Old-School HVAC Thinking Is Holding You Back

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 20 years ago.

In this episode of Cracking the Code, Contractor University coach, Joel Torma, shares why traditional HVAC thinking can hold contractors back and what it really takes to move forward. Joel uncovers why growth starts when you are willing to challenge what you were taught, slow down, and lead customers through better options instead of just quick fixes.

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Focus in on what’s broken today. Running ten calls a day at 150 bucks. That’s what I was taught to.

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Welcome back to Cracking the Code. I’m your host, David Holt. Please subscribe, like, comment, and share this episode so you can join us as we help the Hvac industry be better tomorrow than it is today. In this special series, we’re introducing you to the people behind the coaching program at Contractor University. One of the biggest challenges many contractors face isn’t technical, it’s financial.

00:00:36:17 – 00:01:08:00

Pricing work properly. Understanding margins. Building a profitable business. Those are all areas where many owners were never formally trained. Our guest today is Coach Joel Trauma, one of our experienced business coaches here at Contractor University. Joel has spent many years helping contractors understand the financial side of their business, particularly when it comes to pricing strategy and building confidence to charge appropriately for the value they provide.

00:01:08:02 – 00:01:31:01

Joel has helped many contractors gain clarity around their numbers and developed pricing structures that allow them to grow profitable companies. So let’s get to it. Hey, Joel, thanks for joining us today. Good afternoon boss. Glad to be here. Excited. Don’t be calling me boss. We’re on the same team. We’re just coworkers, and it’s all good. Listen, man, I want to.

00:01:31:01 – 00:01:57:14

First, I want to start off with, number one. Glad to have you on on cracking the code, but I want you to tell us a little bit about your journey in Hvac. Where did all get started? Well, my journey started probably when I was born, because I was kind of born into this industry. Yeah. I’m fourth generation Hvac, a great grandfather, grandfather, father.

00:01:57:16 – 00:02:19:08

And, Yep. Family started a business probably back in 1950. And, small town of big town of Palestine, Texas. We were the only contractor in town at that time. So, it was, you know, we had the monopoly on the business there, but, yeah, we, ran that business up until about 2005 and and sold, sold that business.

00:02:19:08 – 00:02:39:22

And, yeah, kind of went off on my own for a little while and, and then got into coaching. So I’ve been doing this for, for quite a while. Yeah. One of the, one of my favorite things as a kid was, tearing apart window units. That was that. That’s what I, that’s I didn’t want to go do anything else but go up to the shop with my grandfather and and tear those one units apart.

00:02:39:22 – 00:02:58:06

So that’s kind of where I, I started my career and never put them back together until I got a little older. But I knew how to tear them apart. So. So what led you into coaching contractors? Well, I mean, I’ll be completely honest. Once you get past a certain age and this is, you know, you can’t really crawl in the attics anymore.

00:02:58:06 – 00:03:17:00

You can’t get out of the houses, your back’s gone, and, you know, so I, I just I’ve always. I mean, I know this is weird to say, but I have a passion for this industry. It’s it’s really taking care of my family and and for for many, many years. And and I’ve seen the good, the bad, the ugly of everything you can see.

00:03:17:00 – 00:03:33:17

And and so, I feel like my I like to coach on experience. I like to train on experience. That’s the kind of things that I think are very valuable to this industry. And so I’ve seen my, my growing up, my family do a lot of bad things and, and in business and, and do a lot of great things.

00:03:33:17 – 00:04:07:20

So, yeah, that’s, one of the things I’ve always wanted to do was, was help people. That’s just something that I, I love doing. And, and this is something I can really continue working on my passion and help people. So that’s kind of how I got into it. That experience goes a long way. And that’s one of the things I love about what we do with Contractor University is we have the ability to share life experience in the trenches that we have, and that we’ve learned from others and, and help people avoid some of those real bad mistakes.

00:04:07:22 – 00:04:28:12

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think that, you know, I think there’s a lot of different platforms out there and, and a lot of people tell you you’ve got to do it one way. And but I truly believe that everyone’s different. And we have to figure out how to tweak things to, to so that, that it works for you and for your company.

00:04:28:12 – 00:04:47:20

And so I think that’s the one thing I love about EGA and contracting university, is that we kind of have a, an open platform to, to help all different levels and all different skill sets and all different people figure out how, how they’re going to be successful. So that’s that’s my experience from coaching different places. Yeah. And one size doesn’t fit all.

00:04:47:20 – 00:05:17:14

You’re right in the progression where people are I think I mean think about it. Yes. All businesses need to know how to price their work. So there are foundational principles for instance, that that are like universal all the way across. But, you know, from my grandfather, when he started in 1956 and he was the only employee, and then he had an indentured servant called my grandmother that was helping him with the business, doing the books and answering the phone and stuff like that.

00:05:17:16 – 00:05:41:00

Yeah. They probably at that point don’t need an employee manual, right? A personnel manual, they probably don’t need some of the other things that you would have if you were running a 100 text. Right. They don’t really need a dispatch system the same way that you would if you were running 100 texts. So there’s differences depending on the the scale of the business for sure.

00:05:41:02 – 00:06:11:09

So looking back on your career, what are 1 or 2 lessons that really shaped how you think about running a contracting business and and what your advice to contractors is as a coach? I’m going to say change. That’s that’s the key word to everything, because I think most people in this industry, were taught by people from the past, the older generation and, very successful.

00:06:11:14 – 00:06:55:18

But yeah, exactly. Mentored the older generation. Well, yes. And and and things progress, things change. And so we have to keep up with, you know, the, the, the new ways that are going to make these business successful nowadays. And so, I think that being able to, to, to change and, and get on board and try something new is, is is the key and, and and I, I live that firsthand because I was taught by my father and grandfather to the only thing that was important was to to get the customer up and running and that’s it, you know, so focusing on what’s broken today, running ten calls a day at 150 bucks, that’s what

00:06:55:18 – 00:07:17:18

I was taught. And I didn’t know any better until I stepped away from that and got into a business where their goal was to, really spend time with the customer and, and let that customer make a decision on what’s best for them and give options on, on, on what’s going to make their life, you know, more comfortable, more efficient, more reliable and safer and more safe.

00:07:17:21 – 00:07:37:10

You know, and I know you have a different one that you use too as well on that, but it’s kind of the same thing. So I, it took me it took me a long time to transition because as technicians, because I was a technician before, we were always the best technician out there. And, we know what’s best for the customer.

00:07:37:10 – 00:07:59:22

And we already know what the problem is before we go over to that house. And so that that mindset change of what I had to do to to really focus on a process and slow down and really build a connection and trust with those customers. That was the hardest thing. And I think that that’s what’s what’s the hardest thing for these contractors nowadays is they’re they’re stuck in the their old ways.

00:07:59:22 – 00:08:16:09

And it’s easy and they feel comfortable and they don’t want to change. And it’s because it’s not it’s not easy to change. No. It is a difficult thing. That’s human nature isn’t it. Well, tell you what. We’re going to make this a two part series. So Joel, this has been really helpful so far. People getting to know a little bit about you guys a little bit on your background.

00:08:16:09 – 00:08:35:23

We know you’re a fourth generation guy. You beat me by one. I’m a third generation guy, so that’s awesome. Thanks for sharing your perspective with us on this stuff. And and for those listening, if you’re part of contractor university coaches like, like Joel are available to help you think through pricing, profitability, and the financial side of your business, without a doubt.

00:08:35:23 – 00:08:55:06

Plus a whole lot more. So check it out at my contractor university.com. Joel, thanks again for joining us today. We’re going to have you right back and talk a little bit more about some of those details. So thanks to everyone listening to Cracking the Code where we make Hvac business fun, simple and stress free. Don’t forget to subscribe, comment, like, and share this episode.

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And until next time, keep on cracking!