Cracking the Code

Why is company reputation one of the hardest systems to fix in HVAC? Because homeowners are not just buying equipment. When they are making a major purchase that affects their comfort and requires someone to work inside their home — trust matters! A strong reputation is built when customers feel confident you will follow through and deliver the kind of experience they feel good telling other peopl...

How much revenue is slipping away simply because no one is following up fast enough? A lot of contractors think they need more leads, when the real problem is what happens after a lead comes in. Missed calls, slow call backs, and weak estimate follow-up can quietly drain revenue from the pipeline without most owners realizing how much opportunity they are losing. In this week’s episode of Cr...

The HVAC industry continues to evolve. Contractors are navigating shifting customer expectations, economic pressure, evolving technology, labor challenges, and the growing complexity of running a business in a market that never stays still for long. With so many moving parts, it can be difficult to know what is changing, what matters most, and where the biggest areas for growth may be ahead. In th...

The habits that made you good in the field might be the same ones keeping your business from growing. Contractors are taught to move fast, fix the problem, and get to the next call. But building a successful HVAC business takes more than technical skill. It takes a different mindset, one that helps you create trust, guide better customer decisions, and stop running the business the way it was done...

How do you build a successful HVAC business when no one taught you the business side? Many contractors enter the industry with strong technical skills but little training in running a successful company. That gap can make growth feel harder than it should, even for owners who know the work inside and out. In this episode of Cracking the Code, Contractor University Business Coach, Bob Larkin breaks...

Is ductwork and poor filtration reducing your HVAC system’s value? Most HVAC systems are still being matched to ductwork that was never designed to deliver the comfort, airflow, or air quality homeowners actually need. That creates a hidden problem: even high-efficiency equipment can underperform when the system behind it is not working the way it should. In this episode of Cracking the Code, Drew...

What are homeowners really buying when they replace their HVAC system, a box or a better outcome? In a market full of look-a-like equipment and competing claims, contractors who can connect performance, comfort and long-term value are the ones who stand apart. In this episode of Cracking the Code, Anton Martin, Owner of English Air, joins David Holt to talk about what it takes to deliver more than...

Does your sales team sell what’s inside the box or the full value of what you deliver? When every proposal sounds the same, it’s harder to stand out and even harder to help homeowners understand what they are really buying. In this episode of Cracking the Code, Drew Cameron shares how contractors can break out of that cycle by selling by design instead of by default. He explains why the real...

“Are you really losing on price or failing to show what customers value? When contractors lead with specs, brands, and “SEER talk,” homeowners do what they’ve been trained to do: compare quotes and pick a number. But when you translate your work into what they actually care about — better sleep, fewer allergy flare-ups, quieter rooms, a home they can finally enjoy, the conversation changes....

Are you really short on leads or just failing to convert the ones you already have? Too often business owners blame marketing when revenue slows. They buy more leads, spend more money, and hope volume fixes the issue. But if your booking rate is weak, you’re not growing, you’re wasting money. In this week’s episode of Cracking the Code, Zach Wilson of Lokal breaks down the real cost of unbooked ca...

Are you trying to beat the competition — or become a category of one? Too many contractors chase “being the best” by comparing, discounting, and outpacing everyone else. But in business, winning isn’t about beating someone, it’s about becoming so unique, so dialed in, and so committed to growth that there is no comparison. In this week’s episode of Cracking the Code, Drew Cameron breaks down...

Is your sales process getting more automated — but less effective? When HVAC decisions get reduced to scripts, software, and speed, contractors risk losing the one thing homeowners actually buy from, people. Homeowners call because life was disrupted and they want to feel taken care of. In this week’s episode of Cracking the Code, Drew Cameron unpacks why human connection is what truly drives HVAC...

Is your marketing funnel actually leading to converted customers? Stop paying for clicks that don’t convert. Or overcompensating with heavy paid search spend when a few website tweaks could unlock stronger organic results. If your marketing feels unpredictable, the problem usually isn’t that “marketing doesn’t work.” It’s almost always that the wrong metrics are being tracked and the right questio...

Are you building your business around brands and transactions or building foundational relationships that actually drive profit? If growth feels harder than it should, the problem may not be your pricing, products, or marketing. It might be as simple as how you’re partnering across your business. In this week’s episode of Cracking the Code, Drew Cameron breaks down what partnering for profit reall...

What actually makes one HVAC company unforgettable while another blends into the background? It’s the experience you deliver at every touchpoint, from the first phone call to the final walkthrough. On this week’s episode, Jason Walker, President of Royalty Heating & Air and Founder of HVAC Masters of the Hustle, breaks down how top-performing contractors are building brands that command atten...

If your manufacturer or distributor relationship only starts when you need equipment and ends when the invoice is paid — you’re missing some real growth opportunities. The trades are being reshaped by new technology, evolving rebate and incentive programs, and the way contractors are being supported. On this week’s episode of Cracking the Code, David Holt is joined by Drew Cameron, President of Fl...

Still stuck in a cycle of posting jobs, waiting, and disappointing results? For many contractors, hiring feels unpredictable with changing labor markets, employee expectations, and stale job postings. On this week’s episode, Kelly Presgrave, President & CEO of Work With Your Handz, breaks down how top contractors bring structure and predictability to hiring. From the one metric that changes e...

Are you incentivizing performance effectively? Most pay plans look good on paper but fail in the real world because they’re too slow, too complicated, or reward the wrong things. On this episode of Cracking the Code, Paul Kelly, Former Owner of Parker & Sons, unpacks the no-ceiling compensation model behind Parker & Sons’ explosive growth. From instant rewards to simple structures people...

Many contractors overlook the easiest path to bigger tickets and faster closes: light commercial jobs. When a business loses heating or cooling, they can’t wait — they shut down. That urgency turns what many think of as commercial work into quick, residential-style jobs that fund fast and close even faster. On this week’s episode Matthew Bratsis, Vice President of Contractor Services and creator o...

Is your follow-up speed costing you thousands in missed revenue? Studies show that if you don’t reach a new lead within a minute, your chances of converting it drop by more than half. In today’s world of instant responses and disappearing attention spans, every second truly matters when responding to homeowners. This week on Cracking the Code, Justin Judd, Vice President of Sales & Partnershi...

How are you performing on lead generation? Many contractors still think lead generation is about ranking on Google and bidding on the right keywords. But the game has changed. You’re not marketing to an audience, you’re marketing to three: traditional search engines, the homeowner, and AI search agents On this week’s episode of Cracking the Code, Jack Nagy, Founder of MTA360, breaks down how...

What’s the fastest path to double your business growth? Chad Petermen, President & CEO of Peterman Brothers, says it’s mastering your call center! Most contractors already have good lead volume, but they don’t properly manage them. The real opportunity is booking more of the calls you’re already paying for, routing the right tech to the right job, and treating the call cente...

Selling an HVAC business isn’t just a financial milestone. It’s a legacy moment that reflects your leadership and the culture you’ve built. Successful exits happen when owners prepare early and treat the transition as the next chapter of their company’s story, not just a transaction. This week on Cracking the Code, David Holt sits down with Austin Radke, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at The...

Too many contractors still rely on quote-driven sales processes that often cause confusion and slow sales momentum, sometimes to a screeching halt. This week on Cracking the Code, Drew Cameron and Russ Horrocks of Flow Odyssey explore a more customer-focused way to sell: menu pricing. Together, they unpack how menu pricing simplifies decisions for homeowners and how shifting the conversation from...

Building a strong customer base is great, but building a referral fan base is transformative. Companies that master unforgettable customer service every time can see remarkable growth. On this episode of Cracking the Code, Mary Jean “MJ” Anderson, retired president of Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air, unpacks how wowing customers fulled a leading company built on trust, care, and consistency....