When high-end equipment does not live up to consumer expectations, the culprit is almost always improper installation. The bottom line: Properly sizing, selecting, and installing HVAC equipment is critical to ensuring energy efficiency and comfort.

OEMs are offering their own smart energy management systems that they say satisfy this demand by offering the ultimate in convenience, comfort, and energy savings.

Regardless whether a contractor thinks a complaint is valid, it’s important to respond as quickly as possible to mitigate the situation.

Closing is not an isolated step in the selling process. It’s the natural conclusion to what has already occurred. Still, it’s this last part that sends techs or designated salespeople into confusion.

Whether the busy season has begun yet or not, I believe it is a good idea to take a quick check of all of your operations systems each year to make sure everything is in place when things really do get busy. For many of you, this may be a regular routine you practice on an ongoing basis. For the rest of us, we should make it part of a regular routine. 

Despite the fact that Mobilegeddon has come and gone, there are still plenty of sites that are not mobile friendly. This means there’s a great opportunity for savvy HVAC contractors of all sizes to get a jump on their competitors. 

Two articles I recently read brought me to a similar recognition, but most aptly stated by Joseph Schumpeter,The Economist, March 14, 2015 — “People still greet each other by handing out little rectangles made from dead trees rather than tapping their phones together.

Establishing credibility isn’t a game of luck, and it doesn’t depend on the customer. Almost any customer can be won over, and there are certain techniques that can be used to help you do it.

One might think that determining selling prices would be a relatively easy task once the costs have been determined. However, I can assure you, based on personal experience and some classes I have presented, even the most intelligent and supposedly sophisticated contractors do not always arrive at the selling price they want and intend to use. 

Within the HVAC universe, pure-play manufacturers have led the market since January 2012 with a cumulative return of 173 percent. Diversified HVAC manufacturers and HVAC service and distribution stocks have also performed well, gaining 67 percent and 62 percent, respectively.