Joshua Colon joined Field Nation with more than 10 years of field service experience. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Joshua kick-started his business by helping Puerto Rico rebuild. Not only did he find value in his work, he found meaning. Now, Joshua encourages other technicians to do the same.

Background

In 2008, Joshua started working in the field service industry; however, when the jobs started drying up, he turned to Field Nation to gain more traction.

Shortly after, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico devastating the island. To help businesses that were damaged by the storm get back on track, Joshua used Field Nation to find and accept work in the area. Joshua was ready to use his skills to help rebuild his community.

“Let me tell you – there was a lot of work,” Joshua says. “Most companies had to tear down everything. Take all their equipment out. All the merchandise had to come out and they had to clean the area.”

The abundance of repair maintenance requested only motivated Joshua. Even when the internet signal on the island was spotty, Joshua went the extra mile by driving to metro areas to get a signal so he could find and accept jobs via Field Nation’s platform.

Throughout the rebuilding of Puerto Rico, Joshua was alongside businesses of all types, helping in any way he knew how. Not only did Joshua make a significant difference for thousands of Puerto Ricans he also expanded his skill set.

Going the extra mile

Joshua credits much of his success in the last year to his constant desire to go the extra mile for his clients.

“Clients give me a lot of trust to resolve their issues, but communication is the vital factor that helped me succeed,” Joshua says. “A lot of what lead to my success is the communication with my clients. Those soft skills.”

Those skills not only helped Joshua get more work last year, but they’ve helped him increase his rates and build quality relationships with numerous clients around Puerto Rico.

“I try to keep it professional and always be helpful in any way I can,” Joshua says. “Being polite, being respectful, and just working like a human is the best way to build relationships.”

Being professional on-site

Being professional is one of the best ways to land more work, build more relationships with clients, and increase the quality of jobs a technician gets on a regular basis.

Joshua found several ways professionalism helped him scale his business in 2018.

“I try to communicate with clients on different levels. Not just work, but also on a personal level,” Joshua says. “Perhaps there was something we spoke about before, a concern they had. So I try to be understanding and ask them how everything went on their last project.”

Remembering those details and being personable go a long way to building client relationships that last. But more importantly, the way technicians carry themselves on-site while they’re working through an order can make a big difference.

“Personal appearance, attire, is also very important. You need to be clean, you need to be neat,” Joshua says. “I’m going there, I’m going to do my best work. I’m doing the work they asked me to do and not slack off.”

Building a reputation

Technicians new to Field Nation sometimes struggle with landing their first jobs. It can be difficult to get work when your profile doesn’t have any ratings yet. Joshua was in the same boat when he started, but he found a few ways to get over that and start getting work.

“When I was starting, I had no experience visible on the platform. I didn’t have any stars in the Field Nation platform. I was overlooked by many companies,” Joshua says. “I kept giving my best, kept taking jobs, and that’s how I was able to reach a level where I was able to counter-offer.”

Getting to the point of counter-offering and increasing pay-rates is important for many technicians. But, even then, it’s important to know how to approach clients in a way that leads to more opportunities.

The more quality work technicians do on the platform, the easier it is for them to gain skills and experience that pushes them to the top of the list in their field. This allows them to increase their pay rates, find more jobs, and expand their skill set over time.

“They start seeing your five-star performance,” Joshua says. “Basically, you want to shine on those different aspects. You want to be on time. You want to be able to do the work that’s required. Once you do that, you’ll be able to keep growing in the platform.”

Growing with Field Nation

Growing a business on Field Nation’s platform goes beyond completing work orders. It allows technicians to gain new skills, build their client list, and increase their income over time.

“My main work is through Field Nation. That’s why I consider it one of the biggest things for me. It’s an app I use every day,” Joshua says.

After completing over 200 work orders on the platform last year, Joshua is setting his sights on bigger goals.

“I am continuing to grow my client base,” Joshua says. “But I hope to keep getting more technicians onto Field Nation so I’m able to expand and introduce even more workers to the platform. I’ll let them take care of the projects and I’ll help them. And then keep expanding to new avenues of work. Perhaps even in another country.”