Changes are coming. If our President-Elect remains true to his campaign promises, bolstered by a business-friendly congress, we could see a very positive environment in 2017 for small businesses — i.e.  HVAC contractors. Of course, we should take campaign promises with a grain of salt, as we know politicians will usually say anything to win …
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Carbon Monoxide - What to Look For

Analytics — why are they so doggone important? To answer that, we need to know the terms and references required to understand marketing analytics, whether you are doing it by yourself or using a third-party web management person/team. Looking at analytics without knowing or understanding what you’re seeing is just like looking at your P&L …
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HVAC Airflow and leaf blowing -- the common denominator

Let’s talk airflow. We live back in the woods on a half-acre with fifteen 100-foot tall oak trees. For years I’ve imagined sharing leaf blowing airflow lessons with my fellow airheads. Let’s take a look at the mad airflow skills you can master while blowing leaves. Fascinating Statistics “If you don’t measure, you’re just guessing.” …
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Extending credit to customers helps close more HVAC new install and system upgrade sales.

Why financing? Here is why: Whether their product is consumer goods or HVAC systems, I have two words that are the bane to all salespeople: consumer debt. These two words impact consumers’ ability to buy things. The New York Federal Reserve’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for the first quarter of 2014, showed …
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Benchmarking

Responses from an article on benchmarking that ran in Contracting Business.com magazine’s Hotmail email newsletter nearly a year ago continue to appear in my inbox. This new field evaluation and test method is being included in progressive service and maintenance agreements throughout the industry. It is proving as beneficial to customers as it is for …
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Flex duct cost savings

Flex duct versus metallic duct: for decades many considered duct material the key to how well an HVAC system delivers airflow to the conditioned space. You should start paying closer attention to this discussion. Events unfolding over the next few months could ultimately determine how much flexible duct you will be allowed to use when …
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Good CSRs are Key to Your Success

NCI Legacy Series Blog Posts In memory of those who came before, we bring you some of their best posts and articles from the past. Nita Brooks, who lost her battle with cancer 2016, was an integral part of the National Comfort Institute team for many years and was prolific in her writing. This post …
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Reputation management

Reputation management? Online Reputation management? What gives? In case you haven’t noticed, the Internet is changing everything. It can be good or bad change and depends on how well you adapt and take advantage of the opportunities it presents. It’s noteworthy that internationally-recognized leadership consultant Robin Sharma says, “Change is hard at first, messy in …
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When it comes to duct work, there’s lots of discussion  kicking around about them being substantially undersized. Here’s a two-minute test that can check the size and performance of your duct system. The instruments are inexpensive and it takes less than 10 minutes to learn to do. Tons of Air Static pressure is a measurement …
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Airflow has its own Bermuda Triangle

Airflow. It’s in our ventilation sytems. It’s the media through which our weather works. Off the South-Eastern coast of the United States, bounded by Miami (in Florida), San Juan (in Puerto Rico), and the north-Atlantic island of Bermuda, is an area known as the Bermuda Triangle. For years many ships and planes inexplicably disappeared when …
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