Ductworks Heating & A/C Services, located in Southington, Connecticut, has been in business since 1992. Under owners Kurt and Tom Nichols’ leadership, Ductworks has built a solid reputation as a top-quality provider of heating and cooling services.
In addition to being an ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America) member and earning Angie’s Super Service Award, Ductworks, a Factory Authorized Carrier dealer, has also received multiple Presidents Awards.
As a savvy entrepreneur, Tom has steered his business successfully by investing in technology in two ways.
First, he’s invested in his technicians, making sure they are Nate-certified and receive continuous training on the latest equipment and technology.
Secondly, he’s invested in the OnCall Air sales platform.
Tom first heard about OnCall Air at a Carrier Dealer Meeting four years ago. After seeing the presentation he immediately scheduled a demo and signed up.
“OnCall Air was exactly what we we’re looking for,” remembers Tom.
These days, OnCall Air is a key piece of software he and his team use to run their business. “It has helped grow our business and made us more profitable,” he affirms.
Tom says the 3 main benefits OnCall Air has provided Ductworks are: higher close rates, higher margins and professional proposals that give users a competitive edge.
Higher-close rates
Prior to using OnCall Air, Tom and his team ran their sales manually and then added the accepted proposals to Quickbooks.
“We used to write a proposal by hand and give it to our office manager, who would type it up. Next, we’d have to review the proposal and assemble the order literature. Then, put it in a large envelope and postage stamp it, or personally deliver it to the home,” he describes.
This way of creating proposals would take his team anywhere between 3-days to a week. Meanwhile, his top three competitors had already given prospective customers their proposal.
By comparison, Tom says that today it takes him and his team “literally minutes to build a proposal with OnCall Air.”
In fact, his salespeople now build quotes as they are walking to the customers’ home. Recently, one of his techs even built a quote during an inspection in a customers’ basement from his smartphone.
“Our entire company uses Oncall Air,” Tom says. “Our technicians are encouraged to use OnCall Air because they have higher close rates than a salesperson going out to a home.”
“And our office staff can also help customers looking for an estimate,” he concludes.
Thanks to this company-wide implementation of OnCall Air, his conversion rates have improved dramatically.“We were able to increase our close rate to close to 50% in a lot of cases, especially with our techs up as high as 60%,” Tom affirms.
Rather than lagging behind, these days Ductworks has a competitive advantage over their competition. Since each team member has the ability to provide a quote in minutes.
Higher margins
In addition to having higher-close rates, Tom shares that their “average ticket has gone up by approximately 15%.”
He says the ability to provide up to 4-options (good, better, best, etc.) in every proposal has contributed to customers going for higher-end systems. Plus, as he describes, “we can also show our customers the features and benefits of those products, on the web or through videos that explain why a higher seer is a better product.”
Secondly, OnCall Air makes it easy for anyone in his team to include various add-ons to their quotes, whether they be a service plan or indoor quality products. And Tom says, “these add-ons have also translated into a pro-net profit.”
To make things even easier for the customer, Tom also offers financing through OnCall Air.
With integrated financing, he explains, “his customers have the ability to see what financing rates are available through all the good, better and best proposals.” So they can see how affordable a job is with monthly payments.
Professional Proposals
Tom says that hands-down, “our customers love the OnCall Air proposals.”
Easy-to-use platform
In Tom’s words, “it gives customers an Amazon-like experience” that makes it easy to navigate all digital proposals.
Rich product-information on every job
Customers have access to the latest videos and up-to-date manuals on all equipment plus all recommended add-ons and accessories.
Up-to-four quotes available
Customers can look through and compare between the good, better and best proposals and see what the differences are. So they can decide for themselves which quote works best for them.
Live Tracking feature
Tom and his team can see which proposal quotes their customers have looked at the most so they can provide targeted assistance on those quotes.
The final takeaway
After being in business for 24 years, Tom says that OnCall Air has been a perfect fit with Ductworks. ” Here at Ductworks branding is a big part of what we do, and OnCall Air fits perfectly with our brand.”
“OnCall Air will help any contractor improve his HVAC business’ profitability and business image, differentiate it from the competition, make the jobs for their employees much simpler and give them the ability to make more money for themselves by closing more deals,” he sums up.
Simply put, Tom says, “OnCall Air is a must-have piece of software for any contractor.”
