I’ve been a busy person including quite a lot of travel the last couple of months. Frankfurt, Germany; upstate New Jersey; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Gatlinburg, TN and Myrtle Beach, SC. Read More
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The HVAC industry is changing rapidly. Are you keeping up?
The days of highly successful HVAC retail contractors that solely concentrate their businesses on installing and/or replacing equipment are doomed! No, I’m not predicting they will all be out of business, but I am predicting many will be and the others will certainly not be as successful as they have been.
Simply replacing older 10 and 12 SEER equipment with new 16 and higher SEER equipment is doing an injustice to the customer. As I have said for many years equipment is only a component of an HVAC system. It is not the system. Today’s customers are much better informed than ever before. They not only deserve more, they expect more. As an example, the days of replacing equipment while the ductwork continues to leak air is over.
The Internet has changed everything. Websites worldwide are approaching 300 million in number. There are over 3 billion assigned email addresses. Consumers now spend time searching and learning. How do we know this? All we have to do is listen to them and interact with them and it won’t take long to realize how knowledgeable they now are compared to only a few years ago. We also know that 92% of consumers’ purchase decisions are made after they have searched the Internet. They not only learn from the Internet. They also learn from talking to HVAC retail contractors that have recognized where the industry is headed and have changed their companies.
Those leading edge HVAC retail contractors seal and when appropriate replace ductwork. That alone has become big business and good business. Improperly sized, improperly installed and improperly sealed ductwork is everywhere. They are offering and installing geothermal systems, they have recognized the opportunity presented by offering and installing solar and they install home insulation. In addition and this is big, complete weatherization is a perfect fit for HVAC contractors. Energy efficiency and green is a way of life with these companies.
I am really excited about where our industry is headed and encourage you to study and learn more about these opportunities and decide where you will direct your company. It will be an investment in time, energy and capitol, but it will not only serve your company’s survival in the new world of HVAC retail contracting but it will place you up front in the parade of highly successful contractors. For many contractors it will mean new relationships with providers, upgraded websites and better methods of reaching your present customers as well as adding new customers.
How long has it been since you have taken the time to sit back, consider and plan where your company is going? Now is the time to do exactly that.
I am now in a position where I can add a few consulting/coaching clients either by making on-sites visits or by telephone. If you have an interest just give me a phone call at 615-791-8474 or send a message to ronlsmith2@bellsouth.net.
Additional information:
1) Check out our website, www.ronsmithhvac.com and take a look at our Affiliates Page. We occasionally add a new Affiliate and have just done so with Earthsponse, www.earthsponse.com. They have a complete program that can certainly help should you have an interest in solar.
2) If your company is not sending out blogs (which is an excellent method of staying in touch with your customers) it’s probably because you feel you do not have the time. Check out Social Tract, another Affiliate, www.socialtract.com.
3) Outdoor University, training in a unique setting, has its next training program set for April 11. Pull them up on our Affiliate Page, www.topratetraining.com, 706-888-0815.
Staying In Touch With Your Customers
Who are the people in your market area that you can get to invest in one of your products or services the easiest and in the least expensive manner? The answer, of course, is your present customers.
The problem is that most companies do not in a regular manner communicate with their customers. Instead, they spend more time, energy and certainly money trying to sell products and services to new customers and they forget to stay in touch with their present customers. Read More
Marketing HVAC, A New Method
The credit belongs to Matt Michel for getting me interested in QR codes. This is a subject we all need to study and learn how to use in our marketing efforts. In my opinion the codes can contribute significantly to your company’s marketing and sales success. Read More
Posted in Marketing Tagged marketing efforts, qr codes, response rates, scanners, smart phones Leave a comment
HVAC Budgeting, A Complete Approach
“If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?
This being mid-December you should have your 2011 budget completed and in place. If not, you’re fast running out of time. Carefully preparing a well thought through budget is great but, actually, it is only the first step. Read More
Posted in Budgeting Tagged acquisitions, budget numbers, financial budget, marketing, sales leads Leave a comment
Finally, New Consideration For the Complete HVAC System
Before we go to the blog topic: Has it ever occurred to you that our society, in general, spends a lot of time discussing what we are against? This was illustrated well in the recent political campaigns, but it’s not confined to the politicians. Unfortunately, even some churches do it – making statements of what they are against, not what they are for. We are all guilty at times. Anyway, it is wrong and we should change it. Let’s spend more time talking about what we are for, not what we are against. Read More
Productive Management Meetings In Your HVAC Company
Personally, I would not even attempt to manage a company without having these important sessions. Productive management meetings are a basic fundamental step towards the development and leadership of a team that works together and produces results. Unfortunately with many companies the meetings are not productive, the attendees (leaders/managers) lose interest in the sessions and eventually the meetings disappear.
Like everything else in a company the owner or general manager must believe in the meetings as being important, take the time to study how the meetings can be most productive, provide leadership, facilitate, and then apply the correct proven direction and techniques. The following are the meeting techniques I recommend:
- Establish a schedule for the meetings with definite starting and ending times. As an example it could be always on Tuesday morning from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. You should start the meeting on time every session whether all attendees are there or not and you should always conclude the meeting at the appointed time. Some companies meet every week, others find that meeting every other week works well.
- Allow no interruptions or disturbances except for emergencies.
- Each attendee brings a short list of what they wish to present. The facilitator collects the attendees’ lists, quickly puts together an agenda and letters it clearly on a whiteboard or a flip chart. No other items can be discussed. This rule forces attendees to think carefully before submitting their lists and keeps the meeting on track.
- The facilitator, normally the owner or general manager, must be firm in handling the meeting. He or she should set the tone by keeping initial remarks positive. The facilitator must not permit any rambling or redundancy. These sessions are important and should not be taken lightly.
- An interesting technique that helps set a positive meeting tone or mood is to have one of the attendees present a short company success story.
- All attendees must be prepared to discuss the items they submit for the agenda.
- Remember, it is not a meeting if the facilitator does all of the talking – it’s a lecture. Everyone needs to be able to speak and to be heard.
- Debates, not out of control arguments, are OK and often healthy to the organization.
- Arrange the chairs around a table so all attendees can see one another.
- Occasionally, as an example every third or fourth meeting, before the meeting ends the facilitator asks all attendees to critique the meeting with this question: Was the meeting meaningful and if so how could it have been even more meaningful?”
- All attendees will not always agree on everything. Remind them that we as a team do not have to be in agreement, but we must be in alignment!
- Before the meeting ends the facilitator should summarize the session and if appropriate make certain assignments. Then the date and time of the next meeting is confirmed.
- Remember, while your management team is in a meeting other coworkers are wondering what is going behind the closed door. It is critical that the attendees communicate any appropriate meeting decisions or changes that could affect the other coworkers. The meetings should not be a big mystery.
As a side note if you’re of those people who believe you own everything there is always something more. Want to own your own island? Go to www.PrivateIslandsOnline.com (taken from the publication Bottom Line). I’m only kidding, you don’t need an island.
Posted in Meetings Tagged company success, leadership, management meetings, productive management, whiteboard Leave a comment
HVAC Technicians Need a Structured Wage Plan
Most HVAC contractors lack a structured service technician Wage Plan. Too often a technician’s hourly wage is influenced by how important the need is at the time for adding a technician to the staff, a technician asking for a raise or a technician informing the owner that they are going to accept a job with a competing company. Read More
HVAC Marketing Terms
In my August 9 blog I wrote about words and terms that are commonly used in our industry and recommended that you and your coworkers discontinue their use and instead substitute words and terms that are much more professional, marketed oriented, customer friendly and coworker friendly. The “bad” words I discussed were pitch, deal, booties, buy, accessory product, probation period and bid. The better terms were presentation, opportunity, floor savers, invest, system enhancement product, training period and proposal. Read More
Quotes, Words & Terms and Leadership
I believe there are times, hopefully only temporary with nearly all of us certainly including me, when we need to check our attitude. How about these: “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out” by John Wooden. “Positive thinking is reacting positively to a negative situation” by Bill Havens. “It is the way we react to circumstances that determines our feeling” by Dale Canegie. “It’s not the situation …. It’s your reaction to the situation” by Bob Conklin. “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure” by Norman Vincent Peale. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” by Eleanor Roosevelt. “I’ve never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation” by Mike Todd. Read More
Posted in Mentors, Training Tagged company presentation, hvac sales, measurement, sales and marketing, training session Leave a comment
