commercial contractors, architects and engineers and managed a territory in excess of $2 million. In 1985, he was moved to Dallas, Texas, where he was given a new territory and doubled it in two years. In 1987, John moved to a corporate position as Quality Services Manager to oversee the quality improvement process deployment in Lennox' three subsidiaries. He helped facilitate the start of a quality improvement process, the formation and management of teams and facilitated the team activities and training. In 1989, John became the Director of Strategic Planning, where he worked to establish a long-term, short-term planning process. The emphasis was to create a focus on the customer and to establish best-practices standards. In 1991, John left Lennox to start his own investment business, where he has been able to generate a 15% net-net-net return on his personal portfolio. This provides him with in-depth knowledge for financial management seminars. In 1997, John began developing and conducting dealer training courses for VLE Enterprises in the areas of business management, sales training, and customer service. In that time, he has personally conducted training for over 5,500 students. |
Vicki graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 1975 with a B.A. in education and English. She taught English and speech in Cedar Hill High School from 1975–1979.
Vicki went to work for Lennox Industries in 1979 in the education department. She wrote and edited technical training courses for heating and air conditioning contractors. She also helped develop business management, marketing and sales training courses for contractors, which she also taught. In 1983, she became the manager of the education department and oversaw the expansion of business training and the development of technical training through new media such as video. In 1989, she became the Director of Dealer Development for Lennox. This was a new department designed to provide customized programs and support to a dealer's business and marketing efforts. In 1991, she became Vice-President of Dealer Development and was responsible for overseeing 30 company-employed consultants who provided one-on-one consultation to Lennox heating and air conditioning contractors across the United States. In addition, she oversaw the development of a complete set of procedural manuals for dealership management. In 1993, Vicki became Vice-President of Marketing for Lennox where she supervised a staff of 80 people and a $25-million advertising and promotion budget. She was responsible for conducting an advertising agency review and the hiring of a new advertising agency that totally revamped Lennox' consumer advertising strategy and appearance. In addition, she oversaw the re-positioning of Lennox' residential product line to make it more consumer focused and broaden its consumer appeal. In 1995, Vicki started her own company – VLE Enterprises. The training and consulting company is primarily focused on providing training and consulting to the owners and employees of heating, air conditioning and plumbing contractors and distributors. She has written textbooks, created training aids and scripted videos to facilitate the learning process. These materials and aids are used in the training courses conducted by VLE Enterprises. Vicki is currently serving on the Editorial Advisory Board of Contracting Business Magazine. Since 1996, VLE Enterprises has successfully conducted training for over 7,500 heating, air conditioning and plumbing contractors and their employees. |