Over 30 attendees from 20 member companies met in Nashville, TN March 1st - 4th to attend The Unified Group’s Sales Forum where members shared best practices and learned some tips and tricks to become more successful in their sales process within the HVAC Industry.

We started off day one with each attendee giving a brief introduction of their company and themselves.  Salespeople need to be able to speak in front of a group so what better way to practice than to share information with your peers.  Paul Thurston then showed how Cox—Powell, Inc. handles business development and lead generation.  Ryan Boyle from Mobile Air, our purchasing partner, spoke to the group about their product line and the ease of partnering with them.  Chris Reiter, A&G Services, discussed how to sell to different generations as they do not all like the same approach.  Mike Devito, Air Comfort Corporation, rounded out the day facilitating discussion on the challenges of being a salesman and how to turn dealing with rejection and on occasion unhappy customers into a positive.  We had small breakout groups where tables discussed and received feedback on the biggest challenge that they are currently facing.  “The biggest challenge in sales breakout was the most helpful to me today.  To see that everyone seems to be struggling with the same items was a little comforting.  I got to see different points of view through the eyes of all experience levels.” Tim Brown Jr., Johnson & Jordan, Inc.

On day two, we did a live show and share of customer relationship management programs members are using to track their sales and customer contact.  John Duggan, VHV Company, demonstrated how they are using HubSpot and talked about the benefits they have seen and Mary Kay Mercer, J&J Air Conditioning, showed how they are using Sales Force to sales goals.   We then had three members share how they are managing their Preventative Maintenance Agreements from start to finish, how they renew and the process for expanding their existing maintenance base.  The group discussed how they sell to their current account base as well as sharing their sales process on the construction side from the initial survey to the completion of the job and who is responsible for each phase.   The day concluded with John Duggan, VHV Company, informing the group how they get their maintenance agreements kicked off and their techs engaged as the job is not over when the sale is complete.  “Listening and trying to find out a solution to a problem in a group really opens up your mind and makes you think how you can better yourself and your company.” Chris Reiter, A&G Services.

On the last day, Mike Devito, Air Comfort Corporation, discussed the logistics and realities of full labor and full-service Preventative Maintenance agreements.  Ryan O’Hara, Service Unlimited, Inc. and Janet Kelleher, The Unified Group, enlightened the group about resources available, work shared amongst the membership, opportunities for help and to grow but utilizing the group to the fullest.  Throughout the session, members shared best ideas of processes or technology that they have put in place to make an impact on their business within the past year.  “This forum was very well put together and managed.  The information presented, shared and discussed is very helpful.  The value of investing both time and money into this group cannot be overstated.” Curtis Dodson, B&I Contractors.

Thank you to our task force who put a lot of time and effort into creating an amazing agenda for our session:  Chris Reiter, A&G Services, Mike Devito, Air Comfort Corporation, Paul Thurston, Cox-Powell Corporation, Ryan O’Hara, Service Unlimited, Inc. and John Duggan, VHV Company