HVAC

Contest recognizes outstanding customer service; Winner receives $500 cash! 

Malco Products, one of the nation’s leading solution developers and manufacturers of a variety of high-quality tools for the building trades, today announced the launch of its brand-new Counterperson of the Year Contest. 

Malco is looking to recognize and celebrate outstanding counter staff at its U.S. wholesale distribution locations who demonstrate the same values that make Malco great: dedication to superior customer service and going above & beyond to ensure contractors have the Malco tools they need to get the job done.

There are great prizes lined up not just for the winner, but for the contractors and distributors who nominate as well:

• The winner will receive $500 cash.
• If the winner is nominated by a contractor, the contractor receives $100 in Malco tools of their choosing, plus the distributor/contractor team will receive lunch!
• All qualifying nominees and nominators will receive a Malco golf shirt, hat and product catalog.

Malco is also making it easy for contractors to nominate counter staff, with 3 options to enter:

• Grab a printed form at your local distributor location and mail it in (PO Box 400, Annandale, MN, 55302)
• Enter online at www.malcoproducts.com/counterperson-of-the-year
• Submit a brief video, which can be emailed or texted to Malco’s marketing department at 612-325-1502 or marketing@malcotools.com.

All entries must be received by Thursday, August 31, and the winner will be announced in October. Please note, this contest is only open to nominees in the United States.

For more information about Malco Products and to enter the contest, visit www.malcoproducts.com/counterperson-of-the-year

Keep your technical knowledge close in the tool bag; emotional intelligence is a highly valued personal trait that can help you run a more successful business.

We’ve all heard the expression before, “You’re thinking with you heart and not your head.” But what if both were true? On a recent Thursday night Plumbing Perspective (@plumbing_perspective) Instagram Live, guest Shreya Nagwani (@_shreymvp), sales/service expert and coach for Service MVP, discussed an interesting aspect of Service MVP’s training that translates to running a successful business. It’s called Emotional Intelligence or EQ. Almost counterintuitive—because of the opposite nature of how people can think one way and act another—the term actually makes an abundant amount of sense.

According to Harvard Business School, Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. The term was first coined in 1990 by researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey, but was later popularized by psychologist Daniel Goleman. (Goleman lists five components of EQ below.)

In the realm of home service sales, emotional intelligence (EQ) often takes a backseat to technical expertise. However, it is a critical component that should not be overlooked. EQ refers to the ability to understand and manage emotions effectively, enabling individuals to relieve stress, communicate well, empathize, overcome challenges, and defuse conflicts. In the sales process, where emotions heavily influence buying decisions, focusing on logical reasoning alone can leave clients hesitant.

But how does it translate into plumbing and HVAC business? While plumbing and HVAC techs have a high IQ, and what they communicate is overly technical, a non-technician, i.e., customer, doesn’t understand what that means, says Nagwani. “All they want is safety, comfort and health for their family and their home.”

Home service technicians, typically analytical and left-brained, tend to prioritize the logical aspects of their work, inadvertently neglecting the emotional side of the sales process. The gap lies in the lack of training on communicating solutions in an emotionally intelligent manner. To successfully bridge this gap, technicians must be equipped with the skills to connect with customers on a deeper level, understand their unique needs, and present solutions that resonate emotionally.

“It’s a very emotional job,” says Nagwani, but there is a gap. “To bridge the gap would be learning emotional intelligence. How do I communicate this job, which is just a plumbing job, to something like, ‘What is the effect of this system for their family? If they have chlorine in their water and their son has eczema.’ That’s how you connect emotional intelligence to a plumbing job,” says Nagwani.

And, not only that, people buy things when they have high self-esteem, when they feel like they deserve it. “People who have a high self-esteem buy premium,” says Nagwani.

How do to techs learn how to communicate that? “What we teach—in part—in our Service MVP offerings is, how do you raise someone’s self-esteem during a visit that by the end of the appointment the client feels better about themselves as a person? What happens is they’ll pick an option,” says Nagwani. “‘I deserve endless hot water,’ for example, connecting a technician’s job over to emotional intelligence.”

Moreover, sometimes it can be difficult exude confidence, stability, empathy on a tremendously busy schedule. “It’s confidence. Even if it’s not a lack of confidence, it comes off that way. This also goes to managers and owners. If your’re giving your guys six or seven calls on the board, they would see all of the calls stacked up and it would really affect the way they ran those calls and they would burn through all of them. They are just thinking of getting in and out. That is going to affect the service to the client, the job, the revenue and the happiness of the technician.

“We have a rule where a technician can see only one call at a time and they get a long time on that call. They have all the time they need; it’s quality over quanitity. What starts to happen is, there are less upset clients, there are more 5-star reviews, they triple their revenue, literally. The confidence of the technician is really important. How is somebody going to be confident when they don’t have communications training?” says Nagwani.

By incorporating emotionally intelligent communication techniques, technicians can establish a stronger connection with customers. Understanding and addressing customers’ emotions not only builds rapport but also allows for customized solutions that meet their specific needs. Training programs, such as those offered by Service MVP, specialize in teaching teams to utilize emotionally intelligent approaches. Implementing these techniques can lead to a significant increase in revenue per technician, averaging at 297%. This approach enhances customer satisfaction, improves conversion rates, and fosters long-term customer loyalty.

Goleman’s 5 Components of EQ

1. Self-Awareness: Recognizing and understanding your own strengths and weaknesses, your emotions and moods, and the effects these things have on other people. A self-aware person is not easily offended by criticism, but rather learns and adapts.
2. Self-Regulation: To think before doing and to express your feelings maturely with restraint. Rather than being controlled by emotions and impulses, an emotionally intelligent person can control impulses and emotional responses. 
3. Internal Motivation: High EQ people are self-motivated, pursuing personal goals for reasons of self-development and self-gratification, rather than money, titles, external praise or esteem.
4. Empathy: Empathy involves recognizing, understanding and feeling the emotions of others. Unlike sympathy, empathy involves actually sharing the emotional experience another person is having. Empathetic people genuinely understand and respond to the needs of others.
5. People Skills: Emotionally intelligent people easily build trust and respect with others. They are good at managing relationships and building networks, and they avoid power struggles and deceitfulness. Their high levels of the first four components of EQ make for deep bonds and genuine, non-competitive friendships.
   Source: Forbes.com

Service MVP is an e-learning website featuring video-based micro-learning content designed to revolutionize your office, service, sales and install teams. It is the ultimate service sales training resource, where high performers increase the value of their solutions to create higher revenue and profit.

The plumbing and HVAC company has used the format to promote topics within the skilled trades industry and tackle customer and employee concerns regarding home service 

When Rooter Hero Plumbing & Air, a plumbing and HVAC company serving residential and commercial locations in California and Arizona, launched its HeroTalk podcast in May of 2022, it hoped the format would give its experts a chance to talk directly to and with others personally affected by the skilled trades industry.

Now, with nearly 50 episodes and a year of episodes under its belt, its hosts have discussed everything from Rooter Hero cofounder and CEO John Akhoian’s life lessons to the traits of rockstar employees and managing customer expectations.

“HeroTalk has been a fanatic conduit to provide information, advice and hot takes to our audience,” Akhoian said. “We’ve tried to keep the topic list diverse while still discussing things that should appeal to both employees within the industry and to customers who are looking to learn more about skilled trades and what we do.”

The podcast features Rooter Hero Contact Center Manager David Powers and Social Media Coordinator Katherine “Kat” Conchas. Powers and Conches have already interviewed several company experts and given their opinions on a variety of thought-provoking topics, including “7 Cardinal Rules for Directors of First Impressions” and “Stacking Weaknesses (And Why You Shouldn’t Do That).”

“The goal of this podcast has always been to be both informative and entertaining,” Powers said. “We’ve made it our mission to keep the topics fresh and offer a new perspective on issues that most podcasts don’t provide. This way our discussions are always lively and hold the listener’s interest. After a year, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

The podcast airs every Thursday and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon and Spotify.

Over the past few years—wink, wink COVID—the industry has seen a rise in purchasing activity between plumbing and HVAC companies and private equity firms and other outside influences—coming in and gobbling up already successful contracting shops with a message of making them better. Sure, it’s a smart exit strategy as well for those looking to hang up the wrenches.

But why the flurry of activity now? “What we’ve seen from COVID is that the trades are pandemic-proof and to some extent recession proof. When money gets tight, consumers may hold off on that new car, going out to eat, but when that water heater goes out, it’s a necessity,” says Dan Foley, Foley Mechanical, Lorton, Va.

Foley continues, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) will never be able to take over this industry. You will always need someone to walk into someone’s home and make a repair, and that’s not easy to do. It’s the technician’s skill that AI cannot replace.”

According to Mike Prencavage Jr., president/owner, The Family Plumber, Los Alamitos, Calif., president, PHCC ORSB, director, PHCC National Business Development, “Working on margins is crucial for any business to succeed; however, in the plumbing industry most companies aren’t struggling with tight margins to turn a profit.”

As an example, Prencavage Jr. says restaurants and bars can stand to lose greatly if more than two ounces of alcohol is poured into any drink or if larger than accounted for portions of food are served on any plate. These private equity firms have seen that plumbing companies have a greater amount of sold labor income per invoice that can offset losses on jobs allowing for much wider margins to run a profitable business.

“Private equity firms are also looking to the future of renewable energy. With the electrification of the nation soon to be at every state’s doorstep, government grant funding has already become available to plumbing companies who are leading the way by installing energy efficient products. These grant programs. combined with the opportunity to capitalize on wider margins, are creating a buzz of interest from private equity groups to get more involved in the plumbing industry sector,” says Prencavage Jr.

Speaking of grants, on a national level, the Infrastructure Bill and Inflation Reduction Act, are ripe for the taking, if eligible.

On the flipside, private equity firms offer contractors security, not only monetarily, but though the expansion of their reach and service offerings across their respective regions, expand evolving customer bases and refine overall strategic growth initiatives.

Just last month, Grove Mountain Partners—a private equity firm investing in lower, middle market home service companies and specialty business service companies—announced the sale of Unique Indoor Comfort Holdings LLC to Ace Hardware. Nate Kukla, CEO, and the entire management team, including the brand presidents, will continue to lead the company as it embarks on its next growth phase.

Grove Mountain brought together 12 independent service-providing businesses, beginning in June 2021, with the acquisition of three related companies: Moncrief Heating & Air, Unique Indoor Comfort of Philadelphia, and Werley Heating & Air. It added nine other companies in the Eastern region of the U.S., including Clay’s Climate Control, Detmer & Sons, Canella Heating & Air, A-Total Plumbing, All Phase Electrical, Dick Hill & Son, Carolina Custom, Rye Heating and Air, and Jackson Plumbing and Heating & Air.

“We are grateful for our partnership with Grove Mountain and are proud of what we have built and accomplished,” said Nate Kukla, CEO. “Now, we are excited to be part of the Ace team which will allow us to leverage their combined financial and operational capabilities and expertise. Since day one, Unique has been passionately dedicated to an employee-centric, high-integrity, and customer-focused culture. Ace shares in our mission and values and brings a plethora of resources to allow us to continue and grow the business.”

Also, this month, Auctus Capital Partners—a leading financial services and investment banking firm focused exclusively on creating value for the lower middle market, which specialize in merger and acquisition advisory, institutional private placements of debt and equity, financial restructuring, valuation, and strategic consulting—announced its role as exclusive advisor to The Precision Group and its affiliated entities, supporting the environmental and infrastructure services leader in completing a majority recapitalization by PowerVac, a Pillsman Partners LLC and Peninsula Capital Partners, LLC portfolio company.

The Precision Group is comprised of three separate yet complementary companies that serve a diverse array of commercial, industrial, and municipal customers. Founded in 1992, Precision Industrial Maintenance, Inc. provides environmental remediation, industrial cleaning services, hazardous and non-hazardous waste transport and disposal, and other industrial waste services. Martin Environmental Services, Inc. was acquired by Precision Group in 2002, adding new services in asbestos and lead abatement, and disposal services. Precision Trenchless, LLC was formed in 2013 to focus on environmentally-friendly pipe rehabilitation using less disruptive technologies, such as UV-Cured and other Cured-in-Place Pipe Lining (CIPP) methods, potable water line rehab to minimize air, water and soil pollution and support advanced monitoring services.

The group of companies operate as a unified provider of services to several broad regional markets with strong projected growth through 2026 — including the sewer and pipeline rehabilitation market with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6%, as well as trenchless pipe rehabilitation (4.8% CAGR), and liquid waste management (3.7% CAGR).

“Underpinned by significant government support for the repair of aging infrastructure, pipeline rehabilitation and wastewater management services are seeing record investment.  In addition, an ever-growing awareness of ESG issues has been driving strong investor demand,” says Muhammed Azfar, CEO and managing partner, Auctus.

More to come on this topic.