Posted by Peter Haugen on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 @ 10:19 AM
As you think about ways to grow your business your first step is to take a minute and evaluate your current business plan and practices. You need to know where you are before you can move forward and grow. Ask yourself: What can I do better? How can I better serve my customers? How can my customers better serve my goals? What new or different growth options are available for me?
Here are four ideas that can help you grow your business:
- Get more referrals from your existing customers.
- Expand your marketing to reach a larger audience.
- Network with other trades.
- Expand your service offering.
1. Get more referrals from your existing customers: Your existing customers are one of your biggest assets. You have already won their business and trust. The challenge is to take this trust and make it work for you in the form of getting more referrals!
- First, you make it so easy for them they can’t help but do it by doing a great job every time. Many people do good work and there is nothing wrong with good work. You need to aim higher so your customers think the world of you and the service you provided.
- Second, create a customer referral reward program that is easy and rewarding for both your customer and you.
2. Expand your marketing to reach a larger audience: Look at the geographic area you currently serve. Can you expand it? Are there areas that offer greater potential than others? Pick out a new area and then market to them. You can:
- Offer something these new potential customers would like.
- Distribute your direct mail piece to that new area.
- Use direct mail packs that go to the zip codes of that new area
- Put door hanger flyer on the homes in the new area.
- Use radio and local television, they generally covers a large geographic area.
Try different things but keep track of what works best so you can use that strategy again.
3. Network with other trades: You can increase your business by networking with other trades that can use you as a subcontractor to provide their air duct cleaning services. These trades can include:
- HVAC contractors
- Fire Restoration contractors
- Water/Mold Restoration contractors
- Carpet cleaners
- Chimney sweeps
- Home inspectors
- Janitorial service contractors (that service apartments and condos)
You first have to sell these other trades on your ability and the quality of your work. Take them to one of your jobs or give the owner a free HVAC system cleaning. Once they agree to use you and you have negotiated their compensation, you need to provide quality and timely service. If you do they should continue using you and help you to grow your business.
4. Expand your service offering: Look at your current service offering. Are there things you can add to make you more valuable to your customers? Are there services you could add that would set you apart from your competition? Listed below is a list of some things you may want to consider adding:
- Coil cleaning
- Furnace cleaning
- Dryer vent cleaning
- Filter upgrades
- Carbon monoxide testing
- Duct leakage testing and sealing
- UV lights
Expanding your service offering will enable you to better serve your customers (which helps generate more referrals), increase your revenues per job and help set you apart from your competition.
If you have questions or want to discuss these four ideas please contact Peter Haugen at 800-597-3955, 952-808-1619, or phaugen@vacsysint.com. You can also read a longer article on this same subject by clicking this link.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Mon, Oct 17, 2011 @ 01:38 PM
Air duct cleaning contractors require equipment in order to operate their business. Usually a contractor will use internally generated cash flow, operating credit lines from their bank, bank loans, credit cards, or leasing as the funding source for their air duct cleaning equipment purchases. In today’s economy with the tight banking credit, leasing can be a very attractive funding source for equipment purchasing. Why? Because leasing offers some unique advantages like:
- Leasing is pretty easy:
- You typically complete a 1 or 2 page application.
- You can normally get approved in a day.
- Leasing is flexible:
- You determine the length of your lease. Typically they are in the 3 to 5 year time frame.
- You can schedule in skip payments if you have a historically slow period or delay payments until the equipment begins to help you generate revenues.
- In most cases you can pay off the lease early if you want to.
- Leasing preserves your cash:
- It does not affect your bank line of credit.
- No large down payment is required like with a bank loan.
- In some cases the lease payment is tax deductible.
- In most cases the payment from one air duct cleaning project will be enough to make your monthly lease payment.
In addition to offering a wide selection of “field-proven” air duct cleaning products we offer leasing as one of our purchasing options. If you have any questions about leasing or equipment please contact Peter Haugen at 800-597-3955 or 952-808-1619.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Tue, Sep 06, 2011 @ 10:06 AM
Your vacuum collection systems is the heart of you HVAC systems cleaning operation so deciding on what type of systems to use is very important. There are lots of different models available but the basic types of systems include:
- Electric portables systems
- Gas portables systems
- Gas truck/trailer mounts systems
- Big truck systems
Within each of these types you have many choices from a wide range of manufacturers. So how do you decide on which type is best for you? You need to examine a variety of variables and weigh their importance to you. These variables can include:
- First cost
- Operating & maintenance cost
- Performance (suction)
- Portability
- Productivity
- Types of buildings you want to clean
- Image
- Quality
- Warranty
- Etc.
If you want to do residential and light commercial (one story) projects you can use any of the four types. If you want to clean residential, apartment, condos and light commercial (multiple stories) projects you would look at electric portable vacuum collection systems because you can’t really use a gas unit on multi story buildings. If you want to do commercial projects you would look at electrical portable systems because many of these building are multiple stories. But you typically would not want to use your residential unit but a larger electric portable with more performance so you can be more productive. Let’s look at each of the four types of vacuum collection systems and see there good characteristics (+) and the characteristics that limit their use (-).
Portable Electric Systems for Residential:+ Good performance (suction)
- Zoning normally required
+ Excellent portability
+ Lowest first cost
+ Lowest operating cost
+ Lowest maintenance cost
+ Can do residential and one story light commercial
+ Can do apartments and condos
Portable Electric Systems for Commercial+ Good performance (suction)
- Zoning normally required
+Good portability
+ Lowest first cost
+ Lowest operating cost
+ Lowest maintenance cost
+ Can do residential and one story light commercial
+ Can do apartments and condos
+ Can do all types of commercial
Portable Gas Systems:+ Very good performance (suction)
+ Zoning not normally required
+ Adequate portability
- Medium first cost
- High operating cost (gas)
+ Low maintenance cost
+ Can do residential and one story light commercial
+ Can do certain 1-2 stories commercial
- Cannot do most multi story commercial
- Cannot do apartments and condos
Trailer/Truck Mounted Systems (gas):+ Very good performance (suction)
+ No zoning required
+ Adequate portability
- High first cost
- High operating cost (gas)
- Medium maintenance cost
+ Can do residential and one story light commercial
+ Can do certain 1-2 stories commercial
- Cannot do most multi story commercial
- Cannot do apartments and condos
Truck Systems (gas): + Best performance (suction)
+ No zoning required
+ Adequate portability
+ Best visual impact
- Highest first cost
- Highest operating cost (gas)
- Highest maintenance cost
+ Can do residential and one story light commercial
+ Can do certain 1-2 stories commercial
- Cannot do most multi story commercial
- Cannot do apartments and condos
By determining what types of building you want o work on and what variables are most important to you can determine what type of vacuum collection system best fits your needs. Then you should contact the various manufacturers of that type to see what units they have to offer you.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Thu, Jul 07, 2011 @ 03:27 PM
The requirement for the NADCA Vacuum Test is appearing more and more frequently in cleaning specifications for commercial air duct cleaning projects. This article will help explain what it is, how you do it, what equipment you need and where to get that equipment.
What is the NADCA Vacuum Test?
The NADCA Vacuum Test is one of three methods to verify your cleaning results.
- Method 1 is a "Visual Inspection" where you and your customer agree that a surface is clean.
- Method 2 is a "Surface Comparison Test" where you contact vacuum a surface that has already been cleaned to see if there is a difference. If you can see a difference then the surface is not clean. If you cannot see a difference then the surface is clean and you have passed the Surface Comparison Test.
- Method 3 is the "Vacuum Test" is a scientific approach where you use a vacuum cassette with filter media that is attached to a calibrated air pump. You then pass the open face of the cassette over the opening in a template. The cassette collects any remaining particulate on the surface. You then send the cassette to an IAQ Lab for analysis. The lab basically weights the cassette to determine how much particulate was picked up. This particulate must not exceed .75mg/100cm². If it does, you have failed the test.
The exact procedures for all three of these cleanliness verification methods and equipment specifications are detailed in NADCA’s cleaning specification call Assessment, Cleaning and Restoration of HVAC Systems - ACR 2006 on pages 24 and 25. Contact NADCA at www.nadca.com or call 202-737-2926.
You Will Need the Following Items:
- A copy of ACR 2006 (from NADCA).
- The plastic template (from NADCA).
- An air sampling air pump that can be calibrated to an accuracy of + and – 5% at 15 liter per minute of air flow (can be found at www.zefon.com: Z-lite – IAQ Pump, costs $169.00).
- Filter media within the vacuum cassette must be 37mm mixed cellulose ester (MCE) matched weight filters (0.8 micrometer pore size preloaded in a three-piece cassette) can be found at www.zefon.com: cassette # 7M93M, costs $200.00 for 50 cassettes).
- You will need to find a Lab to send the cassettes too. If you type in “air testing labs” in any search engine like Google, Bing etc. you will see a list of labs that you can contact to find out the mailing procedures, cost, turnaround time and type of report you get.
If you have any questions please call me at 800-597-3955 or 952-808-1619. Go to this link if you are looking for air duct cleaning equipment and tools to help you pass these cleaning verification tests.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Thu, May 26, 2011 @ 07:47 AM
You will encounter many different types of ductwork (supply, return, exhaust, metal, flex, lined, duct board, etc.) as you offer your air duct cleaning services. You have a choice of many different types of air duct cleaning tools to use to clean this wide variety of ductwork. But since no one cleaning tool can clean every type of ductwork how do you decide? A good approach is to ask yourself what level of cleaning results do you want achieve?
Let’s look at the three widely accepted levels of cleaning the various cleaning tools deliver:
Level 3 - Air Washing: Air washing is the use of high-pressure air that comes from the air compressor through an air hose to an air nozzle. This air nozzle delivers streams of high-pressure air, which dislodges the accumulated dirt and debris found in the duct. Common air washing tools include:
- Forward skipper lines
- Reverse skipper lines
- Blow guns
Level 2 – Air Whipping: Air whipping is the combination of air washing (high-pressure air) with some agitation from the whip(s). The high pressure of the air and whipping action dislodge the accumulated dirt and debris found in the duct. Air whips achieve a higher level of cleaning than air washing because they add some agitation. Common air whipping tools include:
- Single whip systems
- Tri whip systems
- Eight whip systems
Level 1 – Brushing: Brushing (both manual and powered systems) makes physical contact with the interior surface of the duct. This brushing action effectively dislodges the accumulated dirt and debris found in the ductwork. Bushing achieves a higher level of cleaning than both air washing and air whipping because it makes more contact with the interior of the ductworks. Common brushing tools include:
- Manual brush systems
- Drill driven flexible cable systems
- Drill driven solid core cable systems
- Pneumatic driven brushing systems
- Electric long reach cable brush systems
- Electric robotic systems with brushing capability
Level 1 – Contact vacuuming: Contact vacuuming makes physical contact with the interior surface of the duct. This contact vacuuming action effectively dislodges the accumulated dirt and debris found in the ductwork. Contact vacuuming achieves a higher level of cleaning than both air washing and air whips because it makes more contact with the interior of the ductwork. Common contact vacuuming tools include:
- Wet/dry HEPA filtered vacuums
Most air duct cleaning contractors are trying to achieve a “visibly clean” standard. You can achieve the visibly clean standard with all three levels of cleaning tools depending on the type of ductwork and the amount/condition of the accumulated dirt & debris.
What is your favorite cleaning tool and why?
If you have any questions or want additional information on cleaning tools and levels of cleaning see our - Selecting the right cleaning tool for the job guide. Or call me at 800-597-3955 or 952-808-1619.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Fri, Apr 29, 2011 @ 12:45 PM
“Free Air” cfm is a measure of airflow. CFM means cubic feet per minute. Many manufacturers of electric portable vacuum collection systems refer to “free air” cfm in their marketing materials when they are talking about the performance (or suction) of their vacuum collection systems.
A “free air” cfm number is not the actual cfm of a vacuum collection system on the jobsite. Let’s examine why this is true.
Let’s start by looking at the fans themselves. These backwards inclined airfoil fans are typically referred to by their “free air” cfm rating number which is typically the highest cfm number on the fans fan curve, In our industry we typically use the following three fan sizes:
- The 11” diameter fan is called a 2,500 “free air” cfm fan
- The 12.3” diameter fan is called a 3,500 “free air” cfm fan
- The 14” diameter fan is called a 5,000 “free air” cfm fan
The fan manufacturers test these fans in a lab setting by spinning them at 3,500 rpm’s and then plotting the performance in the form of a fan curve. This fan curve shows the “free air” cfm and static pressure (the two elements of fan performance). As cfm increases static pressure decreases and as the cfm decrease the static pressure increases (see chart below).
The equipment manufactures then take a fan and mounts it on the motor shaft; puts that assembly in a cabinet and then restrict the air flow by adding filters (pre-filters & HEPA’s). This added resistance lowers your motor rpm from 3,500 rpm (in a lab setting) to a range of 2,500 –3,000 rpm (in an actual unit setting). At this slower rpm you will never achieve the fan manufactures “free air” cfm numbers in the field. The table below.
12.3" Diameter Fan Performance Table
Performance Performance at 3,500 motor rpm at 3,000 motor rpm
3,500 cfm @ 0" s.p. 3,100 cfm @ 0" s.p.
3,300 cfm @ 1" s.p. 2,700 cfm @ 1" s.p.
3,150 cfm @ 2" s.p. 2,500 cfm @ 2" s.p.
2,800 cfm @ 3" s.p. 2,200 cfm @ 3" s.p.
2,600 cfm @ 4" s.p. 1,800 cfm @ 4" s.p.
2,250 cfm @ 5" s.p. 1,400 cfm @ 5" s.p.
(this data derived from fan curve chart created by Continental Fan company)
Even though “free air” cfm is not the actual “in the unit/on the job” cfm, is it a good idea to compare vacuum collection systems by comparing the “free air” cfm numbers? Yes and no. Yes, if you compare “free air” cfm along with other features like: portability (weight & size), first cost, operating cost (filter replacement), electrical requirements, warranties, etc. No, if you compare units using just “free air cfm numbers.
If you want a full discussion of this topic I recommend our "How to select an electric portable vacuum collection system guide." It’s an in depth discussion of what features to compare and why. Plus, it includes a list/chart of most of the portable vacuum collection units on the market.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Wed, Mar 30, 2011 @ 08:32 AM
If you think about HVAC system cleaning and what you are trying to accomplish and examine how the Rotobrush system operates and its results you will see some short comings.
The goal of most air duct cleaning contractors is to remove the accumulated dirt, debris and other contaminates found in the HVAC system. This is called source removal. The HVAC system includes the supply ductwork and plenum, return ductwork and plenum, grilles/registers, and the furnace or air handler - basically everything in the air steam.
The primary short coming of the Rotobrush system is its inability to put the ductwork under proper negative pressure. Putting the ductwork under proper negative pressure is important so the dirt, debris and other contaminates that are dislodged via brushing does not escape through the cracks and seams of the ductwork into the home or buildings occupied space. In parts of the country with high humidity, proper negative pressure is especially important to prevent any microbial (mold, mildew, etc) contamination in the HVAC system from escaping into the home or building space.
If you look at traditional HVAC system cleaning equipment, they consist of a vacuum collection system, air compressor, and cleaning tools (brushes/air washing/whips, HEPA vacuums, etc). The vacuum collection system is connected to the ductwork or plenum and puts all or a portion (with zoning) of the ductwork under negative pressure. Then using the cleaning and agitation tools the dirt, debris and other contaminates are dislodged from the inside of the ductwork. The light particles are sucked out via suction from the vacuum collector and any heavy particles fall to the bottom of the ductwork. Then you would push any remaining particles toward the vacuum collector with air washing tools. The suction or negative pressure from the vacuum collection system also keeps the dirt, debris and other contaminates from escaping through those cracks and seams in the ductwork.
The Rotobrush system does not create enough negative pressure in the ductwork. The Rotobrush vacuum is located in the center of their brush. As the brush spins and dislodges the dirt and debris it is throwing that dirt debris and other contaminates forward, backward, right and left. The suction of the vacuum will pick up the dirt that is close to it but is not strong enough to pick up all the dirt that has been thrown forward, backwards, right and left. That “thrown” dirt can escape into the home or building space through the cracks and seams of the ductwork and/or it can continue to lie in the bottom of ductwork waiting to be removed. In round ductwork the loosen dirt and debris falls or is funneled to the bottom of the duct where the vacuum pick up is but there is still dirt and debris in front and behind the brush head/vacuum pick up. In square and rectangular ductwork the dirt and debris is not funneled anywhere so the Rotobrush will pick up even less of the dirt and debris. The larger the duct the more dirt and debris is left behind.
Another shortcoming of the Rotobrush system is that it doesn’t include any cleaning tools or the capability to clean a furnace/air handler or coil sections in an HVAC system. Remember, the goal of most air duct cleaning contractors is to remove the accumulated dirt, debris and other contaminates found in the entire HVAC system. If you clean just the ductwork and then turn the HVAC system back on, the dirt in the furnace/air handler/coil sections will soon be spread into the supply ductwork contaminating what you have just cleaned. Rotobrush offers other products for dryer vent cleaning, insulation handling and inspecting but nothing for cleaning the heart of the HVAC system (furnance/airhandler/coil section).
The inability to provide adequate negative pressure and the inability to clean the entire HVAC system are the two primary shortcomings of the Rotobrush air duct cleaning system and others like it. Before investing your hard earned money into air duct cleaning equipment/tools be sure you have a good understand of its capability and any shortcomings.
If you have any questions on Rotobrush or any other type of air duct cleaning equipment please call me at 800-597-3955 or 952-808-1619.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Mon, Feb 07, 2011 @ 11:01 AM
Coating HVAC systems and ductwork can be a challenge sometimes. In talking with contractors and helping them solve their coating challenges I’ve found that many times it’s the little things that cause problems. Here are 6 tips to help minimize problems and insure a successful coating project.
- Make sure the surface you are coating has been cleaned first. This may sound obvious but unfortunately some contractors cut corners and don’t clean the surface first. You can coat a dirty surface and it may hold up for a while but eventually the coated dirt will separate from the duct and that coating project will fail and need to be redone. Every coating manufacturer stresses the need for a clean surface prior to coating. Many recommend a primer in cases where the surface can’t be cleaned as well as it should be. The primer bonds with the imperfect surface and the coating then bonds with the primer for a long lasting coating project.
- Make sure your airless sprayer is the right size for the coating you are applying. There are many coatings on the market with a wide range of viscosity and fiber content. An airless sprayer and a cart spray/robotic system that work well with an average viscosity coating may not work well with a coating that has a thicker viscosity. Average viscosity coatings need an airless sprayer that has 1.4 hp motor and a .7 gpm pump while a thicker viscosity coating will nee an airless spray that has 2.0 hp motor and a .95 gpm pump. An undersized airless sprayer is one of the most common problems on coating projects.
- Thoroughly mix and strain your coating before applying. This step should eliminate or at least drastically reduce the chance of your spray tips getting clogged on the project. There is nothing worse than having to stop a coating project to clean out spray tips and screens. It really reduces your productivity and profits.
- Coat a trial section first. We highly recommend doing a trial section of ductwork first because it gives you a chance to:
- Determine if your airless sprayer works well with your cart spray system and coating.
- Determine what retrieval/spraying rate gives you’re the level of coating you want on the project.
- Determine with the building owner/representative on what is an adequate coating thickness before you coat the whole project. You don’t want disagreements after you are all done coating.
- Inspect your work. Inspect your work as soon as can to see if anything was accidentally missed or needs a little more coating. Insulated surfaces on a project may not necessarily be in the same condition throughout the HVAC system so some areas may need more or less coating.
- Clean the spraying equipment. The final step in any spraying project is cleaning the airless spray equipment and any cart/robotic spray system used. You typically run warm soapy water through all the spraying components until clean. And then you take the spray tips apart to make sure the tips and any screens are clean. Once the coating dries it is very difficult and time consumming to clean the spraying equipment. Plus, you want to be ready to go for the next project.
It’s the little things that you do or don’t do that will determine your success when applying coatings in HVAC systems/ductwork. Many times, the up front preparation and cleanup afterwards will take more time than the actual spraying. Please feel free to call me at 800-597-3955 or 952-808-1619 if you have any questions about coatings, airless sprayers and cart/robotic spray systems.
If you want more information on coating HVAC systems we recommend our Introduction to Coating HVAC Systems Guidelines. It includes a chart on popular coatings and their characteristics along with a chart on coating and airless sprayer compatibility.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Tue, Jan 18, 2011 @ 11:27 AM
Part One of this blog (1-7-2011) deals with defining “Who you want to market to” and “Why they are the important”. Part Two will focus on “How to find these customer groups” and “How you can reach/market to them.”
How to find potential customers
This part takes a little digging, some phone calling and data entry work. You build a customer data base. You should put this data base of customer information in an Excel or Access data base so you can sort and manipulate the data as needed. Here is where to look:
- Local Yellow Pages or internet Yellow pages. Using the group names from part one, look for that name (in printed Yellow Pages) or type in the group name in to the search field (in internet Yellow Pages) and should be able to find basic company information. Then give them a call to find out best contact person.
- Association membership lists. ASHRAE, ACCA, Facility Managers, Hospital Engineers, Property Managers, Environmental Consultants, School Facility Managers and others have associations.
- Local business publications may periodically publish lists like top 25 Property Management firms or Hospitals, etc. Construction bid publications like Dodge Construction Reports and others tell you about upcoming renovation and building projects that can include HVAC system cleaning. If you subscribe to their service you can get mechanical plans of the projects you want to bid/quote on. Once you prepare your quote you will send it to a list of mechanical contractors that are also submitting bid for all HVAC work.
- Referrals from past satisfied customers.
Once you are done with compiling this initial customer data base effort you should have a list of customer under all the different groups from part one. You will need to continually update and expand this data base.
Now that you have found them - How do you reach them?
Initial contact: This will take time to do but a face to face meeting is the first step to build the business relationship that will fuel your success.
- Introductory letter with statement of qualification or company capabilities.
- Phone follow-up to set up an appointment.
- Face to face meeting where you present your companies capabilities and experience. If you have a website you could use that to present your company capabilities. Your goal is to present yourself as the expert so they will want to work with you in the future.
Ongoing contact: To maintain awareness/visibility with your customers and potential customers you need to remind them of your capabilities periodically. There are several ways to do this including:
- Newsletter: A bi-monthly or quarterly newsletter is an easy way to maintain awareness. You can creates this on you computer and e-mail or fax them to your database. Plus you can post it on your website if you have one. Make sure the content of your news letter offers something of value to your customers like a “job story,” “how to” section, etc.
- Periodic phone follow-up and face to face meetings can really reinforce the awareness of your company’s capabilities in your customers’ eyes.
- Local Association meetings like ASHRAE, BOMA etc. are great venues to network.
- Educational seminars are a good way to establish and maintain your company as the “expert.” You can give these seminars as part of an association meeting, or maybe a small group of companies get together and sponsor an IAQ seminar in which you participate.
Advertising: There are many advertising options in today's marketplace for you to choose from including:
- Yellow pages.
- Direct mail.
- Local trade associations.
- Local trade shows.
- News releases, job stories, articles.
- Space advertising in local media.
- Web-site
- Others
Whatever advertising methods you choose to use try to find a way to measure the effectiveness of the ads. This will allow you to determine the most effective advertising method.
Post Project Follow-up:
Once you have completed a project (and did a great job) it’s the perfect time to follow up with your customer with a Customer Satisfaction Survey.
You should develop a short one page questionnaire to thank your customer for their business and then ask them for feedback on your services. You can mail/email the post project Customer Satisfaction Survey or do it over the phone.
If you do this consistently over time you’ll get valuable information and you should be able to see trends (both good and not so good). The survey completes the sales cycle and is another part of good customer service.
Summary
Hopefully this blog (part one and part two) were informative and helpful. Please conact me if you have any questions on marketing commercial air duct cleaning services.
Posted by Peter Haugen on Fri, Jan 07, 2011 @ 02:42 PM
Marketing commercial air duct cleaning services can be challenging and at times confusing. If you don’t have a plan and priorities you can waste a lot of time and recourses. What group(s) can give you the greatest return on your marketing investment? How do I find these groups/individuals? How do you market to them?
Part One of this blog (below) will focus on defining “Who you want to market to” and “Why they are the important”. Part Two (coming) will focus on “How to find these groups” and “How you can market to them.”
Who are your customers and who should you market to?
You should market to anyone who has the potential to help you grow your business. The list below is based on my 10 plus years experience as a Marketing Manager for a commercial air duct cleaning contractor. Your priorities could be different. For each group I have indicated why they are important and how they can impact your business.
1. Existing Customers: If you have an existing business, your current customers will be the easiest to sell to because you already have an existing business relationship. (For example if you are a commercial janitorial firm and you want to add commercial HVAC system cleaning.) You already have a roster of potential customers for your new service that know you and trust you.
2. Mechanical Contractors: Every part of the country has a local group of mechanical contractors that bid on and perform mechanical contracting work required in new construction and renovation projects. In many cases these projects include HVAC system cleaning and restoration work. In many cases the mechanical contractor subcontracts to an air duct cleaning contractor. If you develop a good relationship with the mechanical contractors in your area you will be asked to submit a bid/quote on the projects that have HVAC system cleaning requirements. Mechanical contractors can be the most important target group you deal with because they can have a big impact on your business.
3. Environmental Consultants: They determine specifications for the HVAC system cleaning and restoration projects. In many cases they have been hired to oversea a project and can hire you directly. They also can be a good source of referrals.
4. Fire/Water/Mold Restoration Contractors: They can hire you as a sub contractor to provide HVAC system cleaning and restoration on fire/water/mold restoration projects. Typically these are high priority projects that must be done quickly so you have to be able to respond accordingly. Profit margins can be higher on these projects because there may not be time for competitive bidding. They hire you based on your reputation or past projects you have done for them.
5. Asbestos Abatement Contractors: They can hire you as a sub-contractor to provide HVAC system cleaning and restoration on asbestos abatement projects. These projects can be more difficult due to containment and safety requirements. They hire you base on your reputation or past projects you have done for them.
6. Medical/Hospital Facilities: They can have an environmental consultant or others running the project or can hire you directly. They tend to be receptive to improving indoor air quality and lowering energy cost. If you develop a good relationship with these facility managers it can mean a long and profitable relationship.
7. Schools/Universities: They can have an environmental consultant or others running the project or can hire you directly. They tend to be receptive to improving indoor air quality and lowering energy cost. If you develop a good relationship with these facility managers it can mean a long and profitable relationship.
8. Mechanical Engineers: They determine specifications for the HVAC system cleaning projects and can be a good source of referrals.
9. Property Management Firms: Traditionally they are a tough sell for preventative maintenance items like HVAC system cleaning. They are more receptive if there is an IAQ problem they must deal with. The growing acceptance of “Green Buildings” and “Leeds Program” will make the property managers and facility managers more receptive to the benefits of HVA system cleaning & maintenance.
10. Air Balancing Contractors: Primarily a source of referrals because they cannot balance a HVAC system that is compromised with dirt, debris and other contamination. It is good for them to know who you are.
11. Filtration Contractor: Primarily a source of referrals because when they change out filters in an HVAC system they can see if it is dirty. It is good for them to know who you are.
12. Insurance companies: Typically don’t hire you directly but they can block you from getting fire/water/mold restoration projects. It is good for them to know who you are
If you have added a group to this list I would be interested in your feedback on who they are and how they have impacted your business.
Part Two (next month) will focus on “How to find these groups” and “How you can market to them.”