ARS buys out Service Experts????

[energy star]

Did the same person start One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning?

[Customersfirst]

Did the same person start One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning?

Yes, James Abrams (founder of One-Hour) started Service Experts.

No the model does not lend to taking advantage of customers--dishonest people do.

SEI is very particular with Ethics and best practices.

I love unfounded opinions. Some people...

Hey we are all entitled to opinions i guess, but i know them personally.

Yes all their staff knows about the aquistion; However, it is too early to share whom that may be--that's stuff thats confidential Iam sure to protect the buyers at this point.

Sure we will find out--hope they get back to what James Abrams first created, that man is a Legend in this industry--from the days of Trane in the 70's to recently when he retired.

Let's wait and see...good competition is good for the industry, and the customer.

[ex sei ee]

And we had to carry the "banner". Thank you Tim Maquire and your later supporters. The field and and the field management tried to warn you. That was the start of the end. Then more wonderful ideas came from folks like Tom Wilson and the "knowledge base" that knew how to run a buisness. What they didn't admit to was they knew how to run it into the ground. Then they started on the techs with the handheld device and the inventory process improvements. A story in decay chapter by chapter. But, those of you in Canada at least had a litlle more time before all the 'improvements' were thrown at you - right?

[Special Ed]

The link just says Lennox is divesting themselves of SE because they feel it's unnecessary or redundant (or maybe too cumbersome) to own a residential HVAC service co since they already have so many dealers in the can. Or maybe they just don't want to compete w/those other dealers. Who knows?

So maybe a couple of investors already involved w/SE offered to take SE off of Lennox's hands just like with what happened w/ARS. There doesn't have to be a buyer, does there? I mean by a competitor. Besides, I can't imagine the brand confusion that would create for both SE and ARS.

[allan38]

The most successful salesman and companies have a lot of return and referral customers. The return and referral business turbo-charge a salesman and the company they work for. The productivity difference is similar to that between gathering wild mushrooms and tending and raising a garden.

[Customersfirst]

The most successful salesman and companies have a lot of return and referral customers. The return and referral business turbo-charge a salesman and the company they work for. The productivity difference is similar to that between gathering wild mushrooms and tending and raising a garden.

Very well put. This is the difference between professional selling and acting like "bubba" pushing some "deal" to the Customer.

As far as not having a competitive buyer--who knows. None of us.

Again, we will have to wait, but if the plan is to sell by the end of the year--due diligence would say they have a buyer.

[tedkidd]

I am surprised with the comments from a few of you here.

Firstly, to assume you can take a Dale Carnegie class and be an instant Sales Professional? Come on guys.

At least show some humility.

Seriously. We are all here to earn a living.

"Being a tech is so easy, even a cave man could do it..."

"Being an installer is so easy, even a cave man could do it..."

Yeah, some people tend to simplify jobs they know nothing about. Conclude that all that is involved is what they see. Funny how those same people get really frustrated when what THEY do gets painted with the same brush.

Really funny is when it's the boss telling people how simple it is. Few days doing it reminds him what it's really like.

[timebuilder]

I am surprised with the comments from a few of you here.

Firstly, to assume you can take a Dale Carnegie class and be an instant Sales Professional? Come on guys.

A good Sales Person takes care of not only the customer, but also the installer. NONE of us would have jobs in this industry if it was not for the Sales Person. Yes, none of them would have anything to sell if it was not for Installers--and the Tech would not have a job if it was not for both of them.

Sales people get a bad wrap--let's not forget they are not all evil, they are not all scammers. A good company hires a good Sales Person and trains them to be a pro. A great sales person will support a install team with 1mm sales per year.

Nextly, talk about a aquisition is fine and dandy, we are all interested--but show some compassion. Comments about firing the whole Texas team? Have a heart.

I personally know many in the Texas team and they are good people with families--I wish them the best and hope the company who buys them, whomever it is, takes them seriously as a entity and grows them to live up the their Service Excellence promise.

If you don't have anything good to say stick to the tech talk. I bet a lot of your fellow members here work for Service Experts.

At least show some humility.

Seriously. We are all here to earn a living.

I'm a Dale grad AND a former sales pro. I can tell you that most of the world's sales are driven by consumers, and not sales people.

It's need, and in some cases, want.

If you work for a service company, you are there to SERVICE the system. Fix it if a) it makes sense or b) replacement is not indicated or cannot be afforded.

We have far too many guys in this industry riding around in vans looking like SERVICE people, when in reality, their mandate from their boss is to SELL equipment, and not service it.

I think this aspect of the residential dynamic is, at best, disingenuous.

To be honest, those trucks should all say "HVAC Sales" on the side.

And not mention service, at all.

On the topic of Service Experts, it should be Sales Required Experts.

A guy from my church, and all but one tech, gave notice when it was announced that Service Experts was buying out their Co a few years ago.

I feel sorry for the guys in Texas, because I AM a compassionate guy. But this is a company who is reaping what they sow, just like another Lennox-related Co on the commercial side.

You can't run an industry on sales guys and kids just out of tech school. The market ultimately says it does not work as a sustainable business model.

[tedkidd]

LOL Right Now. TB your posts are awesome. Can't fault a thing there, although I think there is no nicer purchase experience than one that involves a true consultative sales person.

Maybe we need some type of Contractor Registry to change the competitive paradigm to one where there is long term financial reward for delivering quality, not just intrinsic gratification...

Unfortunately I'm finding intrinsic gratification doesn't pay the grocery bill.

[timebuilder]

LOL Right Now. TB your posts are awesome. Can't fault a thing there, although I think there is no nicer purchase experience than one that involves a true consultative sales person.

Maybe we need some type of Contractor Registry to change the competitive paradigm to one where there is long term financial reward for delivering quality, not just intrinsic gratification...

Unfortunately I'm finding intrinsic gratification doesn't pay the grocery bill.

I think the onset of internet communication has begun to reveal which companies leave the customer saying "they replaced my three year old system" and which companies leave the customer saying "they gave me three options, and they did a great job of the repair."

[Special Ed]

Very well put. This is the difference between professional selling and acting like "bubba" pushing some "deal" to the Customer.

As far as not having a competitive buyer--who knows. None of us.

Again, we will have to wait, but if the plan is to sell by the end of the year--due diligence would say they have a buyer.

Of course there's a buyer, Lennox isn't just gonna spin SE off w/out making some kind of a profit, they'd be pretty stupid if they did IMO. I just don't know if it's gonna be some huge conglomerate investment house that buys it, current SE executives, or a competitor.

Either way it's gonna be interesting....

[jasonhermonat]

I'm a Dale grad AND a former sales pro. I can tell you that most of the world's sales are driven by consumers, and not sales people.

It's need, and in some cases, want.

If you work for a service company, you are there to SERVICE the system. Fix it if a) it makes sense or b) replacement is not indicated or cannot be afforded.

We have far too many guys in this industry riding around in vans looking like SERVICE people, when in reality, their mandate from their boss is to SELL equipment, and not service it.

I think this aspect of the residential dynamic is, at best, disingenuous.

To be honest, those trucks should all say "HVAC Sales" on the side.

And not mention service, at all.

On the topic of Service Experts, it should be Sales Required Experts.

A guy from my church, and all but one tech, gave notice when it was announced that Service Experts was buying out their Co a few years ago.

I feel sorry for the guys in Texas, because I AM a compassionate guy. But this is a company who is reaping what they sow, just like another Lennox-related Co on the commercial side.

You can't run an industry on sales guys and kids just out of tech school. The market ultimately says it does not work as a sustainable business model.

been there 15 years,the last 5 years of corp. has ruined the name.We are told to recommend replacing units that are over 10 years old & I just can't do that,it's not right.They also took a weeks vacation away from us.The call center & handhelds are a waste of money.We've already lost alot of customers.Hopefully who ever buys us knows how to run a company

[ex sei ee]

Hopefully they will not keep any of the Dallas Management staff that has caused all of the ill will with both the customers, employees and the vendors. I heard ARS bought them. They were not going to announce the buy out until they had a signed deal. It would ruin Lennox stock prices if they didn't already have a deal. Todd Bluedorn has been trying to sell this company for the last 4 years. It just wasn't lean enough until he made a lot of changes at the management and employee level.