Contractors Learn, Recharge at Commercial Maintenance Workshop
“I’ve flown to Seattle twice every year for the past ten, and each time, return home reinvigorated, newly inspired, and having learned something new and valuable for the business each time,” said Mark Stout, president of Stout Heating and Air, an 18-person, full-service mechanical contracting based in Salisbury, NC.
Stout and his son, Ryan, were among the 52 contractors from all corners of the nation that came to the mid-March 2010 Commercial Maintenance Sales (CMS) workshop conducted by Seattle-based Business Development Resources (BDR).
A training and coaching firm focused exclusively on the HVAC/R industry, BDR unveiled the new two-and-a-half day class as part of their comprehensive Profit Coach program.
“BDR training’s as thorough and complete as it gets, with all facets of the training focused on improving company success and profitability,” said Stout.
“The purpose of CMS training is to improve the negotiating and pulling in of high-margin
commercial replacement sales,” explained Jennifer Shooshanian, BDR instructor.
“We teach attendees to do this by developing loyal customers through carefully nurtured service relationships, which, in turn, improves and stabilizes service and replacement work and new equipment sales,” she added. “The most immediate benefit is the growth of HVAC service departments, typically the most profitable piece of a contracting firm’s business.”
The CMS course, one of 25 classes currently offered by BDR, covers all aspects of designing and implementing a new commercial sales program or revitalizing an existing program. Shooshanian, who has nearly 20 years in the HVAC service industry, developed the course with the help of BDR Co-founder & CEO Bruce Wiseman.
“Jennifer is a real fireball,” ex-claimed Stout. “You can tell that she lives and breathes in this work; it’s in her blood. BDR’s entire staff is top-notch. The classes are high-energy, and the material they prepare is phenomenal. I’ve been to most of their classes two or three times and gained something new each time.”
Pat Clark, owner of OCL Enterprises in Anchorage, Alaska, said, “I’ve taken nearly every class BDR has offered in the past 15 years.”
Clark recently sold his contracting business so that he could build a new service firm now focused on a few contract accounts. “One great thing about the CMS class is that it can be applied to an infinite number of business situations,” added Clark. “Whether the firm is small, like mine, or a huge, multi-million dollar company, everyone can learn a lot and find ways to apply the training immediately.”
“You don’t just get lip service with BDR. In the CMS class, you get a real-world, clear-cut plan to implement a commercial maintenance program into your business,” explained Barry Tysor. For the past seven years, Tysor, president of Anchor Mechanical Inc. in Douglasville, Ga., has been taking courses with BDR. The company, with 35 employees, is a BDR Profit Coach customer.
When looking at BDR’s client list, one recurring theme seems to
maintenance program into your business.
present itself: ” Betcha can’t take just one class.” Most attendees have attended numerous classes over the course of several years. It comes as no surprise that the contracting firms represented in the classrooms are some of the most successful in the country.
Unfair Advantage
“If a company is content with their market share and profit, there’s no point in attending a BDR class,” said Jolie Heinly, service manager at Mountain View Heating in Bend, OR. “BDR is contagious. The bottom line is: You are going to make money off your investment.”
focused on improving company success and profitability.
Heinly has been to BDR’s Service Dispatch University class twice and to Creating A Strategic Business Plan once. The first time she attended a class, Mountain View Prompted her attendance, but when she got the card in the mail about the CMS course, there wasn’t a moment of hesitation; the dates were penciled into her already-full calendar.
“It’s like opening up a notebook on exactly how to run a profitable company,” said Heinly. It’s
graduate-level training and guerilla tactics all in one, packed into a training experience that’s compelling and —when we go our spate ways — ready to implement.”
Profit Coach
Profit Coach is a program separate from the classes BDR conducts. Through the program, BDR provides clients with individualized, monthly coaching services that have a proven, verifiable track record of driving profitable growth.
Steve Mason owns Mason Mechanical in Mesa, Ariz. He and his wife became Profit Coach customers in ’06. “We actually dropped in revenue last year and still made a higher net profit than in the last several years. Less work and more money; I can’t complain,” said Mason.
“I don’t know where we would have ended up without BDR’s Profit Coach guidance when the economy tanked and our sales dropped,” he added. “I have to give credit to BDR, they have helped us run smoother and smarter. They’ve helped me change from an A/C mechanic into a smarter, savvier businessman and entrepreneur.”
Mason experienced for himself that, following the BDR model, growth and forward movement are achieved by improving
of the BDR team.
business structure, putting the right processes in place, conducting financial analysis, and building on planned changes are the most important facets. Since change and positive results never occur overnight, BDR mandates that companies sign up for the program for a minimum of one year.
“Ultimately, the amount of success a company experiences depends on how well the new plans are put to use,” said Wiseman. “We place a lot of importance in creating a nutrient-rich petri dish, or crucible, for that growth. It’s what we do best.”
Discover more about BDR’s Commercial Maintenance Sales workshop today!
You can download the PHC News article about BDR’s Commercial Maintenance Sales workshop below.
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