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HVAC Masters of the Hustle
Episode #308- Acadiana Comfort Systems Cody & Emily Brasseal
00:54:23
HVAC Masters Of The Hustle would like to welcome Cody & Wife Emily into the Hot Seat on episode 308. On this episode we dive deep into relationship partnerships building a company together. Emily & Cody are the perfect couple to talk about...
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- [00:02]
Jacob Moneymaker
This is H Vac Masters of the Hustle with your host, Jacob Moneymaker.
- [00:10]
Cody
Looking at the city like I already own it.
- [00:38]
Jacob Moneymaker
What is up? What is up? You are listening to H Vac Masters of the Hustle podcast. And here's your host, Jada Moneymaker. And welcome to episode 308. And I just wanted to let you all know I am super excited about this podcast. Before we dip dive deep into it, man, that was a little tongue twister, right? But before we dive deep into this episode, I just want to let you all know this podcast is brought to you by NUVA Thermostat. The thermostat that is made by the contractor for the contractor. You talk about bringing private labeling and retention of your client to a whole different standards. This is the thermostat that's going to change the game for you. If y' all have any questions, reach out to myself@jdub masters of the hustle.com. but I want to dive in deep on this podcast and let you all know, I had the opportunity to go out about a week and a half ago to Louisiana. Another tongue twister, man, L.A. and I love Louisiana because of the hospitality of the people. And I got the opportunity to meet two lovely individuals that happen to be not just business owners, but also they've been married. And I want to have them on the podcast because they have such a great relationship, a partnership. Ms. Emily and Cody, welcome to the podcast.
- [02:12]
Cody
Yeah, thank you for having us, Jason.
- [02:14]
Emily
Yeah, thanks, Jason. So we're so glad to host you in Louisiana.
- [02:19]
Jacob Moneymaker
Oh, I was first off, the hospitality. Thank you. The people, the culture, your team. Absolutely amazing. And just the opportunity to. To like I said when I was out there. Right. To continue to make my dreams to reality, which is my purpose of showing people what's possible running the four minute mile. So allowing me that opportunity and then also to come back to continue the opportunity. So, Miss Emily, real quick. You know, I had the opportunity to get to know you on, on a personal level when I was on site. Tell my listeners a little bit about your story and really how you got into the trades of H Vac. Because you weren't planning on doing this at all.
- [03:05]
Emily
No, no. So I graduated high school, went to college for occupational therapy and graduated with an occupational therapy assistant degree in 2011. I worked in hospitals inpatient rehab for about 10 years. And Cody and I had dated on and off since high school. Really, we've known each other for many, many, many years. But yeah, so I went into the hospital, did that for about 10 years. And then around the time that we got married, he had asked me, hey, you are a whole lot better at books and accounting and paying things in your credit score. Maybe you can help me a little bit with that side of things. So I worked in the hospital and kind of helped with books and paying bills and kind of managing that aspect of things. And then. And then what? I guess we got. Had some. Got pregnant, had some trouble getting there, but ended up on bed rest. Long story short. And I was bored out of my mind. Just leave me the phones and let me answer the phones because I'm bored. And so that's kind of where it all started. I started kind of dispatching. And then I think by the time we had our first, Cody was like, well, you can't go back to work now. Like, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? I rely on you too much. So, yeah, here I am full time. And it went from that, just me to, I need help. I'm overwhelmed. And as growth occurred, we hired someone else to answer phones and dispatch and then hired someone else to. To manage new construction. And so it's kind of grown, but, yeah, that's how I started.
- [04:51]
Jacob Moneymaker
Well, Ms. Emily, let's take you back a little bit and rewind. Right. Let's talk about real quick, the fear, right? Going from nursing, where you're making a great amount of money, a great income, you know, helping provide support, to something that's a gamble, something that's a risk. Right. And a lot of listeners right now might be going through that risk or where they're going through one foot in, one foot out. And what I mean by that, juggling two different jobs, right? They see the dream and the mission, but they're scared to take the leap of faith. So talk about real quick. When did you know it was time to take that leap of faith and then kind of go through and dissect those feelings and those emotions that you had when you did take that leap.
- [05:39]
Emily
Yeah. So, you know, taking leaps of faith is always something that Cody excels and pushes me to do. I can't say that it was an easy decision for me because like you said, I was comfortable. I had a degree. I loved what I did. I loved the patients that I worked with. But his faith and his push to, like, hey, but we can build something big, but I need help with that, and everything is going to be just like, that was part of what kind of drove me. And just trusting that, like, my husband was correct and having faith that everything would Be okay. So I think he definitely had the faith where I didn't, which is part of what I think helps us work so well together, is that we do complement each other really well in the things that he's strong in and I'm not so strong in, and that's one that he just is. Is so much better at kind of pulling the trigger on things and saying, like, let's go where I'm the one that likes to overanalyze all of the things. But, yeah, so it was difficult for me. It was difficult for me. And I think that pushes outside influences change things as well. I was on bed rest. I kind of had no choice to sit at home and take kind of a leave of absence from the hospitals. And so it was also Covid. Right. That was happening, and that was crazy and a mess. And so I think that kind of everything just aligned in just the right order to kind of help that push for me. But I wouldn't go back. I wouldn't go back even if I, like, I don't even think about it. And while I do miss it and I can see I keep my license up, and I know that at some point, maybe in the future, just because I want to, because I did love what I did, you know, my degree and what I did did for a living. I could see me try to maybe juggle it a little bit in the future, but I find so much more purpose in the business and the opportunities that we're creating here for our customers, for our employees and our team. And so while helping people regain function in the hospitals as a therapist brought me a whole lot of joy and satisfaction, this does, too. We're still working with people closely with our team and our customers, and providing exceptional service and customer service and exceptional products and outcome and comfort in people's homes. And I get to do it with my husband, you know, And I know it might not work well for everybody, but it really. We work really well together. So it's also a really demanding industry as far as the hours go. And so there's part of me that looks back and goes, like, how. What would our relationship be like if we didn't work together every day? I know because we dated for so many years prior that there would be summer months where I wouldn't even see him hardly because of the long hours.
- [08:53]
Jacob Moneymaker
And the time spent in mystery demand.
- [08:55]
Emily
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's been. It's been a blessing to our family for us to. To kind of make that switch for sure. For my kids, they Were able to kind of hang out with us and. Yeah.
- [09:10]
Jacob Moneymaker
So Cody, you know, now talking about your venture of how you started in the H vac industry and really took the leap of faith to start your own venture in your company. Can you talk about what that timeline looks like?
- [09:24]
Cody
Yeah, I think she maybe gives me too much credit as far as, like, you know, this was. This was definitely. I was in between jobs, so I had another job lined up, and I was. I was a week off, and I started doing some work for a friend of mine who needed an air conditioning guy for some of his clients. And they had some really good things to say about me. And the guy said, have you ever thought about starting your own business? And I was like, no, not. Not really. And her dad has always been an entrepreneur, so he's been since the day that I met him. He's always owned businesses. He's, you know, he. I think we're a lot. Very similar personality types. And so I called him immediately. I was like, hey, man, what would it take for me to do this? He said, nothing. He said, take you 15 minutes, get online. I'll show you how to do it. Not a big deal. So he did. And in like, 15 minutes, I had. I was registered with the state, had an Acadian, a comfort email, and away we went. Right. And I knew nothing about business. I knew. I barely knew air conditioning, to be honest. And I think that if you asked me at that time, that I was probably the best service technician on the planet until I realized that I wasn't. Right. And so I'm trying to figure out how to be not just a good technician, but also how to be a good business owner. And so, you know, of. I think we've come a long way, and, you know, we're. We're definitely building something great. And Emily is a huge part of that. I couldn't do it without her. But, you know, there are times where I think the. Like, she said, I'm very much like. I guess impulsive maybe isn't a great word to use, but sometimes I can be right.
- [11:04]
Emily
I'm not.
- [11:04]
Cody
She says, I'm not scared to take risk. I think it's a personality defect that I'm a little bit impulsive in nature. And I think that what got. What got this whole thing started, you know, but thank God that we did, because it's been such a blessing to us. She was talking about being able to bring our kids to work and things like that. I mean, that's things that you just don't get to do. And so I do believe that, you know, we live an exceptional life and we're blessed and. And, you know, just great to be able to work together and. And do that. But really, that's what it was. Just like any other decision, you know, that. That I've made over the years, it was, you know, I calculated risk. We'll call it that. That's what we'll say.
- [11:42]
Jacob Moneymaker
Yeah, Right on. Well, you know, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Right? That's what I say. You know, let's talk about your market, because y' all are located in Louisiana, and as I get the travel and the opportunities to go to different states. Right. Louisiana is a little bit different, you know, and I say different because it's special. I love it there. Talk about the market that you're in and what you find to be different within your market compared to other markets, potentially.
- [12:17]
Cody
Yeah, well, our market is a very. It's a hot and humid market. Right. So I guess when you're in. When you're in the air conditioning business, then I guess that's really the biggest driver of what, you know, what services that you're gonna. That you're gonna offer. So we have a. We have a long air conditioning season, typically. I mean, every year, except this year, we had how many inches of snow? 12 inches of snow.
- [12:42]
Emily
Yeah. Some crazy.
- [12:47]
Cody
Oh, man. I've had to have been, like, years since we've had snow like that. But this is the one winter that we actually had winter. And it was nice. It wasn't too bad. But yeah, so we have a very hot climate. We have very humid climate. And so we have particular challenges, and no greater than anyone else's challenges, just very particular to our area. And so we. We definitely have made our way in. In our marketplace by focusing not just on, like, comfort as a whole. Right. So the comfort is not cold air. Comfort is so much. So much more of a broader term. And where we've kind of made our way is through kind of the house as a system approach where we take. We're not looking at this singular piece of the puzzle. We're trying to look at the entire framework of what makes a healthy and comfortable environment or our ecosystem within the home for the client. And if we. If we continue take that kind of house as a system full overview approach, then that has. That has put us in some pretty cool situations. We've been able to solve some really, really crazy problems that have affected some of our customers. Like, we've been able to affect change for Some of our customers for the better and a lot of really difficult situations that they may find themselves in that these issues may not even be present or may not even be a thing in a different climate zone. So because we live in a swamp, it definitely. It definitely kind of guides how we approach our market. For sure.
- [14:27]
Jacob Moneymaker
Yeah, I agree. And one thing I want to talk about as well with Mr. Cody, and then I'll go back to Ms. Emily, but talk about, you know, you're heavily involved in new construction as well. So talk about your approach to new construction and when did you start that within your company and how has that helped you to sustain, you know, the shoulder months and the shoulder seasons and things like that.
- [14:53]
Cody
Yeah. So new construction is. With three and a half years. Three and a half years. So we've been in business since 2000.
- [15:00]
Emily
11.
- [15:01]
Cody
Yeah, 2011. New construction was new to us. We were like a small. A small company that were. Were mainly service and retrofit. And I never wanted to be involved in new construction. Everyone always said to me that new construction was a slow death, essentially. There's no money in it, you know, and that's. That was how it was described. And then I had some friends who started their own business and they got into new construction and I saw they did very well for themselves. And then some of these people had all this talent and had all. But they just didn't have. They weren't very organized people. Right. They. They weren't. There was no system and there was no pro. It was the wild, wild west when it came to new construction.
- [15:43]
Emily
Yeah.
- [15:44]
Cody
Yeah, that's what it was. So as fast as that is, that balloon went up, it came right back ground, you know, and that got me thinking. I was like. I'm a pretty. I would say, like, kind of ocd, like in some areas. I mean, obviously not every area. But I said. I said to myself, I think I could do this better. Like, I think I can. Maybe not better is the right word, but I could do this in a much more organized and systematic way. And I think if I was able to accomplish that, I think that we could have some good results here. And then this would create this in. In a. In a cyclical market or a cyclical business where you're seeing these, you know, June, July, August, September, November, and then boom, like plummet. And. And that's kind of the revenue trend, the work trend, the workload trend, then maybe we can start to kind of level some of that out. And then we. We gotta hire more people. We'll be Able to keep them year round. We'll be able to do, provide so many more opportunities for. And so that's what we did. But it was a, that was a pretty calculated approach. So a couple of things that I did right off the bat that, and I don't even know if I realized that I was doing them. But I, I immediately said if we're going to be systematic and if we're going to be like process driven, then I cannot work for 50 different people. I cannot have 50 different contractors who want 50 different ways. So I cold called and went after the, the, the contractors that could provide us with the most amount of work. And we picked like two or three of the biggest. And I went and I literally walked into the office and I told the end. From someone who never did new construct. I never was in new construction, never did new construction. I walked in, I said I'm the best. Like, I use like, like I will bring value to you. Because you got to think I'm walking into the, you know, these big contractors office and I cannot talk to the purchasing manager and I walk in and sit down and say I'm the best. Right? And I've done like three new construction houses my entire career. And so, but I was like, I have confidence. I, I can figure this out. And so I, I sold like I, they believed me some with the grace of God they believed me and they gave us the opportunity. And then we had to figure out how to do this, you know. And so we just kept taking the same approach. It was we don't do a house without doing a manual. J. Right. So we're gonna, every single house we do, we're gonna do a load calculation on. We're gonna. And then we slowly started kind of building out this, these systems and these processes for QC quality. Where, where. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How does the slow death occur? Well, the slow death occurs from quality control problems. And quality control starts going haywire. Then the wheels on the bus start falling off the bus and then we end up in a ditch. So we have to, so we started building all these things out. Our team has done a really good job. As we've continued to grow, they've brought value in and, and helped us to develop these things. And everything is systemized. Everything is, we have, we, we try and I say this in the meeting a lot is that we, there's a playbook. We're gonna run a play new construction. We're gonna run the same play every single time and we're going to be so freaking good. At this one play that we. It's going to get us to the championship, right? Because that's, that's what we're doing. We're just refining this. We're running it up the middle every time, but we're refining how we do this. And that has been the key. And that has giving given us a certain amount of. I think it has taken away the volatility that typically comes with the air conditioning and heating business. And I'll end with this. That I had not too long ago. A friend of mine who's a young guy that started a contracting business gave me the first new construction house that we did. And he said, we went to dinner about three years later, and we're sitting down and we're drinking a beer and we're having dinner. And he says, hey, man, when you did that first house for me, he said, had you ever really done a new construction house before? And I kind of just looked at him and I was like, why would you ask me that? He said, well, I'm just curious. And I said. I said, well. I said, to be perfectly honest, no, never. He said, I knew it. He said. I said, how did you know it? He said, man, my electrician came and, and said, hey, you got to watch that AC guy. I don't think he knows what he's doing. And I said, why did he say that? And he said, because he asked me what size. I don't know if it was like what size wire for this heat kit or something like that. And I was like, ah, you found me out, man. I'm sorry. But we worked together for years, you know, and it just goes to show you that sometimes it doesn't take necessarily, like, you don't have to have it figured out right now. You just have to have the confidence, the motivation, and you got to have the drive to get out there and make it work. Let's just make it work, you know. And so that's been our philosophy. When we go in, we go all in.
- [20:17]
Jacob Moneymaker
And how many new construction houses are you doing annually now?
- [20:21]
Cody
So we actually talked about it this morning. We're on track this, this year right now to do about 400. Now, the market has kind of dictated that as well. We've, we've. We. We did much, many more houses a couple of years. I think two years ago was probably our biggest. And then we had kind of a housing, a market issue, but we're trending back up now. So we're looking at about 400 houses this year and currently trying to Bring on another big contractor to continue to grow that. But we. We're also talking with people like you to try and diversify our business as well for service and retrofit and. And, you know, and exp. Kind of energy and do what we've done with RNC in those markets as well.
- [21:02]
Jacob Moneymaker
Absolutely. So, Ms. Emily, I want to talk to you about something that's important. You know, Mr. Cody shared a video with me this morning, and what that video was was you as a leader in front of the team, talking about vision boards and goals and missions. And you really talking as a leader, what that means to you as an individual. Can you talk about kind of what that meeting was for and what you were able to have your team do and what the team thought about it?
- [21:37]
Emily
Yeah, yeah. So you had given us the assignment to do these vision boards, and it was to everybody, the whole team. And I could tell from the get go that like, oh, this is kind of some mixed reactions here. I expected there was going to be some that took it a little bit more serious than others. And this morning, and as they started coming in and people laying them on the tables, I was like just so pleasantly surprised by how much effort everybody really put into it. And I was just saying this morning, I was telling everybody, like, first of all, thank you for everybody, you know, taking this so seriously and really taking a moment to reflect. And I think what's so important about things like that is that it did force us to take a second and think about what it is that wakes us up every day. What is it that drives us to do what we do? I think so often we get caught up in just the everyday routine. I get up and I go to work because I have to. And then I have my kids and my family and we have to go to practices and we have to get here and schoolwork. And I think sometimes it's super important to stop and remember those. Why? What is driving you and what motivates you? What are your values and what is our mission here as a company, but also personally, because it gave us a moment in there as we discussed the boards and everybody kind of got up and showed what their goals were. It gave us a moment to maybe get to know people on a level that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to. To learn. We learned things about people. We got to know people a little bit better. And then ultimately we get to now kind of hold each other accountable nicely, of course. But, yeah, hold each other accountable to those goals and the visions and the, you know, Kind of things that you see for your future. So I think it was great. I think it was a great activity and a great moment to reflect on what makes you. What is your why. We know what our company's why is, but what is yours? Because if we can't help you achieve those things, like, that's what we want as a company is we want to help you achieve those things, because we know that when our customers are sick, you know, when they have success, our employees should. And we know the company will, too. So. But it really should flow that way. So I think it was great. Thank you so much for that.
- [24:18]
Jacob Moneymaker
You know, and one thing I really enjoy on that exercise, too, is as business owners, too, or just leaders, right? We're always having meetings with, hey, this is what we want to obtain. This is what we want to accomplish. This is our goals. This is the company's goal. This is our vision. This is where we want to see ourselves. And we're always barking orders on what we want to obtain. But like you all said, it, it should be a win win, right? We should also know on the flip side of what is it that our employees want from us? What is it that they dream? What are their ambitions? What are their goals? And hold us to a standard as well, just like we hold them to a standard. So I absolutely love seeing the videos, the pictures of the team, like you said, they all went all out. And it's a good team exercise. So for those of you that are watching the podcast, if y' all haven't done this exercise with the team, I challenge you all to do that and see what your team comes up with. You know, also, one thing that I want to talk about also is team culture. You know, building great team culture. When I was on site, one thing that I got to see is the great culture that y' all been able to establish within your company. You know, Emily, what does team culture mean to you? And the importance of creating that culture in your company.
- [25:38]
Emily
Right? So I think. I mean, ultimately, the truth is that when we're all working towards a common goal with the same values in place, number one, it makes decisions really easy, right? It makes every decision with customers, with employees, with our team, should we do this or this? Like, when. When. When culture and our values are kind of the center of that, those decisions become really simple because it's easy. Does it line up with our values? Does it line up with the culture that we want? And so I think it's important for that, but I think it's also just A matter of our day to day lives are so much better when we enjoy what we do and who we do it with and the people that surround us every day. And like, this is our family, right? Of course we all have other family outside of these walls, but man, we spend as much time inside these walls with our team as we do outside. And so, yeah, I want to see them succeed. I want to see them reach their goals. And if that's not like the center of what you're doing every day and I don't know, what are you, what are you really doing every day, you know, so, yeah, I think it's super, super important. It's a work in progress always, of course, as leaders, I think, you know, even just reaching those mission and what is your mission and what is your values and what are, you know, and having somebody, you know, be able to, you know, spearhead that. And yeah, it's, it's a constant, a constant work in progress, I would say, but something that I think is vitally important to success of everyone and our customers.
- [27:31]
Jacob Moneymaker
Absolutely. Cody, how do you find the people, how do you find the right people to match the culture?
- [27:38]
Cody
Yeah, so we've, we've done a number of different things that are normally and historically what we would do is we would maybe lose somebody or maybe we would, our workload would increase and we would put an ad out. And then the first three people that walked in, one of them was getting a job, right? So it didn't matter if they were all three qualified, all three unqualified. Like it was the most qualified of the three. Like somebody was getting a job. So you had a 33% chance of being employed here if you, if you made it in, into the office. And so we, I mean, we've, we've. Most of the people that we've hired, we've hired that way and we've got some really great people that work here. And but what we have had is we've had some people who have come in that maybe didn't fit that culture. Maybe, you know, we, we didn't have a great opportunity to get to know them. Maybe not. We underestimated their skill level, whatever the, whatever it may be. And then they come and they work and then they don't, you know, maybe they don't work out for whatever reason it is. And that's, and that's not good. Like, that's a horrible conversation. That's a horrible feeling. The, like, my least favorite part of the job is parting ways with people that we've invested into or that we've come to work and seen their face every day, met their families, like that's the last thing I want to do. And so recently we've taken a different approach and, and it's really, it extends the hiring process. So this may be for anyone listening, maybe not a good idea if you're looking to hire quick, but we have recently done started with like a phone interview. And so we record all of the phone interviews. We all have an opportunity to go back and listen. It's a 10 question, five or maybe six question, three personal, three professional questions and just a conversation. And based on that conversation, we, we send what, what is called a preview assessment, which is like a personality assessment, motivational drive. What type of personality type are you? Are you the type that is very assertive? Are you very passive? And so we're trying to get as much information about people as we possibly can on the front end and so that we can make good decisions about who we believe is going to be, who's going to be the best fit for us and are we going to be a good fit for this person? Because maybe it's not them. You ever saw those movies where like there's a breakup, two main characters and they go, it's not you, it's me. Like maybe it really was. Maybe, maybe it is us. Right? That's okay. It just ultimately it didn't work. And so we've tried to utilize these types of tools. And so Logan was one of the hires that we made through this and you met Logan and I mean, dude's a rock star. He just great attitude, great personality, loves the coach, loves the vision, loves the values, you know, so yeah, assessment has, has really helped us to, to try and get as much information about people on the front end as we possibly can. Make good decisions. Hiring is the most expensive thing that you're going to do, right? And then, you know, having to have life with these people. And so, so that's, that has been our biggest shift in how we've hired. Is hiring from a need, a place of not necessarily necessity. Even though we, we may really need somebody. Like I've done two installs in the last two weeks myself because we're just not in a hurry. It, you know, hey, it is what it is. The right person is going to come along. When the right person does come along, we're going to invest in them, we're going to do life with them. It's going to be, it's going to be great. What I'm not willing to do is I'm not willing to have the wrong fit and, and if I'm not going to do that so that it'll keep me out of an attic maybe, you know, because ultimately it's not good for us and it's not good for them and it's not good for the culture. And so that, that's been the biggest shift we've made when it comes to culture lately.
- [31:45]
Jacob Moneymaker
Now either of you all could answer this, but what do you feel like in your growth since 2011 to today your biggest challenges have been or obstacles that you had to overcome? And how did you overcome them?
- [32:00]
Cody
Go ahead, Emily.
- [32:03]
Emily
Yeah, I think, I think the hiring one is probably comes first to mind probably because we were just talking about it and so Cody kind of spoke to that a little bit. The assessments have been great. Those assessments also just to kind of dig in a little deeper, do a really good job of, of explaining or kind of helping shed some light on whether or not the person's going to work well with others. For instance, an install position where they're going to be with a team or whether or not their personality lends itself well to working more, you know, one on one as maybe a service tech or in a sales position if they're super outgoing, maybe like a sales consultant, cover consultant, the way to go. And so it's really just great for that. Again, we want to, we want to pair the position with the person and make sure that it's going to be a win for them as much as it and again the customer is going to win, we're going to win and then, and then our company is going to win nonetheless. But yeah, so I say hiring one, neither one of us are accountants or bookkeepers, so that's been quite the, quite the struggle through the years. And we've again he mentioned my dad has business experience and is actually an accountant and so I've leaned on him a good bit through the years. But then also we recently hired an accountant coach which has been amazing to be able to see our numbers. So I would say know your numbers, know your books, know exactly where you stand goals and setting realistic and very objective goals for your employees. Let your service tech know exactly where that average service ticket needs to be. Exactly what you expect. That callback ratio. Yes. And make sure that they know what their goals are so that they can achieve it or go above it because a lot of them will. If you'll set it and then track it and then talk about it and post it and list it and Praise and give rewards when they do. When they do exceptional service for your customers. So I think those things have been a work in progress and challenges that we've waded through. What else?
- [34:31]
Cody
Cody, I think you nailed it. And I think most people would probably agree. I think hiring is huge for everybody, right? Like, I mean, people make or break you, so that's got to be top of the list. Knowing your numbers, that was a game changer for us. Like, we wouldn't have really known. We can talk about being transparent. We could talk about being clear with service techs and with installers and with within, you know, team members. But how can you be clear if you don't know what you need, where you need to be, Right? So, and where am I? Where do I need to be? How can. How can I be clear, Clear with them and, and give them these benchmarks, these targets, and these goals if I don't even know what my benchmark, target and goal is? So, like, that's huge. Everything else flows from those two. I feel like, you know, and so for us, it's been. The biggest thing is to be able to. To log in and go, hey, we had a hell of a month or, hey, and this is realistic, right? We have, we had a bad month. And why did we have a bad month?
- [35:35]
Emily
Month?
- [35:36]
Cody
We had a bad month because we spent too much here and didn't generate enough here. And, and so to be able to figure that out and then say, okay, I got it. Now we. We know where we are, we know where we want to be. How do we get there? And the. How do we get there? Is the, The. What's your clear clarifying for your. For your team members, right? So I, I need a X amount service ticket per. You know, this is where we need to be in order for us to continue moving forward, to be able to grow, to be able to, you know, provide all this stuff for, For. For everyone, everyone here. And boom, there it is. Now we have a clear goal, but without. Without knowing where you are and where you want to go, it's really, really difficult. So it was game changer for us when we hired the accounting coach to show us how to organize our financial data. Because I'm, I'm old school and mentality when I think that if I'm working, I'm making money, right? So, like, I really worried until I.
- [36:29]
Emily
Worked really hard this month.
- [36:31]
Cody
The harder I work, the more money I'm obviously making, right? That, that's. That's how I felt like that was like, that was my Accounting prowess was like, if I'm in an attic, if I'm sweating, if I'm. If I'm, you know, working, then this business is making money. And, man, that couldn't be the furthest thing from the truth. I'm killing my. My uncle says this, he says all the time. He said, well, he says, well, I'll stay home and not make money. Right? And it's like, okay, like I. That's. That's a funny statement, but that's true too, right? Like, if, if, like I could stay home and not make money, I can stay home and lose money. Like, we're in business to, to make money. Like, that's the elephant in the room. Get that out of the way. And then secondly is, what do we do with that? You know, can we invest that back into our employees? Can we invest that back into our community? Can we try and make a difference for more than just ourselves? And then that's where the, you know, that's where we really start seeing magic. But I think those are the two biggest things top of the list. I mean, that we. There's a million struggles in business, but, you know, I think those two pretty much are. Are the mo. Two of the most important, if not the most important things you got to figure out. You got to figure out quick.
- [37:41]
Jacob Moneymaker
Talk real quick about. And either of you could discuss this or talk about it. Talk about training your team. And not just training, but the accountability factors of keeping the accountability with the training and everything like that.
- [37:59]
Emily
Yeah, yeah. So again, one of those things, it's a work in progress. Always we see part of, part of the magic and having systems and processes is that. And knowing your numbers and knowing your data is that when you see something not working right, you can correct. And unless you can see it, you can't correct it. So when I say it's a work in progress, that's just business, right? It's always a work in progress. Know it well enough to see an error and correct. But, but our onboarding and kind of training of custom of team members right now looks like someone is hired. They onboard with just about every member of administrative staff. So they're going to spend time with me, they're going to spend time with Cody. They're going to spend time time with a CSR who's going to explain exactly what her job and role is and how that's going to translate to them. They're going to spend some time with new construction manager who's going to explain new construction and how whether or not that person's on our service team, retrofit team or new construction. They're going to still spend time in every single department with department head just learning. You may have to come to me for things like this. And so we try to make sure that that initial kind of onboarding is as thorough as possible down to the warehouse and how you take things in and out. Right. And then we spend a good amount of time just right here in our facility with training units, purging with, you know, flowing nitrogen when you solder and pulling vacuums on our trading unit, starting things up, starting up units, commissioning things, using measure quick. And then we also do. And Cody, you might want to speak to this a little bit. But every Tuesday morning we have team meetings where we're continuing to train and again, spotting issues and correcting. Right. Oh, we see we're slipping a little bit here. Let's go back over offering three options and making sure to look at the system as a whole and make sure. But yeah, we do Tuesdays. I don't know if that's. You want to kind of keep going.
- [40:13]
Cody
On that, but yeah, so. So lately Tuesdays have been a lot about communication with customers. And I think that's super important because you could have the same, you can, you can offer the same service and a great communicator can offer that service and the homeowner gets it and they understand it, value it, and they appreciate it. And then you have another person offer that same service and the homeowner's like, man, this is like, this is a joke, right? Like this is a rip off or whatever. Maybe a negative reaction, maybe not. That's a little dramatic sometimes, but that does happen. Right? And so our biggest thing is, is right now is communication. We're trying to give language to, you know, how. How do we, how do we break things down for a homeowner so that they get it and, and if we can help them to get it, then we can, you know, we're. That's when we know that we're really doing our job. It's one thing to be a great service tech and be able to fix things. Like, man, I can jerry rig all kind of things together and make them work. Doesn't. You're right. I can, I can make it work for today at least. But at the end of the day, like, that's, you know, that's a great skill to have. But equally important is how do we communicate what we're doing? How do we communicate the value that we're offering? That sets Us apart from everybody else, whether it's with non verbal cues or with verbal cues. And so that's been a big part of our training. But then again to, with the, the technical side as well, we've done a lot of training on the technical side. Like she said, we use a lot of technology and some measure quick. We have specific protocols for vacuums, how we like to see it done. You don't just come and pull a vacuum any way you want. There's a, there's a certain way, you know, there's a right way and there's a wrong way. And we want to make sure that you understand the difference, you know, and so we train on all that stuff as well. And again, it's not necessarily about the training. I think it's about the, the expectation. Right? So you, you hire somebody, you put them in a truck and send them out there and they have no idea if they're meeting your expectations or not. And you think that they're meeting your expectations until they're not right. But if all that can be taken care of on the front end, which is something that we historically have not been great at, but again, learning, we're growing, we're evolving. It's a work in progress that we, if we can spend time with you on the front end and set the expectation and say, we expect you to do this, we expect you to do this. We expect. There's so much of a burden, I feel like that is lifted off of that, that person or that team member because they know exactly what. They don't have to wonder, am I doing a great job and did I, did I do that right or did I do that wrong? Like, I wonder if that's the way he likes to do it or, you know, if he likes to do it. Like, like there's all this, you know, there's all this uncertainty, unknown. And so I think that's the biggest thing that we're working on when it comes to training. So there's all these different things that we train on, but at the core, at the fundamental, fundamental level, it's just expectation. What do we expect? And we just want to make sure that you understand that and that is clear. And I think that's our biggest, our, our biggest thing that we're working towards right now is trying transparency and expectation, clear expectation. And if we can do that, then we're going to give, we're going to give people an opportunity to succeed and do well.
- [43:31]
Jacob Moneymaker
I believe it talk about one thing we were talking about before we hit Record was the power of negotiation. You know, talking about buying down your merchant fees, making sure that you have the best financing tools around. Talk about the importance of first off being able to negotiate. I don't know if business owners might not even know that they have the power to do that. Right. So talk about negotiation, what you are able to do with your buy downs.
- [44:01]
Cody
Yeah, Emily, you're, you do a lot of financing. So you see.
- [44:05]
Emily
Yeah. So, yeah, you know, I'm definitely no expert in this for sure, but I can say I can. I was telling you that we had met with a new financing company yesterday, had kind of just initial onboarding. So one of the things that we haven't historically done real well is offer financing as much and as often and every time as we should. And so we're again working on that, trying to bring on and compare rates, compare dealer fees or merchant fees. So first thing I would say is, man, reach out to the, reach out to your manufacturers and figure out who it is that they're partnered with. Because a lot of times you can really cut dealer emergencies by just making sure that you're. For instance, if I'm going to sell this type of equipment, then I need to go with this person because I'm going to get the best deals with them. Whereas if I go with this type of equipment, I probably should go with that financing company because I'm going to get the best kind of deals with them. But number one, but also I was just saying, man, our area, and there's so many people out there, so many companies out there providing and offering these 0% financing options for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years and, and yeah, so I think, and even up to eight, nine and ten years and wow. It can, it can, it can literally like price you out of the whole conversation if you're not great, if you're not careful. And so while you have to balance that whole, like I need to be competitive and offer some 0% financing options or some good financing options, you also gotta watch it because, man, you'll literally, like I said, just, just about price yourself right off that table because it can get that expensive.
- [46:00]
Cody
Yeah. So yeah, yeah, she does a lot like so on, on the back end with the company that we were, that we're using right now. I do a lot of like, actually with the client where I'm, we're talking about finances and I have tried every, every way because like it's difficult trying to get information from a homeowner. Right. And, and maybe the homeowner believes that this is what they want to do today, but then maybe tomorrow that's different, right? So maybe whenever you sell the job, they believe that they don't want to use finance and, and then you go install the equipment and you're walking away. And now they're like, hey, like, I want to do financing. He's like, hold on, like, this wasn't, you know, and so like, that doesn't happen a whole lot, but that does happen. So it is, I think that the only two ways we figured out that this, this can work really, really well is to have a blended margin. Like, figure out what it is that you want to offer. If it's, if it's financing at 0% or, or if it is, you know, a 10 year labor warranty, whatever it is that's setting you apart. And then you want to offer every time you, you just, you gotta have a blended margin. Because man, if you're having to, if it's a 25% fee that goes on to be able to offer that, like, that's a huge, that's a lot of money. It's a lot of money for you. That's a lot of money for the homeowner. So like, if you can have a blended as a business owner, I think that makes the most sense. And then you have to figure out what's important to them too. So you have such a great process for this with the homeowner interview you, right? And so like, you're sitting down, you're figuring out this stuff right out, right out of the gate going, you know, hey, what is, what does that monthly note look like? Or, and so you're figuring all that stuff out on the front end, which is great. And for you to be able to make decisions like, is it, do they even care about an interest rate? Do they even, or do they care about a low monthly payment? And then you have to be able to, to kind of navigate that. And then you need more than one company. I feel like one of the biggest things that we learned was you, you need to, you need to price shop everybody. If Wells Fargo is the company, great. If it's Aqua, then they're a company, great. If it's. Who is it that you use, Jason?
- [48:08]
Jacob Moneymaker
We use inner green synchrony and good leap.
- [48:11]
Cody
Yeah, see, he's got three.
- [48:13]
Emily
Yeah, great about those. Livestock is integrated and that's a good, I hear lots of good things about it at times. But yeah, there's tons of them and they all have different rates. And I do think that you can negotiate Some of those as well. Especially if you'll pick certain ones and offer it to every person every time, you can certainly make them.
- [48:32]
Jacob Moneymaker
One thing I'm looking into also is Optimus through egia. Yeah, I heard. Is a really, really good one. So I'm in talks about adding that to our platform as well.
- [48:44]
Cody
Yeah. EGIA has so many great resources. Like, they. They really.
- [48:48]
Emily
Yeah.
- [48:49]
Cody
I mean, the stuff that they offer. But we're any. We're a member. We didn't go this year. Did you speak this year? You spoke?
- [48:56]
Jacob Moneymaker
I did. I did. Disney World. I wish y' all would have came. It was a great event. Next year. I'm speaking next year, too, so.
- [49:04]
Cody
Yeah, we'll be there next year. But we had tickets and everything. We're a member, so we get free tickets.
- [49:08]
Emily
We like, where is it next year, Jason?
- [49:11]
Jacob Moneymaker
It's gonna be in Las Vegas.
- [49:16]
Emily
My vision board has Orlando, Florida, for my kids. So if it was gonna be back.
- [49:22]
Jacob Moneymaker
There, that would have been a twofer, right?
- [49:25]
Cody
Yeah, I know.
- [49:26]
Emily
I could have just checked it.
- [49:28]
Cody
Yeah. All of those. That. All of those things, egia, they, like, they all have really great stuff. And if you can get LinkedIn with those stuff with those people, and then you can get just the networking alone. I mean, you know, going to EGIA is like, you meet so many people that have so many different ideas, and that stuff is just invaluable. And so.
- [49:49]
Jacob Moneymaker
And a lot of them have gone through the trials and errors and obstacles that you might already be hitting your head. Right. And just continuously beating your head on the wall. And you could just ask questions, find out who's already been doing it and make it work. Right. Pick their brain. The networking at these events is just tremendous of value. Just that alone, you know? Yeah, yeah.
- [50:12]
Emily
Absolutely.
- [50:13]
Cody
Everything that we every. I mean, most of everything that we do, like, is not original ideas. It's R D. It's rob and duplicate. Right. It's people that we've networked with that. I'm like. I'm complaining. I'm like, hey, we got this problem. Hey, well, we had that problem, too. This is what we did. Would you like me to send you and that most. You'll find that most people in these events are, like, super open. I mean, they want to help you. They see, you know, if they've been through that. They see you in, you know, see themselves in you, and they're like. Like, man, this is a, you know, young family. They're struggling. They're. Or they're or they're working really, really Hard to try and build something and like, and, and they'll, they'll, a lot of times they'll, they'll help you. They'll, they'll give you the resources. And I've made some really great friends along the way just going to these different events that we were, we're good friends and they have helped me so much. I mean, some of the things that we've implemented are literally from them, from networking, from developing relationships and them just going here, man, like, we had that same problem. Here's what we did. Let me show you. Let me show you, right? And then you, you know, you kind of develop it into your own thing. But that's, that's been probably some of the biggest help is the networking has really put it this in a spot where you do here and I can pick up the phone and call you or you know, or the coaches at bdr, the Chad Simpsons, you know. Am I back?
- [51:43]
Jacob Moneymaker
You're back. So as we're drawing to a conclusion on the podcast, you know, I got listeners from all over the nation, from business owners to dispatchers to leaders to installers to service technicians to sales professionals. I'm gonna ask you both the same question. Ms. Emily, start with you. What would you like for them to get out of this episode of H VAC Masters of the Hustle?
- [52:10]
Emily
Oh, you know, I think if I had to say one thing just to end it would be, it would be know your vision, know your values. It makes decision making so easy. It makes decision making so easy. And know your numbers so that when you flip, you know exactly how to get back up.
- [52:34]
Jacob Moneymaker
Love it. Mr. Cody, what about yourself, sir?
- [52:38]
Cody
Yeah, so I'm more of the service technician, you know, and I think that, I think that what she just said is kind of pointed towards like the business owners, but it's really not much different. It was like we told our people this morning, like, why do you get up? Why in the morning? Like, what, what drives you for. To get up at 4:30 to go to the gym? What drives you to go to work every day? What drives you to do your best? What drives you not to cut corners? What drives you to be the best? What drives you to continue to, to try and succeed? And I think having that clear vision, whether you're a business owner, whether you're a technician, whether you're in sales, whatever it is, clear vision, clear goals gives you the, the, the motivation and drive you need whenever you're, you know, your body and your, and your mind are starting to, to, to maybe get a little feeble that you can pull yourself back and say, okay, I'm in it for this, and this is what we're doing here, you know, And. And a good attitude. A good attitude goes a long way. So that I would say that, you know, clear vision, clear mind, clear eyes, clear focus, clear results. Clear results. Yep.
- [53:44]
Jacob Moneymaker
Absolutely. Love it. Well, I just want to say an absolute honor to have you all as a guest on H VAC Masters of the Hustle. It's a. A true honor to be able to be a part of your growth and watch something amazing happen with you and your people and your team. So thank you all. Until next time. Late.