It’s 2 a.m. and you’ve awakened in a cold sweat thinking about a contentious company problem, not knowing how you are going to handle it or what to do next.

You wonder if any other contractors faced this situation. What did they do right — or wrong — in handling the issue? “Man, I sure could use some advice and counsel,” you think to yourself.

You are not alone. With more than 7,000 other HVAC contracting professionals at your side, the ACCA Contractor Forum is your path to getting some advice from people who have been there. It is the place for Air Conditioning Contractors of America members to pose questions and seek advice from other contractor members. If you are a member and haven’t tried it, you should.

To start a discussion, log in to your ACCA account (www.acca.org/login) and then go to www.acca.org/communities and select “Contractor Forum.” Once in, select the “Discussions” tab, and you will see the green “Post new message” button. From there, it is just like sending an email.

• If you receive each message as it is sent (instead of a digest of all the messages), you can also click the “Start new discussion” link at the top and bottom of every ACCA Contractor Forum email.

Speak up 

Don’t forget to reply to messages when you have something to say. Just click on “Reply to discussion” if you’re logged in online or “Reply to entire group” to post your message using your smartphone.

One last thing about posting to the Contractor Forum: When you’re reading and replying to the forum’s email messages, remember you are automatically logged in to the ACCA website. Please don’t forward Contractor Forum messages directly; it’s better to cut and paste the info as needed.

But what if you are not a member of ACCA? Joining is easy, and you will get instant access to this powerful resource. All you have to do is visit www.acca.org/join. There are two options for joining: a full year for $450 or $39 billed monthly. The month-to-month option has no commitment, and you can cancel at any time.

Of course, the Contractor Forum is just one of many exclusive benefits of ACCA membership. You can check out everything ACCA has to offer contractors at www.acca.org/community.

And if you need any help with joining ACCA, the Contractor Forum or any of ACCA’s member benefits, don’t hesitate to reach out to ACCA at membership@acca.org or by calling (888) 290-2220. ACCA is here to help contractors be more professional and successful. If you have problems or are facing challenges, we have resources to help you find the solutions you need today.

Paul Stalknecht is president and CEO of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America.