The National Football League's Carolina Panthers, based in Charlotte, NC, had a great 2008 season that ended much too soon. After clawing its way to a 12-4 regular season record to win the NFC South Division title, the team was defeated in the conference playoff by the Arizona Cardinals.

The city of Charlotte, however, is well stocked with champions of another sort. One HVAC team in particular is a perennial champion every season, earning rave reviews from thousands of fans in and around this busy city: Morris-Jenkins, the ContractingBusiness.com 2009 Residential Contractor of the Year.

Luther Morris founded Morris-Jenkins as Morris Heating & Cooling in 1958. Entrepreneur Dewey Jenkins purchased the business in 1990. A licensed CPA, Jenkins had previously operated a tax practice and real estate development business. When the real estate market declined in the 1980s, Jenkins said goodbye to real estate and hello to the HVAC business.

The enterprising Jenkins recognized that service businesses usually have a built-in defense against economic downturns. “At first, I was looking for a residential plumbing company,” he recalls. “I figured that the customer would always be willing to pay to keep the water flowing. The business might be affected to a point, but there wouldn't be a severe downturn. And, I realized that if I had a business with a broad customer base, losing one customer wouldn't sink the entire company. I soon realized that HVAC was a similar kind of business.”

After 32 years in business, the original Morris company had 12 employees and an excellent reputation, but virtually no service division. When Dewey Jenkins walked in the door, he rewrote the game plan, and along the way, he found his own path to genuine business fulfillment.

Astounding ‘Fan’ Base

Morris-Jenkins has 40,000 active customers, and maintains 6,500 service agreements in a mere 25-mile service radius.

But the most substantial monument to this company's financial success is its average annual growth of 20% for 18 straight years. In 2007, sales peaked at $19.4 million. In 2008, that figure climbed to $23.5 million. Already well into its 2009 fiscal year, Morris-Jenkins is determined to thrive, even during the recession. The phone was ringing off the hook during a rare January cold snap, so it's likely they'll exceed last year's numbers.

Morris-Jenkins is an advertising juggernaut, which accounts for some of its strong customer base. It follows an uninterrupted advertising schedule. Radio, television, newspapers, and targeted direct mail are all part of its strategy to reach and attract customers. The company jingle was written by Dewey's wife Renee and daughters, Blaire Bancroft and Kelly Jenkins. In the song, a customer wakes up freezing (in winter) or sweating (in summer). He calls Morris-Jenkins, and is reassured: “You'll have warm heat at your house tonight,” or, “You'll have cool air at your house tonight.” The melody is adapted to fit a variety of musical styles, from bluegrass to Broadway.

“We do a wide array of marketing. There are times when certain media perform better than others, but the key to being successful is remaining consistent,” says Kelly Jenkins, director of marketing.

Pick a Goal: It's Yours to Attain

Morris-Jenkins' employees thrive on goal setting. All are offered opportunities to grow, succeed, contribute, and improve. It's part of the philosophy Jenkins formalized as he observed the industry in the early ‘90s. He realized the importance of goal setting for technicians, installers, salespersons, and customer service representatives; virtually anyone on the front lines of customer contact.

Technicians' goals include high customer satisfaction ratings, low call-backs, training, and overall productivity.

Customer testimonials — also known as “Happiness Checks” — flow in to the office every week, and are shared. The one-page surveys include high praise for technicians' good service and attitudes. Words such as “very knowledgeable,” “excellent service,” and “keep up the good work” are scribbled by satisfied homeowners.

Let the Managers Manage

Dewey Jenkins' used to be a micromanager. He gradually adapted his management style to be hands-off, thanks to his team of top-notch managers in whom he has the utmost trust and confidence.

“Losing the micromanaging habit is the hardest thing in the world to do,” Jenkins says. “You have to trust other people, and trust them through their mistakes, which is difficult, because leaders sometimes think nobody can do it as well as they can. But you can't grow and develop your people if you micromanage. You must allow them to make mistakes.

“When I was younger, I had all this energy, and I knew how I wanted it to be done. I made it difficult for my managers to manage. It was a learning process to put them in place and step back.”

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