April 1, 2010
Cover Story
Establish Value to Boost Service Agreement Sales
Your customers need to understand the value of service agreements. When they see how the plan and its benefits will save them time, money, and hassle, your number of service agreements will grow. ...
'Behind the Scenes' Service Essentials
Commercial HVAC service goes beyond the nuts and bolts of a mechanical repair. Your business structure has a direct impact on how you serve customers in the field....
Getting There for Less: Small Vehicles, Big Benefits
If you want to save big on your fleet bills, consider going small. For the past three years, we at Benson’s Heating & Air Conditioning have been taking a new approach with our service vehicle fleet. We’re getting away from heavy, utility-body vehicles and buying more light trucks and other vehicles with small, fuel-efficient engines....
Hard Facts about Soft Skills
Technicians need to understand that they’re basically guests in customers’ homes, and act accordingly. You must respect the individuals’ property and time, be gracious and empathetic, always tell the truth, and never cut corners. ...
Columns
Lessons from History
When I was growing up, in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a lot of social upheaval and change contorting the American landscape. One of the cornerstones of this period was the manned space program — the crowning jewel was landing a man on the moon and bringing him back home safely. Yet, there was a huge backlash because of the billions of dollars spent by NASA. Many people thought this was wasteful and irresponsible because those dollars would be better spent on societal improvements....
Running Service Step Seven: The Setup
Charlie Greer is in the midst of a year-long primer designed to teach you what to do when running service calls, and how to maximize each call in an honest and professional manner. Here is installment number 7....
Lease Capital Selling: Capitalizing on a Down Economy
A prospect's most apparent needs won't be met if the budget doesn’t allow for replacement of systems. It's common to find buildings with 25-year-plus unitary equipment that has "crashed and burned." Energy consumption and repair bills become unbearable, while comfort isn’t even an after thought. ...
How To Truly Deliver The "Green"
Unless we have a means to verify actual performance of the systems we sell, design, install and service, we’ll continue to miss the mark in terms of potential energy savings, peak load and carbon emissions reductions. ...
Articles
2010 Guide to High-Efficiency Air Conditioners
As a sales tool, our annual guide enables you to compare the high-efficiency air conditioning industry's top units side-by-side....
Going Green and Spending Less Of It
Nick Shockley’s favorite customers are those that crave innovation. Shockley, P.E., is a senior refrigeration engineer and director of engineering services for Henderson Engineers, Inc., based in Lenexa, KS. It’s music to his ears when he hears from customers who are committed to saving energy, and are willing to pay more up front to ultimately save money in the long run. ...
Busting the Big Green Myth
It’s the myth that higher efficiency refrigeration systems ‘cost more.’ A closer look finds costs to be lower over time....
Toshiba-Carrier Brand Launch Announced
During the Annual Meeting of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), in Tampa FL last month, officials from Carrier Corp. announced the launch of the Toshiba-Carrier brand in North America. ...
Johnson Controls/IBM Taking Buildings to Head of the Class
How smart can a building become? At this stage of the game, “genius” level might not be an exaggeration. On February 22, Johnson Controls and IBM announced a new relationship to create a new era of smarter buildings. ...
RCD-Totaline® Promotion Makes Factory
Authorized Parts More Affordable
RCD-Totaline® has unveiled a special promotion aimed at incentivizing technicians toward more frequent use of Factory Authorized Parts (F.A.P.) in Carrier®, Bryant® or Payne® equipment repairs....
Taco Charitable Foundation Announces Name Change,
Bestows Donations
Taco, Inc.’s John & Happy White Foundation is now the White Family Foundation. It recently bestowed $10,000 to the House of Hope....
ACCA Conference Greets HVAC Contractors in Tampa
HVAC contractors from across the country got “The Big Picture” from the perspective of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, during ACCA’s 42nd Annual Conference and Indoor Air Expo, Mar. 7-9, Tampa, FL. ...
Renewed Service Focus Helps Brothers Air & Heat Prosper
After a rough fall of 2008 — during which time the company had to layoff 13 of its 70 employees, Brothers Air and Heat, Charlotte, NC, is expanding. To accommodate company growth, Brothers owners Roger and Donald Costner have broken ground on a 9,000 sq. ft. addition to its corporate office. ...
Bruce Norman, Friend to Many in HVAC Industry, Dies at 49
HVAC professional Bruce Norman — known to the HVAC-Talk.com community as “Arpa” — died on March 24, from complications caused by an aortic aneurism. He was 49....
THIS MONTH IN CB HISTORY...
1971: In his “Smooth Selling” column, marketing consultant George N. Kahn told us about the value of referrals from existing customers....
Contractor Briefs
Wayne Vanesse, general manager of ARC Mechanical Contractors, Bradford, VT, has been appointed to the State of Vermont’s Apprenticeship Council. ...
It's Time to Share Your Best Work
Residential HVAC contractors are reminded to submit entries for the annual ContractingBusiness.com Quality Home Comfort Awards by April 23....
Refrigeration Service Today
On these pages, Contracting Business provides information on products, trends, and business management for today's commercial refrigeration contractor....
EVENTS
ASHRAE – American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air- Conditioning Engineers, Annual Meeting; June 26-30, Albuquerque, NM ...
Products
Tech Update
Commercial: Rooftop Systems & Equipment Residential: HVAC & Refrigeration Tools & Instruments ...
Smart Products: April 2010
Take your company to the next level with Contracting Business' Smart Products — a section featuring the latest technical and business management tools from leading manufacturers and service providers. ...
COMFORTECH PRODUCT SHOWCASE AWARD
At HVAC Comfortech 2009, 11 products were recognized as Product Showcase Award winners. Judges took into consideration the ease with which HVAC contractors can apply the technology, and the technical value of the product or service to the HVAC industry. We'll feature these products each month in upcoming issues of Contracting Business....
