Comfort Supply's Blog by Clay Blevins

From Oct. 1 through the end of the year, contractors who buy selected Ruud systems will receive an instant rebate of up to $250. See your local Comfort Supply store for details.

More often than not, when a tech answers a service call, it will be a woman on the other side of the door. It is likely that the woman of the house will be responsible for household decisions and so you need to be prepared. Want to ensure that you’ll never hear from that customer again? Here are some tips for making women uncomfortable in their own homes.

DON’T identify yourself right away. I mean, the name of the company is on the truck, right? You’ve got a clipboard, what else do you need?

Of course handing her a business card and introducing yourself will put everyone at ease and let her know who will be in her house… but that’s not your problem, right?

DON’T be respectful. You’re the professional. She’s just a customer. She needs you way more than the other way around. Talk down to her. Let her know who’s really in charge and you’ll never have to come back there again.

Making eye contact, being polite and showing concern for the problem will only lead to repeat business and referrals. Who wants that?

DO use the hard sell. There is nothing quite like intimidation, double talk and pushing a customer to buy something that they don’t think they really need

And there’s nothing like it for killing repeat business, referrals and your professional reputation.

DO be dismissive of her input. She made the call to get you out here. Her job is done. Now step aside and let a professional tell her what the problem is.

She’s been living with this problem and her insights will make it easier to diagnose. Listening and asking questions will increase your understanding and make the fix go more quickly. But if you wanted an easy job, you wouldn’t have gotten into the HVAC business.

DON’T finish the job quickly and move on. Nothing will make her more uncomfortable than you sitting in your truck in front of her house waiting on your next service call. Hey, everyone needs a break.

Hanging around after the job is done will undermine her confidence in the work you did. Is he really done? Is there something wrong? Why is he still here? Having a stranger in your home creates stress. Having a stranger hanging out in front of your house can turn stress into anxiety.

DO burn your bridges. What do you care if you never see this person again? You’ve got your check and another service call to get to.

Cleaning up your mess, explaining to her what you did, demonstrating that the work is complete and thanking her for calling you? That’s for people looking for repeat business. You’re company is big enough already, right?

I received this message from the Heating Airconditioning Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI)

HARDI has created and launched a new website for the entire HVAC industry focused exclusively on securing an extension of the $1,500 25c residential tax credits before they expire at the end of this year. Below is the press release issued this evening about www.savehvacjobs.com . The website provides an easy-to-use tool for sending letters to your elected officials urging an extension of the tax credits, and HVAC companies are invited to show their support for extension by adding their company name or logo to the page. Soon you'll also be able to add testimonials of how the tax credits have helped your business employ or keep employed HVAC professionals. HARDI distributors are urged and encouraged to do the following as soon as possible to help lead the effort in getting these tax credits extended:

1. Go to www.savehvacjobs.com and use the simple tool to send letters to your representatives
2. Forward the website to your entire company so every employee is sending letters too
3. Forward the website to all contractor customers encouraging them to sign on and send letters
4. Forward the website to all vendors encouraging them to sign on and send letters
5. Promote and link to the website on your own company websites
6. Set weekly reminders to employees, customers, and vendors to send more letters
   

Industry-wide and national grassroots pressure will be the only way our industry has a chance of getting these tax credits extended before they expire. Use, promote, and re-use, and re-promote the website until we've gotten our extension!

For Immediate Release:
September 9, 2010
Contact: Talbot Gee
(614) 345-4328
tgee@hardinet.org

HARDI Launches Industry-Wide, National Effort to Extend $1,500 Tax Credits

Columbus, OH- Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) launched today a new website, www.savehvacjobs.com. The new site is for the entire HVAC industry to use to promote and facilitate an nation-wide grassroots movement to extend the expiring 25c, $1,500 residential tax credits for the installation of high efficiency HVAC systems. From this new website, HVAC contractors, distributors, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, and service providers can quickly and easily personalize a pre-drafted letter or compose their own letter to their federal legislators urging the immediate extension of these important tax credits before they expire at the end of 2010.

HVAC businesses can also send their company name or logo to join@savehvacjobs.com to show their support for 25c extension. “Our goal is to have a page with so many HVAC company names and logos on it that the page appears to scroll forever,” said HARDI’s Executive Vice President & COO, Donald Frendberg. “The idea started with Riley Sales, a distributor member outside Philadelphia, PA, who had created an online petition for their employees and contractor customers to sign and send to their representatives calling for a tax credit extension. It was such a fantastic idea that we asked if we should do something similar on a national level.”

HARDI is encouraging all of its over 400 U.S. distributor member companies to show their support on the site and more importantly to urge all of their thousands contractor customers to use the site several times a week until their representatives get these tax credits extended. “We know from many testimonials which we’ll start to post on this new website soon that many HVAC distributor jobs were in fact saved or created by the sales boost this tax credit provided,” stated HARDI Vice President, Talbot Gee. “We can only imagine the positive employment impact the tax credits have had on the tens of thousands of professional contractors out there, and of course the manufacturers of the qualifying equipment. We hope this provides the industry with a central portal for companies of all types to come together and speak as one massive and loud unified voice until we get these tax credits extended.”

HARDI has repeatedly expressed serious concerns of a regression in 2011 of the modest recovery experienced so far in 2010 if the $1,500 tax credits are not extended before they expire this December. “New units still aren’t flying off the shelf like we hoped despite the heat and the tax credits this year, but the mix of high-efficiency units being installed is keeping a lot of HVAC businesses going these days,” said Gee. “I don’t want to think about a 2011 without the benefit of these tax credits so we’re urging every HVAC business to do everything they can in the next three months to help us get these tax credits extended.”

The Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) represents more than 400 wholesale companies, more than 300 manufacturing associates and nearly 140 manufacturer representatives. HARDI members represent an estimated 85 percent of the dollar value of the HVACR products sold through distribution. # # #