Are you incentivizing performance effectively? Most pay plans look good on paper but fail in the real world because they’re too slow, too complicated, or reward the wrong things.

Many contractors overlook the easiest path to bigger tickets and faster closes: light commercial jobs. When a business loses heating or cooling, they can’t wait — they shut down. That urgency turns what many think of as commercial work into quick, residential-style jobs that fund fast and close even faster.

Is your follow-up speed costing you thousands in missed revenue? Studies show that if you don’t reach a new lead within a minute, your chances of converting it drop by more than half. In today’s world of instant responses and disappearing attention spans, every second truly matters when responding to homeowners.

How are you performing on lead generation? Many contractors still think lead generation is about ranking on Google and bidding on the right keywords. But the game has changed. You’re not marketing to an audience, you’re marketing to three: traditional search engines, the homeowner, and AI search agents

What’s the fastest path to double your business growth? Chad Petermen, President & CEO of Peterman Brothers, says it’s mastering your call center! Most contractors already have good lead volume, but they don’t properly manage them. The real opportunity is booking more of the calls you’re already paying for, routing the right tech to the right job, and treating the call center as a revenue engine — not a cost center.

Selling an HVAC business isn’t just a financial milestone. It’s a legacy moment that reflects your leadership and the culture you’ve built. Successful exits happen when owners prepare early and treat the transition as the next chapter of their company’s story, not just a transaction.

Building a strong customer base is great, but building a referral fan base is transformative. Companies that master unforgettable customer service every time can see remarkable growth.

On this episode of Cracking the Code, Mary Jean “MJ” Anderson, retired president of Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air, unpacks how wowing customers fulled a leading company built on trust, care, and consistency. Discover how you can implement genuine service and empower your team to go above and beyond to transform your customer base into your greatest asset.

The post How Wowing Customers Led to $60 Million in Annual Revenue first appeared on My Contractor University | Dashboard.

External pressures are reshaping the HVAC industry — from tariffs and private equity, to rapidly evolving homeowner expectations. Yet despite it all, top-performing contractors are growing stronger and finding new ways to stay in control by turning challenges into opportunities.

Everyone’s talking about AI, but here’s the truth — it won’t replace people and it won’t replace critical thinking. The real competitive edge comes from using AI to inform and elevate your customer’s buying journey.