Mike Barnhart

We just found an HR person in the past year that's really just clicked within the business, and she's done a great job in taking people to the next level, taking recruiting, taking onboarding, all that stuff to the next level. So investing in people ahead of where you need them is always the right move.

We just found an HR person in the past year that's really just clicked within the business, and she's done a great job in taking people to the next level, taking recruiting, taking onboarding, all that stuff to the next level. So investing in people ahead of where you need them is always the right move.

Especially when you think about top grading right now at the size of our business, we're about 400 people. Data scientists can be very helpful. and project managers can be very helpful. So very similar to you, we have our kind of six initiatives for the year, and each one of those has to have a project team around them.

Especially when you think about top grading right now at the size of our business, we're about 400 people. Data scientists can be very helpful. and project managers can be very helpful. So very similar to you, we have our kind of six initiatives for the year, and each one of those has to have a project team around them.

It's like this is a team that is going to solve this for the year, and they're responsible for, A, implementing that, and then, B, communicating that out to our team. But you need to have a project manager that's able to facilitate to make sure that project is staying on track throughout the year because they are bigger projects. The other idea of... top grading is using technology today.

It's like this is a team that is going to solve this for the year, and they're responsible for, A, implementing that, and then, B, communicating that out to our team. But you need to have a project manager that's able to facilitate to make sure that project is staying on track throughout the year because they are bigger projects. The other idea of... top grading is using technology today.

And there are certain things that you talk about. Yeah, it is very hard to increase average sale. But lately, we've been using HVAC sales presentation software. And we've just seen the amount of add-ons go through the roof. We've seen our average sale pick up. We're in non-peak season. And we're over 50% conversion rate on replacements.

And there are certain things that you talk about. Yeah, it is very hard to increase average sale. But lately, we've been using HVAC sales presentation software. And we've just seen the amount of add-ons go through the roof. We've seen our average sale pick up. We're in non-peak season. And we're over 50% conversion rate on replacements.

We actually are really changing these metrics through a company that is really obsessed with the customer buying experience and providing a better buying experience through technology.

We actually are really changing these metrics through a company that is really obsessed with the customer buying experience and providing a better buying experience through technology.

Yeah. I'll say I look at it once a month and just see how we performed on it. I do like the metric because it kind of just tells you how efficient you're being in your company, like how much kind of fluff do you have. And to a certain extent, it should be able to tell you how profitable you are. And It is kind of weird about how every industry is.

Yeah. I'll say I look at it once a month and just see how we performed on it. I do like the metric because it kind of just tells you how efficient you're being in your company, like how much kind of fluff do you have. And to a certain extent, it should be able to tell you how profitable you are. And It is kind of weird about how every industry is.

This isn't like art, just our industry, like kind of every industry. It kind of works out if you do this, you take your revenue, you divide it by the total number of people, not technicians, but like, you know, your call center, your admin staff, your finance team. everybody included, it works out to somewhere between around $250,000 per person.

This isn't like art, just our industry, like kind of every industry. It kind of works out if you do this, you take your revenue, you divide it by the total number of people, not technicians, but like, you know, your call center, your admin staff, your finance team. everybody included, it works out to somewhere between around $250,000 per person.

And you have really bad companies that are operating around $160,000. You have really lean companies that are operating around $330,000. That doesn't necessarily mean they're good companies. That just means they're lean. And they're probably pretty profitable in doing so, but they also might be stressed out.

And you have really bad companies that are operating around $160,000. You have really lean companies that are operating around $330,000. That doesn't necessarily mean they're good companies. That just means they're lean. And they're probably pretty profitable in doing so, but they also might be stressed out.

So it's worth looking at because it's really hard to be profitable if you're not, you know, let's call it over that $225,000 mark. You're definitely not going to have the profitability that you want to be at.

So it's worth looking at because it's really hard to be profitable if you're not, you know, let's call it over that $225,000 mark. You're definitely not going to have the profitability that you want to be at.

I mean, the other financial metric that you're really going to look at within all our businesses, a lot of people call it the big five, but you can call it whatever you want. You're managing your top five expenses, which in every one of our companies is... direct labor, direct material, office wages, vehicles, and marketing.

I mean, the other financial metric that you're really going to look at within all our businesses, a lot of people call it the big five, but you can call it whatever you want. You're managing your top five expenses, which in every one of our companies is... direct labor, direct material, office wages, vehicles, and marketing.