Temperzone tech support...
Where experience counts!
What are you looking for when you call a Technical Support Centre? Help from someone who really knows their subject… or a call centre employee struggling with a so-called fault-finding chart? The answer’s pretty obvious – and it’s one of the reasons why Temperzone’s reputation in the industry is so strong. As Temperzone Australia’s National Service Manager Mark Howcroft explains, the staff at the end of the phone have decades of experience between them – and experience makes all the difference.
When it comes to technical questions about air conditioning systems, Mark Howcroft and his team have probably heard just about every one before. Mark says that his tight-knit team of three can call on a total of 73 years experience in the air conditioning industry.
Mark’s own experience would be hard to beat – he’s been with Temperzone for 32 years! After serving his apprenticeship as a refrigeration mechanic, Mark took charge of all warranty service in the Sydney metropolitan area. But his travels were to become far wider.
“I’ve traveled as far as China to solve service issues,” says Mark, “because when we say we look after our customers, we mean it.”
Mark is ably backed up by Tony Vizza and Dave Stanley. Both men are qualified technicians who worked in various roles in Temperzone’s Australian manufacturing plant before joining the technical support team.
Top level service for all equipment
“My aim has always been to provide he very best level of service for all equipment, old or new,” says Mark Howcroft. “In fact, we receive countless enquiries about very old equipment that is still out there and working.” Mark adds, “It’s a huge advantage to our customers when they discover they are being helped by someone who not only knows how the products are engineered and manufactured, but also has the ability to service the equipment themselves.”
Dave Stanley
Pinpointing problems
The Temperzone technical Support team can usually pinpoint service problems very quickly. Mark Howcroft says that problems generally fall into one of two areas – refrigeration or control/electricals – and that his team members understand both. “With just a few simple questions, we can guide callers through the issues so we can identify the key problem and help them rectify it,” says Howcroft.
Different services for different customers
In a typical day, the tech support team members have to be able to think on their feet, because the level of technical knowledge required and the types of questions asked varies greatly from phone call to phone call.
“We find we’re called on to answer very different questions depending on who we’re talking to – from consumers to installers, service technicians and specialist consultants.”
At one end of the spectrum, end users may simply be having difficulty using an unfamiliar product. This is often the case when a householder moves into a home with an existing Temperzone air conditioning unit for which the owner’s manual has long been lost. Issues like this pose no problems for an engineer who was probably around when the unit was first installed.
Installers and service technicians approach the team with different kinds of problems. Mark Howcroft and the team appreciate that while the answer to questions such as ‘How much refrigerant should I use?’ can probably be found in the service manual or published data, an installer or technician working on-site is dealing with time pressures and needs a quick answer. “We understand that and do our best to help,” says Howcroft.
Consultants are another story. “With consultants, we aim to build personal relationships based on trust. They will often call us to confirm hat a particular product is suitable for a specific application. They feel that as technical experts we are at arm’s length from the sales process, and they’re comfortable with that.”
Tony Vizza
A solution for every problem
Most of the issues the technical support team deal with are fairly straight forward. Yet sometimes they come across a ‘curly’ one that really tests them. But according to Mark Howcroft, there as never been a problem with a Temperzone product they haven’t been able to solve.
Sometimes a question calls for more than technical skills – diplomacy is called for too. Mark recalls the day he answered a call from a fairly irate technician. No matter how hard he tried to pinpoint the problem, Mark was getting nowhere. “The guy was starting to get more than a little abrupt. I asked him if he could give me a model number or serial number, but he didn’t know either. The conversation continued, but still we got nowhere. Nothing seemed to make sense when trying to work out the electricals. When I again asked for the model he started getting abusive and asked for my name. Why? He wanted to ring the head of… you guessed it, another air conditioning company. ‘Sorry,’ I replied, ‘but you’ve rung Temperzone.’ No wonder I couldn’t make sense of the problem!”
Hitachi support too
The Temperzone team’s immediate challenge is to deliver the same level of support to Hitachi customers. With the Hitachi product range now part of Temperzone’s product offering in Australia, the team is in the process of being expanded “Two Hitachi product specialists are about to join the team,” explains Howcroft. “This will ensure that Temperzone levels of technical support are available to Hitachi customers now and in the future.”
