WEBVTT 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.080 Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining Did You 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:11.119 Know, the ESCO HVAC podcast. This episode brought 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:15.419 to you by Electrify My Home, designing and installing 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:19.800 heat pumps the right way. Learn more at electrifymyhome 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:24.780 .com. Larry, how are you doing today? Man, I 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:26.899 am doing great. How are you doing? I'm doing 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:30.000 fantastic. You know, this conversation came about 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.119 by one that we had a couple of weeks ago where 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.820 we were talking about the transition. of contractors 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:40.200 into a new era of equipment where we're really 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:42.780 focusing on high -performance heat pumps. Many 00:00:42.780 --> 00:00:45.600 places around the United States are moving away 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:49.100 from gas installations. We see a lot of gas bans 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.719 in multiple places around the United States. 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:54.659 And so we have contractors re -looking at their 00:00:54.659 --> 00:00:58.340 businesses going, okay, I know that I'm going 00:00:58.340 --> 00:01:01.109 to have to make some changes. I got refrigerant 00:01:01.109 --> 00:01:03.770 changes. I got equipment changes. I got to pick 00:01:03.770 --> 00:01:07.870 my path. But I have to be successful at it, right? 00:01:08.230 --> 00:01:11.590 And so as a contractor, you've been very successful 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:16.010 at electrifying your business and teaching others 00:01:16.010 --> 00:01:18.870 how to do that successfully. So do you mind sharing 00:01:18.870 --> 00:01:23.150 with us where this adventure began and where 00:01:23.150 --> 00:01:25.049 you're at? And then we'll talk about where it's 00:01:25.049 --> 00:01:31.030 going. Yeah, yeah. I worked for a contractor 00:01:31.030 --> 00:01:32.650 for a number of years before that. I've been 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:35.730 in the trade for 42 years. I'm one of those high 00:01:35.730 --> 00:01:38.209 school went to tech school guys. And so I've 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:41.069 been doing this for a long time. And I've always 00:01:41.069 --> 00:01:42.890 been a guy that wanted to make my game a little 00:01:42.890 --> 00:01:46.650 better than the next guy's game. And so go back 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:49.849 about 2010, there was a utility program in California 00:01:49.849 --> 00:01:53.219 called Energy Upgrade California. And there was 00:01:53.219 --> 00:01:54.980 a lot of buzz around that at the time. It didn't 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:56.379 turn out to be as good as they hoped. It was 00:01:56.379 --> 00:01:59.219 a little ahead of its time. But it required that 00:01:59.219 --> 00:02:01.620 you become BPI certified to become a practitioner 00:02:01.620 --> 00:02:04.060 in it. Oh, very cool. Great organization. So 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:06.519 I went through the process, and I always wondered. 00:02:06.620 --> 00:02:08.539 I lived in Palm Springs for a number of years, 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:11.180 and I worked on air conditioners out there. And 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:13.159 as an air conditioning technician, I would go 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:15.560 to houses, and the system's working fine, and 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:16.759 the people that lived in them were uncomfortable. 00:02:17.739 --> 00:02:20.180 And so I knew that there was more of a connection 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.699 other than just me going out and fixing air conditioners. 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.560 So when I kind of read about this BPI thing and 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:27.479 I says, I can learn how to understand how houses 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:31.680 work with the system. And then the house is its 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:34.060 whole system. So I really got into that. A lot 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:36.000 of people went through those courses to kind 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:39.599 of get into the utility program itself. And most 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:41.560 of them kind of went back to the status quo afterwards. 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:45.310 I happened to have a teacher in the first class 00:02:45.310 --> 00:02:47.969 that turned into be a mentor for my entire pathway. 00:02:48.889 --> 00:02:52.490 And I like to say that they had the exact level 00:02:52.490 --> 00:02:55.150 of sugar in the Kool -Aid there. And I ended 00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:57.770 up drinking a lot of it, right? So I never went 00:02:57.770 --> 00:03:01.030 back. I never went back to the status quo, throw 00:03:01.030 --> 00:03:03.590 a system in, rule of thumb, any of that. Started 00:03:03.590 --> 00:03:07.069 using load calculations. And then we ran into 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:09.750 this problem where we couldn't find furnaces 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:12.770 that were small enough for the... you know the 00:03:12.770 --> 00:03:18.430 the new new shell and so uh i went to my mentor 00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:20.009 and i said hey what can we do if they were doing 00:03:20.009 --> 00:03:24.330 a lot of um the hydrothermal stuff so they put 00:03:24.330 --> 00:03:25.789 in the water heater and run it off that they 00:03:25.789 --> 00:03:27.689 could tune down the heat and i said that's a 00:03:27.689 --> 00:03:29.509 little bit too complicated for the status quo 00:03:29.509 --> 00:03:32.750 company i was operating at so just happened to 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:35.189 go to a class on one of the inverter heat pump 00:03:35.189 --> 00:03:37.870 things back then i saw these little mini split 00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:39.409 things and ask guy about that and he says yeah 00:03:39.409 --> 00:03:41.090 there's some people toying around with that right 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:45.509 and so i put a couple in and you know much to 00:03:45.509 --> 00:03:47.370 the owner of the company's chagrin he's like 00:03:47.370 --> 00:03:49.270 what are we why are we doing this this is really 00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:52.590 weird and uh the installer loved putting it in 00:03:52.590 --> 00:03:54.789 first because it was challenged but when we started 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:57.229 the thing up you couldn't hear it and you could 00:03:57.229 --> 00:04:00.069 just feel the house getting warm and so to me 00:04:00.069 --> 00:04:03.479 it was a game changer um And so I really started 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:06.719 pushing those inverter heat pump systems. And 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:11.819 at the time, all we had was the low static pressure 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:14.639 models. So we really had to do the duct work 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:16.939 perfectly in order to make them work. And so 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:19.699 that was part of the whole process. And I just 00:04:19.699 --> 00:04:21.420 started running with it. So I really started 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:24.420 installing heat pumps in a major way in 2013. 00:04:24.740 --> 00:04:27.920 I was still doing some gas. And then 2014, I 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.259 really told my boss, I said, I don't do furnaces 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:31.980 for you anymore. I'm only going to do heat pump 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:35.180 projects. And the benefit for that is my sales 00:04:35.180 --> 00:04:38.740 went from like $8 ,500 a sale to $18 ,000 a sale. 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:41.160 So I'm liking it because I'm making more money. 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:42.920 The boss is liking it because he's making more 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.040 money. The guys like it because it's something 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.259 interesting to do rather than just putting the 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:50.560 tape on straight on an evaporator coil. And so 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:54.040 kind of got full company buy -in. And then the 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:56.180 problem was going to a customer's house that 00:04:56.180 --> 00:04:58.839 just wanted a furnace replacement. and walking 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:02.959 out of there with a $18 ,000 heat pump and envelope 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.860 work. And now that same job's like 30. So that's 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:09.180 really how I got into doing that. And because 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:10.920 we were doing it in such a high -performance 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.019 way, and I was kind of already embedded with 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:16.300 a group of performance people, I started sharing 00:05:16.300 --> 00:05:20.250 about it at different... at different, one is 00:05:20.250 --> 00:05:22.029 the most dry climate forum. I don't know if you've 00:05:22.029 --> 00:05:24.569 heard of that out in California. And just happened 00:05:24.569 --> 00:05:26.649 to be in that audience that day. There was a 00:05:26.649 --> 00:05:29.129 guy whose brother was starting up the building 00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:32.350 decarbonization coalition. And I get a phone 00:05:32.350 --> 00:05:34.050 call from him and say, I really want a heat pump 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:35.569 installed. And I know there's nobody else out 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:37.649 here that's going to do it like you will. And 00:05:37.649 --> 00:05:39.709 so he invited me after we put the system in his 00:05:39.709 --> 00:05:41.509 house to join the board of the decarbonization 00:05:41.509 --> 00:05:43.889 coalition. So I was on the board of that for 00:05:43.889 --> 00:05:47.540 four or five years. And that was good because 00:05:47.540 --> 00:05:51.079 I was the only contractor, i .e. homeowner voice 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.220 on that board. It was a lot of energy people 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:55.600 and a lot of people saying, hey, we can do this. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.680 Hold on. You can't do all that, right? And so 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.600 that's kind of what led up to this. And so we 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:06.079 did a little bit of work with different utility 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:10.000 programs. And I was invited to comment on some 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:13.360 of the legislature that was coming or the legislative 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.399 items that were coming through. And because of 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.000 that, I was asked to do a training program by 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.540 one of the bigger groups in California. It was 00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:24.120 called Tech Clean California. And they said, 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:26.939 hey, we have workforce education and training 00:06:26.939 --> 00:06:30.579 money. We've heard you talk about this. We know 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:31.779 you know how to do it. Would you like to put 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:34.740 a proposal together for training? And so I said, 00:06:34.779 --> 00:06:36.240 I'm going to reinvent the way training works 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:39.689 in this business. And I did that and we were 00:06:39.689 --> 00:06:41.949 very successful. I got extremely good ratings 00:06:41.949 --> 00:06:44.069 on that. And so that that program has been going 00:06:44.069 --> 00:06:47.329 on for four years. And we've since picked up 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:49.769 trading with all the major. Well, most of the 00:06:49.769 --> 00:06:52.889 major investor owned utilities in the state and 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:56.050 a number of the regional energy networks. So 00:06:56.050 --> 00:06:58.009 we actually go out there, boots on the ground, 00:06:58.170 --> 00:07:01.370 get on a plane and fly to L .A. and teach contractors 00:07:01.370 --> 00:07:03.500 how to do this stuff right. Yeah, there's a lot 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:06.360 of contractors that are struggling with the changes 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:09.360 going, okay, my business model is going to have 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.660 to adapt no matter what. Cost of equipment's 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:14.699 going up, cost of refrigerants are going up. 00:07:14.779 --> 00:07:18.079 I need to have a strong business model that is 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:21.339 successful. And so when we start looking at creating 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:26.939 a solution for a home, not just going in and 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:30.060 quoting equipment based. typically on what's 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:32.339 already there, and then maybe selling them a 00:07:32.339 --> 00:07:34.800 more expensive model of what they already have. 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:36.740 We're talking about looking at a structure with 00:07:36.740 --> 00:07:40.600 a new set of goggles, going, okay, we may or 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:42.600 may not be able to have the right solution for 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:46.920 you. Let's take a look, and I'll tell you, using 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:49.439 the right instruments, using the right tools 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.000 and technology, I can tell you whether the heat 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.100 pump is going to be a successful solution for 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:55.759 you or not. And it really comes down to that. 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:59.360 You have to be educated. on what these transitions 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.220 look like and what it takes to be successful 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:04.779 as a business owner yeah absolutely you know 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:08.759 and i i saw this movement coming and i said i 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:11.139 i have a set of skills like liam neeson right 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:13.339 i have a particular set of skills but i had a 00:08:13.339 --> 00:08:15.779 particular set of skills and it says i see this 00:08:15.779 --> 00:08:18.300 all coming i was kind of at the point the company 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:21.319 i was at the kids were going to take over the 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:23.300 management. I didn't want to be like that old 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:25.480 guy at Dairy Queen with a 17 -year -old manager. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.720 And so I said, I'm going to start this business. 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:30.399 I'm going to take a risk and see what I can do. 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:33.659 And it's blown up. I mean, I started with three 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:37.620 people four years ago. I'm up to 19. We've exponentially 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:39.919 improved everything every year, and that with 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.919 the training. So the business model works. And 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:46.220 we don't just install heat pumps. We do... every 00:08:46.220 --> 00:08:48.639 form of everything in the house electrification. 00:08:49.139 --> 00:08:52.639 So pre -wiring, panel upgrades, smart panels, 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:56.340 batteries, everything we can do to look through 00:08:56.340 --> 00:08:58.340 the lens of what the lowest operating cost for 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:00.600 that customer is going to be moving forward and 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:03.460 sharing with them the plan of how to get there 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:05.419 on every house. And it's been extremely successful. 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.639 Yeah, I just had a podcast recording right before 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:12.379 we hopped on here with a Midwest contractor that 00:09:12.379 --> 00:09:14.799 does a lot of education as well. And that's really 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:17.259 what the focus of the entire conversation was, 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:19.740 is that, you know, we have companies, businesses 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:22.679 here in the Midwest. I'm in Indiana that are 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:25.220 rethinking their business model and coming up 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:26.600 with these solutions. And he said, you know, 00:09:26.620 --> 00:09:29.379 the most important thing to understand as a HVAC 00:09:29.379 --> 00:09:32.220 contractor is that going forward. I'm not going 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:34.539 to be able to be just an HVAC contractor. I have 00:09:34.539 --> 00:09:36.679 to holistically be looking at these buildings 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:38.840 with building science, just like we should have 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:41.620 been doing all the time. Like we can read HVAC 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:44.580 books from a hundred years ago and it wasn't 00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:48.429 just about heating, right? It was about... Comfort. 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:51.230 It was about the condition of the space. It was 00:09:51.230 --> 00:09:53.570 so much deeper than what we've gotten to. It's 00:09:53.570 --> 00:09:56.250 like we started at a plateau and we got down 00:09:56.250 --> 00:09:59.169 and we stayed in this lower plateau for decades. 00:09:59.330 --> 00:10:01.929 And now that we are finally relooking at structures 00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:06.250 going, okay, we now have the tools to be successful 00:10:06.250 --> 00:10:09.149 at this. And if I present that homeowner with 00:10:09.149 --> 00:10:11.830 solutions instead of just selling the same old 00:10:11.830 --> 00:10:14.330 crap that everyone has been doing for years or 00:10:14.330 --> 00:10:17.500 decades. I can now solve someone's problems. 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:20.620 And the relationship is completely different. 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:25.179 You now have a partner. You have a consumer for 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:27.720 life when we solve their problems instead of 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:31.559 just providing numbers. Yeah, I mean, that plays 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.960 out in what we've experienced. I have nothing 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:38.340 but awesome reviews out there. And my customers 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:40.419 tend to write books about their experience. And 00:10:40.419 --> 00:10:42.259 a lot of them are, like I talked to four or five 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:44.360 companies, three of them tried to talk me out 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:46.649 of it. And then we found these guys. They had 00:10:46.649 --> 00:10:48.230 the solutions. They came out and did it. The 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:50.669 communication was amazing. And, you know, I've 00:10:50.669 --> 00:10:52.110 been in the trade for a long time, worked for 00:10:52.110 --> 00:10:53.669 a lot of companies. So I wanted to build the 00:10:53.669 --> 00:10:57.169 foundation of my company so that it didn't work 00:10:57.169 --> 00:11:00.789 like those other companies did. And so our communication 00:11:00.789 --> 00:11:03.990 is amazing. We're an interesting company. We 00:11:03.990 --> 00:11:06.169 don't have a service department. We only service 00:11:06.169 --> 00:11:08.820 what we sell. So we're a little bit more of a 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:12.120 home improvement company than we are an HVAC 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.559 company. And that's been beneficial because we 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.519 don't have the fires to put out everywhere and 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:22.500 the emergency situations. And the guy that does 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:25.259 service at my company, and he's also my field 00:11:25.259 --> 00:11:26.840 supervisor, he says, when are we going to put 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:28.860 a service department up? And I said, when are 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:30.399 we going to be able to install something in three 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.799 days? My calendar is always out three months. 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:35.340 If I found a broken furnace tomorrow, I wouldn't 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:38.320 be able to do anything about it. So, and our 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:42.299 market just works better for this. And so the 00:11:42.299 --> 00:11:46.759 biggest thing that I see is the block from companies 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:48.879 being able to really do this is the works a little 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.519 bit harder, but they have to step back a little 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:55.480 bit and understand how things work and then understand 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.580 how to talk with different people. Like I've 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:02.159 designed my business. So the personality types 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:04.899 that I wanna sell to are naturally. coming over 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:07.480 here. So I've kind of eliminated some of the 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:12.980 pushback by just making a little harder for those 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:15.580 people to come through. But one of the things 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:17.779 we talk about in our training program is disc 00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:20.240 profiling. And I'm sure you're aware of what 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:23.460 all that is and how to figure out what somebody's 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:27.480 personality is and discuss the heat pump in a 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:30.389 way that fits their personality type. And not 00:12:30.389 --> 00:12:32.049 get thrown out of the house because you were 00:12:32.049 --> 00:12:34.710 either too eco -friendly or too on the other 00:12:34.710 --> 00:12:37.070 side of the bag. And that's been extremely successful. 00:12:37.169 --> 00:12:40.490 Man, that's intriguing. Yeah. So like I type 00:12:40.490 --> 00:12:42.610 personalities and D type personalities, technological 00:12:42.610 --> 00:12:45.649 driven. We want to talk about this as a technological 00:12:45.649 --> 00:12:49.090 revolution in your home. But if I'm talking to 00:12:49.090 --> 00:12:50.669 people that have a little bit of bark on their 00:12:50.669 --> 00:12:53.730 sleeves, then I want to talk to them about the 00:12:53.730 --> 00:12:57.490 eco benefits and the carbon reduction and all 00:12:57.490 --> 00:12:59.769 that. And if we keep our conversations focused 00:12:59.769 --> 00:13:01.750 on the personality type, we can sell heat pumps 00:13:01.750 --> 00:13:07.340 to anybody. That's pretty crazy. It actually 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:09.620 comes back to a conversation I had with a software 00:13:09.620 --> 00:13:12.500 company about two weeks ago. And they were telling 00:13:12.500 --> 00:13:15.179 me about a software that they've just deployed 00:13:15.179 --> 00:13:18.620 and they're introducing it into some of the larger 00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:23.799 service software. But it uses artificial intelligence 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:29.899 to look at the previous service tickets as well 00:13:29.899 --> 00:13:35.220 as the service call, incoming call. And artificial 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:37.340 intelligence looks at the vocal characteristics 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:40.519 of the person, compares them to previous jobs, 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.980 and gives that technician or the person going 00:13:42.980 --> 00:13:48.200 to that call a personality evaluation of your 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:51.220 customer, not a problem evaluation, a personality 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:55.379 evaluation. That's intriguing. I mean, to be 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:57.620 able to have a perspective of that homeowner 00:13:57.620 --> 00:13:59.659 before you get there, it's not just another house 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:03.779 with another number. It's a solution for someone. 00:14:04.350 --> 00:14:08.129 It's extremely important. And so we actually 00:14:08.129 --> 00:14:11.149 use a note taker. So one of the things that's 00:14:11.149 --> 00:14:14.009 very unique about our company is that we don't 00:14:14.009 --> 00:14:16.049 engage people by driving to their house and giving 00:14:16.049 --> 00:14:18.590 them an estimate. Everything we do is virtual. 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:21.730 So everything we do drives them through our website. 00:14:21.809 --> 00:14:24.750 They fill out a pretty comprehensive form about 00:14:24.750 --> 00:14:27.289 all the systems in their house and where their 00:14:27.289 --> 00:14:30.110 house is, age, do they have knob and tube wiring, 00:14:30.210 --> 00:14:32.480 galvanized plumbing, all that. So they learn 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:33.879 a little bit of something about their house through 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:36.639 that. But it also takes about 25 minutes to fill 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:39.779 out that form and upload pictures. Wow. So what 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:42.259 it does is it gets rid of all the people that 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:44.440 don't have the patience for my solution. You 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:47.600 bet. I'm not even talking to them. And so I've 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.700 gotten rid of one of the personality types that 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:52.659 likes to make the quick decision and is really 00:14:52.659 --> 00:14:54.480 good for the other companies. You bet. There's 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.600 a place. eliminated that from our process and 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.139 then so we we do a virtual assessment with them 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:02.059 afterwards so it's all done right here from this 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:06.220 camera in my desk all my sales and and my salesman 00:15:06.220 --> 00:15:09.220 downstairs has a similar setup and then we present 00:15:09.220 --> 00:15:11.500 them with the budget numbers immediately after 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:13.720 the call because we've done a lot of these we 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:15.419 kind of know what things are going to cost yeah 00:15:15.419 --> 00:15:17.779 and we don't engage with that customer until 00:15:17.779 --> 00:15:20.200 they've signed that what we call a handshake 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:22.909 agreement yeah And so they've agreed to our price 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:24.970 and our methodology and what we're going to do. 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:27.769 And then we go out and do all the energy audits 00:15:27.769 --> 00:15:29.490 and load calculations and stuff on the house 00:15:29.490 --> 00:15:31.149 because I'm not doing that for people that aren't 00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:34.669 buying from me. And so that's been hugely beneficial 00:15:34.669 --> 00:15:38.210 and saved untold gallons of gas and tire rubber 00:15:38.210 --> 00:15:40.649 and carbon and all that stuff. Well, I think 00:15:40.649 --> 00:15:43.809 of that as such an amazing solution for one of 00:15:43.809 --> 00:15:45.490 the problems that contractors have when they're 00:15:45.490 --> 00:15:47.570 looking at these business profiles. Because we 00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:51.309 get so much pushback from... contractors, and 00:15:51.309 --> 00:15:53.850 even from some of our schools as, I don't want 00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:55.809 to teach this because I'm not going to get paid 00:15:55.809 --> 00:15:58.629 to do this stuff. I can't show up to a house 00:15:58.629 --> 00:16:00.450 and provide an estimate for a piece of equipment 00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:05.149 doing the right things when Joe Blow just pulled 00:16:05.149 --> 00:16:08.509 up in his 30 -year -old vehicle and looked at 00:16:08.509 --> 00:16:10.370 the house from the street and give them an estimate 00:16:10.370 --> 00:16:15.309 for something. I can't compete because I'm trying 00:16:15.309 --> 00:16:19.750 to sell quality versus cheapest price. And you've 00:16:19.750 --> 00:16:23.370 removed all of that. Yeah, I did. When I started 00:16:23.370 --> 00:16:25.049 the business, I said, I want to get rid of all 00:16:25.049 --> 00:16:27.330 the stuff from the other jobs that I had that 00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:30.590 I didn't like. And one of them was tire kickers. 00:16:30.590 --> 00:16:31.990 And then going out and figuring out somebody 00:16:31.990 --> 00:16:34.889 wasn't going to be your customer anyway. And 00:16:34.889 --> 00:16:37.830 so I eliminated that through that process. And 00:16:37.830 --> 00:16:42.389 it's been extremely successful. And the beautiful 00:16:42.389 --> 00:16:44.450 part of it is, is when we're in a format just 00:16:44.450 --> 00:16:46.330 like this, and I'm talking to the customer just 00:16:46.330 --> 00:16:48.889 like you and I are talking. I've got that time 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:51.190 to make rapport with them. I've got all the information 00:16:51.190 --> 00:16:52.929 about their house in front of me. I've done a 00:16:52.929 --> 00:16:55.769 little internet recon on their house. And then 00:16:55.769 --> 00:16:58.309 I can get down into the conversations and figure 00:16:58.309 --> 00:17:01.210 out what their personality type is. And then 00:17:01.210 --> 00:17:03.309 I can start talking to them about what they need 00:17:03.309 --> 00:17:05.970 and not the stuff they don't care about. And 00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:08.430 then I'm also able, because this is a great way 00:17:08.430 --> 00:17:11.049 to teach and people are really around this, I'm 00:17:11.049 --> 00:17:13.009 able to just pull up the PowerPoint presentation, 00:17:13.549 --> 00:17:15.950 go through the way our business works, the way 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:20.170 we feel about our mission statement, how the 00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:22.630 process is going to go, all the way to building 00:17:22.630 --> 00:17:25.250 value around the load calculation, how we install 00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:28.609 the systems, why we use different registers than 00:17:28.609 --> 00:17:30.910 everybody else does in every heat pump system, 00:17:31.089 --> 00:17:34.549 and guided airflow, air bounce. I can show them 00:17:34.549 --> 00:17:37.980 all that. like in a lesson plan. And by the time 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:40.359 they're done, they're either going to go, I don't 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:42.240 want to do the business with them, or I don't 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.940 want to do business with anybody but them. Yeah, 00:17:43.940 --> 00:17:46.960 so we're assigned. Exactly. Please. Exactly. 00:17:47.819 --> 00:17:51.940 So it works really good. I absolutely love that. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.140 Because really, when we look at contractors, 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:57.000 you're going to be successful in volume, you're 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:00.700 going to be successful in solution. And so if 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:05.099 we decide that Our business is a solution provider, 00:18:05.339 --> 00:18:08.079 not just a service provider. We have to change 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:13.500 the way we look at work. We have to focus in 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:15.940 on those that are after the solution and not 00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:21.059 just the low cost. And in that, the traffic comes 00:18:21.059 --> 00:18:26.319 to you. Yeah. Yeah, it's worked pretty good. 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:30.500 It's kind of crazy to think about it that simply, 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.740 but really it's a matter of providing the right 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:37.779 solution for the right customers. It's not about 00:18:37.779 --> 00:18:41.279 going after every customer. It's about providing 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:43.059 the service for the ones that are looking for 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:44.880 that type of solution that you offer. Right, 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:49.200 right. And so another thing that I know what 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:51.799 my demographic of customer is, the easy ones. 00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:59.349 And so I also, I've taken the time to go meet 00:18:59.349 --> 00:19:02.410 people that are in organizations in the cities 00:19:02.410 --> 00:19:04.690 around where I want to operate. And I've kind 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:07.809 of entrenched myself as the solution. Because 00:19:07.809 --> 00:19:09.609 there's these groups of people that get together 00:19:09.609 --> 00:19:11.769 and talk about heat pumps over coffee and donuts, 00:19:12.009 --> 00:19:15.109 right? And I've gotten into those audiences and 00:19:15.109 --> 00:19:17.490 done a lot of work for them. And every conversation 00:19:17.490 --> 00:19:19.869 they're having is literally like us having a 00:19:19.869 --> 00:19:22.130 conversation with a new customer. So I built 00:19:22.130 --> 00:19:25.829 myself just a militant group of people that are. 00:19:26.909 --> 00:19:29.109 electrify my home supporters and the business 00:19:29.109 --> 00:19:31.849 is built on that. So we're still five years in, 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:34.750 we're over 45%. I think, I thought the number 00:19:34.750 --> 00:19:36.109 was a little higher, but we actually looked at 00:19:36.109 --> 00:19:38.730 it the other day, but we're 45 % referral based 00:19:38.730 --> 00:19:42.130 still. It's still crazy high. It's an incredibly 00:19:42.130 --> 00:19:47.509 high number for KPI. Goodness. Yeah. So, so it 00:19:47.509 --> 00:19:49.650 works good. And I build these relationships and 00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:51.269 nobody is ever going to, because there's always 00:19:51.269 --> 00:19:53.269 been this thing like. Did you put your stickers 00:19:53.269 --> 00:19:54.910 on? Are you communicating with your customers? 00:19:55.009 --> 00:19:57.490 Are you doing all this to keep your name alive 00:19:57.490 --> 00:20:01.869 in their brain? And also when I put the company 00:20:01.869 --> 00:20:03.750 together, I put a name together that people aren't 00:20:03.750 --> 00:20:06.809 going to forget, right? And they also stumble 00:20:06.809 --> 00:20:09.029 onto us on the website a lot just by doing it. 00:20:09.109 --> 00:20:11.910 How do I electrify my home? And boom, you know, 00:20:11.930 --> 00:20:14.869 so all those little things that we kind of dialed 00:20:14.869 --> 00:20:16.529 in in the beginning are all really working well 00:20:16.529 --> 00:20:19.230 now. So how do you work with companies that are 00:20:19.230 --> 00:20:21.670 wanting to rethink this? Because I guarantee 00:20:21.670 --> 00:20:25.589 you, I'm going to have some input if we didn't 00:20:25.589 --> 00:20:27.390 cover this. So I'd have people reaching out going, 00:20:27.549 --> 00:20:32.329 hey, I like this idea. I think I can build some 00:20:32.329 --> 00:20:34.410 technicians that would be perfect for that kind 00:20:34.410 --> 00:20:36.849 of a company. Or I get the call, hey, I'm a company 00:20:36.849 --> 00:20:41.829 owner and I'm really digging this concept. What's 00:20:41.829 --> 00:20:44.829 the next step? I mean, how do we rethink who 00:20:44.829 --> 00:20:49.009 we are? So, I mean, we have our own LMS system, 00:20:49.089 --> 00:20:52.250 and we just brought that on this year. And so 00:20:52.250 --> 00:20:56.329 it's emhlearn .com. And they can go on there 00:20:56.329 --> 00:20:58.990 and they'll get a calendar of all the free webinars 00:20:58.990 --> 00:21:00.849 that we do for all the utilities in California. 00:21:00.849 --> 00:21:04.430 And anybody anywhere in the country or the world 00:21:04.430 --> 00:21:07.150 can get on those. So you can hear the pieces 00:21:07.150 --> 00:21:09.650 that we do. And we do a lot of webinars geared 00:21:09.650 --> 00:21:11.910 to different trades. Like we have a trade process 00:21:11.910 --> 00:21:15.529 coming up with our local utility. And so we talk 00:21:15.529 --> 00:21:18.109 about electrification for plumbers, solar guys, 00:21:18.410 --> 00:21:22.630 electricians, and HVAC, and general contractors, 00:21:22.710 --> 00:21:25.809 I believe it is. But really a more focused way 00:21:25.809 --> 00:21:29.569 for that. But on our learning website is a calendar 00:21:29.569 --> 00:21:32.390 for everything. We do a program through Tech 00:21:32.390 --> 00:21:34.230 Clean California. That's a three -day really 00:21:34.230 --> 00:21:37.150 immersive boot camp type training. And we've 00:21:37.150 --> 00:21:40.170 done those for a couple of the RINs in the state. 00:21:40.589 --> 00:21:44.480 And so they're out there. All the training that 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.380 we provide through those programs is all free 00:21:46.380 --> 00:21:48.240 to the contractor. That's crazy to think about. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:50.119 And it's all paid for through utility dollars 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:52.259 in one way or another. Sure, because it's success 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:57.460 for everyone. I sit in on a lot of committees 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:01.220 for energy rebates and system commissioning and 00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:04.660 trying to look at ways that we can validate system 00:22:04.660 --> 00:22:07.440 installation and commissioning because the rebate 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:11.119 companies and utilities, they just want it to 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.579 be done right. so that people can save money. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.279 I mean, it really comes down to that. And there's 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:21.200 not a great system in play as far as our industry 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.599 currently. I mean, I am on some groups working 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:27.599 on that at a high level. But if you're the contractor 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.240 and you're implementing all of them yourself, 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:32.660 you've already solved all of the problems that 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:37.119 the co -ops and the utilities and the rebates 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:39.220 were looking for. They just want a good product 00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:42.190 installed. so that it will perform well and save 00:22:42.190 --> 00:22:46.609 money yeah and once you get the hang of doing 00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:49.329 it we'd like to tell the guys that they come 00:22:49.329 --> 00:22:51.990 in the class and this this interesting little 00:22:51.990 --> 00:22:54.730 quip yeah but we've had guys that have come through 00:22:54.730 --> 00:22:56.849 our classes that are working for contractors 00:22:56.849 --> 00:22:59.349 in california now whether they be sales people 00:22:59.349 --> 00:23:02.130 or installers or whatever mostly sales people 00:23:02.130 --> 00:23:07.130 um and they're from I can remember one from Texas, 00:23:07.289 --> 00:23:09.690 one guy from New Jersey, and a guy from up north 00:23:09.690 --> 00:23:12.930 in either Minnesota or Michigan. I get those 00:23:12.930 --> 00:23:17.470 two states mixed up. So they all came to the 00:23:17.470 --> 00:23:23.490 class with the same rule of thumb. And they're 00:23:23.490 --> 00:23:25.450 from completely different parts of the country. 00:23:25.650 --> 00:23:27.849 And they're all saying, oh, we just installed 00:23:27.849 --> 00:23:30.490 400 square feet per ton, which is the same thing 00:23:30.490 --> 00:23:32.930 that happens in the Bay Area here where we have 00:23:32.930 --> 00:23:35.880 very temperate climate. And it's the same rule 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:38.220 that's gone everywhere. And you were mentioning 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:41.279 earlier, like we had the modern HVAC guide, modern 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:43.079 heating and air conditioning refrigeration guide, 00:23:43.180 --> 00:23:45.700 the big book from when I went to tech school 00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:50.400 42 years ago. And it had all of the answers in 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:53.880 it. Like all of the ancestors and the forefathers 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:55.920 of our industry figured all this out so long 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:00.880 ago. And then apprentices from their... from 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:02.740 their journeymen, from their salespeople, all 00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:04.859 just like we've forgotten about all of that. 00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:07.420 And all we have to do is go back to some of the 00:24:07.420 --> 00:24:10.240 simple basics, and we can make systems that just 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.799 work so well, use so little energy, and our customers 00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:17.119 are just blown away by how comfortable they are. 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:20.019 And I'll ask two contractors that'll be in the 00:24:20.019 --> 00:24:22.220 same class, and I'm like, so what differentiates 00:24:22.220 --> 00:24:25.460 you two guys? And they'll say, oh, we do the 00:24:25.460 --> 00:24:28.420 best work, and we do everything, and we give 00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:31.000 these great guarantees and all this stuff. And 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:32.599 I says, well, what about you? Oh, we do the best 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:34.880 work, and we have great guarantees. And I says, 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:38.460 well, what differentiates you? And you're saying 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:40.720 you're the best company, but what is making you 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.559 better than the next company? Are you doing load 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:44.660 calculations? Oh, no, we don't do load calculations. 00:24:45.059 --> 00:24:48.339 So even some of the basic stuff. And I'm like, 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:50.259 so it really comes down to who's putting the 00:24:50.259 --> 00:24:54.039 tape on straighter. right and so and it's sad 00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:55.819 that kind of the industry's got to this but we 00:24:55.819 --> 00:24:58.740 have a way out of it right and all we got to 00:24:58.740 --> 00:25:00.799 do is go back to basic principles and learn how 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:03.259 houses work and we can build some dynamite systems 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:09.380 that's crazy just keeping it simple just keeping 00:25:09.380 --> 00:25:12.900 it simple and and just doing it right and and 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:14.700 it's and it's hard for some contractors because 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:17.619 it does take longer to do but believe me it's 00:25:17.619 --> 00:25:20.599 rewarded i'm Our projects are significantly more 00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:23.220 expensive because we're applying good practice 00:25:23.220 --> 00:25:24.980 to them. And they do take a little bit longer 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:27.740 to do. But it doesn't fit into everybody's business 00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:30.839 plan and model. But it can really help differentiate 00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:33.619 those companies that aren't maybe owned by a 00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:35.920 consolidation company and part of a bigger picture. 00:25:36.420 --> 00:25:38.619 We need to compete. We need our other contractors 00:25:38.619 --> 00:25:40.440 to be able to compete with these guys. And this 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:42.579 is a brilliant way of being able to do it. I 00:25:42.579 --> 00:25:47.299 completely agree. Fantastic perspective of something 00:25:47.299 --> 00:25:49.480 I think everyone's going to enjoy. Larry Waters 00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:52.480 from Electrify My Home. Grateful that you hung 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:55.000 out with us today. Encourage everyone to go check 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.720 them out at electrifymyhome .com. Yeah, and hit 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.140 up that EMH Learn website and see what our calendar 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:04.599 is. Go to some of the free podcasts. Check out 00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:06.460 our YouTube page. We got a lot of the podcasts 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:09.700 up on there. And pick up the phone and call us. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:13.099 We'd love to help walk people through. Awesome. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:15.539 Thank you for your time. Hey, Ryan. It was nice 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:16.460 seeing you. Thanks a lot.