One-Man HVAC Business Doubles Profits with New Flat Rate

For James Rose, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

Rose not only serves as the owner of Fayetteville, North Carolina-based Down South Heating and Air, he’s also the HVAC contracting company’s sole service technician.

Sun up to sun down and beyond, Rose is on the go. Eager to please his growing customer base, it’s not uncommon for him to grind out as many as 75 service calls every month.

“I’ve always used flat rate pricing, but I’ve always been too busy to update the prices,” said Rose, whose company has been in business for 17 years. “While I’ve kept very bus`y over the years, and my customers are almost always happy with the work I’ve done, I’ve never felt like I was getting paid what I deserved.”

A NEW APPROACH

The New Flat Rate first caught Rose’s attention in the pages of The NEWS, an industry trade publication. Intrigued by the program’s sleek, technologically advanced, menu-driven approach, he reached out in hopes of learning more.

“I was looking at several different selling systems, and this one seemed to make the most sense,” Rose said. “I spent $5,000 and flew down to Georgia for a two-day training session. The staff at The New Flat Rate did a great job of explaining how the system works. When I got back to North Carolina, my first call with the new system was for a clogged drain line at an apartment complex. Typically, I would have charged about $85 to come out and $60 to flush the drain line. Given the menu options through The New Flat Rate, this guy selected a middle-of-the-road $619 fix. I put in a condensate float switch, cleaned the coil off, and put some drain line cleaner in there. That ticket went from $145 to $619. Paying $619 for a clogged drain – we’ve never seen anything like that. To me, that’s vicious.”

In less than one month, Rose earned back his initial investment and then some. Since implementing the system, his average service ticket has doubled from $300 to $600 and, in one year, he’s doubled his revenues from $400,000 to $800,000.

“I’ve always made money, but now I’m making good money,” Rose said. “And, not only am I making more money, I’m running fewer calls, too.”

SPREADING THE WORD

Ecstatic with his results, Rose was eager to share the laurels of his success with his HVACR contracting peers in and around Fayetteville. Surprisingly, the reaction was lukewarm.

“These guys kept telling me they were unwilling to make the initial investment,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to spend money to make money. If they want to keep working and not get paid, I’m fine with that. I’m not going to twist their arms.”

Rose said many customers opt to bundle service through The New Flat Rate’s menu approach, which he believes benefits both his company and customers.

Rose said he’s making more money on nearly every call he runs. As an example, he referenced a recent warranty call he answered to replace an evaporator coil that another company had put in.

“I had to change out the evaporator coil and the filter drier — which were warranty products I didn’t have to purchase — as well as install a condensate pump and safety shut-off switch on the secondary line,” he said. “Through the bundled service, the price was $2,091. I would have charged about half that before The New Flat Rate. If you’re a contractor, you’ve got to add this to your business. Take it from me, the results are life-changing.”