< PreviousHIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYCalling ourselves High-Performance Con-tractors, unfortunately, doesn’t make it so. I believe the key to becoming a High-Performance service company is by measuring. David Holt, my National Comfort Institute coach, once said to me, “How do you know if you are winning if you don’t keep score?” Once you have all the data from measuring (the score), then you must dig in and see what actions you need to change that score. The problem is defining what those actions are. In other words, what ‘lead indicators’ can we use in our business to tell us what route to follow to change the score and get the win. In my business, a win is an interaction with a cus-tomer that exceeds their expectations by providing them the safest, healthiest, and most comfortable environment at the most efficient use of the cus-tomer’s resources. To have our customers win, we must identify the areas of their home or system that fall short and find ways to change them. WHAT DOES JACK SPARROW HAVE TO DO WITH PERFORMANCE?So for fun, let’s compare this goal to this scene from the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: ncilink.com/CliffScene. Imagine every home your technicians visit has a system that is on one side of a cliff. The system may be old, new, expensive, or cheap, but it just doesn’t meet the customer’s expectations. In our YouTube clip, this system is on the side of the cliff where the cannibals are. The cannibals, in this case, are air leakage, wrongly sized returns, the lack of outdoor air, and more. The cannibals eat away at the system making the customer feel less safe, sick, and uncomfortable. And all of that costs the customer extra dollars in utility bills. On the other cliff, across what I call the Com-fort Gap, is freedom from the cannibals. Freedom for Jack Sparrow and the pirates in the form of their ship, The Black Pearl. So how do they cross that gap and escape? First, we must define the elements of our pre-mium customer experience and our premium comfort system. Each customer deserves to have the safest, healthiest, most comfortable, most ef-ficient system we can provide. We must identify system shortcomings to cross the Comfort Gap. Then we must find a way for the customer to move from one side of the cliff across the Comfort Gap to their Black Pearl. We need to build bridg-es (investment packages) for customers to cross the gap and move closer to the premium comfort system experience.DATA AS A BRIDGEMeasurements help us identify the best areas to build a bridge and help customers get closer to a premium comfort system. Last year I start-ed paying close attention to the number of ceil-ings we were repairing because of condensate drain issues. I found that in 2017 I spent close to $30,000 for repairs to ceilings, walls, and floors that were damaged because of condensate. In my market, condensate is a huge issue. We jokingly say that to live in Mississippi you almost need gills. I was warranting drain issues for my main-tenance customers because I let the mainte-nance agreement be the bridge for condensate issues. When that turned out not to be the fix, the issue became mine. Once I began measuring HVAC systems and ductwork operating factors, I learned what was causing the problems that led to leaking condensate. I could then define the ac-tual issues and bridge the comfort gap by build-ing a drain system that we could warranty. Keep Score and Drive Performance-Based SalesBy Jim BallSALESMEASUREMENTS HELP US IDENTIFY AREAS WHERE WE CAN IMPROVE AND BRIDGE THE COMFORT GAPDECEMBER 2019 11HVACTODAY.COMYet we only used this data to see who our best techs were. We ignored the overall trends. For example, we didn’t ex-amine what time of year we did the most tune-up specials or what type of repairs converted to an ESA from a service call. We have all this really valuable information but didn’t take the time to understand what it means. MAKING CHANGESFor example, in the past I spent money on postcards twice a year and was happy to get one or two customers to call me from each card. In other words, I spent money with no ac-tual results. Our score wasn’t changing, and I don’t believe we were helping people get across the comfort gap. We had a great maintenance program but no defined bridge to help customers cross the gap. I am a strong supporter of continuing education and con-sider myself a student of HVAC guru Ron Smith. Some years ago I read his book, “HVAC Spells Wealth” and it con-tained marketing ideas that I decided to revisit. It had some great ideas for improving results from direct What are some other bridges that you must build? What pain points are there for your customers that you need to find a solution and build a bridge.KEEPING SCOREAll HVAC contractors provide equipment replacement services. For Ball Heating and Air Conditioning, we have criteria to help us make sure new systems are installed properly. This helps us create what we call a Premium Com-fort System.We do this by measuring and verifying system perfor-mance before and after we do our work.As Nick Saban (head football coach at the University of Alabama) says, “the story of the game is told by the score.” We need to be able to say the same thing. We need to have a clear definition of what makes up that score. Part of that score could include pictures of the components in your premium comfort system. Furthermore, each com-ponent included should have a story (data) as to why it’s in-cluded in your installation. Your score should also include stan-dards based on the data you have and can share with your customer. These are some tools to help you build bridges between your company and your customer. Every experience with a customer is an opportunity to move them one step closer to a Premium System. Every service technician should be measuring and if they find issues, they should ask permission to have a consultant have a look and provide that customer with solution options. Another bridge we provide, if they sign up for our Premi-um System installation, is a return visit six months later to conduct maintenance.MAINTENANCE PROGRAMSWe started our planned maintenance program, which we call an ESA, in the early 1990s. We grew that program over the first five years or so. We began to realize that many ex-isting customers were declining it. As a result, our main-tenance program plateaued somewhat. We didn’t lose too many ESAs each year but didn’t gain too many either. We kept score by tracking how many ESAs renewed each day, how many are sold during service calls, and how many are sold during a one-time tune-up special. 12 DECEMBER 2019HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYSALEStomers, build those bridges, and keep score, customers will see you as a part-ner in their comfort and will be more loyal to your company.They will have successfully escaped the cannibals and made it to their Black Pearl of comfort.The even better news? I still have more data to analyze. Who knows how that will change the score in the future? Do you gather data and keep score? much held true for that particular di-rect mail piece. The trick is having a consistent message. THE RESULTSToday we do 3000 to 4000 letters each week. I invest a certain dol-lar amount per customer and I now know what that investment will yield our company in 10 years. Our ESA program is growing again and is one of our best bridges for helping cus-tomers across the comfort gap.Each bridge we build for crossing should be as thoroughly investigated and proven. Combustion analysis, static pressure, system performance, airflow measurement, and more can help you construct bridges for your customers. If you take care of the cus-mail marketing. One called for creat-ing and using a personalized letter and having a consistent message. In my postcard mailings, I had neither. So I created a consistent message and personalized approach. In the first year our company ran 1,000 letters a week to addresses that weren’t already agreement customers. We measured how many customers called each week. Then we sent a letter every week of the year. From that I learned how many customers would call for a one-time tune-up special (5). Then I monitored how many of those converted to ESA agreements (2). It became obvious which techs con-verted the one-time tune-ups to ESA agreements. Next I started scaling the mailout. The percentages pretty Jim Ball is the general manager of Ball Heating and Air Conditioning, Biloxi, MS. He was National Comfort Institute’s 2017 Medium Contractor of the Year and is a strong believer in Perfor-mance-Based Contracting.DECEMBER 2019 13HVACTODAY.COMLow airflow is the primary cause of the most unsolved complaint in the HVAC industry - hot or cold rooms. To diagnose this problem, you can measure the room’s airflow with an air balance hood and compare the results to the required room airflow. The differ-ence between the two numbers reveals the prob-lem and points you towards a solution. Let’s take a look at the missing link you need to diagnose this problem. WHAT CAUSES HOT AND COLD ROOMS?A typical hot or cold room may require 150 cfm (cubic feet per minute) of supply airflow to keep it comfortable. NCI contractors report the typical hot or cold room’s airflow is about 33% of what’s required. This means the typical room that needs 150 cfm only receives 50 cfm (150 cfm x .33 = 50 cfm). It’s no surprise the room is uncomfortable!ROOM AIRFLOW DIAGNOSTICSRoom airflow diagnostics combine quick and easy testing with a report to produce an unforget-table customer experience. Here’s how it works. Let’s say that you and your customer estimate the uncomfortable room needs airflow of 180 cfm for them to be comfort-able. You show your customer how to measure airflow with a balancing hood. They expect the measurement to show that 180, but discover their supply register only delivers 40 cfm! If needed, use a little math to clarify the prob-lem in up to three separate ways. First, the room is 140 cfm low on airflow (180 cfm – 40 cfm = 140 cfm).Second, the room only has 22% of the airflow it needs to be comfortable (40 cfm/180 cfm = 22%). Third, the room is 78% low on airflow (100% -22% = 78%).Don’t forget, airflow is difficult for your cus-tomers to understand. We use cfm as an acronym to describe a volume and time measurement (let that sink in). To make airflow easy to understand, you may explain how a 7” beach ball holds one cubic foot of air. Then tell the customer how the room needs 180 beach balls of air per minute but is only get-ting 40 beach balls per minute.This diagnostic method and explanation are straightforward and easy to understand. Every-one instantly recognizes the problem and wants to find a solution. Help them understand when airflow is increased to the required amount, the room will become comfortable.Before you can use this diagnostic method, you’ll need to estimate required room airflow. ESTIMATE ROOM AIRFLOWPurists will assess the wall insulation R-value, window U-value, and roofing material to com-plete a load calculation. Granted, there is a time and a place for this, but this isn’t the time. This is simple air diagnostics using the NCI method of room airflow estimation with your custom-er participating. Traditional load calculations estimate airflow using calculations based on a wide variety of engineered variables. This room airflow estimating method compares only against similar features built into this home. Your customers usually live there and have the most knowledge of how the home operates. Be sure to invite their input into the decision.There are six steps to estimate room airflow in the field. As each step is described, please refer to Figure 1, the completed Estimate and Measure Room Airflow Report, to see how it works.How to Estimate a Single Room’s Required AirflowBy Rob “Doc” FalkeTECHNICALTo help describe airflow, describe it as beach balls per minute. A 7” beach ball contains one cubic foot of air.14 DECEMBER 2019HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYSTEP THREE. Calculate the Base Room Airflow. Measure the square feet of floor space in the problem room. Next, multiply it by the cfm per square foot. This gives you the room’s base airflow. You’ll see on the report (far left col-umn of Figure 1), the home’s cfm per square foot is .64. The customer’s room (which is named Magnus in Figure 1) has 221 sq. ft. So, 221 sq. ft. times .64 cfm per sq. ft. equals 141 cfm of Base Room Airflow for the room. Remember, this number is the aver-age and does not include other factors that may add to or subtract from the room’s needed airflow. STEP FOUR. Add Room Airflow (top middle column of Figure 1). To address the other factors, add a per-centage, within the ranges shown, to how much additional airflow is need-ed for each room feature. For exam-ple, 5% was added for the room’s win-dow. Notice the percent range to add for larger windows is 5% to 30%. The question is; why only 5%?This room’s window is slightly larg-er when compared to other rooms’ typical window size in this home. You need to use your professional judg-ment, just like when doing a load cal-culation, to estimate certain values. During a load calculation, you esti-mate a wall’s R-Value, roof’s reflectiv-ity, window U-Value, etc. You also use default factors for appliances and other features.So, in our example, you judge the customer’s window to require 5% more room airflow. If the window was 6 feet x 15 feet, it most likely would re-quire a 30% increase in room airflow. Room airflow of 5% or 7 cfm was add-ed for this window, where 42 cfm would be added for a very large window. STEP ONE. The top left corner of the report is where you put the Room Name and customer information. In-clude your name and the test date.STEP TWO. Calculate the Average Airflow per Square Foot of the home (see far left column of Figure 1). If the home has more than one system, use the square footage each system serves. This step produces an average cfm per square foot. It equally divides system airflow throughout the home. Enter the system cooling tonnage and multiply by 400 cfm per ton to find system airflow. Figure 1 shows a 3-ton system x 400 cfm per ton = 1200 cfm of required system airflow.Divide the system cfm by the square feet (sq. ft.) of the home or zone served by the system. This equals the home’s average cfm per square foot of floor space. In this case, 1200 cfm divided by 1880 sq. ft. = .64 cfm per sq. ft.Figure1: This is a sample report your technicians can use in the field to help them with their estimates and measures room airflow measurements.STEP 1STEP 2STEP 3STEP 4STEP 5STEP 6DECEMBER 2019 15HVACTODAY.COMered (50 cfm ÷ 170 cfm = 30%).As with any new diagnostic method, it will take practice to master it. You’ll learn better to engage your customers with experience also. Estimating room airflow is a key element to diagnosing and fixing customer’s hot and cold room problems. Success-fully resolving customer comfort issues in this manner sets you apart from the rest of your competitors, builds strong customer relationships, and really contributes toward improving your diagnostic skills.Most new diagnostic tests require practice. First, es-timate room airflow using this method at home or at the shop. Then go live with your customer. I’m confident you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results. You and your customer make the call while looking at the window. You’ll be surprised how easily most custom-ers assess the percent to add or subtract when estimating room airflow. The decision is quite natural. Remember, if the estimate is 5% or 10%, the difference between the two estimates is only 7 cfm in the room. Don’t overcomplicate the process. Make participation fun for your customers.Add together the percentages to include in the base room airflow. In the report, you’ll see 30% is added to this room’s estimated airflow.STEP FIVE. Subtract Room Airflow. Some factors re-quire we subtract a percentage, within the percent ranges shown, to deduct airflow for each room feature that will de-crease required room airflow. The customer’s room has a large tree shading one outside wall from the summer heat. We reduce airflow by 10% because the tree decreases the room’s heat gain.Add together the percentages to be deducted from base room airflow. 10% of room airflow is deducted in this example.STEP SIX. Estimate Room Airflow by taking the base room airflow calculated in Step Three, then add or subtract the other factors based on your estimates. Multiply 141 cfm of base room airflow times 30% to add 42 cfm. Multiply the base room airflow times 10% to de-duct 14 cfm from the base room airflow. The estimated room airflow is 169 cfm. Round up to the nearest 0 or 5 cfm to find the customer’s room needs 170 cfm. MEASURE ROOM AIRFLOWNow that you both know room airflow should be 170 cfm, or 170 beachballs per minute, you’re ready to mea-sure the room actual airflow and diagnose it. Invite your customer to use an air balance hood and mea-sure airflow from the room’s supply register. In this exam-ple, the hood reads 50 cfm. Say nothing. Let your custom-er consider the new information about this room’s comfort. When a customer participates in this process, they can’t help but contribute to the diagnostics. They may begin to diagnose the problem themselves!!Finally, complete the report by entering the measured room airflow and calculating the percent of airflow. Divide the measured room airflow of 50 cfm by the room estimated air-flow of 170 cfm to find only 30% of the needed airflow is deliv-TECHNICALRob Falke co-founded National Comfort Institute in the early 1990’s and leads the technical training and curriculum development teams of the company. Rob’s vision is that the performance of an HVAC system can be effectively measured and diagnosed under live operating conditions in the field. He can be reached at RobF@ncihvac.com16 DECEMBER 2019HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYto simply take the time to analyze it and then manage toward the results that you would like to see.We’ve found that just sending technicians to train-ing is meaningless. They need to apply what they learn and if they don’t you need to know why. That helps you make other decisions down the line.In that effort, we keep track of the number of call-backs for each tech as well as how long it takes them to diagnose something. TRACKING AND GOALSOther key things we track: ●Revenue per tech ●Number and type of leads each tech shared with a salesperson or office (these are broken down by sys-tem performance, service, service agreement leads, and so on) ●Online training hours/courses completed.These items are recorded in spreadsheets and we discuss overall trends based on them during weekly team meetings. Our managers sit down with techs in-dividually each month to go over their specific num-bers and goals (both personal and professional goals).I’ve found that a lot of people just don’t know how to set goals. So, I’m working harder with my managers on how they can better coach employees and help them set realistic goals, overcome obstacles, and be more successful. I’ve learned that training success must actually be based on each person’s personal goals. Once we drill down to what really motivates them, we can then use that to develop career plans and subsequent training to help them achieve those goals. Whether it’s to buy a house, send their kids to college, help aging parents, whatever — their personal goals are really the drivers for their work goals. Our job is to help them achieve those things.Training is vital to the success of any company. It helps prevent costly callbacks, poor HVAC system performance, and lackluster efficien-cy. Training also promotes a good work envi-ronment, better communication between the compa-ny and its clients and, most importantly, it gives our employees a path to grow their careers.It doesn’t just happen. To effectively train your peo-ple requires real planning. Here at Basnett Plumbing and Heating, we feel that training is integral to our suc-cess and growth. We take it seriously. To be frank, it is a consistent daily thought for me and my managers. It is part of our overall mission statement, our culture, and our brand.We all know that nothing is free and that is why you must have a budget allocated to training. For us, we set aside two to three percent of our annual gross revenues just to keep our field service and installation techni-cians at the top of their game.BEFORE CREATING A PLANFirst some background: About 20 years ago we set up a second entity for training with a June year-end. We allocate a certain amount of dollars per month and post those dollars to the training company. We typical-ly deplete those funds prior to our June year-end. This allows us more funds for training employees without having to send the taxed profits to the government.With that in mind, once our budget is set, I set a meeting agenda with my management team where we go over the needs for the career advancement of our entire team. Planning for the next year’s training usu-ally begins in October and ties into the company busi-ness plan for the following year.Scheduling begins with analysis. Just like gathering data on static pressures, airflow, pressures, and so on, we gather data on co-worker performance. The key is By Rob BasnettTRAININGWhy You Should Plan Your Training Each YearDECEMBER 2019 17HVACTODAY.COMturnover, conflicts of the outside train-ing organizations, busy times, wheth-er our techs are taking advantage of available online training programs we provide, and more.We also consider the needs of new hires and the initial training they may need. Over the years, we have become wiser when it comes to training new hires – we’ve been burned too many times. So, we invest in their training, but don’t invest too heavily until they prove themselves.Our high-level schedule is a guide-line. My rule-of-thumb on creating a training plan is to think of it as a liv-ing document – it must be as flexible as possible. Our plan is annual, but I re-visit it monthly and modify it as neces-sary throughout the year.Then the final draft of our training plan is shared with our training man-ager, Paul Lizotte. Each month, Paul and I will discuss who (on the techni-cal side) needs what training as well as what local training comes up from vendors that we feel are important to attend.ONLINE TRAININGOne of the smartest things I did was invest in an online training program that allows our technicians to take classes on their own schedule and at their own pace. There are a number of resources out there that look very ex-CREATING THE PLANWhen it’s time to put an actual annual plan together, I look at how training went the previous year, what the current needs are for the en-tire team, and consider the input from my managers. Then I create an outline that I have to revisit and fill in once outside training schedules are pub-lished and available. Plus, I’m always on the lookout for last-minute training that might come up as well as programs that provide our technicians certifications and cer-tification renewals.We start with general needs such as customer service rep, technician, and sales training, then break that down to individual employees. We focus on the employees who really want to go above and beyond on their own. The initial plan is set at a higher lev-el – a 30,000-ft. view. We use this to sketch out the more costly and nec-essary training and/or most needed training for budgeting purposes. Then we look at the industry calen-dars of all the HVAC training orga-nizations – National Comfort Insti-tute, Air Conditioning Contractors of America, and most of the others – to match what they are offering to our technicians’ needs.OTHER CONSIDERATIONSOf course, many things play into our ability to plan out an annual strategy. Obviously, if the training we need isn’t available, we have to postpone until it is. Other factors include employee Figure 2: Sample of Basnett’s Employee Training plan.Figure 1: An exam-ple of how Basnett assembles a training calendar for the instal-lation department.18 DECEMBER 2019HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYTRAININGmanagers and go over what they learned, what additional work they need to finish, and what their plan is. We use the Training Intent letter to monitor and coach the employee’s progress.As you can see, we spend a great deal of money and time in training our team. We think this is vital to our employee’s success as well as the success of our company. The result is that many of our clients tell us we have a great repu-tation, which is a major reason they de-cided to do business with us. Interestingly, in the past few years, we have had several potential hires say they came to us because they saw our online reviews and/or said we have a great reputation. I’d like to say training has a lot to do with it. Our vision is to be the HVAC company and employer of choice in our area by the end of 2020. We’re getting closer! commit to getting training done. That shows me a lot. Online training is a great tool to help techs improve their skills and learning, as well as a great way for us to monitor their commitment and progress.MANAGING BY SPREADSHEETBased on our annual training plan, we put together individu-al spreadsheets for each employee that shows their preliminary train-ing schedule and how much the company plans to invest in them.The spreadsheets also show the training we need the tech to have, the timeframe it needs to be completed, the cost, and calculates the dollar/hour we’re investing in him or her.We then share this with the tech so they can see how the company invests in them and hopefully this helps mo-tivate them to commit to taking and completing that training.TRAINING INTENT LETTERBut hope is not a strategy. We really look for a commitment which is why each month our managers sit down with the individual techs to go over that spreadsheet (which includes as-signed online training) and discuss where they are and why.Once a year, we have each field em-ployee fill out a training intent form with a short description of what they want to accomplish, how much time they plan to spend per week/month studying the online training, and why. Once they accomplish their training intent, we have them fill out anoth-er one. This helps them from staying stagnant.Each month our techs sit with their pensive on paper, but I’ve found they are relatively inexpensive if you make full use of them. One thing that separates our compa-ny from the competition is our five-tier technician career path. Each tier has a number of goals and accomplishments that must be completed to advance to the next tier. Each tier has it’s own pay range, so the technicians have a lot of control over how quickly they advance and how much they can earn.Completing online training is key for each technician career tier.Furthermore, online training is completely in our control. We don’t have to wait on schedules or worry about class cancellations. It is always there. We combine online and live training requirements for each of our five technician career tiers.As I see it, one fundamental problem in this industry is that most techni-cians need training, but because they are bad planners, they never seem to have the money for it. Because they don’t seem to have the money, they won’t do it on their own. They expect their employers or their vendors to provide and pay for it. There comes a point where I say that “Big Daddy” isn’t going to do ev-erything with regard to training. So, as a company, unless we commit to it, and unless our people commit to it, they will be stuck where they are for a lifetime. I like to see a technician Rob Basnett is the president and co-owner of Basnett Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning in Littleton, MA. He and his wife, Lori, started the business in 1987. The company is the recipient of many recognitions from the industry and NCI. DECEMBER 2019 19HVACTODAY.COMPHOTO OF THE MONTH“Return? Supply? Upstairs or Down?” — David Small, Crossway Mechanical, Tomball, TX The return plenum is part of the zoned system for the north side of the house. The four other ducts are for another system! Can you guess which is which? Neither could the installer apparently. When the “other” system comes on, the negative pressure in the master suite is so great you can barely close the bedroom door!Congratulations to David Small of Crossway Mechanical. He is the December 2019 winner of our Photo-of-the-Month contest, as voted on by the subscribers to High-Performance HVAC Today magazine. He will receive a $50 gift card.PHOTO-OF-THE-YEAR CONTEST VOTING OPENS DEC. 9, 2019 The January 2020 contest is a run-off of all the monthly winners from 2019. The winner, as voted on by you, will receive a FREE registration to NCI’s Summit 2020. Learn more about the next High-Performance Summit at gotosummit.com.Next >