Is your office phone lighting up like a Christmas tree with emergency service calls? Welcome to the Holiday Surge. 

According to ACHR News, 44% of Americans — that’s 50 million households! — need emergency home services this time of year, starting with “Brown Friday” (the day after Thanksgiving when everyone’s disposals and drains clog up trying to handle the excess grease, gravy and table scraps) right on through New Year’s Day and into January here in the chilly Midwest.

Frozen pipes, clogged drains and disposals, furnaces that go on the fritz right before Grandma arrives for Christmas — you name most anything in plumbing and HVAC, it can and does fail around the holidays.

This surge in emergency calls couldn’t come at a worse time. Employees want to take their hard-earned PTO to enjoy the season with their families, snowstorms make it difficult for your techs who are on the job to reach your customers resulting in delays, the uptick in emergency calls — all of it can add stress and strain to an already-hectic time.

Here are some tips for navigating this hectic, difficult and wonderful season.

Customers may have a houseful of people taxing their drains, disposals, and even toilets and sinks beyond normal use. They’re cranking up the heat to accommodate Grandma, overloading their fridges and freezers with holiday fare, even doing more laundry than usual. If any of those systems were limping along before, overuse can push them over the edge.

Weather certainly plays a part, too. Temperatures can drop suddenly, freezing pipes and otherwise causing mayhem.

What you can do:

You’re in the midst of it now, so all you can do is make sure you’re staffed up to ride the wave. Next year, get ahead of it.

• Remind customers about the importance of pre-holiday maintenance.
• Run promotions offering discounts in the fall.
• Make sure you have extra stock on hand for emergencies, like filters, spare parts and other equipment your techs may need.
  

How to staff up without causing burnout

We get it. Everyone wants to take time off around the holidays. School plays and concerts, holiday parties with friends, going to see light displays, shopping, wrapping, cooking and baking — it’s a hectic, wonderful time of year that’s all about family and friends. Work sometimes takes a back seat. But not in the HVAC and plumbing business. You need all hands on deck.

ACHR news reports that 68% of Americans feel the holidays are the hardest time to get service for HVAC and plumbing, with one in three saying they’ve had negative experiences trying to get service at this time of year. You don’t want your customers to feel that way.

How can you keep enough staff on hand to accommodate customer needs without seeming like the Grinch?

What you can do:

Taking care of your employees during the holiday crunch is vital to morale and loyalty — and getting the job done.

• Holiday shifts don’t have to be based on seniority alone. Don’t automatically make the new guy or gal cover Christmas Eve. Ask your staff if anyone wants to work. There might be someone needs the bump in pay.
• About that bump in pay. Offer it. You can also sweeten the deal with extra PTO, gift cards or other small gestures of recognition and thanks.  
• Before you make the schedule for the week, ask your staff for black-out dates. They might have a child’s Christmas program or other daytime event to attend.
• This is the time for small gestures that mean a lot to your staff. Catered lunches, gift cards for local restaurants or even gas, cookies in the break room.
  

Managing customer demands

A backed-up toilet or non-functioning furnace is an emergency anytime. But when you pair it with the holidays, it can mean customer panic. Guests are arriving, parties are due to start, the house is cold and a grandchild is coming in a few hours — it’s a lot. And as we in the service industry know, it can lead to increased customer demands, high expectations and worse.

What you can do:

It’s about communication, clarity and calm.

• Let them know you’ve got this. Customer emotions can run high when they have a houseful coming for a party and no working toilet. Your confidence getting the job done on time can tone down that mood.
  
• Make sure you communicate response times clearly. It’s nearly impossible to tell customers exactly when you’ll arrive. But be as exact as you can be. This will do much to calm their fears.
• Provide transparent pricing. You may need to raise your rates during holiday times. Let your customers know what their charges are going to be. The fewer surprises, the better.
  

The holidays can be a hectic time, but remember, it’s also your time to be the hero when customers have emergencies.