What a Check Gap Taught Me About Pricing and Integrity

Within the attic, on a Georgia summer season day, I stared in disbelief as he started to drill a gap within the facet of the ductwork.

“What are you doing!?” I proclaimed, in a tone making an attempt to cover my shock. I meant it extra as an, “Oh, that’s attention-grabbing, what are you doing that for?” Not eager to lose all credibility, I didn’t need to admit that I didn’t know what a check gap was. As a non-certified, non-HVAC technician, what enterprise did I’ve being within the attic anyway?

We had been testing the mixing between The New Flat Charge menu pricing and ServiceTitan on dwell calls out within the subject. It was an actual deal with for me to be using together with Mike. He was the epitome of the right technician—clear, sharp, articulate, affected person, sort. All of the issues the Boy Scouts educated him to be, like so many within the business.

Mike shortly responded, “I didn’t see any check ports, so I’m drilling one in. I at all times make certain to check right here by the air handler as a result of it’s actually vital to be correct on the true temperature of the system.” Mike was like a surgeon, doing his pre-op, absolutely diagnosing earlier than making ready to current a menu of pricing choices to his buyer.

He examined the airflow, temperature, and some different issues, then meticulously sealed the opening earlier than heading down the ladder and into the house.

I made a psychological notice to comply with up with Matt Koop, our EVP and head of coaching, in my debrief later that day. I needed to verify “check holes” had been an actual factor and that we had been holding the best customary in technical craftsmanship.

Though I didn’t know if check holes had been proper or fallacious—as a result of mentally it felt odd that you’d drill into ductwork that carried the cardinal rule of being sealed—it wasn’t the precise check gap that actually stumped me.

What stumped me essentially the most was the age of the unit and the shopper. The unit was over 5 years outdated, and the shopper was within the upkeep program. Which means, our technicians had been going on the market yearly to keep up, examine, and guarantee longevity of the unit. So, certainly, if this wasn’t a brand new buyer and it wasn’t our first time there…why wasn’t there already a check gap?

Later that day in my debrief, I requested the questions that had been weighing on my conscience.

“Did we do proper by drilling the opening?” Sure.

“If this was a upkeep buyer on an older system, why wasn’t there already a check gap?” Nice query.

The opposite day, one of many tenants in my five-plex known as in to report a water leak. We despatched out a plumber to take a look, solely to seek out it wasn’t a plumbing difficulty—it was associated to HVAC. The condensate drain strains had been clogged. One thing easy, so easy that it’s usually a skipped step on upkeep visits.

Whether or not we’re speaking about check holes or cleansing drain strains, how can we examine what we anticipate, and confirm our groups don’t skip steps?

It’s simple to focus solely on the massive jobs and the worth tags that include them. However what I noticed that day within the attic jogged my memory of one thing deeper: after we do a radical analysis, it creates numerous alternatives to assist our clients. From there, the facility of a transparent menu comes into play—as a result of after we current all of the findings as choices, clients really feel empowered to decide on the extent of service they need. That naturally will increase our income per job. However with that selection additionally comes accountability: we should again it up with integrity by delivering the extent of expertise they deserve, and bought.

After we value with readability and examine with integrity, contractors don’t simply win larger tickets—they win lifelong clients. And that’s the true measure of success.