< Previous20 SEPTEMBER 2019HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYIf you haven’t already done so, mark your calendars for April 6-9, 2020. That’s when the National Comfort Institute (NCI) High-Performance HVAC Summit 2020 (gotosummit.com) returns to the We-Ko-Pa Resort & Conference Center in Phoe-nix, AZ. And be sure to register before Novem-ber 1st and take advantage of our in-credible Early-Bird rate.Summit 2020 is shaping up nicely. Its theme is “Coach Your Team to High Per-formance.” Attendees will learn skills to better communicate with co-workers golf-outing. Plus there will be addition-al training/education opportunities from our partners. The core NCI conference includes two days of breakout sessions topped off with the annual NCI Awards Ceremony. And the best part – you can register right now for the conference and save hun-dreds! Plus, as members you can apply your NCI Bucks towards the event and earn Bucks back on money you do spend.So don’t miss out. Simply click on the REGISTER TODAY link (ncilink.com/Summit2020Reg) to take advantage of the Early-Bird rates and get your team set for April 2020. Once pre- and post-con options are available, you’ll be the first to know.Questions? No problem. Call Customer Care at 800-633-7058.Your September PowerPack is Ready!!!NCI membership offers an experience you just can’t find anywhere else. There are too many benefits to elaborate here, which is why NCI recently introduced the month-ly PowerPack. This was created to help you become more familiar with all that NCI membership has to offer. Each month’s PowerPack is designed to help you explore different tools you can use in your High-Performance contracting business.For September 2019 we feature the following: ▼Create the Ultimate Fall Marketing Strategy (Webinar) ▼Important Test Results (Download) ▼NSI 3000 CO Monitor Sales Ideas (Download) ▼Why Should I Demand a CO Test Brochure (Download) ▼Introduction to Carbon Monoxide (Online Training).Be sure to share your PowerPack with your entire team!Each monthly PowerPack is only available for 30 days. So be sure to go online and get started today at ncilink.com/PwrPak.If you have any questions, or if you are unable to access any of the tools in this pro-gram, please contact your Customer Care team at 800-633-7058.Summit 2020 Early-Bird Deadline is November 1NCI MEMBER UPDATEthe expectations and goals of becoming performance-based.We’re also bringing back the popular SEPTEMBER 2019 21HVACTODAY.COMHVAC SMART MARTAdvertiser IndexHIGH-PERFORMANCEHVAC TODAY TMAD INDEXBaker Distributing Company | BakerDist.com ..........................................................................19 Dwyer Instruments, Inc. | www.dwyer-inst.com .......................................................................2 Goodman Manufacturing | www.GoodmanMfg.com .............................................................4Jackson Systems | www.JacksonSystems.com ..........................................................................6 Lazco Corp. | www.LazcoCorp.com ...............................................................................................10 R.E. Michel Company | www.REMichel.com ..............................................................................16The New Flat Rate | www.TheNewFlatRate.com .....................................................................21 To Your Success | ToYourSuccess.com ........................................................................................ 21United Refrigeration Inc. | www.uri.com ..................................................................................... 9To Subscribe to High-Performance HVAC Today:ONLINE: Visit HVACToday.com/subscribe for a FREE digital subscription.PRINT: 1 year/$72; single copy $7. Canada: 1 year/$92; single copy $9. Payable in advance with U.S. funds. Prepaid subscriptions may be sent to: High-Performance HVAC Today, PO Box 147, Avon Lake, OH 44012. Phone: 440-949-1850; toll free 800-633-7058; Fax: 440-949-1851, or visit HVACToday.com/subscribe to order online.PublisherDominick GuarinoEditor-in-ChiefMike WeilArt DirectorConnie ConklinOnline Development DirectorBrian RosemanCirculation ManagerAndrea Begany- GarsedEditorial AssistantMarge SmithEmail us at contactus@hvactoday.com with your comments and questions.22 SEPTEMBER 2019HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYare part of the solution, your chances of success rise exponentially. So where do you begin? Since most leaders in HVAC businesses are salespeople at heart, think of it as preparing and executing a sales call for a new product. The only difference is you are sell-ing internally. Start with the 30,000 foot view. How would you communicate your vision of the new approach? In this example, it’s “Generating opportunities for new business through perfor-mance testing.” Microsoft PowerPoint™ can be a great tool to gather your thoughts in short concise statements or bullet points. Just don’t overdo it – keep it short and simple – think of it as talking points for a pre-sentation. Once you’ve outlined the high-level view, break it down to how you want to roll the process out. This is where more detail is appropriate. A flowchart is a great way to show who should do what, and in what sequence. It doesn’t have to be fancy – it could be on a white board. If you want to do something more formal, there are some simple and inexpensive software tools like Lucid-chart (lucidchart.com), that allow you to quickly create flowcharts to illustrate the process.Don’t be inflexible on how the details might work. In fact, you should encourage dialogue on how the new process could be better tweaked. Again, this invites buy-in. As you roll out the pro-cess, try to identify “champions” who get the most excited about it. Your champions will help keep things going as some team members will inevita-bly start to run out of steam. Once you have a good process outlined and communicated effectively with your team, the next step is to equip them with the training and tools to succeed. As their leader, your role should be to remove as many roadblocks as possible to help ensure their success and your company’s.The great thing about this process is you can apply it to anything you want to implement or im-prove. If you aren’t doing this already, give it a try. You’ll be very happy with the results. For most of the country, Fall means mainte-nance agreement visits and heating system tune-ups. Your Fall marketing should be in full swing and you are likely getting your techs ready for the heating season.Fall is also a phenomenal opportunity to gener-ate new business from testing systems during your maintenance visits. If done right, a large percent-age of these visits can be converted to additional opportunities for improving HVAC systems. This includes duct renovations, accessory sales, and equipment replacements. The secret to these additional sales is equipping your technicians with the tools, knowledge, and training to succeed. A crucial component is effec-tively communicating to your team the processes you want them to follow. This starts with the test-ing they should perform and in what sequence. It’s important to reach agreement with your field people on how they should collect and interpret test data, and communicate their findings to your customer. Next, you must have a process in place to follow up on these opportunities. You will need to communicate how handoffs should occur with ev-eryone involved in the process, both in the field and your office. Sound like a tall order? It can be if you don’t prac-tice good communications within your company. Effective communications are at the heart of imple-menting any new process in an organization. We often think that shooting off a memo declaring “this is how we will do this,” somehow magically gets ab-sorbed by everyone in the company, and they know exactly what to do, and when. The truth is you must take the time to effectively communicate and train your people on what you expect to happen. A good sign you are effectively communicating is when your team members repeat back to you what they think they heard, and even better, challenge some of the details of the approach and make con-structive suggestions. Some people call this “buy-in,” others call it empowerment, or participative management. The bottom line is when your people Dominick Guarino is publisher of HVAC Today magazine and CEO of National Comfort Institute, Inc. He can be reached at domg@ncihvac.com ONE MORE THING...By Dominick GuarinoUncover New Opportunities This FallNext >