< PreviousLet’s also acknowledge upfront; this new sys- tem will usually cost more than they anticipated. Your job is to help customers learn enough about it, so they’re delighted to pay the higher price. If they’re not, you have done a disservice. Sadly, some will be unable to afford more than a box, and that’s OK. Fortunately, if you have a diagnostics sales lead in hand, your customer has shown some level of interest in system upgrades and may want more. This sales approach is very different than what is normally practiced within the general HVAC industry and taught by its best sales trainers and manufacturers. A UNIQUE SERIES OF EVENTS It’s up to you to orchestrate a unique set of events that we’ll call an in-home Learn-O-mer- cial. Sorry for the weird word, but after nearly 40 years of personally practicing this sales method and trying to teach it to others, it’s the most accu- rate description. This is the secret sauce for clos- ing diagnostic sales leads. You need to be a detective to discover the di- agnostics sales lead. In the quest for sales leads, diagnostics may be your strongest tool. Help cus- tomers discover their system’s defects and you will close the sale. If you carefully study, practice, and develop your brand of in-home Learn-O-mercial, follow- ing these principles, I can promise you increased success and enjoyment in your sales efforts. Typ- ically, sales closing rates nearly double, margins and profit naturally increase, and you’ll never need to exert pressure on a customer again. This unique series of events will result in a suc- cessful sale the moment that you and your cus- tomer discover any issues together and agree “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing,” writes Benjamin Franklin. A ny article from a good writer is worth read- ing again and again. This is most certainly true for those written by the late, great Rob Falke. Rob was the president of National Comfort Institute (NCI) and one of the architects of what is now known as the High-Performance HVAC Contract- ing movement. With that in mind, we’d like to revisit an article he published in this magazine in July 2021. It is just as pertinent today as it was then. So without further ado: T he first critical ingredient to create a sys- tem upgrade sale is your conviction that each system needs more than equipment replacement. Your ability to successful- ly sell more than a box swap depends on being able to communicate that conviction. You’ll use it along with your skill, expertise, and creativity to deliver a custom system built on the foundation of diag- nostics. Let’s take a look at the events you’ll arrange in your cus- tomers’ homes to help them under- stand their system, discover its failings, and get them to ask for help improving the performance of their system. 10 FEBRUARY 2024HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY The Best of Rob Falke: So, You Have a Diagnostic Lead - Now What? by Rob Falke SALES In the quest for sales leads, diagnostics may be your strongest tool. Help customers discover their system’s defects and you will close the sale.you rely throughout your visit. At this point, the spirit of your visit is to help customers understand their system defects and discover the solutions. Don’t worry about selling until your customer completely understands what you offer and what they will get from it. This approach mirrors the el- evated sales position of a service tech. Be like the technician whose initial greeting is “Hi, I’m here to help.” AT THE KITCHEN TABLE First contact sets the stage for the diagnostics sales lead. Still, it’s the diagnostics that change the playing field and lead customers to buy your designs to solve their problems. Remember, the Learn-O-mercial is rolling out. Keep your conversation focused on diagnostics, and don’t fall back into old comfortable habits. A typical industry sales call begins with a monologue about the virtues of your company and the superiority of the manufacturer you represent. Blah, blah, blah. With the diagnostics approach, speak only briefly about the values of your company and your relationship with your manufacturer. Let your pri- mary message be conveyed by what YOU do with and for your customer. People care about the value they re- ceive for their money and that they are making a smart purchase. They show interest in diagnostics when they agree to your visit, so talk about the issues the diagnostics revealed. Learn more detail here: ncilink.com/Translate. Now it’s time for a discussion lead- ing to the next level. If the diagnosis is high static pressure, teach the custom- er about it and ask questions to engage them in the discussion. They want to understand this pressure thing and upon their resolution. You have now made this the homeowner’s custom project. As you develop and master your Learn-O-mercial style, you will have no competition. The product you cre- ate for customers is a truly custom- ized product. Your system upgrades will give customers more than any self-proclaimed competitor can. A diagnostics-generated lead flows into a sales process unlike anything else. You’ll notice several new steps to take and old ones to eliminate as you recreate how you sell. Like any change, it can be challenging to create and capture your vision of how to tutor and coach your customers to discover what you have available for them. FIRST SALES CONTACT Whether your first sales contact is on the phone, in an email, or at the front door, having test results and an initial diagnosis in hand, you’re uniquely qualified to change the nor- mal sales conversation. Understand that the Learn-O-mercial is already underway, and the diagnosis becomes the foundation upon which FEBRUARY 2024 11HVACTODAY.COM First Contact counts! Still, it’s the diagnos- tics that change the playing field and lead customers to buy your designs to solve their problems.12 FEBRUARY 2024HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY SALES your recommendation; they want to hire you to repair the problem they discovered themselves. BUT WHEN DO I START SELLING? Did you miss it? It already hap- pened. The customer made the sale for you as they participated in your Learn-O-mercial. They learned about their system and decided they want- ed the solutions only you can offer. That is the heart of the diagnos- tics sales lead. Each time you help customers discover system defects, they de- cide to buy independent of you. It’s the events you coached them through that did the selling. They want the sale each time they ask, “Can you fix this?” EVERYTHING ELSE IS PAPERWORK During the Learn-O-mercial, it’s your job to take notes to de- fine the work for the inventory team and installers. You form the scope of work while you uncover each system defect to be corrected. NCI has reports to help you identify the scope of work. As each flaw is uncovered during di- agnostics, briefly explain to your cus- tomer how you’ll fix it. They usually don’t care; they want to hear you are fully qualified to make the repair. It’s not time to write a proposal yet. It is time to talk about the customer’s repair priorities. Price comes up at this point. So, pull out your phone and answer the six questions in your trusty NCI Air Upgrade Price Calculator or use your flat-rate pricing. Discuss and agree upon upgrade priority and price. Lock down any outstanding deci- sions such as financing, project start/ with a balancing hood. Be still. Say nothing when the hood measures just 38 and watch the Learn- O-mercial work its magic. Measure supply and return duct static pressures and compare your re- sults to 20% of rated static pressure. Be sure you teach them what the max- imum pressure should be before mea- suring it. When it’s high, ask them what might cause the high pressure. Be patient and give hints to help them find solutions when appropriate. If duct temperature loss is the ini- tial diagnosis, one quick and effective diagnostic you can do together is to place a temperature probe in a return grille and supply register farthest from the equipment. Set the system to fan only and let it run. When duct heat gain or loss is present, the home gets uncomfortable in a few minutes. Calculate the differ- ence between the supply and return air. It should be zero. Watch their fac- es as they learn and let the test data build their desire to own a solution. When you allow customers to dis- cover a system defect through diag- nostics, they become highly motivated to fix the system. They’re not buying how it affects them. This is the diag- nostics sales lead. Some good questions to ask include, “Have you replaced your filter with a high-efficiency one recently?” “Did you notice any room airflows seem lower lately?” “Have you had anyone crawl through your attic in the last couple of months?” Each of these questions can lead to discussions that engage customers deeper into the diagnostics and the solution. Take time to explain and discover with them. Can you see what’s happening? SIMPLE DEEPER DIAGNOSTICS Each diagnostic test has a cousin test that reveals a lit- tle more of the picture. If your Learn-O-mercial is working, customers will eagerly engage in some very simple diagnostics with you. Invite them to join in the discovery process and get them up and moving with you. The diagnostics sales lead comes from a discovery process which may be a simple inspection of a suspect- ed problem you identified together. Maybe the two of you check whether that new filter is restrictive. Or maybe you both take a static pressure profile at the equipment if it is accessible or finding closed dampers. My favorite approach is taking the customer into the most uncomfortable room, then helping them estimate airflow. For example, say you help them cal- culate 125 beach balls of air per min- ute (read ncilink.com/beachballs for a full explanation). Then invite them to measure the register airflow FEBRUARY 2024 13HVACTODAY.COM SALES to the services you offer customers. Why shouldn’t an HVAC guy bring some magic into customers’ homes? The magic is in the Learn-O-mercial and what they discover, think, feel, and receive from you. If what you do in their home doesn’t feel like magic, you’re planting the wrong seeds. indicate total agreement. THE PROPOSAL Then create the proposal. Keep it brief when appropriate. You may in- clude the most important points to your customer and whether you in- clude equipment replacement. Keep the scope of work minimal to deflect a spouse or others shopping your price. JACK IN THE BEAN STALK The diagnostics sales lead seed looks different from the seeds planted to grow a typical equipment replace- ment sale. Jack planted magic beans to make his dream come true. The seeds you plant during the Learn-O-mercial bring a sense of magic end date, construction details, and commitments for both of you. Always include verification and final testing to prove you delivered what you promised. Oh, how about equipment? At the kitchen table, you spoke about your relationship with your manufacturer. The customer trusts that relationship because they already bought you. A discussion about types of equip- ment and costs is all you need at this point. Since they are purchasing the best system, isn’t the best equipment the obvious choice? Before writing a proposal, settle any outstanding system issue details un- til you both agree. Nod in agreement, shake hands, or get a hug. Respond however your customer chooses to Rob Falke co-founded National Comfort Insti- tute (NCI) with Dominick Guarino in the early 1990s and led the technical training and curriculum development teams of the company. He is credited for bringing commercial-style air balancing to the residential marketplace and NCI’s training mis- sion continues to be driven by his vision that HVAC system performance can be effectively measured and diagnosed under live operating conditions in the field. Rob passed away in May 2022.Engineers performed testing to verify their de- signs. In those days, many engineers were disap- pointed their designs didn’t work after installed in the field. Two such engineers, Taylor Kahoe and George Coultas, decided to find a way to make their designs work. So, they began testing their systems and measuring airside performance. This testing and measuring led to founding their new company, Kahoe Air Balance, in Cleve- land, OH in 1960. Taylor Kahoe went on to help found AABC (Associated Air Balance Council). Commercial air balancing became a specialty trade of people who measured systems with spe- cific tools and skills. These tools included the in- clined manometer, Magnahelics (analog manom- eter), rotating vane anemometers, static pressure tips, and pitot tubes. The skills included static pressure measurements, duct traverses (and then using math to calculate airflow), and terminal de- vice (grille, register, and diffuser) traverses. LET THERE BE LIGHT … Kahoe created formalized testing and balanc- ing for the commercial marketplace. However, one commercial air balancer named Rob Falke transitioned these tools and skills to the res- idential market. While working in his fam- ily’s residential HVAC business, he saw how many residential HVAC systems per- formed pathetically, and his company of- ten had to own those problems. Rob saw the benefits of air balanc- ing commercial systems and thought it might make sense in residential HVAC, so he brought those specialties over to his family’s business. He started measuring, test- ing, and discovering the real reasons residential systems worked so poorly. This realization was W hen it comes to residential HVAC, many people believe airflow mea- surement has always been avail- able to this side of the industry. The fact is that belief is not valid. So where did it come from? This article explores some airflow measure- ment history and its ultimate importance to our industry today. The fact is airflow principles won’t change – but the ways we measure them will. IN THE BEGINNING … Airflow testing and measurement started in the commercial HVAC space in the 1960s. Commer- cial air balancers used instruments to ensure their customers the systems design and installation de- livered what was promised. This idea was unlike anything residential technicians ever considered. In the 1960s, the instruments used to measure and test were analog and there was an art to using them. Most residential HVAC contractors didn’t know about them. You see, balancing was a very specialized trade. 14 FEBRUARY 2024HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY Airflow Measurement: Old School Meets New Tech By David Richardson and Chris Hughes TECHNICAL This illustration shows a typical inclined manometer used by commercial HVAC technicians to help them balance systems in the 1960s. © National Comfort Institute.to test and mea- sure. Falke un- derstood this and helped the indus- try understand airflow was the lifeblood of any HVAC system. Now that tech- nicians under- stand the impor- tance of airflow, they see how it ties into system longevity, reduc- ing component failure, callbacks, and all the prob- lems that con- tractors run into in the field. Today, an ev- er-growing num- ber of residential companies em- brace this men- tality and use it to change their busi- nesses culture. The next step is to take the mea- sured data and learn how to ap- ply it to cor- rect poorly per- forming systems. Without this step, inefficient systems remain unchanged. That is where companies like The Energy Conservatory (TEC) come into focus. Their mission is to build user-friendly tools and instruments to help HVAC contractors take airside measurements and then interpret that data to convert it into sales tools. Their TrueFlow ® Grid product is one result of those efforts. SHOW NOT TELL The TrueFlow Grid solves a prob- lem that NCI has had for years. It pro- vides a simple way for a salesperson to measure airflow and get a third- the birth of a new product called duct renovations. Rob used them to differ- entiate their family company and re- pair airflow issues. The transition from the old school to where we are now began when Rob started teaching residential air bal- ancing. He shared those commercial air balancing principles with residen- tial technicians, starting with stat- ic pressure measurements. He taught them to use those results to generate leads. That eventually led to doing air- flow diagnostic testing. In this process, technicians would take measurements, prescribe a scope of work, and then sell it. The strug- gle was helping consumers under- stand what was happening with their systems. That struggle disappeared once techs could verify that what they promised was being delivered. Over time, test instruments got bet- ter and technology changed. They evolved from analog to digital instru- ments that did all the math. That led to more training on measuring, test- ing, and diagnosing system issues. LET THE FUTURE START NOW That was the massive transition from the past to where we are to- day. Falke connected residential stat- ic pressure and system performance, which are discussed throughout the HVAC industry today. However, twenty-five years ago, that was NOT the case. Static pressure was bare- ly discussed unless you were an NCI- trained technician. You can’t get performance out of your systems without proper pres- sure and airflow. Those two items are the foundational pillars of everything. They are the “why” technicians need FEBRUARY 2024 15HVACTODAY.COM16 FEBRUARY 2024HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY TECHNICAL a button to forecast results of increas- ing or decreasing airflow, while also providing guidance on the type of equipment you select. This type of software helps to create a scope of work and ensure you don’t inherit or create a bad duct system. It enables you to forecast and simulate what could happen if the changes to the duct system aren’t made. Plus, it could predict whether the new equip- ment airflow delivery will work prop- erly or not. FORECASTING AND SIMULATING WILL BE A GAME CHANGER The beauty of this is that it’s not you saying it. This automated third-party report has credibility and provides the customer with information they Our industry is currently going through a heat pump revolution that’s driving us towards electrifi- cation. Many gas- fired furnaces will likely be replaced with electric heat pumps. There will also be many fur- naces that will remain installed acting as a vital component in a dual-fuel system. The airflow re- quired to move the same capaci- ty to these areas in predominantly heating climates will potentially increase. It be- comes a huge decision about whether you can keep the exiting ductwork in the house or if upgrades are necessary. You have to consider whether a furnace to heat pump retrofit will really work. Many times that’s a ductwork ques- tion. If you have static pressure and you don’t have an airflow reading, you don’t have enough information to make an accurate decision. For ex- ample, if the system is dirty at all, you won’t have airflow, and your static pressures will look great. But if you have static pressures and airflow, you have all the information you need to start predictive mea- suring or forecasting. Soon, the next release update of the TrueFlow app will enable you to take airflow measurements and then push party report of the results. The True- Flow walks you through the entire process. It is hard to make a mistake. Not everyone will use this tool – many will continue to use Total Exter- nal Static Pressure (TESP), static pres- sure diagnostics, and a fan table to get an idea of whether they are close. Sell- ing technicians will more likely use the TrueFlow Grid to take the same mea- surements but then turn them into a report that eventually becomes a scope of work. This tool provides contractors and their field personnel a third-party means to show customers how their system is performing. Then they can verify that what they promised is be- ing delivered. They can use this as an assurance report. THIS CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING The future is technicians who can do things they never could before – like predicting the scope of work. Think about this: once you have a TrueFlow report, and by using some additional math, you can then predict what would happen by adjusting airflow. Could we not do the same thing with changeouts? In other words, if you have a TrueFlow report on an existing system that includes the static pressure and airflow measurements, we essen- tially KNOW what the ductwork can handle no matter what you throw at it. With that much data, taking it to an- other level is not far-fetched. You’ll know how things respond to airflow. If you move x-amount of air at a spe- cific pressure drop, you can predict what will happen to that static pres- sure if we increase airflow. Why is that important?FEBRUARY 2024 17HVACTODAY.COM TECHNICAL system will perform before changing out equipment or upgrading to a heat pump. Such a tool can guide the con- tractor’s design decisions BEFORE they touch the existing system. plemental electric resistance heat, an existing gas-fired furnace, and more. Technicians and designers need to keep this thought process in mind. They don’t necessarily have to com- pletely size the heat pump for the heating load. The good news for the South and other regions that are predominantly a cooling climate is that when switch- ing over to a heat pump, chances are that the ductwork is already adequate- ly sized. In predominantly heating climates, that is where techs will see undersized ductwork and have some decisions to make. This is the direction the industry is going. Think of all the opportuni- ties and bad duct systems avoided from being able to predict how a duct can use to decide. Not having third-party validations is why many contractors don’t consid- er doing duct renovations in the first place. Plus, technicians are worried they will make a bad decision. Predic- tive tools like this help you overcome the fear of making bad decisions and instill confidence to make the right decisions. GETTING CREATIVE With such technology, companies will need to be creative. If they want to install a heat pump and the ductwork isn’t big enough, that doesn’t neces- sarily mean they can’t install a heat pump. The contractor will have many options to provide the comfort their customer needs, include using sup- David Richardson serves the HVAC industry as Vice Pres- ident of Training for the Na- tional Comfort Institute, Inc. (NCI). If you have questions, reach out to David at ncilink. com/ContactMe . Chris Hughes is the Business Development Manager at TEC and has over 18 years of HVAC experience in both residential and commercial applications. He also co-founded Hughes Mechanical and is an HVAC education advocate. You can reach him at ncilink.com/ContactMe.18 FEBRUARY 2024HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYHVAC Design – NCI’s David Richardson presented this session with Adam Mufich of A-Team Heating and Air Conditioning z Benefits of Modern-Day Combus- tion Safety Testing: Realtime vs. Steady State – This session was presented by Casey Contreras of NCI and Tyler Nelson of Sauermann America z Climate Resilient HVAC: Where the Rubber Meets the Road – Ben Lip- scomb, P.E. of NCI, copresented this ses- sion with Bill Spohn, P.E. and Eric Kaiser of TruTech Tools z HVACR State of the Industry Lead- ership Panel Discussion: Today’s Mar- ket, Challenges, Opportunities and What’s Ahead – Dominick Guarino of NCI was joined on this panel by Brian Orr of HVAC School and Kalos Services, Gin- ger Scoggins of ASHRAE, Greg Walker of ASHB, Steve Yurek of AHRI, and Talbot Gee of HARDI z Addressing the Workforce Talent Gap through Educational Partner- ships – NCI’s Dominick Guarino joined Alison Neuman of the North American Workforce Development Program at Johnson Controls, Bryan Feilen of Lin- coln Tech, Jose De La Portilla of Rheem Manufacturing, Scott Shaw of Lincoln Tech, and Bryan Orr of HVAC School and Kalos Services on this panel. If you want to download the Power- Point slides from the NCI educational sessions, click on this link: ncilink.com/ AHRppts. ATD CLASSES HIT THE ROAD National Comfort Institute is pleased to announce that the popular Airflow Testing and Diagnostics (ATD) cours- es are being held in many more cities in 2024. Intended for HVAC contracting firm owners, managers, and technicians, this course provides technical training on performing static pressure testing, properly installing static pressure test ports, and measuring and interpreting static pressures. ATD attendees learn to: z Identify Fan Type and Fan Speed z Locate Fan Tables and Plot Fan Airflow z Diagnose and Perform Air Upgrades on HVAC equipment and duct systems z And much more. Some of the cities where ATD classes are to be held include: Austin, TX Denver, CO Hartford, CT Landover, MD Louisville, KY Phoenix, AZ Salt Lake City, UT Tampa, FL. To see a complete schedule go to ncil- ink.com/TrainSched. Check back here often to see all the new cities being added throughout the year. NCI HAS MAJOR PRESENCE AT AHR EXPO National Comfort Institute (NCI) had a significant presence at the AHR Ex- position in Chicago in January. Besides exhibiting at the trade show, the team presented five educational sessions and participated in two panel discussions. The Expo is the HVAC Industry’s larg- est trade show event that brings to- gether manufacturers, suppliers, and contractors of all sizes and specialties. Besides showcasing the latest products and technology, AHR Expo also holds concurrent workshops and educational sessions. Here are links to each of the NCI ses- sions and panel discussions on the AHR Expo website: z How to Sell and Deliver High-Perfor- mance HVAC – Dominick Guarino of NCI and Dawn Mroczek of GV’s Heating and Air Conditioning were the presenters z Airflow Measurement: Old School Meets Latest Tech – presented by NCI’s David Richardson and Chris Hughes from The Energy Conservatory z Where Home Performance Meets NCI UPDATE FEBRUARY 2024 19HVACTODAY.COMNext >