Business Conditions

Service vs Value

2011-11-01T14:48:00.000Z

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

2011-07-28T16:30:00.000+01:00

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?

2011-05-26T09:25:00.001+01:00

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?

2011-05-20T10:00:00.000+01:00

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?

2011-04-26T15:55:00.000+01:00

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.

I need more information

Dont let those customers walk out.

Help your Customers to make that important purchasing Decision

2011-04-14T07:55:00.000+01:00

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!

2010-09-27T13:51:00.000+01:00

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.

The Cooling Myth

2010-09-06T10:00:00.000+01:00

If you work in a building with a high insulation value you are less likely to be affected by external weather conditions. The buildings still warm up however over longer period of time by which time the external conditions have generally cooled down so the building then starts to cool over a longer period of time.

So why does it feel warm in the office?

Every person working in your space adds roughly 150 watts of heat, your computer, screen, phone, fax, lighting, printer expecially a laser printer adds heat to your office.
If as described above your building has a high insulation value this heat can not be transfered back outside quickly, therefore your office space retains the heat.

We in the air conditioning business often have to cool internal spaces that are hot when it is only 2 degrees outside.
So why don't we use the fresh cooler outside to cool our office spaces?

Many of us do by simply opening a window however this can confuse heating systems so be careful and ask before you do this.

At Cyclone we have been designing systems that utilize fresh air as a primary cooling source under the right conditions for many years now. These systems are more expensive to install, however they are far cheaper to run and provide a better environmenmt inside your office as you are breathing cleaned fresh air rather than re-circulated chilled air.

For more details on how you can achieve a better and healthier working environment contact vance@ cyclonec.com

Air Conditioning & the end of Summer

2010-08-31T14:44:00.000+01:00

The temperature at this time of year is all over the place, so those of us with air conditioning are at least comfortable as unlike conventional heating systems air conditioning copes very well with rapidly changing temperatures.

However a little piece of advice set your machine to the mode you require such as heating or cooling as otherwise you might find yourself blasted with hot or cold air when you least need it.

If you have any air conditioning questions try my new blog http://aircondoctor.blogspot.com/

Air Conditioning Problems?

2010-06-28T10:24:00.002+01:00

In My last Blog I stated the best temperature for setting your AC unit in the summer is a close match to the outside temperature my advice is to set your AC unit at 22 deg. C.

What if it isn't working and how can you tell?

The best way to find out if your AC system is working correctly is to measure the temperature difference from where the room air comes on to the unit (near the filter) and then to measure the conditioned air coming from the unit.

There should be at least a 10 degree C difference. If there is not call us on 0845 371 0185 and one of our engineers will sort the problem out for you.

Choosing the right Temperature?

2010-05-24T09:06:00.003+01:00

What is the right temperature for your office?

Set It too high and everyone complains, set it too low and not only does it cost a fortune, but the equipment wears out sooner.

Here is a rough guide for those hot days.

The human comfort level recommendations from ASHRAE maintain that somewhere between 18-24 deg Celsius is the acknowledged comfort zone for human beings in light clothing carrying out light task activity such as office work.

My advice is always to match the temperature outside within this range as much as you can.

Thermal shock is not something us human beings are well equipped to deal with i.e. if it is 30 deg outside do not set your air conditioning to 18 deg as the shock on our bodies moving from the 2 vastly different temperatures is not good.

Alternatively if it is 16 deg outside match your air conditioning on its heating setting to 18 deg.

Hope this helps to solve a couple of those office arguments and reduce sickness.

bye for now

Vance Rowe

Reality & True Costs

2010-05-13T16:54:00.004+01:00

In the world of building management there are 2 x energy usage costs that stand head and shoulders above the others.

The first of these is the Lifts.
The second which I am going to elaborate on today is the air conditioning, ventilation and heating.

AC incorporates all of the above and is rarely understood as an area that building owners and occupiers can do something about.
Air conditioning filters, coils and other heat exchange devices contribute to a large part of the cost. The reason most of us don't realize this is that the costs creep up slowly on the power bill so we don't really notice.

Huge savings can be made, we saved a client 10K last year in energy costs alone by understanding the operation of the system and providing the right response.

If you want to know more follow this link.

http://cyclonec.com/maintenance.html

How to get Paid for Heating Your House

2010-04-13T09:08:00.003+01:00

Did you know you can now receive 7p per KW/Hr of electricity used for HEATING AND HOT WATER back as a an annual payment for 18 years. YES THAT IS 7P PER kw/hr USED FOR 18 YEARS.

Energy reduction is being taken seriously by our government both past and new. The micro- generation scheme has been set up for both business and domestic users to offer incentives for embracing new more efficient technology.

The technology this blog is focusing on is air source heat pumps. Basically we remove your boiler and replace it with a climate box and new hot water cylinder. In most cases you keep your current radiators and / or underfloor heating system. No messy pulling apart your home or work space.

At best your boiler if it is a new condensing boiler is giving you 80% efficiency that is .8 KW of heat for every 1 KW used.

An air source heat pump is up to 550% efficient that is up to 5.5 KW of heat for every KW used.

Want to know more email me vance@cyclonec.com

The DIY Myth

2009-10-23T13:50:00.010+01:00

Recently I was asked by one of our major air conditioning equipment suppliers to have a look at a building as their equipment had been installed in the building and it wasn't working properly.
The owner had called in another company and was unsure of their solution so contacted the manufacturer.
The system was installed in a trade and retail showroom and upstairs offices and it was so noisy they couldn't hear themselves speak, there was heavy vibration through the ceiling and it was either really hot or really cold and did not cool sufficiently on hot days.
Upon inspecting the installation it was evident that the units used were on the large side to minimize the number of systems installed. In fact there was nothing wrong with this if it had been engineered correctly. Without boring you with too many technical details a brief overview of what was wrong is:

- There were too few ceiling grille outlets creating massive air noise.
- No anti- vibration mounts were installed.
- The outdoor units were installed under a stair well in the factory.
- There was no insulation on the upstairs duct work so it was picking up all of the 50 deg. C heat in the ceiling space.
- No air silencers were installed.
- No drawings were produced.
- No warranty exists.
- The return air was not ducted so even when it was cold outside the system thought the space was hot. etc etc.

My report was several pages long.

However.......

Upon asking the building owner how the project originated I found that the owner had no knowledge of the detail of the air conditioning system the builder was responsible for installing and after further investigation we found out it was installed by a roller door company that did air conditioning as a sideline whom no longer exist.

Why? The owner took the best price, the builder took the best price. No one checked the design credentials of the installation company or their previous work.

When I questioned the owner about this I found out despite spending a large amount of money on his new building there was no - Project manager or mechanical services consultant involved, no insurance or deign credentials checked for the design build contractor and as the owner had only employed the architect for the design and not to manage the project there was no inter-action between the architect and the builder.

In fact we found out the builder had not even built the building properly.

The cost to the owners business:

Lost retail customers
Staff complaints
Higher energy costs as heating was now done by other means.
He even bought portable air conditioning units which did not really do the job.
Repair Budget £25-30K

Cost of a project manager for the project about £22K.

It never ceases to amaze me how people think that construction management and delivering a purposeful building and environment is not considered to be a great skill until after the problems occur.

Most of us do not

Do our own dentistry, surgery, fly our own 747's when travelling. Why is it then that many Company's and building owners get caught out by this trap?

It is the false economy of thinking we can save money, you only have to watch DIY SOS to understand how prolific this problem is.

You can get help follow the link below for some of things you should consider before parting with your hard earned cash.

The 17 things you need to know before selecting an Air conditioning Contractor

I hope this helps someone to save money.

Vance Rowe

The Devil's in the Detail

2009-07-29T21:42:00.002+01:00

Business conditions being what they are it is not suprising many business owners have such a broad focus these days. However, there are success stories and these companies are truly understanding the power of communicating with their suppliers. Let me give you an example of what the potential of this strategy is.

Last Monday I stopped into a pub with my family for an early dinner. We were shown into the back, a pleasant area with other dinner's. I thought the food was great. The matradee had seated the patrons in small groups around the large restaurant to give the appearance of being busier than it was, so he really knew his stuff. He also seemed to know many of the patrons so the atmosphere was great as were the staff.

However.... It was really hot. There was an airconditioning unit above my head and as I own an air-conditioning company I can actually say the unit was of good quality and it was the right unit for the job. Half way through our meal the staff turned it on and the room cooled down considerably. What then became the problem was the 6 deg c air that wafted across us and the other dinner's.

What did I do?

As I have young children I left quickly as did other dinner's.

What did the Pub miss out on?

That extra pint (0r 2), desert for the kids, cocktail for the couple in the corner etc.etc...

The advice.... turn off the outlet vanes on the air-conditioner and aim them up so the air warms up a little before it hits the dinner's but is still cool.

The cost.....Free, pity the relationship between his current supplier and the restaurant has not developed to the level where the restaurant owner knew this was possible and the supplier had ensured everyone was trained in the use of the unit.

And what must it cost the business owner whom already has a business with a great team and quite probably by the covers I saw early on a Monday night an already succesful business imagine a further potential 10% uplift (or maybe more) from every customer just by sitting in their seat and understanding it from the other side of the coin.

Understanding things from your customers perspective and offering real and total value is todays minimum business objective and the devils in the detail

Vance Rowe

Cyclone Commerce Ltd, Odourvac Ltd, WSPC (UK) Ltd,
Chair of the Harlow and district Chamber of Commerce

PS. The weather thing just click the edit button and type in your preferred location to get the weather report for what its worth where you are.