Let me start by addressing the two elephants in the room.
Concerns that bog the advances of all repair field entrants. Psychological factors that press aspirants to reconsider their choice of vocation. Unaccustomed, as they are, to knowing what fares in the domain (and what doesn’t).
Cell phone repair, for one, is not a walk in the park. And this assessment holds true for the typical working day to the productive year. Take it from someone who’s been in the space for the last two decades.
Yes – there are times when you want to throw your repair implements at someone close. Moments when a customer might be proving a bit too unreasonable. Or the business’s phone repair shop software might stop functioning.
The lure of monies to be made, however, is another matter. And if the enterprising tech can surmount the above mountain, they stand a good chance of tapping into this gold.
So, in nutshell, it is these two goalposts that every field worker has to aspire towards.
I aim to discuss both issues at length as we go forward. And if you’re a domain hopeful, you really want to imbibe this narration.
Stress, Heart- & Soul-Ache: The Trio that Kills
Now, I don’t want you to be put off by the language used here – we vets do like to exaggerate a bit. But if I were to be honest about it, these attainments really do come as part of the repair territory. Unavoidable scourges that can’t be done away with; no matter the measures taken.
You can’t hope to be proactive against the essential nature of the trade.
Think about it.
A typical day in cellular device repair, automated by phone repair shop software (the going norm these days), is a pain. Both for the repair business owner(s) and the tech(s) charged with the commission.
Sometimes, especially if the former also start to react, the domain can become the same for the customer. When this happens, the expected tirade – the more stressful ‘cherry on top’ – takes place. And if this occurrence is not checked tactfully, the rift can spiral out of control.
If all this morose wasn’t enough, there’s also the issue of a systemic lack of appreciation to consider.
Over the years, the picture of the sullen tech has become something of a pop-culture cliche. An image that most expect is what awaits all entrants to the field. And as stereotypes go, I would contend that there is some truth in this reality snap.
Repair techs, for one, armed – whether or not – with repair shop software, are largely under-appreciated. Their work, especially in the developing world (and contrary to what is observed in Western Europe), is categorized as ‘odd’. The kind of labor done squarely to make ends meet on the side of a ‘proper’ occupation. What we Americans would refer to as a ‘side hustle’.
Now, as a field insider, I can state with practiced certainty that this certainly isn’t the case. The repetition is intentional.
It’s not the fate of the specialist vets in the trade, at any rate. Folks like micro-solderers and valve technicians who command more in monetary yields than most white-collar jobs. Provided they commit to a certain threshold number of relevant repair gigs within a given period.
Still, the respect that is their due is lacking. And across the Atlantic and beyond the Mediterranean, this situation only gets worse.
This largely mental morose has generally led to repair techs falling prey to a range of illnesses. These range from the long-term attainments of anxiety disorders to full-blown behavioral issues.
When the Currency Starts to Pour
People in the know will be familiar with this – the problem that ensues when the money starts raining. This decay is also psychological but in the reverse sense. Because here, the busied tech does not know how to stop. The point where the man turns into a machine; fuelled only by the gleam of currency – by the instigations of point of sales software (that facilitates the taking).
When this happens, and the tech takes no steps to ward off the fall, one can expect more breakdowns. Fortune downturns of the sort that render the worker unwelcome in any social setting. Isolated, as it were, in a repair bubble; unable to cope with the calling of anything else. Culminating in a complete disregard for the all-important work/life balance.
Over the years, I’ve come across many promising techs who’ve fallen to this ‘dark side’. People who started out as exuberant, happy-go-luckys’. Only to be turned into empty-eyed, drone-like, automatons – with little to no animation.
In this scenario, it is only a minority of techs who stay clear of this one-way current. The lucky few who manage to rake in the cash without devolving into their lesser selves.
To combat this snare for the betterment of newcomers, some of my colleagues and I have started to provide coaching to field aspirants. Our focus is on imparting practical coping skills that help to prevent this eventuality from taking root.
Working Towards Betterment: A Remedy Proposition
For starters, I think any move geared towards a qualitative field improvement has to espouse centralization. A step-by-step systematization where field certification comes as the norm. The setting of a new standard where no one is allowed to operate without proper licensing: formal demonstration of field/specialist prowess.
The good news on this front is that several phone repair shop software companies, interestingly, have promulgated an interesting measure. An inclusion that is not a direct action per se, but something that leads to self-sought rehabilitation.
I’m talking about the wealth of psychologically effective prompts (of tips) on these interfaces that beckon improvements.
So there you have it.
My take on what a typical day in cell phone repair looks like – and the regression it can foster.
If you’ve got a different vantage on this issue, feel free to dish in the comments below.
