I’ve noticed that all HVAC ads prettty much look the same. There’s a big picture of HVAC equipment as a hero shot. One that I saw over Memorial Day weekend had an outdoor and indoor HVACs units lined up like a couple of teenage brothers being forced to take a family portrait - jostling for which one could stand in the back (The indoor unit won).

The messaging went something like this:

• Name of company
• Weird message “LATE SUMMER A/C & HEATING SYSTEM SALE” (I did mention that is was Memorial Day, right?)
• FINANCE (cost per month)
• Price to buy outright (in smaller typeface)
• Warranty
• Branding
• Phone number
• Then a form (THIS IS THE EXACT COPY THEY USED): Top-Rated HVAC Company. Get a Free Estimate (Get Quote)

In writing this, I took dozens of screenshots, and they pretty much all followed the same formula. With the exception that some of them feel more timely - they take out the A/C part during heating season and the Heating part during A/C season and know that Memorial Day never qualifies as Late Summer. Ever.

• Focus on the thing they sell
• Focus on price
• Focus on scarcity (appointments are filling up!)
• Focus on branding

What I haven’t come across much are HVAC companies that focus on YOU. Pick up the phone and dial one of these companies you see advertising on social media. The person who answers the phone has one job: book an appointment with you. You can absolutely ask questions, express concerns, confess sins, request absolution…their job is to fill a slot on the schedule with your name on it. The person you speak with isn’t the person that’s coming to your house for the free quote, they aren’t coming to install equipment. They just schedule. Surely then, the person coming for the free quote is available for the question and concerns bit. Arn’t they? Well, they have one job: to get you to sign on the line that is dotted. If you are persistent enough, you may get assurances that the installation manager will get in touch with you.

Personal story: I recently called one of these companies myself. Just to see.

Person picks up the phone, states name of company, “How can I help you?” (I like that better than “How may I direct your call?” - this seems so limiting. Is it just me?) “Hi, I have a problem with my system…and know that it probably needs to be replaced…” I get cut off, “Ok, I’ll be happy to get you scheduled for a quote…” "Yes, but first, I’d like to know what went wrong with my system, so I can avoid that from happening again.” “Ok, I’ll put you over to the Manager..” Waiting... “Hello?” “Hi, I have a problem with my system…and know that it probably needs to be replaced…” I get cut off, “Ok, I’ll be happy to get you scheduled for a quote…” "Yes, but first, I’d like to know what went wrong with my system, so I can avoid that from happening again.” Sound familiar so far? Except now the manager says: “I’ll send out a tech, what’s the address?” “No, please understand that I’ve got some very specific questions that I would like answers to, so even if you send out a tech, it has to be someone that can walk me through my system, help me understand what everything does, and then show me options.” You know what the manager says at that point? “I don’t know what to tell you, I’ll have to schedule someone for that.” Yep, you heard that right. The manager said he didn’t know what to tell me. I had clearly identified why I was calling but then stumped him with the threat that I wanted some questions answered before I bought. The solution was to put me over to the other department (Service) and send out a technician. But I don’t want to fix my system, and I don’t want just a tech. I want someone I can talk to and ask questions and get real answers. Then I can decide. He couldn’t handle that. He didn’t know what to tell me. He presented the problem clearly to me: “I’ll have to get that scheduled.” The reason why the awkward interchange occurred is because questions and concerns as well as answers and dialogue is not part of the sales process for these companies. Huh? But isn’t that, like, sales? Yep. So what am I missing? You know it’s sales, but they don’t. They are simply there to schedule quotes and install equipment. So, I take another look at those ads and can empathize with whoever wrote them. They don’t actually know that this whole process is actually about you.

ANNYYWAY,

A Home Comfort Coaching Session Is absolutely all about you!

We visit you, in your home, in order to start to understand your goals for your upcoming project. We always begin with a discussion with you, who we consider to have expertise with your home. Where are you most comfortable in your home? Where do you love to sit when you need to get work done? Where do you never sit? Which part's of the house do you wish you could just erase?Where do you keep a stash of blankets because you just know you'll need them? We believe you are the best sensor to how your home is performing and begin seeing how your home can make you comfortable through that lens. Of course, we believe in safe, healthy and durable homes. Those are what you need. But comfort is what you are after and we are here to make sure to give you what you want. Starting with you, the goal of this initial consultation will be to get your story first, your narrative. Then we want you to show us. Show us the good, show us the bad. Please show us the ugly.

• We will take some initial dimensions of your house and rooms - This allows us to work up a floor plan. Many homeowners are delighted to see their floor plan on paper as it gives them an abstract view they rarely have, especially if the house isnt brand new. We use this to truly understand the space and how the comfort appliances are serving (or not serving you).
• We will identify all comfort systems (appliances and delivery systems), their ages and conditions and some basic data about their performance. We have seen that a proper inventory of equipment (as well as an explanation of how it keeps you comfortable) empowers a homeowner by giving them insight previously hidden from them. We use the models and the data especially (along with the dimensions above) to understand if your equipment is sized just right for your home (most isn't). And unless there is a major reason to change it, most of it will stay that way until it dies. That's ok. There are other measures that can be taken to negate the effects of past decisions you may have had nothing to do with!
• We'll run a few quick procedures on your comfort system to quickly check airflow and static pressure. Boring! But the funny thing is, these boring procedures and test are becoming ever more necessary. Low airflow and high static pressure are the enemies of newer systems in general and mostly get ignored by HVAC equipment installers and service technicians. They simply do not have the right tools to get these numbers so quickly. It will take us about 15 minutes to gather this information, and while we are at your HVAC system,
• We'll install a sensor that gives both of us a window into how your system is operating. We don't like guessing before we make our recommendations. The installer and tech should definitely know how the equipment works - that is their training. They just don't really know how it is working in YOUR home. They are often just looking at the sealed system and if nothing is obvious and there aren't any leaks, you the homeowner should be happy, they did their job! We are big picture thinkers. There are reasons why you are not comfortable. We would like to understand the data behind those reasons before we open our mouth. This is what we shoot for...we don't always get that part perfect. Sometimes, we are so giddy to have discovered a problem that we can't help ourselves. But we have found that a slower, measureed approach keeps us out of trouble and keeps the homeowner happy when applied. We think you are going to be happy with that approach. It's your money. It's YOUR comfort.
• We will take temperature & moisture readings in each room and floor. Often these readings can swing wildly. You already know! You stay out of the too hot and too cold parts! Still, we want to know. This data backs us the story you already told us but will give us an idea of how far apart temperature and humidity can be off room to room.
• We are also checking pressures of each room to the main body of the house and the main body of the house to outside. This is the killer app of the Home Comfort Coaching Session. It allows us to see what things look like normally, with the systems off and with the systems running. Are some bedrooms just too hot at night? A friend of mine is a service manager for a very successful multifamily developerand is an expert on his system. He was hired on during the construction phase and knows the buildings on the property he manages inside and out. Literally. Seriously, if you were a tenant, this is the guy you want in that job! His buildings are less than 5 years old and some of the bedrooms are just too hot at night. Some of the tenants run window units IN ADDITION TO THE CENTRAL HVAC SYSTEM. Madness. Maybe you've experienced this or the opposite, some rooms are an icebox. The pressure measurements I am taking each room at a time show clearly why you are so uncomfortable. Or at least a big reason for it. Again, HVAC technicians just don't have these tools or the understanding of how our houses work together as systems.
• We will take photographs, video and notes
• The information we have gathered will be assembled into a digestible report based on what you have told us and what we have observed about the current condition of your home, Where you want your house to be on the scale of comfort long term and a short list of next target conditions to help get you there. We have found that not deciding on one right away may look indecisive and slow (as one of my favorite business system researchers put it, "but it is often faster and better in the long run."

That's the first step. Congratulations!