January 11, 2024

HVAC Pulse - How To Deal With Difficult Customers

Hi all,

We're now officially into 2024 and I'm excited to start the new year. The beginning of each new year invigorates us with a sense of motivation. A brand new start. We then set a few goals to reach for the year. These are mine for this newsletter:

• One thousand subscribers
• Paid memberships
• Consulting gigs
• Generate one lead a month that leads to a direct sale

I think these are all reasonable and attainable. I think email newsletters are a nice little break in our inboxes which are full of quote requests and automated emails. I subscribe to a few and I look forward to them when they come in. That is my goal with this newsletter. I know they can open up opportunities and relationships as well, so win, win in my book.

If you've signed up, thank you.

Here's to 2024!

How To Deal With Difficult Customers

I thought about this topic when a customer asked for a lead time on a certain product. I found out that we had an improvement over our standard lead time but the reaction I got wasn't what I expected.

Most manufacturers publish their normal expected lead times and I just relayed this information. Customer then asked if any expedite options were available and luckily for us, some units were available faster than their stated lead time!

I happily let my customer know about this delightful turn of events and got this response. "Ugh, I wish I had known that we could have got them sooner. They decided to go with another manufacturer.”

Usually when I share the good news and that we can get something sooner (at no additional cost!), I usually get a better response. And the disgust of their reply that came through via email didn't help either. I really wanted to clap back 👏🏼 with my own reply. I had a number of snarky nasty replies drafted up but I ended up not sending them. So how do I deal with difficult customers?

It's Not Always About You

This can be applied to life in general, but in a work environment, it's not always about you. A lot of the times, we are just at the whims of someone or something else. They put pressures on us that are out of our control and it can manifest itself as stress or bad behavior. Who hasn't honked at someone when you've been cut off on the freeway? And I can say I'm more likely to honk if I've had a particularly bad day. Same can happen in our work lives. A lot of our jobs depend on timelines that are stressful and in any sort of interaction, that stress can bubble up to the surface. So if someone is a little edgy, it's most likely from external factors that they can't control, and you shouldn't take it personally.

Repeat Business

At the end of the day, we are in the customer service/relationship business. We either provide a service or product to a customer and we interface with people during the course of this transaction. And if you've been in the HVAC industry for any amount of time, you'll know that it is a SMALL industry. You WILL run into that person again, so might as well keep the relationship healthy and not burn any bridges.

And what happened with that customer? We ended up getting the order anyway.

If You Watch One Thing

2024 Heat Pump Water Heater Buyers Guide

Matt Risinger on YouTube has a great overview on the new heat pump water heaters for 2024. These are a great alternative to heating your domestic water instead of with natural gas. There are also rebates available via the Inflation Reduction Act.

If you have any questions if you can take advantage of the IRA, especially when it comes to heat pumps, please reach out.

Links

• AHR Expo - AHR is around the corner. This year it's in Chicago. I won't be going this year, but a number of colleagues from PSG and Sigler are attending.
• VRF Install, Start Up, and Commissioning Training - We are continuously offering VRF training at Sigler's Brea, San Diego, and San Jose training rooms. These are required for purchasing and installing VRF equipment. See the schedule and sign up at the link here: https://www.siglers.com/training-registration
• PSG Line Card - We are a manufacturer's representative for a number of HVAC brands. You can find our line card here: PSG Line Card.

That's all for this edition. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Please share with a colleague and see you all in the next issue.

Thanks for reading! Whenever you're ready, here are ways I can help you.

1. Online VRF Boot Camp - An online course designed to give you the fundamentals to understanding VRF and its applications from a sales perspective.

2. Lunch and Learns - If you're in California, I'd love to come out and speak on VRF, heat pumps, and electrification.

3. YouTube Channel - You can find all my video content at my YouTube channel.

4. Consultations - Are you looking to use heat pumps or VRF on your next project? Let's talk.

5. Buy me a coffee - Want to support what I do? Buy me a coffee