|
by Gary
Southern and Ralph
Beck
Ralph Beck is the Training
Coordinator for Altus Solutions, which offers a proven set of
business methods, systems, and software tools for HVAC companies to
utilize in partnering with builders for the purpose of educating new
homebuyers on home comfort enhancement opportunities.
The slowdown in the housing market is creating some challenging
scenarios for HVAC contractors. For some contractors, this is
actually a “survival” time; sadly, many will fail. Have you had any
of your builders demanding that you drop your “base bid” pricing by
at least 5%—on projects you’re already working? If so, you’ve
probably also been told that if you won’t meet the demands, your
projects will be re-awarded to virtually any contractor who will.
Adding insult to injury, these demands come on the heels of a
two-year stretch of incredible price increases in materials, fuel,
insurance, and other items. But of course there is an inexperienced
competitor who is more than willing to take your project for the
builder’s lowball offer, not realizing he’s committing to a fatal
course.
There is a way to not only enable contractors to positively respond
to this scenario, but to actually climb into of the driver’s seat.
What determines this is what you have done to create a mutually
profitable relationship.
What is a “mutually profitable relationship”? This means you have
created something where the builder actually sees you as a provider
of incremental profit, not just as a cost. If you have a Home
Comfort Enhancement Process business relationship with the builder,
you can now politely say, “You bet we can drop our price, but of
course we’ll need to drop your margins on enhancements and raise the
enhancement prices to your homebuyers in order to partially
compensate our loss.” You then ask for 100% of the builder’s
business (if you don’t have it already). You also inform/educate
(not ask) the builder about the new home comfort products and
systems being added to the list of offerings. Your builders want to
make money, and you can help them…as a business partner.
What about taking on a new builder in these challenging times?
Absolutely. In fact this might be the perfect time to take your pick
of quality builder accounts. You don’t just bid the project and wait
to see if your prices are lower than anyone else’s. You determine a
reasonable base bid price for standard systems and then stick with
it. But before you submit your bid, you present your Home Comfort
Enhancement and Customer Assurance Proposal, showing the builder how
your contribution to their bottom line makes you the perfect
business partner…not just another sub.
At this key meeting you share the results in net profit that your
other builder clients of their size have generated (Example: One
major builder now receives over $2,000 NET PROFIT per homebuyer for
every enhancement presentation made by a trained consultant. This
figure includes homebuyers that choose no enhancements.) All of a
sudden it doesn’t matter that you’re a hundred bucks per house
higher than your low-bid “competitor”.
In 2006, Four Seasons Heating & Home Comfort Solutions (Denver,
Colorado) generated the majority of their net profit from sales of
pre and post-closing home comfort enhancements. And, get this, their
Home Comfort Consultants met with only 30% of the homebuyers of the
total new homes for which Four Seasons was the HVAC installer.
Skeptical? Call Rich Bandy at Liberty Heating and Air Conditioning
in Orange County, California (714-792-0434). He’s learned how to
create this success in his contracting company.
Altus Solutions offers a proven set of business methods, systems,
and software tools for HVAC companies to utilize in partnering with
builders for the purpose of educating new homebuyers on home comfort
enhancement opportunities. One of their clients, Four Seasons
Heating of Denver, Colorado, reported net profits for 2005 in
the very high six figure range in enhancement sales alone. For more
information, contact Gary Southern at 303-709-4066 or
gsouth23@yahoo.com.
(Note from Tom: Without any doubt Altus Solutions has create the
most effective solution to making significant profits in the
residential new construction market. Ralph’s article will share
just one of their simple, but effective strategies.)
Enhancements: Proven Path to Profitability
An Enhancements Champion-Administrator Is Key
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern
The potential for profitability via the sale and installation of
home comfort enhancements is virtually limitless—far beyond that of
RNC base-bid installations. One of the reasons why “enhancements” is
not the main money maker for HVAC-RNC contractors generally is that
many have not recognized the necessity of appointing a competent
Enhancements Champion whose sole responsibility is overseeing the
products, programs, promotion, processing and placement of
enhancements.
The installation of multiple enhancements in the majority of RNC
homes is simply not possible without such a person. Your Champion
must be a positive thinking, forward looking, detail oriented yet
relational Administrator who believes that the sale and installation
of enhancements can be and should be the most profitable part of
your total operation.
As implied above, the primary responsibilities of an Enhancements
Champion-Administrator are these:
1. Products and Programs. The Champion presents, promotes and
acquires the proper home comfort systems, products, and programs
desired by homebuyer clients. Knowing that he is in an excellent
position to create incremental sales, he gains necessary support of
manufacturer and distributor partners. Manufacturers have long
searched for creative, effective ways to get their enhanced products
into new homes. But, until recently, the HVAC contractors they serve
have not had a venue for meeting with new homebuyers. But (as
briefly described below and in much greater detail in last month’s
article) the Champion now owns that venue! Manufacturers
realize that by providing your Champion with requested products and
programs, the number and variety of their enhancements placed in new
homes increases exponentially, and so do their sales and profits.
2. Promotion. This happens at three levels. First, the
Champion is a promoter among builders. He enlists permission from
builder clients for his consultants to meet individually with
homebuyers. For best results, this requires a professionally
produced, personalized, computer-animated presentation that
demonstrates to each builder how consultant-homebuyer meetings
increase both the builder’s net profit and the homebuyer’s
satisfaction level. (Included in the presentation are net profit
figures from other builders as well as testimonies.)
Second, the Champion is a promoter among her immediate staff. She
carefully recruits, then methodically trains, motivates and
encourages her home comfort consultants. She understands that having
the right people and treating them well is critical for success.
These are the front-line folks—the ones who befriend your homebuyer
clients and educate them on their many enhancement opportunities.
This process of course leads to the purchase of enhancements and the
probability of these new friends becoming continuous clients—looking
to your company for filtration systems or replacements, indoor air
quality systems, routine servicing and repair, and the future
replacement of basic and enhanced systems.
Third, the Champion is a constant promoter among all of your
employees. In a multitude of ways he subtly reminds everyone from
the owners to the receiving clerk that “the enhancements business”
is good for everyone— and well worth the extra effort and training
required. (The potential for raises and bonuses greatly increases
when the company’s net profit dramatically increases.) The Champion
frequently expresses appreciation to co-workers who help make
enhancements a major company focus. In time, this becomes
part of the company culture.
3. Processing. The Champion makes sure that all phases of
procurement, warehousing, installing and billing of enhancements
integrate smoothly with the existing procedures for standard
systems. She understands that this will not likely be an easy task
but one that must be done and done well. She realizes that it will
require numerous meetings with several co-workers—and much
patience—as the integration process is initially honed then
continuously refined.
4. Placement. The Champion knows that the correct
installation of enhancements is critical for the company’s overall
success and the continuation of an “enhancements emphasis.” He
frequently communicates with your project supervisors and
installation crews—suggesting training venues for new systems and
recommending ways to reward installers for repeated installation
accuracy. If problems with new products occur, he goes to the
jobsite to get firsthand information then sees that the problem is
corrected. He makes sure that concerned homebuyer clients are
contacted promptly and overcompensated quickly. He uses such
situations as opportunities to serve and to further enhance a
homebuyer client’s (and builder’s) relationship with the company
rather than endanger it.
Altus Solutions can help you select an Enhancements
Champion-Administrator and equip him or her with all of the
training and tools needed for success. In our “boot camp” training
program we even provide those new to the industry with a thorough,
operational overview of basic and enhanced HVAC, IAQ, and other home
comfort systems.
Altus Solutions can help you select an Enhancements
Champion-Administrator and equip him or her with all of the
training and tools needed for success. In our “boot camp” training
program we even provide those new to the industry with a thorough,
operational overview of basic and enhanced HVAC, IAQ, and other home
comfort systems. Please call us
(303-709-4066)
for more information or to schedule a telephone/video conference.
You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
(Note from Tom: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has created the
most effective solution to making significant profits in the
residential new construction market.)
Ralph Beck is the Training
Coordinator and Gary Southern the Owner/Manager of Altus Solutions.
Altus offers a dynamic set of business methods, systems and software
tools for HVAC companies to utilize in partnering with builders to
educate homebuyers on home comfort enhancement opportunities. One of
their clients, Four Seasons Heating of Denver, Colorado (the largest
HVAC-RNC company in the Denver area), generated more NET profit in
2006 from the sale of pre and post-closing home comfort enhancements
than from all of their new home standard systems, AOR systems,
hydronic and radiant systems, service sales, and commercial
installations combined.
Characteristics of a Great Home Comfort Consultant
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits
in the residential new construction market.)
We have described the Enhancements Champion - Administrator as the
key person for turning the sale and installation of home comfort
enhancements from a little piece of your business to your main money
maker. This month we will describe the key characteristics of a
Great Home Comfort Consultant…one who will easily produce $1 M in
profitable residential new construction upgrade sales. (See The
Housing Market Slowdown:
Will You Survive or Will You Thrive? in the January issue
of Sales Bytes® to learn how builders become more than
willing for your home comfort consultants to meet with their new
homebuyers.)
Home Comfort Consultants (hereafter HCC’s) are the front-line
folks—the ones who meet with and befriend your builder’s homebuyer
clients as they educate them on home comfort enhancement
possibilities.
The HCC must be cheerful, outgoing, relational, self-starting,
self-motivated, organized, flexible, and energetic. She must be able
to maintain an efficient home office and extensive filing system
without direct supervision. Utilizing computer-generated homebuyer
presentations, she must be (or become) computer-proficient. She must
be a willing and able learner—continually increasing her knowledge
and understanding of new home comfort systems.
For greatest success, the HCC must view herself (and be perceived by
new homebuyers) as a homebuyer advocate and educator, not a sales
person.
Our contractor clients have chosen to primarily employ women as
their respective HCC’s. Our experience suggests that many women
naturally possess the relational skills so necessary for this work.
More importantly, Home Comfort Consultants frequently meet alone
with women homebuyers (either singles or couple representatives).
Studies have demonstrated that women are typically more at ease with
and more apt to buy from other women.
The HCCs we have trained continue to report to us how thrilled their
homebuyer clients are to have the opportunity to decide on the
systems installed in their newly constructed home. More than
occasionally, homebuyers enthusiastically order enhancements that
they previously didn’t know existed (e.g. more energy efficient
heating and cooling, zoning, humidification, fresh air ventilation
and advanced filtration). A common statement made by homebuyers at
the close of an HCC presentation is, “This is great! I wish that
we’d had this opportunity with the home we’re living in now.”
Altus Solutions can help you select your HCC’s and equip them with
the training and tools needed for success. In our “boot camp”
training program we even provide those new to the industry with a
thorough, operational overview of basic and enhanced HVAC, IAQ, and
other home comfort systems.
Please call us (303-709-4066) or
email us
(ralph@altussolutions.net)
for more information or to schedule a telephone/video conference.
You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Ralph Beck is the Training
Coordinator and Gary Southern the Owner/Manager of Altus Solutions.
Altus offers a dynamic set of business methods, systems, software
tools and training for HVAC companies to utilize in partnering with
builders to educate homebuyers on home comfort enhancement
opportunities. One of their clients, Four Seasons Heating of Denver,
Colorado (the largest HVAC-RNC company in the Denver area),
generated more NET profit in 2006 from the sale of pre and
post-closing home comfort enhancements than from all of their new
home standard systems, AOR systems, hydronic and radiant systems,
service sales, and commercial installations combined.
Characteristics of a Great Home Comfort Consultant
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern
Part 2:
Hiring the Right RNC Home Comfort Consultants and the Upgrade
Consultation Process
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction market.)
The second part of the home comfort
consultation process is the post-closing walkthrough. Shortly after
the homebuyer moves into their new home, the HCC meets with them
there. During the walkthrough the consultant points out the various
features and maintenance requirements of each home comfort system,
demonstrates how furnace filters are changed, educates them on how
to program their programmable thermostat (if applicable), and
registers them for your company’s online store and service agreement
programs.
The homebuyer is also given the
opportunity to be re-educated on enhancement opportunities that were
not selected earlier. (This will, of course, be the initial home
comfort education experience for those who purchased an
“un-enhanced” inventory home or home that had earlier fallen out of
contract.)
The post-closing walkthrough is “icing on the cake” for your
homebuyer clients. Already grateful for the pre-closing opportunity
to customize their home comfort system, they are now poised to
become your builder’s (and your company’s) “raving fans.”
Our contractor clients have chosen to primarily employ women as
their respective HCC’s. Our experience suggests that many women
naturally possess the relational skills so necessary for this work.
More importantly, Home Comfort Consultants frequently meet alone
with women homebuyers (either singles or couple representatives).
Studies have demonstrated that women are typically more at ease with
and more apt to buy from other women.
Altus Solutions can help you select your HCCs and equip them with
the training and tools needed for success. In our “boot camp”
training program we even
provide those new to the industry with a thorough, operational
overview of basic and enhanced HVAC, IAQ, and other home comfort
systems.
Please call us (303-709-4066) or
email us
(ralph@altussolutions.net)
for more information or to schedule a telephone/video conference.
You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Ralph Beck is the Training
Coordinator and Gary Southern the Owner/Manager of Altus Solutions.
Altus offers a dynamic set of business methods, systems, software
tools and training for HVAC companies to utilize in partnering with
builders to educate homebuyers on home comfort enhancement
opportunities. One of their clients, Four Seasons Heating of Denver,
Colorado (the largest HVAC-RNC company in the Denver area),
generated more NET profit in 2006 from the sale of pre and
post-closing home comfort enhancements than from all of their new
home standard systems, AOR systems, hydronic and radiant systems,
service sales, and commercial installations combined.
Characteristics of a Great Home Comfort Consultant
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern May 2007
article
Enhancements: Proven Path to Profitability
Home Comfort Consultants: Right Training for Right Results
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction market.)
Right Results! Let’s begin with the
end in mind: 1) Having happy new homebuyers who become your HVAC
company’s raving fans and continuous long-term clients, 2) being
awarded with all of the new projects of all of your current
builders, 3) having new builders anxious to acquire your services,
and 4) experiencing the majority of your company’s net profit coming
from the sales and installation of home comfort enhancements (higher
efficiency heating and air conditioning systems, zone control,
humidification systems, programmable stats, filtration and air
purification systems, fresh air ventilation, central vac systems,
etc.).
Critical to all of the above is excellent training received by your
carefully selected home comfort consultants. The right training of
the right people will produce the right results.
So what exactly do your consultants need to know? Here’s a quick
overview:
• A basic understanding of
standard HVAC systems
• A great understanding of home comfort enhancements
• How to give a compelling, project-winning presentation to a
builder
• How to build great relationships with your builder clients
(builder principals, sales team, construction supervisors,
warranty service personnel) and their homebuyers
• How to set up a pre-closing and post-closing appointment with
a homebuyer
• How to use a laptop computer for animated, alluring homebuyer
presentations
• Why and how to educate new homebuyers on enhancement
opportunities during the pre-closing meeting (rather than sell
to them)
• How to do an effective post-closing walkthrough – enlisting
homebuyer loyalty for filter replacements, service agreements
and future systems purchases
• How to work as a team player with others within your company
• How to skillfully manage appointments, phone calls, paperwork,
and details
For many already-too-busy HVAC company
owners and managers, the thought of finding the time and/or
personnel to properly train home comfort consultants— especially
those new to the industry—is daunting. Add in the other necessary
ingredients for “enhancements success” e.g. finding and training (or
“freeing up”) a champion-administrator; developing excellent,
animated computer presentations; creating attractive, personalized
menus for each home plan within each builder’s project; integrating
the installation of enhancements with base bid installations;
training your techs to install new systems… and the whole thing
seems impossible.
Fortunately, Altus Solutions has developed a complete program for
equipping your company for success. In addition to training your
champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an intensive,
week-long training seminar tailored to your company’s needs, we’ll
provide you with our complete array of time-tested, highly effective
business methods, systems, and software tools—all for an investment
price that is too good to pass up.
As an example of tremendous results, our very first client, Four
Seasons Heating of Denver, Colorado (the largest HVAC-RNC company in
the Denver area), generated more NET profit in 2006 from the sale
and installation of home comfort enhancements than from all of their
new home standard systems, AOR systems, hydronic and radiant
systems, service sales, and commercial installations combined.
Please call us (303-709-4066) or
email us
(ralph@altussolutions.net)
for more information or to schedule a telephone/video conference.
You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Ralph Beck is the Training
Coordinator and Gary Southern the Owner/Manager of Altus Solutions.
Altus offers a dynamic set of business methods, systems, software
tools and training for HVAC companies to utilize in partnering with
builders to educate homebuyers on home comfort enhancement
opportunities. One of their clients, Four Seasons Heating of Denver,
Colorado (the largest HVAC-RNC company in the Denver area),
generated more NET profit in 2006 from the sale of pre and
post-closing home comfort enhancements than from all of their new
home standard systems, AOR systems, hydronic and radiant systems,
service sales, and commercial installations combined.
Characteristics of a Great Home Comfort Consultant
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern June 2007
article
Selling Enhancements
in RNC
Your Consultants Primary Tool: a First-Class Laptop Presentation
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Ralph
Beck is the Training Coordinator and Gary Southern the Owner/Manager
of Altus Solutions. Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has created
the most effective solution for making significant profits in the
residential new construction market.)
In previous articles we’ve described the necessary processes for
enabling your Home Comfort Consultants to establish pre-closing and
post-closing meetings with your builders’ new homebuyers. While the
purpose of both meetings is educational, the natural consequence is
their purchase of numerous home comfort enhancements.
In the pre-closing meeting, the consultant first describes to the
homebuyer the excellent, standard HVAC systems provided by their
builder (and installed by your company). She then explains the
enhancement opportunities that are available (higher efficiency
heating and cooling systems, programmable thermostats, zoning, air
filtration and purification systems, humidification and/or
dehumidification, fresh air ventilation, central vacuum systems,
etc.).
At the post-closing walkthrough, the consultant orients the
homebuyer on the operations and servicing of all home comfort
systems currently installed in the new home and then re-educates
them on home comfort enhancement opportunities still available. (In
the case of a homebuyer who purchases an inventory/“spec” home or a
home in which the contract of an earlier buyer fell through, the
post-closing walkthrough is also the initial meeting with the Home
Comfort Consultant.)
In these meetings, the big challenge for the consultant is
adequately describing enhanced or additional systems in a brief
amount of time and in an engaging and entertaining way—in a manner
that quickly captures the attention, interest, and enthusiasm of the
homebuyer.
The answer to this challenge is a first-class, animated computer
presentation: one that can be easily transported and set up in
virtually any meeting venue that’s convenient for the homebuyer
(their home, a restaurant, an office, a conference room, an airport
terminal, even a park bench). The computer, of course, needs to be a
laptop/notebook type, and the software program must be specially
designed—complete with animated graphics that clearly and quickly
demonstrate not only what various systems look like, but also how
they work and greatly benefit the homebuyer.
So, how much would such a setup cost?
Well, if you were to start from scratch—including the design and
development of a dynamic software program—a million bucks would be a
good number to begin with. But there’s no need to reinvent the
wheel. Altus Solutions has already invested the money and developed
an outstanding, user friendly, easily updatable and versatile
computer program/presentation—one already being used effectively by
a number of selected HVAC companies across the country. In fact, one
of these companies, a respected, large, tenured company, generated
more NET profit in 2006 from the sale and installation of home
comfort enhancements than from all of their RNC standard systems,
AOR systems, hydronic and radiant systems, service sales, and
commercial installations combined.
Altus Solutions has developed a
complete program for equipping your company for success. In
addition to our time-tested and proven software tools, we’ll train
your champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an
intensive, week-long workshop tailored to your company’s market and
needs. We’ll also provide you with our complete array of highly
effective business methods, systems, and ongoing support—all for an
investment price that is too good to pass up.
Please call us at 303-709-4066 or email us at
ralph@altussoultions.net for more information or to
schedule a free telephone/video conference. You can also learn more
about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Characteristics of a Great Home Comfort Consultant
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern July 2007
article
Selling Enhancements
in RNC
Home Comfort Consultants - A Home Office Is Best
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction market.)
“Hey Donna, Would you check out the
permit status on this job? We’re a little short-handed today?”
“Hey Donna, mind catching the phones for me while I’m at lunch?”
“Hey Donna, can you believe the extra work load that Fred is now
expecting of Sally at the front desk? Some of us are getting
together to discuss this in an hour in Mark’s office. Can you join
us?
Does any of the above sound familiar? Hopefully, the answer to the
question, “Should our new Home Comfort Consultants office at their
respective homes or at our company’s complex?” will be obvious. If
not, read on.
The purpose of a Home Comfort
Consultant is to educate your builders’ homebuyers on home comfort
enhancement opportunities (higher efficiency furnaces, air
conditioners, and heat pumps; filtration and air cleaning systems;
humidification or dehumidification, zone control systems, air
purification, fresh air ventilation, solar-powered attic
ventilators, low-sone bath fans, other indoor air quality systems,
etc.)
Once a builder agrees to the “home comfort enhancement program” and
your Home Comfort Consultant establishes a good working relationship
with builder sales people, supervisors and warranty people, the
consultation process is three-fold:
1. Set
up a pre-closing home comfort consultation presentation
with each new homebuyer
2. Give the presentation (which typically results in the
ordering of several enhancements)
3. Provide the post-closing walk-through in the new home
(which frequently results in the ordering of more
enhanced systems as well as setting up service agreements and
arranging for ongoing filter replacements).
Since the sale and installation of
enhanced systems should be your company’s biggest money maker
(base-bid system installations should simply be the door opener to
your builders), you want your Home Comfort Consultants to be meeting
with new homebuyers and doing what results in producing greater net
profit—NOT BEING SUCKED INTO OTHER STUFF AT YOUR COMPANY’S OFFICE!
Think of the numerous advantages to
you by your Home Comfort Consultant “officing” at home:
-
No
wasted time in commuting
-
No
wasted emotional or physical energy in “office politics.”
-
The
ability to tailor each work day according to the availability of
homebuyers (not office hours)
-
Tools
and supplies always available for that drop-of-the-hat
post-meeting, after-hours phone consultation or “big sale”
opportunity
-
Space
saving at your facility
Here’s what
your consultant will need for setting up her home office:
-
Laptop
computer (loaded with pre-closing and post-closing
presentations) to be taken to meetings with each new homebuyer
-
Internet
access (to access tailored homebuyer menus and order forms from
your database program)
-
Fax
machine
-
Cell
phone
-
Resource
materials (business cards, manufacturer’s literature, builder
sizing manuals, pricing manuals)
-
Filing
cabinets and filing system
-
General
office supplies (stapler, tape, pens & pencils, paper clips,
etc.)
For obvious
reasons, it is extremely important that your consultant’s home
office be a designated, full-time office space—not a shared
space such as the dining room table or corner of the family room or
master bedroom. The best home offices we’ve observed are converted
small rooms—with a door to be opened and closed.
Yes, your Home Comfort Consultant must be self-disciplined and a
self-starter in order to work effectively from a home office. But
these are the very attributes that are essential for any worker in
the sales field.
Altus Solutions has developed a
complete program for equipping your company for success. In
addition to our time-tested and proven software tools, we’ll train
your champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an
intensive, week-long workshop tailored to your company’s market and
needs. We’ll also provide you with our complete array of highly
effective business methods, systems, and ongoing support—all for an
investment price that is too good to pass up.
Please call us at 303-709-4066 or email us at
ralph@altussoultions.net for more information or to
schedule a free telephone/video conference. You can also learn more
about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Characteristics of a Great Home Comfort Consultant
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern August 2007
article
Selling Enhancements
in RNC
3 Ways To Keep Your Sales Consultants at the Top of Their Game
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction market.)
If the sale and installation of home
comfort enhancements is not your company’s main money maker,
something is terribly wrong. As we’ve stated in previous articles,
base-bid installations of standard HVAC systems for RNC should
simply be your foot in the builder’s door. The key to profitability
is the quality of the work done by your Home Comfort Consultants as
they educate and assist each homebuyer. If they aren’t at the top of
their game, every day, for every call, you’re losing money. Here are
3 ways to make sure they always have their game-face on when it
counts…in front of the customer.
The initial training of your Home Comfort Consultants takes an
investment of time, effort and dollars. And once that investment is
made, you, of course, want to protect it. You want your Consultants
to continue to be both profit-producing and to stay with you (rather
than becoming unhappy and jumping to your competitor). So how do you
do that?
Here are three extremely important ways:
1. Show appreciation. According to the U.S. Department of
Labor, the number-one reason people leave their jobs is because they
“do not feel appreciated.” In their insightful little book, How
Full Is Your Bucket?, Tom Raft and Donald O. Clifton, cite a
recent study discovering that “workgroups with positive to negative
interaction ratios greater than 3 to 1 are significantly more
productive than teams that do not reach this ratio.”
Do you consciously, consistently and individually tell your
Consultants (and other employees) that they are highly valued by
you? Accordingly, do you carefully limit your complaints and
un-thoughtful criticisms? Do you couch your concerns in the most
positive manner possible? Or do you mistakenly think, as many still
do, that yelling, berating and complaining actually produce positive
results?
Sociological studies consistently demonstrate that personal
interactions are rarely neutral. They are almost always positive or
negative. Creating and maintaining a communication style with your
Consultants that is primarily positive and affirming will
increase their productivity (and your net profits)—and keep them
working for you.
2. Keep them in the Know. Your Consultants’ increasing
familiarity with the products you install (how they operate and
their benefits to homebuyers) increases both their confidence before
homebuyers and their work enjoyment (resulting, quite naturally, in
greater sales). Don’t assume that your Consultants will take it upon
themselves to keep abreast of your new product lines and systems. As
Stephen Covey says, people tend to think that they’re “too busy
sawing to sharpen the saw.”
Give your Consultants the manufacturer’s literature on each new
product, ask them to memorize key facts, and then, soon after,
discuss the product with them—offering your insights as well as your
enthusiasm for the new system and how you believe that it will
benefit new homebuyers. Additionally, send your Consultants to
training sessions offered by your manufacturers. Coupled with the
knowledge and information they gain at these events will be a
reinforced sense of their value to you and your company.
3. Make them feel that they’re a part of a great team.
Although we believe strongly that Home Comfort Consultants function
best from a home office base (as described last month), they need to
know that they’re a part of a great team. Their total effectiveness
will require good relationships with your job superintendents,
service personnel, technical experts, administrative assistants and
others. Personally and proudly introduce your Home Comfort
Consultants to all key players. Also, be sure to include them in
important company events, meetings and social gatherings.
One reason for this is that the new homebuyers with whom your
Consultants meet need to have confidence that the HVAC company she
represents is as “together” and attentive to their needs as the
Consultant is. This confidence will come easily as your Consultant
enthusiastically mentions to them by name your superintendents and
installers, praising them (and your company) for attention to detail
and insistence that each client is fully satisfied with each system
installed.
Protect your investment! Keep your Consultants at the top of their
game and in your employ by:
-
Showing
them you appreciate them
-
Keeping
them in the know
-
Making
them feel that they are part of a great team.
Altus Solutions has developed a
complete program for equipping your company for success. In
addition to our time-tested and proven software tools, we’ll train
your champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an
intensive, week-long workshop tailored to your company’s market and
needs. We’ll also provide you with our complete array of highly
effective business methods, systems, and ongoing support—all for an
investment price that is too good to pass up.
Please call us at 303-709-4066 or email us at
ralph@altussoultions.net for more information or to
schedule a free telephone/video conference. You can also learn more
about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Characteristics of a Great Home Comfort Consultant
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern October 2007
article
Selling Enhancements
in RNC
Your Home Comfort Consultants and Your Builders’ Sales Personnel:
Relationship Is Everything
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction market.)
In monitoring the progress of Altus
Solutions-trained HVAC companies around the country, we’re now able
to arm our new client companies with this powerful statement to
potential builders: “Just give us a name and we’ll give you $1500
per home in net profit.”
In other words, our client companies
average $1500 in builder net profit per home comfort enhancement
presentation (not per sale). (Yes, builders love this. This
easily distinguishes you from other HVAC companies in your area and
wins contracts.)
But getting a builder’s approval for
your Home Comfort Consultant (HCC) to meet with their homebuyers is
simply “Big Step #1.” Big Step #2 is winning over your builder’s
sales people. These are the folks on whom your HCCs must depend for
receiving, on a timely basis, 100% of the names, addresses, and
phone numbers of new homebuyers. Without this information,
pre-closing home comfort enhancement meetings are not made;
presentations are not given; enhancements are not purchased; and
homebuyers, who later discover from neighbors the enhancement
opportunities they missed, are upset with both the builder and your
company.
Sometimes, winning over builder sales
personnel can be a bit of a challenge. Reasons include: (1) their
lack of familiarity with the many home comfort enhancements now
available; (2) a disbelief that homebuyers will be interested in
enhancements; (3) jealousy over “their homebuyers,” and (4)
unhappiness regarding their current job—resulting in an
unwillingness to do anything perceived as “extra.”
But winning over even the most
challenging sales people can be done. We’ve seen amazing things
happen when HCCs keep a good attitude and don’t give up. Some
once-tough-to-win-over builder sales people have become our HCCs
biggest fans—enthusiastically telling their new homebuyers about the
phone call that they’ll soon receive from their HCC and even doing
some pre-educating on the tremendous benefits of zoning, HEPA
filtration, higher SEER rating A/C, and programmable thermostats,
etc.
One tenured builder sales person became so enthusiastic about her
designated HCC and the home comfort enhancements program that when
the builder mentioned the likelihood of accepting a lowball,
standard systems bid from another HVAC company for a forthcoming
project, the sales person said that she would not be willing to work
the new project. (The enhancements-offering HVAC company was
retained and the sales person happily moved to the project—along
with her HCC friend.)
Here is a short list of ways for your
HCC to develop good relationships with builder sales people (there
are many others):
1. If
the builder doesn’t, per your company’s earlier request, set up
a meeting in which you give the actual pre-closing presentation
to sales personnel, drop by the sales office, introduce
yourself, and offer to bring lunch on a typically slow day when
they can experience the “sample” presentation—complete with
laptop graphics and manufacturers’ literature. (To not enjoy our
Altus Solutions-developed, highly animated laptop presentation,
a person would have to be dead or unconscious).
2. Casually visit the sales office
at least once a week—bearing gifts: cold sodas on a hot day, hot
chocolate on a cold day, or even tickets to a game or special
event.
3. When chatting with a sales
person, listen carefully for special interests or concerns e.g.
their children, an elderly parent, a local team, or a hobby. The
next time you pop in, ask about their children or parent, or
bring a magazine clipping related to their special interest.
4.
During short-day winter months, drop in around closing time one
day and offer to walk with the designated sales person as she
locks up the models (common sense: women HCCs with women builder
sales people).
5. Don’t
be pushy. Be genuine about all of the above—and beyond. If you
can’t find numerous ways to express kindness and human
compassion to a builder sales person, find another job. HCCs
are, first and foremost, in “the people business.” You need to
care about people— even those who don’t warm up to you easily.”
Make a genuine friend and you’ll have all of the homebuyer
information and support you’ll need.
Altus Solutions has developed a
complete program for equipping your company for success. In
addition to our time-tested and proven software tools, we’ll train
your champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an
intensive, week-long workshop tailored to your company’s market and
needs. We’ll also provide you with our complete array of highly
effective business methods, systems, and ongoing support—all for an
investment price that is too good to pass up.
Please call us at 303-709-4066 or email us at
ralph@altussoultions.net for more information or to
schedule a free telephone/video conference. You can also learn more
about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Selling Enhancements
in RNC
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern November 2007
article
Your Home Comfort Consultants and Your Builders’ Warranty People and
Supervisors
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction (RNC) market.)
In past articles we’ve described how
RNC HVAC contractors should be producing significantly more net
profit from the sale of home comfort enhancements than they do from
the installation of base-bid, standard systems. The primary key, as
we’ve described, is creating a mutually profitable relationship with
builder clients—assuring them that it’s in their best interest for
new home buyers to interface with the HVAC contractor’s home comfort
consultants (HCCs).
Last month we conveyed the vital
importance of HCCs establishing strong, trusting relationships with
builder sales personnel. This month, the topic of relationships is
the same, but the focus turns to the builder’s project warranty
person and supervisor.
From experience in the field, we’ve
learned that when an HCC takes the time to meet the project warranty
person and supervisor—and demonstrate to them the services she
provides to their new home buyers—their support is quickly won. Just
think about it: when these two (typically too-busy) individuals
understand that they no longer have to show a homebuyer how to
change a filter, program a thermostat, troubleshoot a heating or
cooling problem, service a humidifier or operate an air purification
system, they’re more than happy to welcome the new HCC on board.
Their jobs just got a lot easier. All of that old responsibility—and
more—has been transferred to the HCC’s shoulders.
But that’s not the whole story. The
relationship is mutually beneficial. Whereas the warranty person and
super were previously unaware of the many home comfort systems
available for addressing special health needs and greater comfort
(or reluctant to mention them to home buyers for fear of more work),
they now freely and proudly suggest to homebuyers HEPA filtration,
zone control, humidification or dehumidification, and more. The HCC
has given them an orientation on the complete offering of home
comfort enhancements and convinced them that they don’t have to
worry about any of it. All the warranty person or super needs to say
to a homebuyer is, “You need to talk with your HCC about [specific
enhancement or system]. We’ve had nothing but good reports about its
effectiveness from your new neighbors.” Suddenly the warranty person
or supervisor is a hero to the home buyer and the HCC is set up for
a sale.
Want to discover more about making
a lot more money in RNC? Please contact us.
Altus Solutions has developed a
complete program for equipping your company for success. In
addition to our time-tested and proven software tools, we’ll train
your champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an
intensive, week-long workshop tailored to your company’s market and
needs. We’ll also provide you with our complete array of highly
effective business methods, systems, and ongoing support—all for an
investment price that is too good to pass up.
Please call us at 303-709-4066 or email us at
ralph@altussoultions.net for more information or to
schedule a free telephone/video conference. You can also learn more
about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Selling Enhancements
in RNC
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern December 2007
article
The
Housing Slowdown: Keep Your Eyes on the Right Dominos
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction (RNC) market.)
The 2007 Housing-Slowdown Domino
Effect: (1) the mortgage market melee finally implodes…(2) the
implosion puts a huge damper on the housing market… (3) the housing
market meltdown brings RNC to all but a grinding halt… (4) the
slowdown in RNC means less opportunity for RNC HVAC contractors to
sell and install home comfort enhancements.
Right?
Wrong! You’re watching the wrong line of dominos.
HVAC contractors need to realize that the fall of the second domino
(the housing market slowdown) actually triggers another separate
lines of falling dominos. Yes, one is the slowdown in RNC, as
mentioned above, but the other is a change of mindset among former
potential new home buyers. Sure, buying a new home is not presently
a financial option for many; however, the determination to live in a
more comfortable, often larger home is just as strong as ever. And
fixing up the current home is a very “do-able” option—one that
homeowners are going after in a big way.
In parts of the country where basements are common, basement
finishes and refinishes are suddenly booming. And for HVAC
contractors this means that homeowners are in a great position to be
introduced to the entire array of enhancement opportunities (ZONE
CONTROL SYSTEMS, higher efficiency furnaces, greater SEER A/C and
heat pumps, humidification/ dehumidification, higher MERV filtration
systems, air purification systems, fresh air ventilation, lo-sone
bath fans, central-vac, etc.).
The key to success is of course getting your home comfort
consultants in front of homeowners who are refinishing their
basements. You secure that key by locating and partnering with
reputable basement finish and remodel contractors in your area. Once
you locate them, go after them with even more diligence than
you would a successful custom builder. (Think about it: basement
finishers and remodelers typically complete a number of homes within
the amount of time a custom builder completes one home.) Offer to
provide lunch as you meet with and educate a basement finisher or
remodel contractor on the amazing home comfort enhancements that are
available to homeowners today. As extra incentive, you can offer a
percentage of the net profit produced by each home comfort
enhancement that your company installs.
Convince your potential basement finish/remodel partner that it
would be a crime not to give their clients the opportunity to have
zoning and fresh air ventilation installed before the basement
ceiling is nailed shut. And wouldn’t this be the ideal time to
install a 94% efficient furnace; a quiet, R-410A, high SEER A/C; a
central vac system…? What a great time to address the kids’
respiratory problems with superior filtration and an air
purification system!
No basements in your area? The opportunity to team up with home
re-model contractors is the same. People having their homes
remodeled are greatly concerned about comfort, efficiency, and
energy savings. How about all the wood floors being installed or
remodeled around the country? Every single home with expensive
specialty wood floors needs a great (often times steam)
humidification system in the winter months. Our industry is the one
to meet all these concerns.
Don’t be dissuaded about the housing market slowdown. Keep your eyes
on the right line of falling dominos—then ride the wave.
Want to discover more about making a lot more money by educating
home owners and new home buyers on home comfort enhancements? Please
contact us.
Altus Solutions has developed a
complete program for equipping your company for success. In
addition to our time-tested and proven software tools, we’ll train
your champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an
intensive, week-long workshop tailored to your company’s market and
needs. We’ll also provide you with our complete array of highly
effective business methods, systems, and ongoing support—all for an
investment price that is too good to pass up.
Please call us at 303-709-4066 or email us at
ralph@altussoultions.net for more information or to
schedule a free telephone/video conference. You can also learn more
about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
Selling Enhancements
in RNC
By Ralph Beck and Gary Southern January 2008
article
Shift to
Regional and Custom Builders
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction (RNC) market.)
In the aftermath of the mortgage
market melee and the resultant housing market stall, national
builders across the board have pretty much put the kibosh on
building production homes. Anticipating better days ahead, some are
selling off land holdings in order to financially stay afloat till
the storm subsides.
In light of this current reality, with
diminishing numbers of production homes to complete, what’s an
RNC-focused HVAC contractor to do? Is it midnight for the RNC-HVAC
industry generally?
No way! We simply need to exercise a
little creativity and look for opportunities often missed when we’re
overwhelmed with the installation of minimal profit, base-bid
systems in huge production home projects. In last month’s issue we
looked at one such opportunity: how the housing market slowdown has
actually spurred the desire among homeowners for basement finishes
and remodeling. In this issue we’ll briefly explore regional and
custom builder opportunities.
It’s no secret that people who can
afford to build large custom and semi-custom homes in economic good
times can generally do the same in difficult times—and they do. Not
surprisingly, these are the folks who are especially keen on style
and comfort and are often desirous of having the latest and greatest
in amenities, aesthetics and technology. This desire is typically
manifest in large granite counter tops, exquisite cabinetry,
fully-equipped home theaters, large rainfall and steam showers, and
elaborate security systems.
Unfortunately, there is often a dearth
of knowledge among custom home- owners (and builders) of the full
array of home comfort enhancements available through our industry.
However, when presented with all of the enhancement possibilities by
a capable home comfort consultant, they typically, and excitedly,
order systems by the truckload: high efficiency furnaces and high
SEER ACs (or heat pumps), superior filtration and air purification,
zoning, integrated hydronic systems, tankless water heaters,
humidification/dehumidification, snow melt systems, central vacs,
and more. Within the past month, a consultant in our area secured a
$55,000 sale. (It will actually be significantly greater when the
details for the additional hydronics system are finalized.)
The key to tremendous success is of
course getting your home comfort consultant in front of every custom
homebuyer in your service area. The means for doing this is quite
simple: go after your custom builders with a vengeance. Convince
them that it would be a great disservice to their clients not to
educate them on the wonderful enhancement opportunities available.
Over a lunch that you provide, have your knowledgeable, positive,
cheerful, home comfort consultant give a complete, individualized,
computer-animated enhancements presentation to each custom builder
in your territory. Present yourself as a potential partner—willing
to share a significant percentage of the net profit from your sales
and installations.
There is a very
simple business and survival “truth” on which we all need to be
focused: “If we are going to do less base HVAC installation work, we
must take the necessary time to educate home owners, sell, and
install more enhanced home comfort systems with each install.”
It’s not midnight for HVAC contractors
who focus on residential new construction, but it is time to avail
yourself of previously overlooked opportunities—opportunities that
can mean more net profit for you during the current production homes
stall than you experienced in the housing boom. Then just imagine
how good it will be when it all “comes back” in the next few years!!
Want to discover more about making a lot more money by
educating home owners and new home buyers on home comfort
enhancements? Please contact us.
Altus Solutions has developed a
complete program for equipping your company for success. In
addition to our time-tested and proven software tools, we’ll train
your champion-administrator and home comfort consultants in an
intensive, week-long workshop tailored to your company’s market and
needs. We’ll also provide you with our complete array of highly
effective business methods, systems, and ongoing support—all for an
investment price that is too good to pass up.
Please call us at 303-709-4066 or email us at
ralph@altussoultions.net for more information or to
schedule a free telephone/video conference. You can also learn more
about us by visiting our website at
www.altussolutions.net.
MAKING MONEY IN
RESIDENTIAL NEW CONSTRUCTION
By Gary Southern May 2008
article
(Note from Tom Piscitelli: Without any doubt, Altus Solutions has
created the most effective solution for making significant profits in
the residential new construction (RNC) market.)
Making money in Residential New
Construction has always been a challenge. Many contractors just
can’t figure out how to do it and end up giving up or going out of
business. Especially in today’s environment of rising material,
fuel, insurance, and other costs, and builders demanding
price reductions.
Our company has proved that it is not only possible to make money in
residential new construction, but that it is easier, less
competitive, and more efficient than in the Service and
Add-On-Replacement market segments.
How do you do this?
1.
Convince the builder that you will help him make more money and
create happier homebuyers by educating the homebuyers on
available HVAC upgrades.
2. Train the builder’s staff on what to say and do with every
homebuyer to set up your one-on-one homebuyer consultation.
3. Educate the homebuyers about the choices they have, and give
them an easy way to order what they want.
4. Within a month after the homebuyers move into their new home,
visit them and educate them about their new HVAC system and
offer them your continued services.
5. Do this every day, all day…and make everyone happy…and make
more money that you ever imagined possible in RNC.
Want to learn more? Visit the Altus
Solutions website at
www.altussolutions.net or
www.hvacbuilderblocks.com.
Would you rather talk with the person who created this incredible
program and works with it every day? Call Gary Southern at
303-709-4066.
Note from Tom: I’ve known Gary for over 15 years. He is a “lifer”
HVAC guy and I have visited the RNC contracting company he created
this program with. I am absolutely convinced that this is the best
way to create long-term success in the new construction market.
Create this success for yourself and for your customers…call Gary.
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