Have you noticed?
Or is it just me? Are customers treating you better than years ago?
Surely you have instances where customers were awful in the past? Do you have an experience that shows that they are treating you better and more happy to see you than in years even decades ago? Whats your story?
Comments
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Hi @Intplm. , I guess I fired all of the not-so-good customers, so these days there is no trouble. I'm not exaggerating much when I tell you that they roll out the red carpet, hang on my every word, and throw money at me. Maybe it's the white beard. 😏
Yours, Larry
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There's a nationwide trend that private equity firms are buying up family-owned HVAC shops. The private equity managers "optimize" their investment by treating both employees and customers quite badly and using up whatever goodwill these companies have accumulated over the decades.
You don't have to deal very much with someone who is actively looking to cheat you at every turn to be grateful for someone willing to do honest work at a fair price.
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I sold my business to one of those companies that is looking only at the bottom line. They have trouble keeping employees, and my customers that have been with me for years. And… I didn't have a beard back then, but I do now, and it is gray!
There are bean counters that do not see the value of a good relationship and there are those that have a good work ethic. Both can be profitable, but only one has a better quality of life.
Stan Swann in Pleasantville NJ is the exception to the rule. After over 20 years of successfully operating a "Mom & Pop" company, He hooked up with The Ben Franklin organization. But he also kept the customers happy. He will retire a wealthy man in more than one way. Many of those who connect with a franchise company, loose the customer service part of the business and only count beans. So I agree with both Larry and DC above. Fire the customers that are complainers and keep the customers that appreciate you.
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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Fired the knuckleheaded customers? Yup, that's something that I have done too. Never would have imagined doing so years ago. It was completely unheard of. But I have noticed an uptick in good tidings when I show up.
@Larry Weingarten I wish I could grow a beard like yours.👍️
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this doesn’t sound like a sustainable business model? Or one that a smart investment firm would use. Certainly those investment buyers are customers also
Years ago the utilities were buying up the small HVAC shops, but it was short lived.
Franchising can be a good way for a shop to grow and benefit from training both sales and technical, capital, equipment , call centers, etc
Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream0 -
that's why Westinghouse and Sears and Sunbeam and most of GE are out of business.
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https://www.wsj.com/business/entrepreneurship/plumbers-hvac-skilled-trades-millionaires-2b62bf6c?st=qJawZG&reflink=article_email_share
Aaron Rice has two logos tattooed on his left leg: one from the plumbing business he co-founded more than a decade ago, and another from the private-equity-backed company that recently bought it.
Few businesses are as vital to their customers as local plumbing, heating or air-conditioning companies—especially in places like Tucson, Ariz., where Rice works and residents sweltered in 100-degree heat most days this summer.
For years, Rice, 43 years old, was skeptical when out-of-state investors offered to buy his company. He assumed most of them knew little about skilled-trade work or his customers. They were just looking to make a buck. But in 2022, when approached by a local HVAC company backed by private equity, he changed his mind, figuring that they knew the business.
“The trades are hard work. A lot of today’s society, picking up a shovel is foreign to them,” he says.
Private equity, however, is no foreign player in the skilled trades these days. PE firms across the country have been scooping up home services like HVAC—that is, heating, ventilation and air conditioning—as well as plumbing and electrical companies. They hope to profit by running larger, more profitable operations.
Their growth marks a major shift, taking home-services firms away from family operators by offering mom-and-pop shops seven-figure and eight-figure paydays. It is a contrast from previous generations, when more owners handed companies down to their children or employees.
The wave of investment is minting a new class of millionaires across the country, one that small-business owners say is helping add more shine to working with a tool belt.
“You don’t need to go to Silicon Valley to have a successful career and entrepreneurial opportunities,” says Brian Rassel, a partner at the Detroit-based Huron Capital, which focuses on investments in service companies.
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I find that some of the comments above have come with a price. That price is the disconnect between the customer and the contractor.
For example; how many of us reading this have called a company and were put on hold then after memorizing the on-hold music, get someone on the line who doesn't know anything about your issue and continues to get passed on till you finally have some sort of resolution?
It seems that the larger the company gets, the less interested it is in or aware that its customers' concerns are not being met. I have yet to find a large company that has taken over many other companies that understand this.
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I try to e-mail my question to increase the likely hood that it gets passed to someone that knows the answer.
Legrand bought up a whole lot of the companies that make AV equipment. I thought that in that process they were going to lose the understanding of what those products are supposed to do but I have been able to get good answers when I have needed support from them after the takeovers.
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I'm sure in the minds of the people at the large company, the small company spent too much time coddling their customers.
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I once worked for a fellow setting up and operating hardware and software for scanning motion picture film. We were the first ones in the business on the East coast of the USA so I had to spend a lot of time explaining things to customers and holding customers' hands. He decided I spent too much time talking with customers so he forbid me to do so. It resulted in a lot of pissed off customers. I was eventually fired because I couldn't make the world work the way he wanted it to.
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@DCContrarian I agree that customers tend to be very needy. They also can get off the point of discussion waisting valueble time. Theres nothing wrong with politely bringing them back to the reason you are there.I have found that all of the filler "jibber jabber" can be very distracting.
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My original intention for this post was to get a sense of how customers have been interacting with you when you go to there homes/businesses etc. Have any of you noticed a change in how you are welcomed as apposed to years ago?
Has it gotten better or worse?
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When I first started to use Flat Rate pricing (some call it up front pricing) in the 1980s, it was a new concept for HVAC, however it kept me in business. The nice thing was that you could go in and diagnose the problem, stop and write down everything you want to do, put a price to it, get the customer to agree to the price. the send him/her/them/they to write the check, while you went to work on the repairs. Gets the hovering customer out of the basement for 15 minutes while they look for the checkbook, write the check, enter it in the check ledger, and perhaps leave you alone for the rest of the call.
When I was done, I didn't need to sit and chat while the check book was looked for, then they write the check, then they enter it in the ledger, then they subtract it from the balance on the ledger, then finally hand me the check and talk for another 15 minutes as I try to leave. It was a real time saver!
Obviously this was before we all use tablets and e-money transactions. I know… I'm old!
Edward Young Retired
After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?
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I have to think today's customers are too distracted with their social media feeds, tweets and texts to take interest in what contractors are doing. That and technical expertise and curiousness is gone.
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