Starting an HVAC business or a new division within an established company is a process that requires patience and a commitment to incremental growth
Growing the HVAC Division: From Plumbers to HVAC Contractors
The HVAC department for this company started small, right when Mike joined the business
- Initial Staffing: The first HVAC contractors were actually plumbing contractors who were trained and learning the new trade
. - Slow Beginning: Growth was slow, starting with very little volume, such as maybe one AC installation per month
. The technicians were initially more comfortable with furnace installation and repair . - Dual-Trade Management: For a time, the service manager for the plumbing side, a former plumber, also learned HVAC and served as the service manager for both the plumbing business and the new HVAC service
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Overcoming Hiring Challenges for HVAC Technicians
It took time and effort to transition from training internal plumbers to hiring HVAC-specific personnel
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Establishing Credibility: Experienced HVAC technicians often want to ensure a company is fully committed to the trade before they join, as they are wary of businesses that only “dabble” in it
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The Transition: Paul the Plumber found that once they were established, people started recognizing them as “legit,” which made hiring HVAC-only people easier
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The Growth Strategy: Building the division was a process of chipping away at it every day, not an overnight success
. The strategy focused on: -
Utilizing groundwork and Word of Mouth
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Informing current customers that the company now offered HVAC services
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Gradually increasing marketing spend as the division grew
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Balancing New Growth with Your Core Plumbing Business
A crucial part of adding a new division is ensuring the core business doesn’t suffer from a lack of attention
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Dedicated Focus: The established leadership, including the owner’s father and the operations manager, continued to focus on the plumbing side, which gave the new division the space and resources to develop
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Maintaining the Core: It is vital to ensure the core business remains strong while allocating attention and funds towards launching the new contractors HVAC service
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The Role of a Service Manager in Effective Contractor Management
As the business grew to 14 plumbers (plus HVAC staff)
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Transition to Management: The first service manager was a main guy in the field who acted as a contact for techs with questions about code, pricing, and other support
. Initially, this manager was still running three to four service calls daily . -
Full-Time Office Role: Getting that person out of the field and into the office full-time was a gradual battle
. Sending the manager to training and HVAC business classes helped them understand the full scope of the role .
Key Responsibilities for Service Managers
Effective management led to improved performance and quality control across the team
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Technical Support: Providing support to the field HVAC technicians and plumbers
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Invoice Review: Reviewing invoices, specifically “zero or $99 tickets,” to ensure proper inspections and options were provided to the customer
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Training & Meetings: Running regular plumbing trainings and meetings, in addition to one-to-one accountability sessions
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Recall Analysis: Discussing and training on recalls
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New HVAC Leadership
To further improve HVAC coaching and service, the company recently appointed a dedicated HVAC manager
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Expert Insight: The new manager understood the best practices of the trade, including flipping tech leads, building options, and selling equipment
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Tech-Focused Training: As a former tech, he was able to offer positive insight to the team, which made his training sessions and ride-a longs with the technicians highly effective
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By focusing on a slow, deliberate growth model, and prioritizing dedicated management for both their plumbing business and new HVAC division, the company was able to successfully scale their services and improve performance
