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Building High-Performing Teams
There is a book called “First, Break All the Rules,” written several years ago by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. The book interviews several people with the premise of identifying charact...
The Ostrich Complex
Myth: Ostriches bury their heads in the sand.
Fact: They don’t. It merely appears...
Celebrating Success
There’s nothing less motivating than achieving a goal and no one seems to care. Whether it is a personal goal or a business goal, recognition for a job well done is crucial to ensure that a work-hard attitude c...
Maintaining Customer Interaction
Irecently was reading an excerpt from “The Game-Changer,” a book by A.G. Lafley, CEO of Proctor & Gamble, and Ram Charan, a very prominent expert on business management. In the excerpt, Lafley talked abou...
Why The Best Service Is No Service
Bill Price was Amazon.com’s first global vice president of customer service. Since leaving Amazon.com, Bill formed Driva Solutions to help clients deliver great customer experiences. He recently co-authored...
The Power Of Learning
Business owners must continue learning or risk dragging their companies into mediocrity.
Disaster Planning
Having a business continuity plan in place is a must for contractors.
Culture Drives Strategy
As a company leader, your ultimate responsibility is to become the “chief culture officer.” After all, a strong company culture will lead your business to success.
How To Hire Co-Workers
Think of the hiring process as a sales presentation — putting your best foot forward will net results.
The Craft Of Communication
I once had a boss bite my head off in front of all of my co-workers. The “crime” I committed turned out to be her mistake and she later sulked into my office to offer a private apology to a very p...
The Ugly Truth About Managing People
As a business owner, you probably have run into problems such as how to motivate your employees or how to handle an unsavory situation that may require some finesse. The good news is you are not alone...
What Were They Thinking?
D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He is the author or co-author of 12 books. Pfeffer received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Carnegie-Mellon U...
24/7 Safety
Safe workers are productive workers. Instilling upon them the importance of safety not only prevents injury, it makes for a healthy bottom line.
Create A Stellar Sales Culture
Competency, motivation and environment – understanding that these factors work in tandem to create stellar results is the key to a salesperson’s success.
Notes From The Field
It’s winter, temperatures are below freezing and your customer’s boiler just gave up the ghost. It could take a few days to a few weeks depending on the type of unit before you could order and install a ...
Why Should Customers Do Business With You?
As the owner of your company, can you give an articulate, logical and concise answer to this question? What about your sales team and the rest of your employees? I’ll bet if you walk arou...
Passing The Torch
Business owners must address succession planning before it’s too late. Grooming leaders and ensuring all assets are valued properly will help when it’s time to retire.
Converting Theory Into Practice
Building a highly profitable hvac retail business with residential service agreements takes more than ideas, it takes proper training and execution.
Open Up To Open Book
Sharing financial information helps employees clearly see the target your company is aiming for. Once the target is in sight, success will follow.
Sales-Style Analysis
Understanding how your sales team approaches customers will enable you to provide the right support.
Added Value — A Powerful Marketing Principle
In an effort to emphasize the importance of understanding and practicing the marketing principle of added value, I’ve decided to revisit and elaborate on a past Discipline of Leader...
Dealing With Fickle Customers
Knowing how to prevent last-minute changes — or at least how to be compensated properly — will save your hvacr business time and money.
Lessons Learned
For the last decade I have been writing about, reporting on, and interviewing company executives about what has made their businesses work better, made their organizations more successful, and helped them attract quality i...
How To Break Into The DDC Market.
Need a few good reasons to get into the direct digital control (DDC) game? There are plenty. DDC technology is good for business and good for the bottom line both yours and your client’s. DDC technology can h...
What Are Customers Looking For?
If you are an hvac retail company, your present customers, as well as any new customers, are looking for four items and they are not complicated. In fact, they are very basic. Yet, most companies do not underst...
Keep LEEDing The Way
By Ellis G. Guiles Jr.
In the last article, we reviewed why the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmenta...
Training: The Final Four Steps
How co-workers, a calendar, communications, and critiques contribute to a structured, meaningful training plan. Part three of a three-part series
Wild About Wireless
Solutions range from management software to single-use devices. To determine which are right for your business, focus on cutting costs and increasing sales.
20 Questions With Theo Etzel
Conditioned Air president Theo Etzel met with HVACR Business publisher Terry Tanker in Etzel’s Naples office after the 39th Annual ACCA meeting held in Orlando, March 6 to 8. They discussed how a different management philosophy, dedication to train...
Getting Ready To Sell Your Business
Those of us who don’t intend to work forever and who don’t have family members to take over our business will, at some point, want to think about selling. A successful sale of any business...
Who Makes Buying Decisions? Women!
I bought my first brand new car in 1989. It was a Honda Civic, and my husband-to-be was with me. I had a lot of questions about the car, which I asked directly to the salesman. He answered them. But he d...
Increase Your Productivity
As co-owner of a small business, it’s routine for me to deal with dozens of projects daily. Executive focus changes every 15 minutes. The variety is fascinating and includes everything from production and finance, to ...
