Service vs Value

In todays fast E -World it is easy to get stuck believing price is everything. However just stop and think for a moment if price is everything why:

• Dont we all drive the same car?
• Wear clothes from china?
• Eat at fast food restaurants all the time?

Therefore what is important?

Value - You must ensure your offering is value for money which has nothing to do with price. Could it be:

•  that free delivery and installation plus a lesson on how to use it?
• Advice on style and colour from your clothing retailer?
• Longer life of your product or service?
• Etc Etc.

People that buy want value for money, if they cant find that they then look at price. What makes your product or service more valuable than your competitors?

• Good advice?
• A free offering?
• Longer guarantee?
• A lesson on how to use it?
• A friendlier place to buy?
• Free parking?

Who knows, however if you want to compete in today's highly competitive world think about the value you offer. What is it and how do your customers define it?

www.harlowchamber.co.uk

The Price Of Not Maintaining Your Investment

As an air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation and green heating company it never ceases to amaze me at how many service calls we attend and have to condemn relatively new equipment. This is usually because the owner has never had the equipment maintained or serviced.
The best analogy I can offer is with cars, if you left your car for 6 months or more, or worse used your car with out servicing it for years what would happen?
It would break down, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment is the same it is usually a sizable investment and like most mechanical machinery does not like sitting idle for extended periods.
It is often surprising and upsetting to the owner when we have to tell them the system is either irreparable or not economically viable to repair.
The most suprising fact is that when air conditioning and refrigeration equipment is not serviced it often costs over twice as much to run; a small investment in servicing will save you money and ensure that you get the full lifespan from your equipment instead of in some cases under half the lifespan. Remember this equipment is mechanical and if not regularly used and or overused without servicing it will break down. It is not a question of if but when.
Why not realize the full potential of your investment!
Free maintenance advice

Can creating the right conditions improve your customer’s decision making process?

It has long been understood that if the environmental conditions are right that people are happier. Hotels buy flowers, large corporations spend endless amounts of money on décor etc etc.
The best example is the practise of introducing oxygen in to the air conditioning systems in casinos.
These businesses do not do this for fun, serious research has allowed them to understand that if your customers are happy, and in the case of the casinos slightly euphoric they will spend and keep spending.
That is why high ticket item sellers spend so much time and money on getting the décor right. However other than the really enlightened very few spend money on the environmental conditions, great examples are real estate companies with no fresh air supply and draft causing Hi wall units stuck to the wall.
An example of this is buying a house, generally these days this is not a cheap purchase especially at the upper end of the market. The buyer is often stuck in a meeting room with poor conditions and expected to make decisions about spending large amounts of money.
There is a greater likelihood of this happening if they are
1st comfortable
2nd happy
Japanese companies have spent countless yen on researching this. They discovered there is a direct correlation to the internal temperature, oxygen and fresh air levels to the output of their staff. In fact the research states there was an easily definable 10% increase in production. That is 1 person for every ten.
No matter which way you look at in today’s tough market standing out is important even if your customers don’t understand fully why.
Increase your opportunities now and contact www.cyclonec.com or
www.airconditioninghomecounties.co.uk

Is Maintenance a Cost or Cost saving?

Maintenance within all businesses is very much a balance of the cost of completing the maintenance versus the cost benefit of not completing maintenance.
In our industry air conditioning units, fans, air handlers etc often cost between 2 & 3 times more to run when they are not maintained effectively.

For a 7KW cassette type unit this could be as much as £359 per year in additional electrical costs.

In most cases it does not cost anything like this to maintain a unit of this type properly.

The other consideration is the life span of the system poor or no maintenance can cut the life of the system by as much as half due to over running.

Therefore if your system cost £4K to have installed a reasonable life span is 10 years which means you have an asset cost of £400 per annum.

If the life span of the system is shortened by half this means this cost is now £800- per annum, an over spend of £400- add this to the overspend of £359-and this means potentially you could be throwing away as much as £759- per year.

For more information on this article - click maintenance the full story

Are you Customers Leaving?

Are your customers leaving because they are uncomfortable?

Most of us vote with our feet as many people do not like confrontation. Take a simple scenario last weekend I went camping with my family in Norfolk. Great campsite, nice area, cold showers. When my wife queried the owner about the showers the first time we got our money back (for the shower) and a promise to solve the problem. 2 days later when we left we explained the showers had remained cold, the owner ran away and shut the door. Talking to other campers they had showered at the beach down the road. No-one we spoke to will go back. There were 800+ campers there that weekend.

I have left restaurants, estate agents, hotel conference rooms and all sorts of other places for similar reasons.

Most business owners concentrate and the look of their business, however with 40% of the population being kinaesthetic the feel of your business is important too.
A local Pub we installed a ventilation and air conditioning system in 2 years ago tell me their summer profits are up year on year due to providing a cool environment in the summer.

Pay attention to the feel of your business as well as the look. Follow the link below for more information.

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Dont let those customers walk out.

Help your Customers to make that important purchasing Decision

It has always amazed me that when I spend a lot of time with a company over a big ticket item purchase the environment is so poor. In many cases I have just walked out and bought elswhere.
The casino operators in Las Vegas are about the best example of getting it right. They know that if they have the correct level of clean fresh air at a temperature designed to keep you awake their customers will spend as they are comfortable and happy, Are yours?
Fresh air is just as important as the temperature, as we produce carbon dioxide when we breathe and the finished materials in our shops, showrooms and offices leach out harmful contaminates in to the air stream. That Hi Wall air conditioning unit you had installed will just re-circulate these gases.
This causes a reduction in oxygen levels which causes headaches and tiredness. Get the picture, alert happy customers make those all important purchasing decisions quicker and easier.
Want to know more.....

Wow my air conditioning can heat cheaper than my electric heater!

Recently one of my neighbours asked me if we could price to remove an air conditioning unit from their conservatory.
When I asked why they wanted it removed I was told my neighbours wife didn't use it as she thought it was too expensive to run and wanted to replace the unit with electric heater.

I explained that the air conditioning unit was far cheaper to run than electric heaters as they were 250% efficent in other words for every unit of electricity used 2.5 units of heat are produced. As electric heaters are not even 100% efficent air conditioning is far more economical. I then went on to explain the other benefits:

Cleaner air as air filtered
Healthier environment as most modern units neutralize bacteria
Reduced household cost due to efficency and faster warm up times
Better environment as it cools the system will cool as well as heat

Consequently my neighbour has had his unit cleaned and serviced and is now very happy and using his air conditioning.