ACCA’s Fall Meetings Bring Contractors New Ideas And Growth Opportunities
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On October 1 – 4, ACCA, the nation’s largest organization of indoor environment and energy services contracting businesses, and its partners at the NEWS, held back-to-back training events in Austin, Texas.
2nd Annual Building Performance Forum
In its second year, ACCA’s Building Performance Forum grew to new heights with a 19 percent increase in attendance. With a brand new program, attendees had the opportunity to get a 360 degree look at what it means to be a home and building performance contractor.
The event kicked off on October 1 with building science expert Allison Bailes, PhD. of Energy Vanguard, talking about how building performance is much more than an elephant in the room, it’s a dinosaur that cannot and should not be ignored. He drove home the vast number of opportunities that are available for contractors to capitalize on and how they are primed to be the leaders in the industry if they take the time to do work properly.
The Building Performance Forum featured 12 learning labs over the course of the next day and a half featuring some of the top contractors and industry experts sharing tips for starting in the home and building performance market and selling these services to customers, as well as their real-life experiences with overcoming challenges and building their home and building performance market share.
The event wrapped up with a special session hosted by ACCA Building Performance Council Chairman, Ellis Guiles of TAG Mechanical, going through a “Top Ten” list of what contractors learned at the event and how ACCA can grow the event in 2014.
“It was really beneficial to have contractors share information on how they have been successful doing home performance. There were several contractors who provided a wealth of information that I can put into action when I get back to my business,” said Bernie Sweeney of Oliver Heating & Cooling in Morton, Penn.
“This was a very good event. The knowledge and skills of the presenters was great and they shared a lot of useful tips for selling home performance,” said Ryan Lane of Sunset Air & Home Services in Fort Myers, Florida.
“I came to the Building Performance Forum looking for a system to implement home performance into my business, and that is what I found while attending the sessions,” added Jim Altman of Four Seasons Ac & Heating Co., Inc. in Kingsville, Texas.
The Building Performance Forum included a sponsor showcase filled with companies sharing information on their products and services that will help contractors find success in building and home performance. Sponsors for the event were: 3M/Filtrete; AC Leak Freeze; Aeroseal; CallSource; ComfortRX; Contractor HVAC Network (CHVAC); ContractorSelling.com; Demandforce; Dr. Energy Saver; Emerson; The Energy Conservatory; Goodman, a member of Daikin Group; GreenHomes America; Honeywell; Indow Windows; Jackson Systems; Mitsubishi; NATE; and Ultra-Aire.
6th Annual Service Managers Forum
In its sixth year, the Service Managers Forum reached new levels of success, including a 12 percent growth over last year’s attendance, making it the highest attendance ever. As in past years, the program focused on the skills necessary for service professionals to perform at the highest possible level to ensure growth for years to come.
The day and a half event kicked off on October 3 with an entertaining opening session that featured Jason Young, a former high level manager for Southwest Airlines, talking about building teams that can grow and succeed together. He shared his experiences working with Southwest and showed attendees how they could take those lessons back to their companies and inspire their teams and move to new levels of success.
The event also featured 10 learning labs that covered everything from how to hold service meetings and adding new services to how to attract great salespeople and handling poor performers. The learning labs were presented by some of the top contractors and service managers in the country and leading industry consultants.
The Service Managers Forum wrapped up with one of ACCA’s most popular sessions, “I’ve Got An Idea!” with Vince DiFilippo of DiFilippo’s Service Company. During this session, attendees stood up and shared some of their best ideas for growing their businesses, rewarding their employees, and overcoming some of the toughest challenges they face on a daily basis.
“There was so much information available for service managers at this event. It was very helpful and I left with a lot of great ideas to implement back at my company,” said Louis Vannicolo of Brandywine Valley Heating & Air Conditioning in West Chester, Penn.
“I learned a lot of new tools to take back to my company that I can use to make improvements,” said Ki Bartlett of TD Industries in Fort Worth, Texas. “It is also great that all the presentations are online, so that I can go back and use them for reference later when I am putting what I learned into action.”
“The best part of the Service Managers Forum is meeting with a lot of people who have the same problems or issues as I do and learning different ways to handle them. This happens in the classrooms, in between classes, and during the lunch and reception,” said Carl Riedell of Carl F Riedell & Son in Osterville, Mass.
The Service Managers Forum also included a sponsor showcase with vendors providing solutions for some of the problems service professionals face on a daily basis. Sponsors included: 3M/Filtrete; AC Leak Freeze; CallSource; Contractor HVAC Network (CHVAC); ContractorSelling.com; Data-Basics, Inc.; Davisware; Demandforce; Diversified Pure Chem; Emerson; Excellence Alliance; Goodman, a member of Daikin Group; Honeywell; Jackson Systems; Mitsubishi; NATE; Reach Local; Select Onsite; and Service Automation.
The 3rd Annual Building Performance Forum and 7th Annual Service Managers Forum will be taking place October 7 – 10, 2014, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mark your calendars now to join ACCA and the NEWS for these events, and check www.buildingperformanceforum.com and www.servicemanagersforum.com for more information coming soon.
Posted In: ACCA Now, Partner News
