Matt Michel, CEO of the Service Roundtable
, asks his clients
to look ahead to 2006, and make predictions as to where they see the
air
conditioning industry and their business heading. The question is
asked on a private discussion list. I believe Matt is regularly in
contact with somewhere around fifteen-thousand people and my guess
is the discussion list hits about a quarter of these folks. As of
yesterday, I think two people had responded. The holidays might have
contributed to the low response. I search for excuses because nowhere
in the air conditioning industry will you find a group of people with
more heart, more knowledge and more desire to improve their positions,
both personally and biz wise.
I would like to present my viewpoint here at
Rothacker Reviews so as not to tie up the discussion list and maybe,
just maybe, expose some of these good people to the leadership and management coaches who often stop by here. For my HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) friends: check out the Most Excellent Folks column on your left.
HVAC in 2006: Change will occur in increments invisible to the human eye. The force necessary to overcome the A/C world's inertia is beyond comprehension.
Pressed to predict the future, I will say this. Major change will come to the residential side of the HVAC industry one day. And when it comes, there will be no inert mass of people to overcome. It will completely bypass the ninety-four percent crowd. This is the amount of contractors in the industry today who fight change as if Hitler himself were leading the charge. A popular view is one where the equipment manufacturers or Sears or Home Depot might swoop in and redo the landscape. I don't think so. I believe it will come from a hybrid company whose parts have perfected lean manufacturing, advanced/inexpensive technology and possess the ability to educate and mobilize a whole new workforce. The catalyst for change will become more profound as the workforce ages. Less people to do the work will force the issue. Look for an Asian company, a major world finance company and a Microsoft and a Wal-Mart type of company to combine and pull this off.
I believe an organizing impetus for change will be a redefinition of what type of business HVAC contractors are in. A popular view is the contractor is in the comfort business. Actually this viewpoint demonstrates advancement. As the railroad industry did not evolve into the transportation industry, the HVAC industry did evolve into the comfort industry - kind of (the six percenters).
People however do not care about comfort.
"You are wrong David, dead wrong."
Perhaps to a degree, you are right. But let's try something out. Greater comfort equals a consistent temperature, humidity and clean indoor air environment in your house. You mention to your contractor, while she is out performing preventive maintenance on your system, that one bedroom will not cool and you are interested in improving the indoor air quality. She offers you sound solutions that will fix the problems and cost you about three-thousand dollars. All of a sudden you begin to back peddle - and redefine your definition of comfort. Yes, you would like to install air purification equipment equipment and remedy uneven temperatures, but you would love to take the family to Disney World!
The HVAC business is not in the business of providing stuff people love. But it could be in the business of financing lifestyles of love. I will present an example and carry on this discussion with an emphasis on Design and the HVAC biz.