What I discovered when implementing systems in my family’s plumbing, heating, and cooling business was that there weren’t really a million things to master. There were just seven. Seven “power” concepts that enabled me and my two brothers, the third generation in the company, to run it with a lot less stress and a whole lot more success.

This article covers important parts of the process for service calls, specifically the beginning and the end.

There are four stages of customer service. Each stage corresponds to a level of service you provide your customers. Interesting to note is that each stage also corresponds to a different level of profitability generated by your business.

While the benefits of maintenance agreements are nearly universally understood today, I’ve found that the benefits of perpetual maintenance agreements are not nearly as universally understood, and I believe they are something every contractor should seriously consider.

Changes in the industry certainly bring challenges. Contractors must be prepared to provide information and answers regarding all of these new and different technologies. But, now comes the important part. It’s absolutely critical that contractors not lose sight of the personal and service portions of their businesses.

There are lots of ways to spend money on marketing and advertising. My suggestion is to be careful how you choose to do it, and who you choose to help you, as there is no easier and faster way to waste money.

If you’ve not been devoting a great deal of time and effort to ensure your service department is operating efficiently, profitably, and producing customer cheerleaders, you’re not preparing yourself or employees for solid futures. Make sure every policy and process in all your departments is specifically designed to produce high-quality experiences and the utmost in efficiency to keep your prices as low as possible.

In the HVAC universe, part of that work involves how the changes a Trump presidency will impact contractors, distributors, and manufacturers.

Putting out false and/or misleading advertising may show some short-term benefits to your company, but, in the long run, you are damaging both yourself and the industry.

In a past survey, the Association for Talent Development revealed a whopping 87 percent of managers become such without prior management training and education. This sets them up for seagull management — they fly in, crap on people, and fly back out.