On October 17, Charlie "Tec Daddy" Greer was inducted into the Contracting Business HVAC Hall of Fame, during the 2019 Service World Expo show, along with Service Nation co-founder, David Heimer.
Due to a medical emergency, Charlie was unable to make the journey to Las Vegas to accept the award, presented in recognition of his more than three decades of service to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry.
We present his acceptance speech here. Charlie's back on his feet and doing well, after what was a (literally) heart-stopping adventure. — Terry McIver, director of content
_____________________
Thank you for this award. I set getting into the HVAC Hall of Fame as a goal in 2004, and my induction into it is a result of 34 years of hard, but very rewarding work.
I live with an attitude of gratitude, and have made it a habit that, every time I wake up, the first thoughts that go through my head are:
- I am so grateful that I learned how to close HVAC sales
- I am so grateful that I fell bass-akward into Ron Smith's Modern Air Conditioning in Fort Myers, Florida
- So I am very grateful to Ron Smith for building a great company that pretty much ran by itself. People don't quit jobs, they quit bosses. If Ron still owned the company, and everything was still the same as it was when he was there, I'd still be there selling for him and would be very happy. I loved my time at Modern Air
- Naturally, I'm grateful for my friend and co-worker, the late Tom McCart
- I'm also eternally grateful for my sales manager at Modern Air, the late Peter Higgins, who became my best friend and got me started as a sales trainer
- I'm eternally grateful to my first client, Aaron York, Sr., of Aaron York's Quality Air Conditioning , Indianapolis. His entire family took me in as one of their own and the times I spent in their shop are some of my fondest memories
- I'm grateful for my manager, many of you know her, Debra Hansen
- I'm very grateful for someone my Facebook friends know as my BFF, Dawn Dobbertin
- I'm grateful for the entire Service Nation team; especially Matt Michel, with whom I've shared a 25-year friendship, David Heimer, Stephanie Fritz, Theresa Wilkins, and Bob Viering. We travel the country together doing Success Days, and they are some of the happiest days of my life.
- I'm very grateful to Contracting Business magazine, especially my editor, Terry McIver, for giving me an outlet to broaden my audience and spread my message
- And of course, I'm grateful for everyone in the HVAC business. Without your love and support, I couldn't have spent the past 30 years doing what I love, which is sales training.
They say that if you do something that you love to do so much you'd do it for free, you'll never work a day in your life. When I was 17 years old I attended a sales meeting conducted by a man named Rob Roy. I sat there in the audience and said, "Some day I want to be just like him." Well, I made it. You know the traditional Charlie Greer look, with the grey hair and suit? Actually, that's Rob Roy's look.
Thank you again for recognizing my efforts.
— Charlie Greer
Charlie Greer's "Superior Level of Service" column continues to appear in Contracting Business. CLICK HERE to view his entire Guide to HVAC Replacement Sales.