Frisco AC and Heating Repair Service offers business tips for peers.
Frisco AC and Heating Repair Service owner Steve Lauten, President of Total Air and Heat Co., has advice for slowing down when you are going too fast.
Steve Lauten routinely makes presentations to his peers at the annual Air Conditioning Contractors Association Meetings for the North Texas Chapter. Here is a talk that he gave in the Summer of 2006. This is presented to give you insight into how one of the most successful HVAC Contractors in Texas runs his business. It is our hope that knowing how a reputable, high quality, HVAC Contractor runs his business will help you understand why you should select such a company to help when you need AC or Heating repair services.
I’m Going Fast!
Here we are about ½ ways thru August and it’s still really, really hot! I kind of feel like Ricky Bobby in the movie Talladega Nights and his famous quote “I’m Going Fast!” I really enjoyed that movie. I needed a simple, funny, what you see is what you get movie to break away from work. I was going too fast at work. You reach a point when the temperature gets hot enough and the telephone rings enough that you have to take a step back and re-focus. Having too much business can be much more dangerous than not enough business.
It’s difficult to factor in all of the extra costs associated with extreme temperatures. I know productivity drops off significantly anytime installers/service technician go above 60 hours per week. I know more mistakes are made when installers/service technicians go above 60 hours per week. I know that in virtually any industry, specially those whom have employees working in extreme conditions; that productivity decreases and accidents increase as fatigue sets in.
I also know that morale can suffer and tempers flare when employees are pushed to their endurance limits. Push them hard enough and something is going to break! Dealing with extreme temperatures in the DFW area is nothing new to us. Neither is working 60+ hours a week. In fact, dealing with these things are pretty much nothing to get excited about. It seems that the generally accepted position on this is “if you wanted a job with normal hours in the summer you got into the wrong industry”.
Whenever you get a chance, pull out your departmental financial statements and look at how much you paid in overtime to your installers and technicians each month, and for the entire year. I would imagine the overtime paid is pretty significant for May thru August. If the amount of overtime paid is greater than what an additional installer or technician would cost you at normal 40 hour per week wages, it is my opinion it’s time to add another employee.
I realize our business is very seasonal, but at some point you have to step back and review what you are spending on wages and determine when it’s time to add employees and provide your team some relief. In the process you will have more employees to handle the peak demand times, avoid overtime costs, and most important is have a team of dedicated employees that appreciate the ability to actually spend some time with their family during the summer.
So what do you do with these additional employees in the off peak months? If you are doing your job, you should be able to keep your technicians busy performing preventative maintenance. Regardless of the type of business you specialize in, Commercial or Residential should provide some type of reward for technicians turning in qualified sales leads. How many commercial or residential duct systems leak and need to be sealed? How many commercial air handlers could use a good coil and blower cleaning in the off season? My point is technicians are an important part of the sales process. In fact, a technician sales lead should have a closing ratio of 80% or higher! When was the last time you got out of the office and rode on a service call? Most technicians are trained to find the problem, fix it and get to the next call! Which is more efficient? Have your technicians slow down and make sure the call they are on has truly been completely diagnosed, or drive across town to another call?
In closing, I hope all of you are enjoying this hot summer! It’s what we asked for and if you can’t make a fair profit right now then you need to step back and assess what changes you need to make. For those of you “Going Fast” be sure to give your employees a pit stop. ACCA-NTX gave you 4 Day Weekend last month so be sure to give your employees a 3-day week end this Labor Day.
Frisco AC and Heating Repair Service, Total Air and Heat, is owned by Steve Lauten, the second generation owner. Founded in 1957 by Steve’s dad, Fred Lauten, Total Air and Heat is proud to have received some of the highest awards for quality and service that are offered in the Industry. Among those awards are the Readers Choice Awards from the Collin County Newspaper, the Trane Pacesetter Award in 2002, and designation as a Trane Comfort Specialist. Call Steve at (972) 535-8066 for a personal consultation.