HVACR Business August 2018 by HVACR Business

Learn from Each Other By Pete Grasso 5

Is Your Advertising Profitable? By Ruth King 7

Success Through Connections By Jodie Deegan 14

Your Comfort Zone is a Liar By Danielle Putnam 16

Industry Technologies Driving Efficiency By Kevin Burns 17

AUGUST 2018 / VOL.13 / NO.8

UNLOCK SAFETY THROUGH DATA ANALYTICS Page 9

Enhance Your Customer Experience Page 12

ALSO INSIDE Â» Featured Entrepreneur: Benson Green President of Benson Heating and Air, Inc................. 6 20 Questions with Jason Hanson President of Sierra Pacific Home & Comfort.............. 18 Special Section on Industry Education........ 19

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CONTENTS

AUGUST 2018 / VOL.13 / NO.8

F E AT U R E S

Unlock Safety through Data Analytics How one commercial construction and energy firm uses analytical data to improve safety throughout the company. By Ali Vahed

Enhance the Customer Experience

Success Through Connections

Use social media platforms to communicate with your customers in real time. By Joel Frederick Get out of your silo and connect with other businesses who have faced the same challenges. By Jodie Deegan

C O LU M N S

Determine if Your Fall Advertising Activities are Profitable

Before you make any advertising purchase, determine whether you can at least break even on that purchase or earn your desired net profit on that purchase. By Ruth King

Your Comfort Zone is a Liar If we were honest with ourselves, it’s not that we need more time in the day, we need more time to work on our high value activities. By Danielle Putnam

Four Industry Technologies Driving Efficiency The impact of modern technologies on the HVACR industry seemingly has no end in sight. By Kevin Burns

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D E PA R T M E N T S

Editor’s Notebook

Featured Entrepreneur

18 19

Apply yourself to networking with your peers at events and you’ll both come away better for it. By Pete Grasso Benson Green, president of Benson Heating and Air, Inc.

20 Questions with Jason Hanson President of Sierra Pacific Home & Comfort

Special Section on Industry Education

M A R K E T WAT C H Stock Index: The HVACR Business Stock Index fell 45.11 points, or 2.85 percent, and closed at 1538.98. Declining issues outpaced advancing issues by a 20-to-11 count. To read this month’s analysis, visit hvacrbusiness.com/stock-index.

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

BY PETE GRASSO THE HVACR MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE TERRY Tanker Publisher ttanker@hvacrbusiness.com PETE Grasso Editor pgrasso@hvacrbusiness.com JIM McDermott Editorial Advisor jmcdermott@hvacrbusiness.com MEGAN LaSalla Art Director mlasalla@hvacrbusiness.com BRUCE Sprague Circulation Manager bs200264@sbcglobal.net BARBARA Kerr Executive Assistant bkerr@hvacrbusiness.com

ADVERTISING STAFF EAST COAST/SOUTHEAST JIM Clifford Regional Sales Manager Tel 201-362-5561 Fax 201-334-9186 jclifford@hvacrbusiness.com

Learn from Each Other

MIDWEST ERIC Hagerman Regional Sales Manager Tel 216-409-3246 Fax 440-731-8750 ehagerman@hvacrbusiness.com

recently made a recreational trip to Las Vegas for the first time. Sure, in my capacity as an editor — for this magazine and others — I’ve had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas many times for different industry events and educational conferences.

WEST COAST TERRY Tanker Publisher Tel 440-731-8600 Fax 440-731-8750 ttanker@hvacrbusiness.com

I’ve stayed at hotels up and down The Strip, explored Fremont Street and the many casinos and world-class restaurants the city has to offer. But this really was the first time I’ve ever been there without a laptop or a suit.

HVACR Business, founded January 1981, is a monthly national trade magazine serving contractors, mechanical engineers, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, wholesalers, distributors, trade associations, and others in the heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) industry primarily in the U.S. The editorial focus and mission of HVACR Business is to provide business owners and managers with the very best business management concepts available. Critical topics covered include leadership, management, strategy, finance, sales, marketing, training, education, staffing, operations, human resources, legal issues, customer service and more. We are dedicated to helping contractors master these key management skills and provide them with the resources necessary to build strong, profitable companies. Every effort is made to provide accurate information, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for accuracy of submitted advertising and editorial information. Copyright©2018 by JFT Properties LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Subscription Rates: Free and controlled circulation to qualified subscribers. Non-qualified persons may subscribe at the following rates: U.S. and possessions: 1 year $48; 2 years $75; 3 years $96; Canadian and foreign, 1-year $108 U.S. funds only. Single copies $8. Subscriptions are prepaid, and check or money orders only. Subscriber Services: To order a subscription or change your address, write to HVACR Business, 31674 Center Ridge Road, Suite 104, North Ridgeville, OH 44039 or call (440) 731-8600; or visit our Web site at www.hvacrbusiness.com. For questions regarding your subscription, please contact bkerr@hvacrbusiness.com. HVACR Business (ISSN 2153-2877) Published monthly by JFT Properties LLC., 31674 Center Ridge Road, Suite 104, North Ridgeville, OH 44039. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to HVACR Business, 31674 Center Ridge Road, Suite 104, North Ridgeville, OH 44039. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, OH and additional mailing offices. (USPS 025-431)

31674 Center Ridge Road, Suite 104 North Ridgeville, OH 44039 Tel: (440) 731-8600 Fax: (440) 731-8750 Web site: www.hvacrbusiness.com (ISSN: 2153-2877)

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One morning, I woke up early and went for a run. The Las Vegas Strip early in the morning is quite different from the evening hours. There’s hotel and casino workers walking to their jobs, people stumbling back to their hotels from an all night lucky streak at the casino, as well as people cracking open that first beverage of the day as they get ready to party. And, of course, there’s even a few crazies like me who are out for some exercise.

In the evenings or during “free time,” make plans to get together for coffee, drinks or even dinner with your new friends. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about their business and share what you’ve learned. Or, if you’re like me and enjoy getting in a run while you’re traveling, maybe the person you sat next to in the afternoon session is also a runner who would enjoy heading out with you the next morning to explore. You can never have too many friends in business, and industry events are a great way to make them, as well as catch up with ones you’ve made at past conferences.

Apply yourself to networking with your peers at events and you’ll both come away better for it.

I saw Las Vegas in a whole new light and it really made me reflect on the last time I was there, for Service World Expo last fall. As my mind wandered while I ran, I began thinking of all my previous trips to Las Vegas and other cities for different industry conferences. I truly believe it’s important to go beyond the planned conference agendas and do something extra. It doesn’t always have to be recreational. At the very least, you should make an effort to spend time networking. This is perhaps the most valuable aspect of any industry event. The keynote speakers, education seminars and manufacturer showcases are only half the reasons to attend. Sometimes, you get the most out of speaking with your peers. Think about it: every professional event you attend is full of people just like you. They’re business owners, leaders and managers who are eager to learn and improve their businesses.

As we move into fall, there is no shortage of industry events on the calendar. Even though I just returned from Las Vegas, I can’t wait to go back in October for Service World Expo (serviceworldexpo.com). Here are some other events you might want to check out:

• Women in HVACR Annual Conference September 19-21, Denver womeninhvacr.org • Nexstar Network Super Meeting 2018 October 3-5, Marco Island, Fla. nexstarnetwork.com • Connect 2018: PHCC Convention October 9-12, Albuquerque, New Mexico phccweb.org • SMACNA 2018 Annual Convention October 14-17, San Diego smacna.org • AMCA International Annual Meetings October 18-21, San Francisco amca.org

You all walk in the same shoes. More often than not, you can find someone who has already solved a problem you’re facing and can learn from his or her experience.

• MSCA18 SOAR October 21-24, Huntington Beach, Calif. mcaa.org/msca

Get to know the people you sit next to in the next session. Introduce yourself before it starts and chat with them afterward about their impression of the speaker and material. And, when you go to the next session, try to sit by someone else.

• ACCA Next Level November 6-7, Fort Worth, Texas accanextlevel.com

If you bring multiple members of your team to an event, instead of sitting all together, spread out and let everyone meet as many new people as possible.

Any of these events present a perfect opportunity to learn and network. For a complete list of industry events, be sure to visit hvacrbusiness.com/industry-events. And if you see me at one of them, don’t be afraid to come say hello … if I don’t get to you first. u HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

Featured

ENTREPRENEUR

Hard Work Pays Off

enson Green has deep roots in the Tallahassee area. His grandfather Ray Green, Sr. was Florida’s Comptroller and then the president of a local community bank in Tallahassee. His father Ray Green, Jr. was director of the physical plant at Florida State University for over 30 years. Through one of his connections, Benson Green’s father helped him land a part-time job in the air conditioning business when he was only in 10th grade. “Once I started in the business, I loved it,” he says. “I decided that rather than attend college, I would spend the years I would have spent in school learning this business.”

BENSON GREEN Title: President Company: Benson Heating and Air, Inc. Website: bensonshvac.com Year Founded: 1981 Headquarters: Tallahassee, Fla. Work Performed: Residential, Commercial and Industrial Service, Mechanical Installations No. of Employees: 90 Annual Revenue: $12.5 million Vendor-Partners: Amana, Daikin, Johnstone Supply Affiliations: ACCA, ABC, AHRAE, NADCA and Service Nation Alliance Certifications: Certified Mechanical Contractors in Fla. and Ga., NADCA

After he graduated from high school, Green worked for several different heating and air conditioning companies to learn the skills he would need to eventually open his own company. In 1981, Benson Green decided it was time to strike out on his own. To get started he made an appointment with his grandfather, who was then president of a bank. He explained what his goals were and asked for a $5,000 bank loan. His grandfather turned down his request. Still determined, Green, sat down with his Godfather, formed a business plan and borrowed $800, which he was able to pay back in a month. After Benson’s Heating and Air began to prosper, Green’s grandfather and bank president told his grandson that he was proud of his success. Green recalls that his grandfather said, “see, you didn’t even need $5,000, you just thought that you did.” During his first year working alone, Green recalls grossing about $60,000. One of the ways he was able to do this was by creating a very simple yet effective direct mail marketing letter. “I typed up a personal letter explaining the business I had started and then passed them out to my friends and relatives and asked for their help to personally give these letters to their friends and family,” Green says. From the original stack of 30 letters he passed out, he estimates that hundreds were copied and passed on. Looking back, he believes this was the most memorable marketing campaign he has ever had because it capitalized on the relationships the Tallahassee native had.

Sheer determination, the support of his friends and family and a solid work ethic instilled in him by his parents propelled Benson’s Heating and Air Conditioning into the community as a viable option for consumers’ heating and air conditioning needs. Initially, Green focused only on repairs and service but soon thereafter he was able to offer replacement of air conditioning equipment in homes followed by new residential installations and then commercial new installations. As his customer base grew he knew his gamble had paid off. His business was going to be successful. “I believe if you give people what they deserve, then hopefully you will never have an unhappy customer,” he says. “When we do a good job, our customer will tell 2 or 3 people and those people might tell 2 or 3 others. But when you do a bad job, that customer will tell 20 or 30 people.” To continually emphasize customer service and quality, Green bases his employee bonus system on these attributes and also has a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee policy for his customers. Benson Green believes success comes from hard work and thinking ahead. He attends training conferences and industry trade conventions to stay abreast of rapidly changing technology. “I focus on thinking of new products and services all the time because if we aren’t continually challenging ourselves we will become complacent and will not survive in this business,” he says. Today, with a fleet of 43 trucks, 90 employees and continued growth each year, Green looks back fondly on his early years. “As I think back over the many seasons that have come and gone, I am amazed,” he says. As far as the future of Benson’s Heating and Air, it’s full steam ahead for Benson Green. He takes great pride in the history of his company and looks forward to serving the Tallahassee area for many years to come. u

He is eternally grateful for the help he accepted from his family and friends when he was first starting out.

HVACR BUSINESS

AUGUST 2018

www.hvacrbusiness.com

FINANCE

BY RUTH KING

Determine if Your Fall Advertising is Profitable

efore you invest your hard earned dollars on advertising this fall, calculate whether that advertising can be profitable.

Whether you advertise in the newspaper, on television, through your website, direct mail, Facebook or other advertising medium, you should make that investment with an estimate of what results are required for that advertisement to be a good use of your money. The calculations are very simple. Here’s how to estimate whether the investment may be a good investment.

Before you make any advertising purchase, determine whether you can at least break even on that purchase or earn your desired net profit on that purchase. BREAK EVEN What is the break even expense of sending 1000 postcards including design of the postcard, printing and mailing costs? Take that number and divide by your gross margin of that department. And no, not one minus the gross margin.

Let’s assume that your cost is $0.50 each and the gross margin of the department is 55%. Mailing 1000 postcards costs $500. The break even revenues that must be generated are $500/55 percent or $909.09. Assume that you’re advertising a fall safety inspection at $89, then you must generate 10.21 of these items. At 11 items, you earn

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a profit. Can you generate 11 fall safety inspections from 1,000 names? That is a 1.1 percent return. The answer is maybe: it depends on who you’re sending the postcards too. If you’re sending the postcards to people in your database who have not done business with you in the past 2 to 3 years; then the answer is probably yes. If you’re sending the 1000 postcards to a zip code where you haven’t done much business, then the answer is probably no. You’re likely to get a 0.5 percent return or continued on page 8

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Sales

$909.09

Cost of Sales

$409.09

Gross Profit

$500.00

Ad cost

$500.00

Net profit

$ 0.00

Using the same postcard example, if you want to generate a 10 percent profit, what do the sales need to be? The cost is still $0.50 for each postcard and the gross margin of the department is still 55%. This time use this calculation: Sales = Postcard cost divided by the difference of Gross margin and desired profit. The revenues that must be generated are $500/ (55%-10%) or $1,111.11. Assume that you’re advertising fall safety checks for $89, then you must generate 12.48 of these items. At 13 items you earn a profit. Can you do that? To see that this is the number you must generate, enter the data into your profit and loss formula:

You can use this calculation for any type of advertising you plan to do. Let’s assume you’re paying your web services company $1500 per month to maintain your website.

PROFIT & LOSS FORMULA

The gross margin of your company is 45%. What is the break even dollars that must be generated from your website each month to cover the cost of the maintenance? The break even sales that must be generated is $1,500/45 percent or $3,333,33 per month. To be fair, let’s look at an entire year because of seasonality. The break even sales volume from your website is $40,000 per year. Can your website do this? The only way to answer this question is to track where your leads and sales are coming from. If a new customer contacts your company, you must ask the question: “How did you find out about us?” Or, “How did you hear about our company?” If the customer says a web search, then you track the dollars generated from that customer and attribute them to the website.

Sales

$1,111.11

Cost of Sales

$500.00

Gross Profit

$611.11

Ad cost

$500.00

Net profit

$111.11 (10%)

So, before you make any advertising purchase, determine whether you can at least break even on that purchase or earn your desired net profit on that purchase. If you can’t earn what is necessary from the advertising expenditure, then don’t make the purchase. u

Ruth King is president of HVAC Channel TV and holds a Class II (unrestricted) contractors license in Georgia. She has more than 25 years of experience in the HVACR industry, working with contractors, distributors and manufacturers to help grow their companies. Contact her at ruthking@hvacchannel.tv.

1000122060203 / HVACBUSINESS0718

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

www.hvacrbusiness.com

UNLOCK SAFETY THROUGH DATA ANALYTICS How one commercial construction and energy firm uses analytical data to improve safety throughout the company BY ALI VAHED

cKinstry, like many construction companies, is a family. As a family, our top priority is making sure everyone goes home safe and healthy after each and every day. That’s why we take safety so seriously. Numbers don’t lie; construction is dangerous. According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), one in five workplace fatalities are in construction. Improving construction safety cannot happen by accident. We

goals you hope to achieve, who needs to be involved and how they’ll interact with the platform.

Improving construction safety cannot happen by accident. must make a conscious, deliberate effort to do better. Big data and business intelligence dashboards offer a platform to drive awareness, accountability and change. McKinstry started its analytical data safety transformation in 2013. Over the past five years, we’ve developed a safety analysis and reporting program based on deep data tracking, analytics and

reporting. Here are the six steps we followed along with some insights gleaned along the way.

THE END COMES FIRST Start with the end in mind. Your desired end state should drive program development from day one. Gather each of your stakeholder groups to identify what

The McKinstry team engaged stakeholders early to make sure we created something employees would actually use. To do that, we needed to understand what they needed and wanted. More on that buy-in process later. Stakeholders identified the following outcomes for the analytical data platform: continued on page 10

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Comprehensive: Safety needed to be relevant for every employee across the company. The team wanted to drive safety accountability from the executive team on down — hitting our jobsites, our fabrication shops, our service fleets, our sales teams and our corporate support team. Data criteria needed to cover incidents across each group — from personal protective equipment to keyboard ergonomics. Actionable: Gathering and reporting data is fantastic, but it means nothing if teams cannot take action. The platform needed report templates offering flexibility and depth. Teams needed to understand how to use the report templates to drive real behavior change. Real-Time: The platform needed to report real-time data. Monthly, and even weekly reports create gaps that delay analysis and action. Our teams needed access to data in shorter increments to track and forecast trends. Technology is available to make real-time, or near real-time,

McKinstry’s safety performance dashboard is increasing safety transparency and driving change across the organization.

reporting easy. Why not use it?

data and reports.

Eliminate the Middle Man: Inserting a safety team member into the process as a required intermediary creates a bottleneck and major point of failure for

I know this from experience. It used to be my job. Creating reports from our legacy system of disparate Excel spreadsheets took 15 hours a week or more. The new platform had to connect users directly to the data without any bottlenecks in the middle. Open to Everyone: The entire McKinstry team needed access to safety data and reports. This level of transparency is scary, but very necessary. The team wanted to remove any barrier that could hold back improved safety. What’s more, McKinstry wanted the ability to share data with our partners and clients. Safety is a core value at McKinstry. We walk the talk. Our extended family needed to know that they could count on our ability to deliver a safe jobsite.

IDENTIFY WHAT YOU HAVE; WHAT YOU NEED Data analytics is only effective if you collect the right data. McKinstry obsessed over data taxonomies and governance. It’s not a challenge you should tackle alone. That’s where I entered the picture. McKinstry contacted local universities to find a talent partner. At the time, I was completing my master’s thesis on risk assessment tools for mechanical contractors. No one could deny the match, so an internship was created. Together, we

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

established a layered taxonomy to track hundreds of data points: • Description of reported safety incidents • Recordable incident rate (injuries per 200,000 hours worked) • Injury costs (tracked across downtime, lost hours, lost productivity, etc.) • Safety training and certification compliance • Office safety incidents • Fleet accidents with details • Tools in use • Design elements • Worker’s compensation details • Severity details • Levels of experience From there, the McKinstry safety team engaged an obvious partner – our insurance provider. Insurance companies have leveraged big data for decades to assess and track risk. They were eager to help, offering suggestions to advance our datasets. McKinstry also set positive data points to record safety recognition and awards. The team set a goal and tracked an industry best-in-class metric for each data point. All of this data can be sliced by time, location, business unit, project, team and more. We have the ability to focus on issues with surgical precision, find the underlying causes and implement fixes.

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Before the data analytics platform, leadership team questions and report requests focused on “what’s happening.” The new platform provided ongoing, real-time access to that information. FIND THE RIGHT TOOL There are hundreds of data analytics and business intelligence platforms available today. We chose Tableau and Microsoft Power BI for pilot testing. Both were more than capable, but Power BI was a better fit for our specific requirements. Why? Because we started by identifying our desired end state. The platform needed to be open and available to anyone. McKinstry uses the Microsoft 365 platform as a technology standard. Power BI is part of that platform and has better integration. Also, every member of our team has a license and access to the software by default.

DRIVE ENGAGEMENT McKinstry designed the safety platform with stakeholder engagement from the beginning. The team crafted an internal communications strategy to expand that engagement companywide. McKinstry launched a new incident reporting hotline around the same time. The program fed off each other, creating a mechanism for the larger safety transformation. We wanted to shift employee’s perception of what constitutes a safety incident. Jobsite injuries of course needed to be reported, but safety expands even further into the enterprise. Overgrown shrub blocking parking lot visibility; report it. Having ergonomics issues with your chair; report it. The incident reporting hotline drove engagement, creating new data to populate the database for tracking, analysis and reporting. Surprisingly, most incidents were self-reported. Early stakeholder engagement demonstrated our commitment to change. It showed employees that we all had to be personally accountable. It created a true safety culture across the company. Yes, our number of reported incidents

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skyrocketed. That spike could be normalized during analysis.

TAKE ACTION; CREATE CHANGE Initial engagement exceeded expectation. The McKinstry safety team knew we needed to take visible action to maintain engagement and change behavior. Training became our early victory. The high number of reported incidents painted a clear picture early on. The most reported, and most alarming, incidents were highest in apprentices and new employees working within 90 days of the start date. The team quickly reworked our new employee training programs to address recurring safety issues. We trained team leaders to reinforce that training to apprentices and new employees in the field. The new training programs worked. Employees noticed. Engagement continued to grow. The biggest “aha” moment came with leadership engagement. Before the data analytics platform, leadership team questions and report requests focused on “what’s happening.” The new platform provided ongoing, real-time access to that information. Now, the leadership team conversation focuses on “why” and “what are we going to do about it.” Providing access to data shifted the conversation to action and solutions.

NEVER STOP IMPROVING The McKinstry safety analytics platform is now in version 3. We’ve launched three major upgrades based on user feedback and requests. Another is under development. u

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Ali Vahed is a safety risk analyst at McKinstry, a full-service consulting, construction, energy and facility services firm. Vahed is charged with overseeing the company’s safety data analytics platform. Visit mckinstry.com

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E NH A N CE THE C U STO M E R EX PERIEN CE Use social media platforms to communicate with your customers in real time

BY JOEL FREDERICK

ustomer service is the staple of success for any business, regardless of the industry. For essential services like HVACR, plumbing, electric, etc., we can all agree that our everyday goal is to provide top notch service to our clients who trust us to fix problems in their homes, schools and workplaces. Thanks to advancements in social technology, businesses can provide customer service out of the office and provide it from anywhere, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram allow us to share our daily experiences through a little device we carry with us at all times — our cell phones. If you have news or information to share with your customers, it’s as easy as typing a few words and pressing post. Though Facebook and other social media platforms were originally created for personal use to share ideas and thoughts of individuals, the social media realm has created a space for businesses to communicate with their audiences and provide customer service to clients from anywhere in real time.

If you have news or information to share with your customers, it’s as easy as typing a few words and pressing post. Here are a couple of tips you’ll want to know for providing customer service online, as well as trends you’ll want to look out for.

BUSINESS REVIEWS If you are not using social media reviews for your business yet, start now. There are a handful of sites online you can use for clients to leave reviews on, but we recommend starting with some of the most popular and easily accessible sites first. Google. What doesn’t Google do these days? Well, most certainly, Google is the most easily accessible place to find reviews on any business. All you have to do is perform a simple Google search and all your reviews will be there on the front page under your business name. Setting up your business with Google is easy with the Google My Business tool (this will make it so your business pops up if anyone tries to Google search it).

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

Once your business is set up, clients with a gmail account can go in and leave reviews for others to see every time they Google Search your business. Facebook. If your business has a Facebook page, you already have the ability to garner reviews. Just be sure that your Facebook page is a business account and not just a regular Facebook account for a person. You can double check this by visiting the Facebook Business manager site business.facebook.com. If you can login and manage your page from Facebook Business manager, you have an operational business account. Again, Facebook is one of the most accessible places you’ll be able to find reviews for a business. Anyone with a Facebook account can login in, visit your business page and leave a review. Facebook is a great platform for the customer service piece because it grants businesses the ability to private

message an individual to handle a public review. For example, you may have a bad review or a customer request you need to address offline without the public eye watching the back and forth dialog. In this case,you want to take the discussion off of your public review page. Facebook highlights three to four reviews that show up at the top of your business page that they call “most helpful reviews.” Though it is worth mentioning the algorithm (or formula) Facebook uses to determine which reviews are “most helpful” is not disclosed. Yelp. Yelp is known for being the onestop-shop for reviews. It is all they do. Anyone can view your public Yelp reviews and those with a Yelp account can log in and leave a review for any business; this ranges from food and theme parks, to service industry businesses. You name it, Yelp can review it. Did you know there is such a thing as a “Professional Yelper?” Yes, believe it or not, there are people who make a living doing Yelp reviews because the public trusts their opinion. Like Facebook, Yelp allows a business

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to respond to reviews privately if they wish to do so, as well as provides a space for clients to submit their own photos and videos of any product or service they receive. Yelp is a powerful platform and one that can be very beneficial to your business. With so many places your business can be reviewed, there are some key rules you will always want to follow when providing customer service online. It is always good practice to encourage your clients to leave reviews once they have received services. The most trusted reviews are those that are the most recent. So, if your company delivered excellent service to a client during a project, be sure to encourage your clients to share their experience online by leaving a review of your business. The sooner you respond to a review, especially a negative one, the better. Unfortunately, reviews that are under four stars happen from time to time. You’re not going to be able to please everyone and that’s okay. Nothing is worse, however, than a client leaving criticism or recommendations in a review and feeling like they’re yelling into the void because the company never responds to their feedback. A good company always takes negative feedback and improves from it. Additionally, if potential customers see a review that required feedback but has no response, it will likely encourage them to look elsewhere for services. Take time to address online feedback publicly, but always try to give the option to discuss any issues further in private messages, if possible. This allows the client a space to provide additional details and/or feedback off of the public page. Doing this reduces clutter on your business’ public review page and creates a one-on-one customer service environment.

DIRECT MESSAGES Many social media platforms allow for direct messaging which lets clients reach out to the business directly to get more information about services, locations, hours and other vital pieces of information. More recently, platforms like Facebook can be set-up to automatically prompt site visitors to send messages to the business page. Auto responses can also be put into

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Nothing is worse than a client leaving criticism or recommendations in a review and feeling like they’re yelling into the void because the company never responds to their feedback. place to help clients with frequently asked questions. In simple terms, you can set up a robot to answer questions for you. Platforms such as Facebook also publicly display your businesses message response rate. This rate reflects how many messages your page receives versus the number of messages that are responded to by your page. Keeping this number high is important, as it reflects how well your business uses the platform to respond to client inquiries and feedback. Always be sure to follow up with a human element after the initial message is received. Though having a program that responds to messages immediately is helpful in getting your message response rate up as well as providing immediate recognition of the customers’ message, remember that clients are looking to speak with humans to hear their feedback — good or bad.

never dabbled in the realm before — but with a little helpful direction, you can successfully create your own social media ads that will drive traffic to your business. A way to use these Facebook ads to aid in customer service is to run advertisements that highlight any customer service features that differentiate you from the competition. For example, if your business offers an emergency hotline or 24/7 hotline, feature it. Not only does it spotlight a high standard for your company’s level of customer service, but it also helps communicate the unique service feature your company offers.

Staying on top of digital trends can be a big task, but digital ads aid in the successful operation of a business. As you become more and more digital, knowing how this stuff works will only become more imperative. Social media is one of the first opportunities we have to interact with customers and it’s an essential addition to the customer service toolkit we’re using. From all of us at Quarter Moon, we wish you good luck and happy servicing online. u

As President of Quarter Moon Plumbing & AC, Joel Frederick leads a great team that has been committed to serving the San Antonio community and surrounding Texas areas for over thirty years. Joel actively supports his community and dedicates much of his free time to volunteerism and service work. For additional information about Quarter Moon Plumbing & AC, please visit quartermoonplumbing.com.

SCHEDULING SERVICES This cool feature is exclusive to platforms such as Facebook and Yelp. Did you know that customers can book appointments and services through these platforms? For example, if a business chooses to make the option available, a potential client can visit Yelp, read reviews and if they so choose, book their appointment straight from the page via the “Book Now” button. Facebook has a similar capability, along with the option to create posts with specific calls to action such as “Call Us Now” or “Schedule an Appointment”. Be sure to go into your page setting to make sure these features are enabled. These features make the booking process much simpler for clients which means they’ll be more inclined to use it.

DIGITAL ADS The world of digital social media ads can be a daunting one to those who have

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

SU CCE S S T HRO U G H CO N N ECTIO N S Get out of your silo and connect with other businesses who have faced the same challenges BY JODIE DEEGAN

emember that show “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” I’m talking about the classic version with Regis Philbin that had millions of viewers tuning in each week. The show had everything: Suspense, intellect, the possibility of winning a fortune and so much more. I think about it a lot while working as a Nexstar coach, because I love the idea of having a lifeline. It’s crucial that you have a trusted advisor that you can call who may have solutions for any problems that may arise. In business we don’t always have a lifeline. Sometimes it can feel like we are on an island. This can be true for anyone in your organization, but it’s usually loneliest

Without this interaction, you may not be aware of regulatory changes or other news that can impact your business. at the top. You may not always feel comfortable asking your employees questions out of fear of appearing weak or ignorant. You’re supposed to have all the answers, right? If you are subordinate, you may not feel comfortable asking your supervisor something that you may be expected to know. This is all dysfunctional. Healthy businesses have safe communication up and down their chain of command. Having that outside lifeline can be a

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

way around some of these dynamics. Many businesses operate in isolated environments we call silos. We know how we operate our business, but we may have limited visibility into how other departments or organizations do things. Your exposure to different ways of doing things can be limited without outside connections. The key to getting out of the silo is to connect with other businesses who have

identified best practices or solutions to challenges like yours. Let’s talk about some ways you can connect with other people to learn and share best practices with them.

JOIN A BEST PRACTICE ORGANIZATION You can learn a lot by having access to hundreds of other contractors who have experienced the same challenges you have. Typically, there are businesses of all sizes that have found the answer to the process you are struggling with. Another benefit is that you have access to contractors who may not be your direct competitor. Looking outside your geographic region can give you even more perspective, because your marketplace www.hvacrbusiness.com

might be a silo of its own. The smaller the market, the more we do things the same as our competitor. Chances are you trained them, or vice versa. By meeting and learning from successful contractors who have grown their businesses many times larger than your current size, you can avoid learning everything the hard way.

ESTABLISH A PERSONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS Commonly referred to as a PBOD, this is a handful of businesses like yours who you respect and trust to share information with. Best practice organizations become the perfect place for PBODs to form because there are so many great contractors to connect with. PBODs typically form organically, and may start with one or two other likeminded people who gravitate towards each other. As they meet other businesses or individuals they think would be a good fit, they invite them to join the group. The key ingredients here are trust and accountability. Your Board of Directors must give each other open, honest council to help them improve their businesses.

MAKE CONNECTIONS Most of us attend some type of training within our industry. Members of best practice organizations attend training for all positions within the business. These are great places to meet and make connections with other people who are doing the same thing you are. These connections can become your lifeline when you need an outside perspective or a best practice. If you are a service manager and you attend training with 30 other service managers from around the country, you suddenly have access to a network of support. Even if you aren’t a member of a best practice organization, you can make connections at local training events held by your distributor. Just because you are competitors doesn’t mean you should be instant enemies. Having a healthy relationship with and respect for each other’s businesses can

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Even if you aren’t a member of a best practice organization, you can make connections at local training events held by your distributor. benefit everyone and make your market more professional. Without that respect, companies may start to steal employees from each other or undercut bids, and everyone ultimately loses.

JOIN A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION

It’s a high return activity, to be sure! Don’t be the wallflower at the next gathering you find yourself at. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation or join in on one. There is a Zambian proverb that applies here: “When you run alone you run fast. When you run together you run far.” u

Jodie Deegan is a Training Accountability Coach with Nexstar Network. His focus is helping Nexstar members implement processes to get the highest levels of success from their training. Jodie has worked in the trades for over 30 years. He began as an HVAC technician and grew to president of several large HVAC, plumbing and electrical service companies. He is a retired chief petty officer with 24 years of service in the United Sates Navy. He makes his home in Southern California. For additional information, visit nexstarnetwork.com.

There are a lot of great trade organizations like PHCC or ACCA, just to name a few. These organizations typically raise awareness for things that affect our industry. This helps you climb out of your silo a little bit more. Without this interaction, you may not be aware of regulatory changes or other news that can impact your business. These meetings often feature subject matter experts on topics that we may find complicated or confusing. This is also a great way to connect with contractors who are more experienced in areas where you may be weaker. For example, if you are not experienced in installing mini split systems and there is a contractor in your group who does a lot of them, that is a great connection to have when you land that install.

OUTSIDE THE TRADES Joining local business organizations like Rotary, Kiwanis, or independent groups can have many benefits. These come in the form of business referrals, professional services, or different business perspectives. By looking outside our industry we can find new ways of doing things that haven’t found their way into our world yet.

NETWORKING One of the biggest challenges we are facing as an industry is the shortage of quality technicians. By making as many connections as possible with potential employees, or employees who know potential candidates, you are planting the seeds that may eventually grow into future team members. HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

LEADERSHIP

BY DANIELLE PUTNAM

Your Comfort Zone is a Liar

e procrastinate when things are outside of our comfort zone. But my vice president at The New Flat Rate, Matt Koop, says it best, “Your comfort zone is a liar!” The growth you want — the dream company, dream job, dream team — is all just on the other side of your comfort zone. We must step outside to reach for what we want. Along the way, we must manage well, but management starts and stops with leadership.

TAKE THE WIN In college, I captained our ladies flag

If we were honest with ourselves, it’s not that we need more time in the day, we need more time to work on our high value activities. football team. I probably made 1,000 mistakes. But in hindsight, I probably had just as many wins. By wins, I’m not referring to the scoreboard. I’m referring to the small things I personally and together with my team achieved. Sometimes I played quarterback while other times I ran my heart out as running

back. I played for four years, and still today I often have flashbacks of late evening practices, running and re-running our playbook, and apologizing to my team for missing a catch or throwing short of our goal. Taking the win means it doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to be a place to start. Over time not overnight. Learn to take the win. Celebrate the small things. Fortunately, preparation brings peace. We prepare by planning time for planning. In everyday life, practice the art of scheduling “thinking time.” It’s not that we need more time in the day, we need more time to work on our high value activities. Make space for yourself by using some of these techniques:

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HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

Schedule thinking time. Some call it meditation. Meditate, think, plan your high-value activities. Regardless of what you want to call it, decide today to begin scheduling true thinking time on your calendar. Squeeze in what you can for starters and progress from there. Have a coach. Whether your coach is in the form of a consultant or even a mentor, they can be free or paid, but if you don’t have a coach, get one … and don’t be ashamed to pay for one. But be sure to get the right one.

And when you pass it down, it strengthens what you’ve learned. Management starts and stops with leadership. If we are going to manage well, we must learn to lead well.

ASK WHY It all starts with the why. When we know our why, we can reverse engineer to get where we want to be. As professionals in the Service Industry, the core DNA of our why is usually something like, “I want to help people!” Then we can start creating metrics that ensure we course-correct along the way. No one is perfect right out of the gate. Winning in business is about coursecorrecting by nanosecond, which by the way, is what a GPS system does. With true GPS, you get where you’re going. With knowing your why, you will get where you’re going, which is just on the other side of your comfort zone. And for me, I’ve had to step outside of my comfort zone to learn to manage, study leadership, and course-correct to where we are today in a continual process of learning. u

Danielle Putnam is the president of The New Flat Rate, as well as vice president of Women in HVACR. For additional information, visit womeninhvacr.org.

Be a mentor. When we teach, we learn. We learn by teaching. Mentor someone in your sphere of influence who is pursuing a similar career path. Knowing you need to empower them will spur you on to feed your fire and continue to stay ahead, so you can pass down your learning. www.hvacrbusiness.com

TECHNOLOGY

BY KEVIN BURNS

Four Industry Technologies Driving Efficiency

t’s no longer business as usual in the world of HVACR. New technologies are turning the industry on its head by making the training, manufacturing and installing processes more efficient. Many instruments in the trade are getting a facelift, new applications are being introduced and other key operations are utilizing digital tools and Internet connectivity. The impact of modern technologies on the HVACR industry seemingly has no end in sight. Here are four of these new technologies and how they are driving efficiency for users and service technicians alike.

3D PRINTING The evolution of 3D printing started as a marathon in the 1980s and evolved into a sprint around 2013, when the technology became more accessible and affordable. Today, the speed and versatility of 3D printing means it’s creating everything from bespoke medical devices to specialized prototypes and parts for HVACR units — and even the units themselves. In the HVACR industry, 3D printing is used to create missing or custom pieces with precision; these 3D printed custom pieces are also more efficient and durable than their traditional counterparts. That’s because they are created with a layering process that leaves no seams —and thus offers better resistance. While 3D technology makes it easier to replace a single part, it could also reinvent how manufacturers construct entire HVACR units. For instance, 3D printing may provide a solution for a customer who needs a customized unit installed in a particularly awkward spot.

The impact of modern technologies on the HVACR industry seemingly has no end in sight. industries are using VR to help with employee training, virtual tours, live streaming events and other real-world applications. In the HVACR industry, VR could help clients visualize the blueprints of a room or building for better spatial recognition. It could even be used to view the inner workings of a machine so technicians could see how to best service and repair a unit. VR could even be used to show potential clients a virtual representation of their proposed HVACR system, offering customers newfound transparency into the construction of their system.

Kevin Burns is the President of Bob Jenson Air Conditioning in San Diego with over 29 years of experience in the HVAC Field. He has worked in every aspect of the industry and has trained dozens of people. He has a passion for doing what’s right for each home and customer and sets this standard for his entire team.

VR also aids in the training of employees, allowing new hires and seasoned veterans alike to try their hand at servicing or repairing HVACR units and other equipment in a risk-free environment.

SMART THERMOSTATS Digital thermostats offer many advantages over traditional models, including accessibility and ease of use, with most smart thermostats being controlled from a smartphone or tablet. Smart thermostat technology gives users the ability to remotely manage the temperature in their home to help them save money on energy costs. Beyond their usability, smart thermostats have helped to revolutionize HVACR systems. With smart thermostats, HVACR units are now more energy efficient, customizable and compatible with smart home technologies.

VIRTUAL REALITY

INTERNET OF THINGS

Virtual reality is a favorite simulation method used in the video game industry, but this technology has additional, more practical uses. Companies in various

From cars to refrigerators, universal wireless connectivity (called the Internet of Things or IoT) is changing how devices work and interact with one another.

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Smart thermostats are only one example of the HVACR industry ties to the IoT. For example, a Wi-Fi connected HVACR system could use preventative diagnostics to detect potential errors instead of relying on user recognition or a system malfunction. Upon detection (and with help from IoT-connected devices), the system could send a service notification to the owner or repair team. It could also take measures to remedy any further damage.

Internet-enabled HVACR units (with the help of smart thermostats) are also more capable of detecting changes in their environment and making automatic adjustments to keep a room or space comfortable. u

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

20QUESTIONS

>> with JASON HANSON

We sat down with Jason Hanson, president of Sierra Pacific Home and Comfort, a 2018 Tops in Trucks Fleet Design Contest winner. Hanson discussed learning curves in business, growing his company and the power of the color red. 1. Can you tell us a little about your background? I was an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. When I got out in 2000, I was looking to move back to the West Coast. I found a residential HVACR contractor that was hiring, but really this industry found me. 2. What did you do there? I started in what essentially is a general manager training program, and worked my way through a number of different positions to learn what the residential service and installation businesses is about. I picked up everything from marketing to sales to service, service management and installation management. I also took some technical classes, just to get some basic mechanical skills in the trade. 3. Where did you go next? I went to work for Lennox Industries as a territory manager and spent a number of years there until the opportunity to acquire Sierra Pacific came along. 4. What made you decide to buy the business? The company was actually one of my best customers and the owner at the time, he and I got along really well. He was an old Navy sub guy and I was a Marine. He became a coach and a mentor to me. One day he came to me and said, “I’m getting too long in the tooth to keep doing this thing and the people here are ready for it to go to another level, and I don’t have the energy for it. I’m looking for somebody who will keep all these people that have been with me for so many years together.” 5. What is the learning curve to owning a business? The learning curve of owning Sierra Pacific has evolved at each growth state. I’m still on a steep learning curve in some aspects of the business. I feel fortunate that I have friends and colleagues I can rely on to help me learn. 6. What is your management style? My approach is to work with fellow professionals in the company with the expectation that they’re capable and responsible to accomplish their duties without micromanagement by me. I look to establish organization, communication and discipline to adhere to our processes, and then monitor the performance through simple but relevant reporting. 7. What challenges have you faced? Our company’s greatest challenge so far was the recession, which happened shortly after I acquired it in late 2008 and 2009. A significant piece of our business declined in revenue overnight. But the management team responded effectively and we came out stronger than we were before the recession.

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8. What is your business mix? Sierra Pacific’s core competency is residential service and retrofit, with nearly 98 percent of the revenue coming from residential. Our solar divisions do some commercial work. 9. How has your company grown? Our growth has focused on doing more business more often with existing clients while still also adding new clients into our base. Our diversity has given us the opportunity to be a trusted home services resource to our clients and this has generated good referral and recurring opportunities from our existing clients. 10. Who came up with your tag line? In the early 90s, the founder and previous owner of Sierra Pacific developed the tag line of “The Guys In The Big Red Trucks” and it was used regularly in the company advertising until about 2000. That’s when the company focus shifted toward solar and the trucks were wrapped in a solar pool-heating theme. The big red truck concept somewhat atrophied. By the time I came into the picture and started looking at our branding, the company needed a refresh. After testing a few new concepts, a nostalgic but new version of “The Guys In The Big Red Trucks” was the clear winner. It still resonated well. 11. How did you come up with your winning truck design? The logo was updated and we built the tag line into the logo. Then we just put it on everything. We just kept the trucks a simple, but powerfully recognizable red. The first trucks had more than one tone of red, and eventually we came to the conclusion a simple solid red was the best and cleanest. 12. What did your branding look like before? The branding had become disjointed and lacked a distinguishing image so it was due for something new. 13. What made you decide to embark on this branding journey? The company image and marketing looked stale and did not reflect the great work that was being done by our team.

14. Did you do anything special to role out the new design? Regrettably, no. I simply just started using it in each new marketing related item we developed until the new design was fully integrated into every touch point we could have with a client or prospect. 15. What kind of reaction have you gotten? It’s been a great reaction from the clientele as well as the general public. We hear it all the time, “Oh I know you guys, we see your trucks everywhere!” Now we incorporated that into our radio advertising too. Our endorsers now close out the ad with “Call Sierra Pacific, you see them everywhere, The Guys In The Big Red Trucks.” 16. Do you use GPS in your vehicles? Yes, we use Fleetmatics to help our operations. 17. What’s the biggest benefit? Better accountability for driver behavior, and being alert to what they’re doing. When you’re as prominent as we are and you’ve got trucks all over, people will, in a moment, get upset if they see a truck that they think is not courteous on the road to them. You don’t want to create that bad impression. To have all the drivers ultra aware of it has made us better. 18. Do you track leads based off your trucks? Yes, we track each inbound call for a lead source and it is common to have the homeowner say more than one thing such as, “well, I hear you on the radio and I see your trucks everywhere.” 19. What kind of ROI have you seen so far? I can’t specifically track an ROI to wrapping the trucks in this theme, but it is clearly an important aspect and the cost to wrap each truck is in reality a great investment for us. It is part of a fully integrated marketing and branding campaign that cuts across to every potential touch point to our existing clients and future clients. 20. Has this new look helped with recruitment? I would say that it helps because we are recognizable to potential candidates for employment with us. To address the labor shortage, we focus on building our own great technicians. Hiring entry level and using training resources we can get through the manufacturers or other trade schools, like Ultimate Technical Academy and things like HVAC Learning Solutions at Lennox. We build them up and let them advance within the company.

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EDUCATION & TRAINING TAKE THE INITIATIVE

» SPECIAL SECTION ON INDUSTRY EDUCATION F E AT U R E S

Why Education is Important

A DV E R T I S E R S

Don’t let your training and education program fall through the cracks. By Jamie Kitchen

20 Southwire

Implement On-the-Job Training Becoming a proficient HVACR professional requires training and education — lots of it. By Michael Moore

Stop Training, Start Learning A move toward a learning model will increase the retention of knowledge in your training program. By Lance Sinclair

22 Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES) 23 Business Development Resources 25

International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA)

27 North American Technician Excellence (NATE) 28 HVACRedu.net

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YOU GET THE COFFEE. WE’VE GOT THE REST. In the world of HVAC, things can go from HOT to COLD in the blink of an eye. So much to do – so little time.

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W H Y E D U C AT I O N I S I M PO RTAN T Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let your training and education program fall through the cracks Career Development

Investment

Flexibility Return on Investment

Mentoring

BY JAMIE KITCHEN

hen I first became involved in training, I assumed training was just a given and that a person would undertake training of some sort to improve themselves on a regular basis. After all, this was what I had been taught and been exposed to as I went through my career. The reality was a little different. I found that we often want and plan to support training only to have it fall through the cracks as more pressing issues pull our attention and resources elsewhere. Training is not something that can just be done on a whim and hope that all will magically be better.

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technical committees with HVACR business owners, this is often the first thing that comes up.

Look at what is important to your businesses, and determine if training in that area will be a good return on your investment. So, if training is not done and our businesses run regardless, is it even worth it to make the effort to train our employees â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and ourselves, for that matter?

To answer the question posed earlier, we need to look at what is important to our businesses that training will return a good investment on.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

The key among them is employee skills flexibility, loyalty and reduced warranty costs. To this list you could also add improved brand recognition, reputation and referrals.

This could include picking up new skills beyond what is necessary to do the current tasks that one is required to do in their position so they can take on new tasks, move into a new position all together or cover for somebody who is out sick or injured.

Obviously, getting the right employees to start with is the biggest step and often the most challenging. When sitting on

To get the best employees, you need to offer something that would make them want to work for you as opposed to somebody else, and on-the-job training is listed right at the top of the pile. As well, since technical schools are not graduating enough people to fill in the skilled labor gap, I have also noticed several business owners have started recruiting new workers straight out of high school. Since some of these schools have HVACR courses in their program, students coming out of these schools who continued on page 22

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continued from page 21

Getting employees with good work ethics and potential abilities and developing them is probably the best answer to the labor shortage.

have shown they can work at a place like McDonald’s for a year or two, show up for work on time and do what is required of them and even more, often make great employees when trained in the additional technical skills required. I sometimes hear from HVACR business owners, “What happens to my investment in training my employees and they leave for another employer?” I think people have this backwards.

On top of this, you can advertise that your techs are certified and have all the skills necessary to do what is required of them, which is something I think we can all agree is important.

If you’re lucky enough to get a person with the right work attitude and they show some aptitude for the job, you’re mistaken if you do not invest in them.

If others also have the necessary skills, it will be a lot easier to find somebody to take on the new opportunity and do it before your competitors can step in. If somebody is on vacation, injured or sick, the remaining folks can fill in for them with no back up of work or missed opportunities.

INVESTMENT

And, if they leave, why did they decide to forsake you and go to somebody else? I’d want to find out and correct as soon as possible, as keeping good employees is the number one thing a business should strive for — because, without them, you will never be as successful as you would like.

already deep in another job? Pull them out and have somebody else start halfway through?

RETURN ON INVESTMENT FLEXIBILITY Getting back to the reasons to train, let’s start with employee flexibility. Since good technicians are worth their weight in gold, increasing their capabilities into other applicable areas allows you to do

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more with them and pick up opportunities that might otherwise go to somebody else. If a good opportunity comes along but you only have one or two technicians with the skills to do it, what happens if they are

Touching on loyalty, I have already pointed out that on-the-job training is right up there on the list of desirable offerings from a potential employer. It’s also important to remember the law of supply and demand.

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Currently and for the near future, those with the skills are in short supply, which means that demand far outstrips supply. Getting employees with good work ethics and potential abilities and developing them is probably the best answer to this shortage. The training investment is lower than the alternative, which is to hire a highlyskilled person who has just about every company recruiting them and who you will pay dearly for — only to have them leave in six months to somebody with deeper pockets. The potential downside is time required for the return on investment. It takes months, if not years, to fully develop the skills required, so these employees will not be jumping in a truck by themselves and troubleshooting large refrigeration systems in a few months unless they already have the required skills to start. Of course, you won’t be paying them the high wages highly-skilled people receive, either. Since training is highly desired, if they are getting trained and see the value in it, you will have loyal employees. Even highly-skilled people are the way they are because they have put in the effort to become that way, and so will regard training offered to them that will enrich their skills as desirable and something of value.

SOFT SKILLS Reduced warranty costs, call backs and generally unpleasant experiences with customers are some key areas proper training can help alleviate. And, by training, I am also referring to the “soft skills” that can help a business gain an advantage in a competitive market. Soft skills are sometimes dismissed as frivolous, to put it mildly, but every successful HVACR business I can recall has some form of soft skill development program in place. It should not be a surprise since people’s perception of somebody coming into their home or place of work is first predicated on how they perceive the person (and, by extension, your business). Their actions — from the minute they step in the door and the first words out of www.hvacrbusiness.com

Reduced warranty costs, call backs and generally unpleasant experiences with customers are some key areas proper training can help alleviate. their mouth — will immediately make an impression. If you want to sell preventive maintenance programs, look no further than the importance of a positive first impression — because, if people perceive value in having your company visit their home, they will see value in having you come back.

Taking time and discussing opportunities for training development with your employees and what you desire from them as a result will help you work together to build the workforce you desire and that will result in the most return. u

Jamie Kitchen is an account manager for Danfoss. He previously was the training manager for Danfoss in North America. Jamie has worked in several positions around the world to develop an expertise on the various considerations each region requires to achieve its air treatment needs — whether through refrigeration, air conditioning, heating or humidification. For additional information, visit danfoss.us.

MENTORING Technical training to do the job correctly can consist of mentoring a junior tech by one more senior. This can be done one day a week where the junior tech takes a break from the work they can do and learns how to do work they currently do not have the skills to do by first observing and then doing with the coaching of a supportive and encouraging senior tech. This will give them the confidence to do it on their own. Sure, there will be a cost associated with this, but you will save down the road on reduced costs associated with poor work, as well as expand the capabilities of your staff. Improved brand recognition, reputation and referrals will follow naturally. People can understand the basic concepts of how a system works, and if time is taken to describe how and why something is being done, it will make sense to them and they will trust you far more as a result. If your technicians can’t describe in terms a non-expert would understand of how a system works and what is important to make and keep it working well, then they cannot effectively communicate with people who will make the decision to call you the next time or recommend to a friend to call you when they are looking to buy or service a system. Of course, training cannot fix everything, and shortcomings from something other than skills will likely require another solution. HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

I MP LE M E N T O N - T H E - J O B TRAIN IN G Becoming a proficient HVACR professional requires training and education — lots of it

BY MICHAEL MOORE

bviously, you don’t need to be told that HVACR technicians and installers need training to be good at their jobs. The trick, as you probably know all too well, is to recruit and retain enough trained staff to meet increasing demand for service. According to 2015 estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we’re looking at a 21 percent increase in HVACR jobs in the next four years. At the same time, a large portion of U.S. workers are nearing retirement. We could be looking at a labor gap of 115,000 or more workers by 2022.

THE ISSUE You’d think, with all the opportunity in the field, that job seekers would be jumping at the chance to join the industry. If only. In 2015, the HVACR Workforce Development Foundation commissioned a survey of HVACR instructors. What they found is that technical training programs are often under-attended, and many students who do enroll are weak in necessary science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and reading skills.

Technical training programs are often under-attended, and many students who do enroll are weak in necessary science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and reading skills. Yes, you read that correctly. Literacy is another major issue facing the next generation of U.S. workers. That aside, even if you could recruit all your new staff straight from technical schools (and you should be partnering with your local votech schools, if at all possible), they will still need additional and ongoing training. Very few technicians you hire will be technically competent in all the types of equipment and troubleshooting skills in your market. That may also be true for some of the technicians you already have.

recruitment and retention. Odds are, you already do some form of training in your business. To build a world-class service department, it helps to go a step beyond weekly service (and sales) meetings, and implement a more formalized approach to on-the-job training. Consider this:

WHAT TO DO

Training is about learning, growth and personal development. Training programs lead to an increase in job satisfaction and employee motivation. They also improve efficiency, and consequently, company profit.

Make sure you have a solid program for on-the-job training. Not only will this help you to make sure the staff you hire are good to go, offering continuing professional development is an effective tool for

Most technicians have an analytical personality style. Often, analytical people struggle with interpersonal communication. Integrating customer relations training into your service department can lead

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

to higher customer satisfaction. Technology continues to evolve. Change is constant, and so is the need to keep up with new technology. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean you have to buy all-new diagnostic tools every week. What it does mean is that learning should be a core value in your organization, and you can harness evolving technologies to do it more efficiently and accurately.

ON-THE-JOB INVESTMENT Just as you would budget for any other operating costs, it’s a good idea to build employee development into your budget. Some companies allocate 2 to 3 percent of sales for training. When making those calculations, include the anticipated costs for recruitment, testing and relocations (if you’re recruiting from beyond your local area). This adds to your overhead, but allows you to plan for it and still attain your company’s net profit goal.

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM Naturally, you’ll want your best employees to help you train those who are up www.hvacrbusiness.com

and coming in your business. This holds true for the whole team, including sales personnel, not just your technical crews. Mentoring a co-worker takes quite a bit of time, effort and patience, and may temporarily detract from the mentor’s perceived productivity. When done well, it’s worth it, because you’ll have two excellent employees, rather than one who is good and one who is floundering. Offer your designated mentor(s) an incentive. Bonuses, raises, and higher job titles are all ways you might consider rewarding a mentor for a job well done. Paid days off go a long way toward boosting morale, too. To balance that, hold both mentor and mentee accountable for job performance goals.

DON’T GO IT ALONE Mentorship is just part of the picture, but not every business can afford to establish a training space within their shop. Dedicating physical space, equipment, tools and man-hours to an in-house training program might be rather daunting for your operation. That’s all right. One great way to ensure your staff receive reliable, quality training and get hands-on experience, is to partner with a third-party training provider whose philosophy aligns with your company’s core values.

Just as you would budget for any other operating costs, it’s a good idea to build employee development into your budget. NATE IS YOUR FRIEND Going back to the study that the HVACR Workforce Development Foundation did in 2015, another challenge is that regional standards for certification, licensing and apprenticeship vary widely between U.S. states and Canadian provinces. That makes it difficult to standardize curricula across the industry North American Technician Excellence (NATE), however, provides testing and certification for many levels and specializations in the HVACR industry. Earning NATE certifications is a recognizable way to show that a technician has the working knowledge and competency to perform well on the job. For those consumers who care about certifications (an increasing number of consumers are educating themselves on such things before dialing your number), NATE badges offer a way to show that your staff are well-trained professionals.

At the same time, use your in-house mentors to guide and observe your learners as they progress through training programs.

NATE tests are not the alternative to formal HVACR training. On the contrary, partnering with a training provider who will help your technicians to prepare for NATE examinations is a more efficient route to successful certification. Handing someone a study guide and expecting them to prep for a complex and technically challenging test is not as likely to be successful.

USE TECHNOLOGY

WHERE TO BEGIN

It’s now possible to access a surprising amount of HVACR training online. You can now put new technicians or installers through an online (virtual) training program, where they learn the theory and principles of HVACR, and how to perform installations or maintenance. While they’re going through an online training course, you can have students working with your mentor(s), practicing what they’ve learned, in the shop and on-the-job. That way, you can be sure they’re getting standardized training, and also racking up hands-on experience in your particular market. www.hvacrbusiness.com

industry is facing a labor shortage, retention is vital.

You might be saying, “Okay, that’s all great, but where do we start?” If you’re looking at on-the-job training for a new hire, or you’re not sure where your existing staff might have skill or knowledge gaps, you can use a technical competency test. If you’ve identified a third-party training partner, they should have such an assessment you can use to ascertain your techs’ training needs and skill levels. From there, you can tailor training for each employee. Another way to identify gaps is to keep a log of all service call backs. If you’re hearing the same problems come up, there may be training issues you need to address. Also, consider employees’ requests for specific training, manufacturer-specific

troubleshooting tips, and NATE and EPA requirements for certifications. Good managers are a must. One of the top things you’re going to need for on-thejob training to succeed is a service manager who is very knowledgeable, and can guide staff in proper procedures. The last thing you want is someone passing on bad habits or outdated methods to less experienced employees. On-the-job training is a commitment, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Continuing to develop your staff as HVACR professionals will help your business to provide top-notch service to your customers, and it will help your company to be somewhere people want to work. That’s always a good thing, and when the

Online curricula for skills and product training can be an excellent resource, allowing employees to study new material without having to travel. You can then have them practice and demonstrate what they’ve learned, in-house and on-the-job. Remember, it’s your employees that drive results. Not processes. Not technology. Not marketing. People are the most valuable component of your business. u

As one of the Lennox Learning Solutions founders and Director of Training, Mike Moore is focused on helping HVACR leaders, salespeople and technicians grow their businesses and develop their skills. Visit lennoxpros.com/HVACR-training for additional information.

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HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

STOP TRAINING, START LEARNING A move toward a learning model will increase the retention of knowledge in your training program

BY LANCE SINCLAIR

top training — it doesn’t work. I have been in the learning and development field for more than 17 years and if I have learned one thing — it is this: STOP Training! Before you write me off and turn the page, let me explain.

Learning can be defined as the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught which results in a change in behavior.

The Learning Pyramid*

Training can be defined as the action of teaching a person a skill or type of behavior.

Average Retention Rates

Learning, however, can be defined as the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught which results in a change in behavior.

5% Lecture

Passive Teaching Methods

Why do I say STOP Training? Because, in the traditional sense, it does not work. An example of traditional training could be described as a PowerPoint with a trainer at the front of the room — perhaps a little interaction. Perhaps no PowerPoint at all. Perhaps a lecture. More passive than participatory. Perhaps strong coffee and stale donuts. Numerous studies show learning retention statistics indicate as little as

10% Reading 20% Audio-Visual 30% Demonstration

Participatory Teaching Methods

50% Group Discussion 75% Practice 90% Teaching Others

*Adapted from National Training Laboratories. Bethel, Maine

5 percentof material is retained in a lecture format. Panopto, a leading provider which uses a video platform that helps businesses improve training, states that traditional

HVACR BUSINESS AUGUST 2018

training yields 58 percent retention after one day; 35 percent retention after one week; 10 percent retention after six months.

We have all done it. We have all sat through it. I am talking about the PPT lecture. Cartoon slides, multiply fonts, and lecture simple do not appeal to today’s learner. Worse yet, the modis operanti, seems to be to cram as much information as possible into as short a period of time as possible. Twenty talking points taught in 55 minutes. I am talking about information overload, which is boring and forgotten by the last slide… So, what is to be done? If we can agree that traditional training does not work as it has been defined here, then can we agree that we need to change? Here is a low cost, no cost, list of four things you can do today to change the retention goal of your training; to move toward a learning model.

MEASURE IT Retention can be measured in several ways. One is to measure pre- and postlearning. Simply put — an assessment (test) given before the class and then after the

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class. The goal is not an individual scored — the goal is the percentage of change between the pre- and post-assessment.

ON THE JOB CHECKLIST Another method to measure retention is to complete an On the Job Checklist

RETENTION PERCENTAGE OVER TIME

PERCENTAGE RETAINED

80% 60 50 60%

58%

Again, the score becomes more meaningful when compared to previous behavior: after training, was there a measurable increase in the OJT application? Metrics matter.

REPETITION Adults need repetition to retain information. In any training session, to increase learning which results in a change of behavior — the facilitator must tell them what you will tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you just told them.

35%

40% 30

(OJT) several weeks after the training. The question is what was taught in the classroom being applied in the workplace?

20 20%

Repetition is the key to learning for adults.

10%

0%0 1

TIME LINE

POST ACTIVITIES In line with the repetition point above, to increase learning, all training should incorporate planned post classroom activities.

These activities can be assignment of online course work, participation in an ongoing blog, a follow-up conference call, and more STOP Training — it doesn’t work! Learning works. With a focus on metrics and measuring a change in behavior — real learning can occur. With this in mind, I think I will change my title from Vice President of Training to Vice President of Learning. u

Lance Sinclair had 17 years operational experience before joining Direct Energy’s Franchise group in 2004. In his current role, as Vice President of Learning for Success Academy, he is responsible for the development, design, delivery, and evaluation of learning, development, and education for the franchise system consisting of Instructor Led Training, Web Based Training and Online Self-directed Training. For additional information, contact him at lance.sinclair@directenergy.com.

Stay Ahead of the Rest. Recertify. It’s easier than ever to renew NATE certifications! education hours (CEHs) or by taking one specialty exam every 2 years.

NATE-certified technicians assure: ▶ ▶ Quality Installations ▶ Fewer Call Backs ▶ Reduced Warranty Returns ▶ Greater Knowledge ▶

a clear path to success in HVACR for natex.org/recertify or email recertify@natex.org.

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