Charlene Ierna is the owner of Ierna’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing in the Greater Tampa Bay, FL area and a certified alligator trapper. She shares why culture, training, and creative thinking are foundational materials for building a resilient home services business.

Your Business Runs on People

Charlene makes it clear that her focus in the business is the people she serves and the people she employs. At Ierna’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, she strives to create a work-family culture, recognizing that most employees spend a significant time in the workplace. Some key features of her approach to cultivating this work-family culture include:
Let your team know you support them and have their back.
Discipline and hold each other accountable as a family would.
Teach and help each other grow with purpose.

They’ve also invested in creating valuable rewards programs that recognize employees who hit their goals. From company cruises to renting yachts and hosting lake days with fun activities, Charlene emphasizes that this relationship and team-building time is what keeps them rooted, humble, real, and human.

On the customer service side, attention to detail and intentionality are hallmarks of the Ierna white-glove experience.

“I think that white-glove treatment today is similar to kind of what we would consider old school treatment. Back in the day when you would call your A/C company, you had his home phone number and you’d call him up and he’d come over next door and fix your A/C. They do those little extra things. They know you by name, they know a little bit about your history, just give a little extra something that perhaps they wouldn’t have received from a prior contractor… just setting us apart and really making sure that we’re going the extra mile for every customer.”

Employee Training and Onboarding

Charlene prioritizes teaching, training, coaching, communication, and lots of touchpoints during the employee training and onboarding processes. She believes that this is key to helping techs be successful in the field and equipping employees with the tools and knowledge they need to do their job well. This translates to strong retention and your staff knowing their purpose.

She also emphasizes that your onboarding process can never be too lengthy or too much. There’s a skill set, industry lingo, and processes to learn, and now COVID-19 measures to maintain. It’s important to stay current, adapt, and check in to see what is working and what’s not working.

While retention in the trades can be challenging, Charlene shares that creating a positive, empowering environment with your team is the best way to create ambassadors. When your team is happy and fulfilled, they become the best marketers for your company.

Managing Costs During the Pandemic

Operating costs and solvency are always a priority, but during the pandemic Charlene shares that she didn’t want to cut employees. Instead, she focused on reallocating her resources and being creative.

“What I did in terms of cost-cutting was being creative and looking at some areas that were not effective... schools are closed, we sponsor a lot of schools. Restaurants are closed… we didn’t do anything in terms of cutting back employment or cutting back our roster. So I think that trying to stay consistent and again signaling safety to your team is important… I think it’s important to stay calm, stay the course, and just keep moving forward.”

She highlights that people still need heating, cooling and plumbing right now, and their appliances and plumbing are being taxed more now than ever since everyone is home. So, don’t cut your marketing budget. Instead, figure out where your people are in their new environment and connect with them there. Shift your budget from advertising at schools and restaurants and on billboards, and reach people online where they are spending the majority of their time.

Charlene’s Advice

Through all of these changes and challenges, it’s important to stay focused and make sure your team sees your passion. This will help retention and help your home services business weather anything that comes your way.