ACCA Now September/October 2020

Service Savvy By Steve Coscia

Being Proactive

did not begin effectively, but with consis- tent and continual improvement, a culture of excellence can permeate a company. Implementing new service main- tenance and replacement procedures, to ensure customer health and safety amidst COVID-19, is easier to do when your company already embraces change and believes in continual improvement. Employees who believe in and trust man- agement do so because of past experience. There is a cause and effect relationship between a manager’s preparation (the cause) and whether employees get on board (the effect). Company culture is the result of lead- ership. Employees tend to follow a lead- er’s demeanor and when managers are ill-prepared for employee meetings, then the company’s culture may suffer. Con- sider your own company and the amount of time invested in a five-year plan. A strategic plan assumes best-case sce- narios in terms of leadership, employee morale and effectiveness. These three attributes impact company culture either upward or downward and ineffective employee meetings hurt culture. Peter Drucker, the famed management guru, is quoted to have said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Drucker’s mes- sage implies that the best strategic plan will fail if company culture goes south. Being a servant leader is one sure way to boost company morale – serve your employees well so that employees will do likewise for your customers. The time we invest now, in being proactive and improving our company culture, may enable your company to sur- vive future catastrophes. As we adjust to a post-COVID-19 world, it is vital to keep a sharp eye on the rudi- ments that matter. Steve Coscia, CSP is an industry expert that helps HVACR companies make more money through increased customer retention, improved upselling, and reduced job stress.

N othing could have prepared me for this year’s business challenges. Most of my rev- enue is earned by conducting educational seminars. The COVID-19 eruption resulted in seminar cancella- tions and I thought this was the end of my consultancy. I was wrong. How? Keep reading. Supply and demand is contingent on economic factors such as sellers, buyers, price point, availability and market size. External influence on one or more of the aforementioned factors results in a dis- ruption. If demand for an affordable prod- uct increases exponentially, this puts a burden on supply due to increasedmarket size. But what if the supply is unlimited? About six years ago, my company partnered with HVAC manufacturers for an online education initiative. This initiative made sense because it enabled contractors to take high-quality virtual customer service courses, earn NATE CEUs and maintain their factory autho- rization status. And while this initiative started slowly, it picked up momentum with more HVAC manufacturers and additional online course distributors. Fast forward to earlier this year and you can imagine the perfect storm.

When COVID-19 hit, my company’s online course activity increased exponen- tially resulting in a big revenue boost. High- quality and affordable education is always in demand and limitless supply attracts more customers with greater efficiency. The above anecdote can be summed up in two words: Being proactive. Consider your company’s next five or ten years and ask yourself, “What is the one thing we can start doing now that will deliver a future benefit?” Naturally, it is probably more than one thing, but you get the idea. Proactive initiatives that deliver ROI usually have their origins in future thinking from years ago. Among my clients, the companies who weathered the COVID-19 storm did so because of four practices. These include:  Embracing change  Inculcating a continual improve- ment process  Consistent, honest & high-quality meetings to ensure all employees are on the same page  Ongoing education The absence of any of the above prac- tices would greatly hinder a recovery from a crisis such as COVID-19. In addition, these four practices were beneficial because they started years ago. Perhaps the practices

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020