This episode is a fun experiment for us. At Amply, we LOVE doing ride alongs with our customers. It gives us insight. It gives us energy. It's how our customers turn into our friends. So we tried to capture that experience in a podcast. Ed jumps in the car with Aleisha Stenson, co-founder and co-owner of My Diamond Comfort.
Before getting into HVAC, Aleisha was in law enforcement and social work. She loved working with kids, but the intensity of working for the Department of Children and Families was exhausting. While out on medical leave for a few weeks, her father brought home a set of CDs from a Weldon Long seminar. She listened to the entire set over the course of several days. Coming out the other side, she knew ductless was the future, and she had a vision for a ductless-only HVAC business.
That's how My Diamond Comfort -- an exceptional heat pump installer in rural Western Massachusetts -- was born.
Join us for Aleisha's insights into:
[00:00:00] Aleisha: We were a hundred percent committed to only doing ductless. That was our mindset, we were going to be the ductless mini split specialists in our community, in our area.
[00:00:15] Ed: Was there anyone else doing that sort of thing?
[00:00:17] Aleisha: Everybody told us we were crazy.
[00:00:23] Ed: Welcome to the heat pump podcast. Our goal is to make sure the transition to heat pumps goes well for everyone. Homeowners, contractors and the planet. We cover all topics related to heat pumps, the science, the technology, and the business. Today we do something experimental. At Amply, we'd love doing ride alongs with our customers, getting in the truck, going to sales calls and installs.
[00:00:45] Ed Smith: It's the best way to get to know our customers professionally and personally. It gives us energy and inspires us to build the right product. So today we taped the heat pump pod, literally from the front seat. We jumped in the car with Aleisha Stenson, co-founder co-owner and head of sales of My Diamond Comfort. We joined her for four sales calls in Western Massachusetts. We covered a lot of topics. How she founded My Diamond Comfort, why they focus on ductless?
What it's like to run a family business. We also debrief on each sales call, discussing what we saw, what was required to close the sale, and her primary pain points. And what would make her life easier? It's an experiment. So we'd love to know what you think of this pod taped from the front seat. Enjoy the show.
[00:01:28] Ed: Thanks for letting me get in your car, Aleisha.
[00:01:32] Aleisha: This is exciting.
[00:01:33] Ed: We haven't done one of these before, so this is going to be a bit of an experiment. I'm riding along with Aleisha today as she goes to a bunch of sales appointments.
[00:01:41] Aleisha: Yep. We got four appointments. everything from residential and one possible commercial.
[00:01:49] Ed: Awesome. Let's not talk about sales yet, but I'd love to, hear your story and the My Diamond Comfort story, because every entrepreneur has a great one, and I think, you and your family have a great one with My Diamond Comfort.
[00:02:01] Aleisha: It has been a wild journey. My dad has always been in the heating and cooling field ever since I was little. He's always tried to get me and my older brother to come into the heating and cooling side of things. I've always been, there's no way. No way I'll ever do heating and cooling.
That's not for me. And then here I am heating and cooling and loving it.
[00:02:23] Ed: So what did you do before you acquiesced and joined My Diamond Comfort? What were the things that you did before you got into HVAC?
[00:02:30] Aleisha: when I first started college, I actually did the early admission program with Holyoke Community College in Western Mass.
What my major was going to be was nursing. From there I took a criminal justice class and fell in love with the law enforcement side of things. So when I was 19, I actually went and worked for Marine patrol in New Hampshire, their division of state police.
For seven summers I worked on Lake Winnipesaukee as a patrol officer.
[00:03:02] Ed: Seven summers?
[00:03:03] Aleisha: Seven summers. Wow. And I taught boaters education in the winter. That was all while I was going through college. My parents have always had foster kids when I was growing up. I knew I wanted to work with kids, once I was out of college.
I always wanted to give back and help kids through some of their toughest times in life. I did an internship with the Department of Children and Families. from there I got hired as an ongoing social worker with them.
[00:03:30] Ed: Wow.
[00:03:30] Aleisha: So I did that for three years while I was going through College was the years that I was with Marine Patrol.
[00:03:39] Ed: Got it.
[00:03:39] Aleisha: and it was a full time seasonal gig, with limited hours in the winter. So I do some investigations. I was a certified prosecutor with the state, so I did some courtroom stuff with I did boaters education, just to fill in to help get through the winters financially.
[00:03:54] Ed: And then social work.
[00:03:55] Aleisha: loved working with kids. I miss the kids.
[00:03:57] Ed: Was that exhausting? It
[00:03:58] Aleisha: was
I was [00:04:00] miserable towards the end. I was absolutely miserable. I had some of the hardest cases cause I came from law enforcement. They gave me all the disgruntled parents. Oh
[00:04:08] Ed: wow.
[00:04:08] Aleisha: between the death threats, being put in horrible situations day in and day out was absolutely exhausting and I knew I was miserable and I knew I couldn't keep it up.
[00:04:18] Ed: Yeah.
[00:04:19] Aleisha: so this was a huge change for me
[00:04:22] Ed: When you resigned from that, was it straight into My Diamond Comfort?
[00:04:27] Aleisha: it was about three, four months before I resigned, I was out on medical leave for two weeks. During that time, my dad had gone to a Weldon Long, sales training up in Maine.
It was like a three or four day training. pretty intense. He ended up coming home with an old school CD of Weldon Long's training.
[00:04:53] Ed: wow.
[00:04:54] Aleisha: When I first went on leave, my dad handed me the CD and said, Hey, here you go. Check this out. I was like, yeah, okay.
But by the second day, I was bored out of my mind. I popped in one of the CDs I was hooked, absolutely hooked. At that point it planted the seed. And then after that horrible week of social work, I talked to my dad. I'm like, Hey, look, I think there is a future in ductless.
I think this is something we should take a look at. Growing up, my dad always had oil companies. He was always doing something. There was always some kind of entrepreneurial something going on. When I was eight years old, we had a little flower shop on the side of the highway.
And we sold flowers. My parents had a Subway at one point that they built from scratch. When I was 13, I started working at the Subway. So with this. We started put to come up with the
[00:05:59] Ed: At that point, was it just you and your dad?
[00:06:02] Aleisha: So it was me, my dad, and my mom that really jumped on board with this.
my dad was running a pretty good size oil company in Western Mass. He had possible plans of buying that oil company. He had hired me on to head up a sales division. We were going to do a special division of that company specifically for ductless.
That was going to be our plan. He hired me. I came on board. it didn't work out to say the least. a secretary didn't really like me and had it out for me. And so my dad actually let me go.
My mom and I, joined forces and it was actually her and I who are the original owners of Diamond Comfort.
[00:06:47] Ed: Oh, wow.
[00:06:48] Aleisha: We got the company going. We went through all the legal stuff, got the name situated, got our LLC. And yeah, we just branded. Came up with our logo. One of my cousins actually designed the logo for us.
and then once we got the company going, my dad actually came on board and we hired him.
He was actually our first employee on payroll.
[00:07:11] Ed: That's funny. Are you ever going to return the favor and let him go the way he let you go from, maybe? Yeah, you never know, right?
[00:07:16] Aleisha: I'm sure he would love that. Yeah, but yeah, no, he's not allowed to go anywhere.
[00:07:20] Ed: And so from the beginning, you guys were ductless.
[00:07:23] Aleisha: We set forth and we were a hundred percent committed to only doing ductless. That was our mindset is we were going to be the ductless mini split specialists in our community, in our area.
[00:07:38] Ed: Was there anyone else doing that sort of thing?
[00:07:40] Aleisha: everybody told us we were crazy.
[00:07:42] Ed: And remind me the year you founded.
[00:07:44] Aleisha: 2015.
[00:07:45] Ed: Okay, so 2015, so no one else was
And then, I know you watched the Weldon Long, which he's come up on a couple of these podcasts already, he's certainly had an impact on the industry. You watched his DVDs and said that there's a future here, but what about the ductless product and business model that led you to say this is what we should focus on.
[00:08:03] Aleisha: I loved the simplicity of
[00:08:06] Ed: it.
[00:08:06] Aleisha: the energy efficiency that it's the way the world is going and going green, more so than traditional fossil fuels. I love the technology side. I liked what it could do for a home, especially houses where you for the A. C.
[00:08:20] Ed: Yeah.
[00:08:21] Aleisha: and i knew it could help a lot of people to be conditioning in their
[00:08:25] Ed: up until recently That wasn't in every home in Western Massachusetts.
No,
[00:08:28] Aleisha: it wasn't.
[00:08:29] Ed: Yeah.
[00:08:29] Aleisha: And when we first started, people were only doing one, maybe two rooms in their house with the ductless mini splits.
[00:08:36] Ed: Yep.
[00:08:36] Aleisha: And now with all the rebates and incentives, it's whole house is what we do.
[00:08:40] Ed: So it's you, your mom and your dad in the beginning.
[00:08:43] Aleisha: Yep.
[00:08:44] Ed:
[00:08:44] Aleisha: so my dad's now one of the owners
[00:08:46] Ed: of the
[00:08:46] Aleisha: company.
[00:08:47] Ed: Yeah.
[00:08:47] Aleisha: Then I think it was four years ago.my brother came on board. He was a commercial diver in the Boston union. Oh, wow. he was working in the
[00:08:56] Ed: harbor.
[00:08:57] Aleisha: Yup. So he did a lot of underwater heavy construction and welding and all kinds of crazy stuff. But he had a close call he has. younger kids. So he was sick of being away from home all the time. I gave him a phone call one night and I'm like, Hey bro, like the company's growing. We need help. and I proposed having him come on board as a co owner.
He pretty much laughed at me and was like, yeah, no, no, I'm not doing that. And then it was a good thing. Probably, I think it was like six months later he came to me. He goes, Hey Aleisha, is that offer still on the table? and then he moved his family up here and joined the business. He's now running our install team.
[00:09:39] Ed: That's incredible. This is a real pattern of family members dragging their heels before joining up. You did the same thing to your dad.
[00:09:45] Aleisha: It's neat because we come to the table with different skill sets that I don't think we would have had if we just jumped into the business after high school.
[00:09:54] Ed:
[00:09:54] Aleisha: my brother is, coming from the commercial diving side of things, he's very precise. There is no one I would trust more with installs than I do with my brother. I know that when I go out and sell a product and sell a plan to a customer, I know it's going to be executed with precision.
[00:10:12] Ed: That's how we found you all. The reputation for exceptional installs, you all are well known down here. So we're from our old Amply 1. 0 days when we had a customer out here. you were who we wanted to do the install with. And how big are you guys now in terms of team members?
[00:10:27] Aleisha: We have, my mom and two other secretaries in the office. I am the main one for sales. My dad also does some sales and service. My brother runs the install crew and he has two, more full time guys. There's two part time guys in our electrician. So we're growing, but being primarily ductless and this is our focus.
We go in and out of a house in one day. We know what we're doing. Everything is very well organized. Everybody knows what they have to do to get that mini split in. It works out very well. I spent the first five years of the company, it was my dad and I on every install and three years in we hired Dan, Dan Gifford.
He's one of my dad's best friends. We hired him and he's been with us ever since, to also do installs. So it's a labor of love.
[00:11:21] Ed: when did you, so 2015 founded, you spent five years doing all the installs as well. When did you moved in full time into sales
[00:11:28] Aleisha: It would have been 2019 because when I had my daughter I got kicked off the installs. Okay. For a good chunk of time when I was pregnant. I tried and they're like, Nope, you're done. Since then, it's been Primarily sales, which I absolutely love.
[00:11:46] Ed: what do you love about sales?
[00:11:48] Aleisha: I like meeting people. I like seeing all the different homes. I like the creative side that you can go in and come up with a plan that's tailored to the customer's needs and what they want in their house.
I love listening to customers on what they have to say. What their goals are, what they want to accomplish, and just building connections.
[00:12:11] Ed: That's great.
[00:12:12] Aleisha: Actually, I do a lot of the like seasonal service work, like the mini split cleanings. The only part that I actually really like about it is seeing all the old customers again and catching up after two years. What's it like to go
[00:12:24] Ed: What's a conversation look like when you go back?
[00:12:26] Aleisha: it's like old homes day and we talk about how they're doing, tell them about my kids and show them pictures and they show me pictures of their grandkids and their kids and It's like a catch up, like seeing an old friend again.
[00:12:38] Ed: That's awesome.
[00:12:39] Aleisha: And
[00:12:40] Ed: I imagine satisfaction is high in there.
it's neat hearing how the mini splits have changed their life or help them actually
[00:12:48] Aleisha: be comfortable in their house.
[00:12:49] Ed: Are most people using it just for cooling or for both heating and cooling?
[00:12:53] Aleisha: A lot of people go into it thinking they're only going to use it for cooling, but then they end up using it at least in the shoulder seasons for heat. and with fuel prices, a lot of people are even saying that they're using it as their primary heat source.
[00:13:07] Ed: I imagine you're seeing more and more whole home systems going and given the Massachusetts.
[00:13:12] Aleisha: Yes. It's huge. Yup. Most jobs, like when we started, were one or two units going into a house. We'd do the main living area, and we'd do the master bedroom. That was the standard. When we started the company, a lot of the reason why we started the company was to have more time with family.
to be able to focus on family, not working, 24 7. just running ourselves ragged. That was not part of the plan. Yes, there's busier times where we are running around more ragged and we are working more hours. But for the most part, family is still at the center of what we do.
[00:13:49] Ed: That's awesome. you feel that from the website, As soon as you go onto the My Diamond Comfort website, it is the Nulph family.
[00:13:56] Aleisha: we started out where we were going to only do one or two. Installs a week We were like, hey, if we install four units a week, we'll do really well. Now with where we're at, we're doing whole home, like one whole home a day.
we're doing five indoor units a day. Four indoor units a day is what we're doing now. Which is absolutely phenomenal. I was going to say, you couldn't be any happier.
[00:14:19] Ed: Crushed your goals.
[00:14:21] Aleisha: Yeah, so it's been absolutely huge to see where we've come from. Just a pipeline dream to actually doing really well being able to be a main provider for our household.
I can't wait to see where we go within the next few years too from here, because ductless is the future.
[00:14:39] Ed: Are you looking to hire more folks?
[00:14:41] Aleisha: We could definitely use another installer or two.
I didn't know you guys had set that goal for the number of units a week and had leapfrogged it so much.
Yeah.
[00:14:53] Ed: That's very cool.
[00:14:54] Aleisha: when my brother came on board, we really just geared up and now it's just exploded.
[00:14:59] Ed: The demand for heat pumps is so high. You were really ahead of the curve
[00:15:04] Aleisha: with that.
[00:15:06] Ed: Being the first out here to focus on that.
[00:15:08] Aleisha: Yeah, and everybody, everyone told us, they're like, there's no way you're only going to be able to do mini split. There's no way. You're going to have to do other things.
My parents were more pushing for it because they had an oil company in the past. Yeah, but we were actually thinking at one point of being a discount oil company too. And I was like, we just have to focus on the ductless side of things.
I want to do mini splits. That's where our love is. That's what we thrive at. Let's just focus on ductless. And I had to steer them back into the ductless direction.
[00:15:43] Ed: No, that actually seems remarkable given your dad having owned an oil company in the nineties.
How did you do that?
[00:15:49] Aleisha: Took a lot of work. a lot of planting the seed. lots and lots of dinner table conversations. Who we want to be, what we want to be, where we want to go. And honestly with where fossil fuels are going now, I thank God that we are just mini splits.
[00:16:06] Ed: focus is one of the hardest things to maintain because as you see the demand from customers and the pull, you want to add things to, expand revenue. Yeah. But one thing we've heard pretty consistently is it's that focus that lets you be profitable because you can do one thing extremely well,
[00:16:24] Aleisha: We had some really good customers that would report back to us on how awesome the mini splits were and how they changed the comfort of their house astronomically.
So we saw that we had that positive feedback, which kept us going. The first year and a half, two years of the business, we didn't really take a paycheck.
[00:16:45] Ed: Oh, it was
[00:16:46] Aleisha: like living off savings. I actually had a lot of savings saved up and I was going to buy a house when I, when I was working with DCF, I had a huge house fund that I was going to buy a house. That went to the company.
My parents had to refinance some stuff and that went to the company. It was just our dedication and our love for the mini splits that really just drove us to where we are.
[00:17:12] Ed: So the fact that you guys invested so much early on, it's really remarkable.and that resonates too. Cause we're not taking salaries right now.
[00:17:21] Aleisha: Yeah.
[00:17:21] Ed: The hard part is not getting financially rewarded for what you're doing.
[00:17:27] Aleisha: But if you're pouring everything you have into something you believe in, I don't think there's a way it's going to fail.
[00:17:34] Ed: I love that.
[00:17:34] Aleisha: I think if you love what You're doing and you believe in it, it's going to take off, you're going to do well. I think for anybody just starting out getting into the ductless or starting something new, believe in what you're doing and believe in yourself.
if you go to a sales call and you believe In what you've got, you're gonna do well. Other people are going to believe in it too. Just do it and do it with confidence.
[00:18:02] Ed: how did you get your name out there during that year and a half, two years, when you're building the business and not taking a salary and just believing in it?
[00:18:09] Aleisha: We had 200 yard signs printed up.
[00:18:11] Ed: Okay.
[00:18:12] Aleisha: my mom's from a really big family in Southampton.
[00:18:14] Ed: Okay.
[00:18:14] Aleisha: we've got a lot of really good friends in Southampton and Eastampton and the surrounding areas. Literally, we took those yard signs we would rotate them.
That was our main source of advertising for the first six months.
[00:18:32] Ed: Wow.
[00:18:33] Aleisha: And yeah, my mom and I, we would get a cup of coffee, one would drive, one would run, pull a yard sign out, put it in another yard.
and then we started doing some advertising with 22 News.
[00:18:43] Ed: Oh.
[00:18:44] Aleisha: got some jobs through there. We did a segment on Mass Appeal, which is one of the morning shows for our local area. then we just started to grow and word of mouth has been huge for us.
Quality install, that brings Yeah, we really, we take a lot of pride in what we do. We're there for our customers. customers become family, in a weird, corny, roundabout way. I love that,
[00:19:07] Ed: Alright, we're pulling up here.
What should we know about this one? It's
[00:19:11] Aleisha: It looks like a family home. Super simple. They have natural gas, so they'll be able to tap into the Mass. Save rebates, Not many people know that. So we'll be able to talk about the rebate, come up with a plan to hopefully cover 100 percent of the heat load of the home.
And we'll just talk to the customer and see what they're looking for. See what they want and tailor a plan to their needs. Let's
[00:19:32] Ed: do it.
[00:19:32] Aleisha: So awesome.
[00:19:33] Ed: we're back in the car, we just finished the sales call, and you were saying that was one of your favorite kinds of appointments. Say more about, what about it?
[00:19:42] Aleisha: So I love the homeowners that you go into the house and they're not quite sure what they want.
They know they want something to make them more comfortable.
They're not quite sure what the mini splits really even are capable of. They're not really sure of any of the rebates. to start from square one to just explain everything in hopefully a very digestible way for them
[00:20:07] Ed: blank canvas. I was surprised. We walked in and what we heard was we have one AC unit here that we want to replace and we're just interested in cooling and what 45 minutes later, they were in love with the idea of a whole home system that would cover heating and cooling.
Completely different. We figured out what the customer's problems were, what was not working for them now. They had one unit that they said was working for them for the whole house, but came to find out the kitchen's 65 degrees and the rest of the house is 10 degrees warmer.
[00:20:43] Aleisha: Yep. They were convinced that it was comfortable. Which, for them, it probably was, is working now. But, I'm 100 percent confident that once they go ductless, they're going to realize how much better their comfort level in the home is.
it gives you just a really neat way to start fresh, and just tailor the system design to what the customer needs.
noise is a huge concern of theirs, which is fantastic for many splits. Because they're super quiet. Especially the Samsung ones with the wind free is going to be key for them. finding out that they are using some makeshift electric heater in the basement,
[00:21:24] Ed: that almost caught fire.
[00:21:25] Aleisha: That almost caught fire. And it's from the seventies.
[00:21:28] Ed: from the 1970s Sears.
[00:21:31] Aleisha: Yeah. Even, and it's funny because I never realized when you're going through, if you tell someone you're in heating and cooling, you can actually be addressing safety issues for people, which is wild and very rewarding to know that you would be making someone's house safer.
Yeah. Those things are, I love that call. you feel like you are helping somebody improve their quality of life in many ways.
[00:21:57] Ed: it was a distinctly consultative sale. You listened to what they thought they wanted.
Then you listened to what was actually going on in the house. And then you got them to see that there was a different way to live in that house.
[00:22:08] Aleisha: And that might be where my social worker background comes in too, is I want to always try to leave people better than the way I found them. And I think if you can go through life with that mentality, I think you're going to do a lot of good and you'll do well.
[00:22:22] Ed: That ionization aspect of the air filtration for the new Samsung's feels significant for quality of life stuff for indoor air quality, huh? Absolutely.
[00:22:31] Aleisha: Especially with anyone with allergies, asthma, and Pioneer Valley is notorious for poor air quality.
There were also two very different decision makers in that conversation. How often do you find a complex decision making process for your customers like that?
Quite frequent.
[00:22:54] Ed: Yeah.
[00:22:54] Aleisha: a lot of times most husbands and wives aren't even on the same page.
Sometimes they're not even in the same book.
[00:23:00] Ed: which is like
[00:23:02] Aleisha: surprising because it's, you're going in and you really have to make sure that you're tailoring to both people's needs. The most common one I see is the husband is cheap.
How quick and how cheap can we do this project? the wife is, I don't want that thing on my wall. you have to come up with some kind of compromise and be a mediator between the two of them and try to get them to agree on one plan, which is fun.
[00:23:32] Ed: if you don't think it's fun, you're not going to be in the game very long, right?
[00:23:36] Aleisha: exactly.
[00:23:37] Ed: most times want to be comfortable.
Yep.
[00:23:39] Aleisha: And safe they want it to look good
and
If you can hit those three marks, you're doing good.
[00:23:46] Ed: So what are your biggest pain points in your day to day?
If you could just wave a magic wand and fix something about what you got going on, what would it be?
[00:23:57] Aleisha: Writing up estimates.
[00:23:59] Ed: Say more.
[00:24:00] Aleisha: I do five, six sales calls a day and that's four days a week. I usually try to keep Fridays open for a paperwork day. When I sit down Friday morning to start writing things up and I've got 20 estimates I have to try writing up in one day I like to make sure that everything is very precise and everything that we talked about is all included.
Included in the proposal I send out to the customer. it can take me 45 minutes for one estimate.
So it just creates a lot of extra work. A lot of times I'll work the weekends, trying to put stuff together. A lot of times I'll try to get it up at five in the morning to try to start writing stuff up, before the rest of the family wakes up while the house is quiet.
So if I could eliminate that pain point, that would completely improve the quality of my life. then even being able to sell something in the house too would be huge because right now I try to get the customer as excited as possible about the plan and then I have to leave to write stuff up, which leaves time for them lose their excitement and their spark about the project.
But if I could create that energy and then finish it off with booking an install for them,
[00:25:22] Ed: right there, that
[00:25:23] Aleisha: would improve everybody's time.
then if they have questions, they can ask me right then and there and it's not going back and forth trying to answer questions.
[00:25:31] Ed: And What's the, when you go back, what program do you open on your computer? So
[00:25:37] Aleisha: The first thing I do is I open the AmplyApp and look at my, the plan that we came up with the customer, which the AmplyApp does a really good job of making everything visual.
And customers like having a visual plan. Presentation of what is going to be done. It kind of solidifies everybody being on the same page. so I do that first step, then I open a word document I fill in all the blanks of all the customer information, where the units are going, what room they're going in, what wall they're going on, how we're running the lines from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit, and then the outdoor unit information, then the price, calculate that.
then also, put in any rebate information for the customer. So that all goes into it.
[00:26:22] Ed: rebate information, it's this is eligible for the 10, 000 or it's not? So this is
[00:26:25] Aleisha: eligible for the 10, 000 rebate. websites that they have to go to. Because there are steps that you have to take prior to submitting for the rebate.
So I try to put that all in the word document. also there's a 2, 000 federal tax credit. So I like to put that in my proposal. Just make it so that when they sit down and look at it, all the information is in one spot.
[00:26:46] Ed: and you have a template that you use, but it's the customization of that template that takes 45 minutes.
[00:26:52] Aleisha: takes 45 minutes. Every situation is a little different too. If they're in a municipality, I have to go and double check and make sure that the rebate for that municipality hasn't changed. go through and tailor it to exactly what makes sense for that customer and what they're going to be able to sit down and clearly read and make a decision off of
[00:27:13] Ed: email.
And then I
[00:27:14] Aleisha: email it to them. I also email them my Amply Energy design
[00:27:20] Ed: for the project.
[00:27:21] Aleisha: to them too, which I think is very helpful for the customer to actually be able to see what's going in. I've had some estimates that come through and the customer will call me and say, Hey, look, I had two other quotes and they're saying I need a 18, 000 BTU in the main living area.
But you have a 12 mark down that's when I can open the door and talk to the customer and say, Hey, look, like we did a detailed scan of the space. We know we took in account every single window, every single inch. it even takes into account what direction the walls are facing, what direction the windows are facing.
I can say, Hey, look, that room only came out to 10, 000 BTU is we're bumping it up to a 12, 000 to make sure that it's going to have that comfort level you need. Without being over sized and short cycling the unit.
And I can say, hey look, you can look at the scan on page 2, and this is what it shows. it just helps build credibility, we've gotten quite a few jobs just based on that of itself.
[00:28:20] Ed: Are you still finding most of your competitors are not doing loads?
They're not doing it. They're not
[00:28:25] Aleisha: doing it. They're not doing it. One guy who questioned me on the sizing of everything, I was talking to him and I'm like, Hey, look, the other people who came out, did they do measurements of the room?
[00:28:37] Ed: And
[00:28:38] Aleisha: I was just seeing where they were at compared to what the difference in the thinking was.
Yeah. I'm like, Oh, okay. You might want to think about that.
[00:28:45] Ed: Yeah.
[00:28:46] Aleisha: I will never. to my customers that I don't believe in that. I think that's horrible practice. but I like to lead the customer into a way of thinking like, Hey, look, we want to make sure we consider [00:29:00] everything.
[00:29:01] Ed: what percentage of your, jobs that you go to or sales calls that you go to are competitive?
[00:29:06] Aleisha: I would say probably. 60%. 60%. Yeah.
[00:29:09] Ed: First of all, that's amazing. 40 percent of your customers know you guys well enough that they only call you.
[00:29:15] Aleisha: Referring people, referring other people is huge.
And a lot of times once you get that referral, they won't even shop around.
[00:29:23] Ed: That's amazing.
[00:29:23] Aleisha: I also want to talk about your relationship with distributors.
[00:29:27] Ed: what value do you get from them?
[00:29:29] Aleisha: when we first started the company, I honestly did not realize how much support is out there as a contractor.
I thought we were going to be like on our own little Island, trying to figure everything out. Then we started building relationships with our supply houses. F.W. Webb has been absolutely phenomenal. Our sales rep through F.W. Webb is amazing. Josh Nolan has been by our side, helping us out with stuff.
Kyle was our rep prior to Josh. they've really just helped us get set up with the Samsung line for mini splits. They've connected us to a bunch of different resources and it's nice because we're not alone. if we have questions about the systems, if we have anything our reps are just there for us.
and even the manufacturers, they're there for us. Samsung has helped us out a lot with different things.
[00:30:22] Ed: what's an example or two of when you need something, what do they provide?
[00:30:26] Aleisha: If we have a service issue and a unit's not running right, we can call up our, there's like a service rep who can help walk us through issues over the phone. there's been times where there's a supply issue. This was a few years back, but they helped us get connected with Samsung to make sure that we were stocked up and we were okay.
We were able to keep going and keep installing through the supply issues. Anytime any marketing stuff comes up, they're always willing to help us out with, our website.
They want to see us succeed. the better we do, the better they do.
[00:31:01] Ed: you're their customer.
[00:31:02] Aleisha: Even like the other day, we go through Winair for our Mitsubishi.
our rep, Brett, from Winair, he actually went and looked at a job in Northampton. I drove into the driveway it's over 4, 000 square foot mansion. I felt like my eyes bugged out of my head.
They want absolutely no lines run on the outside of the place. Everything has to be concealed.
It's 4, 000 square feet. They don't even want any drain hoses showing on the outside of the house. My head was just spinning when I walked out and I'm like, shit, I need help.I called up Brett, called up my dad, called up Ryan, got everybody on board and we booked a second appointment to go back out and take a look at the job and come up with a plan.
But it was nice because I was able to rely on our rep Brett to help me and help us through because he knows the capacity of these units better than I do. So it's just nice being able to have those supports that can help you out with things.
[00:32:12] Ed: That's amazing.
[00:32:13] Aleisha: So it's huge having that support from the supply houses that honestly, when we started the company, I didn't know we were going to have.
[00:32:20] Ed: Hi. Ed here from my office Listener a quick heads up on this next section. It comes across a little bit as an advertisement for Amply software. I swear, we didn't tell Alicia to say this. But we'll leave it in there. We've been working with Alicia for a year to help us develop our software. And we're ecstatic
[00:32:38] Ed Smith: it's having an impact on her sales process. So, so we leave this in there in case you're interested. Back to the front seat.
[00:32:44] Aleisha: By the way, that app for taking and like customers who can't walk around the house with you or even go into the basement to check out, it's so nice to be able to come back to them with a plan in hand. And they can like actually see what we're going to do or what we're proposing.
[00:33:02] Ed: That's awesome.
[00:33:03] Aleisha: That customer there, it was nice that we had the ability to say, Hey, look, this is where the unit can go. This is how the lines can get run. This is what it's going to look like. and he can stay in the comfort of his chair and not have to worry.
[00:33:16] Ed: Yeah. I saw that there. That was a cool, Aspect of accessibility that I didn't we had.
[00:33:21] Aleisha: And it's weird because things just keep popping up that you're going through the estimate and you're like, Oh wow, the Amply app is actually able to do this for me? It's neat to see how it can be used in more ways than one.
[00:33:37] Ed: I love that. I'm so glad to hear that.
[00:33:39] Aleisha: like when I sit down to write estimates
[00:33:41] Ed: yeah
[00:33:42] Aleisha: I'm like, Oh crap, I don't really remember how long that line says.
And then I can just look at the floor plan and tap on it and it tells me the length and width of that floor. Now I can do my calculations.
[00:33:54] Ed: I love to hear that. It's because you've let us know. Do these ride alongs and shadow you and see what your workflow looks like.
I'm optimistic that as we keep building features, it's just going to do more and more for you.
It's nice because the app is designed for practical field use. it actually guides, and you're seeing it, it guides you through the estimate. It keeps you on track. And having that, it's hard to miss something because you know you have to fill out certain points in it in order for everything to give you a nice clear presentation for the customers.
[00:34:32] Aleisha:
[00:34:32] Ed: it's been
[00:34:33] Aleisha: huge.
[00:34:33] Ed: My pleasure.
Okay. So we're back in the car. we're just leaving the fourth sales call of the day.
And it was a great one. It was another one where the homeowner wanted a partial solution and You pretty much convinced them that a whole home solution was better and more economical, but I noticed,
[00:34:49] Aleisha: in that home we were just in, you had two solutions in mind.
[00:34:54] Ed: A half a house solution, which is what they wanted, and a whole home solution. One was 10, 000. One was 20, 000.
[00:35:01] Aleisha: Yeah.
[00:35:02] Ed: Cause they're easy. And when you were talking about the 20, 000 whole home solution, the homeowner were surprised because two competitors had been in there and only pitched the half a home solution.
Which is weird that they wouldn't have suggested a whole home given the rebates, right? It's
[00:35:21] Aleisha: easier not to pitch the whole house. It's easier not to give them that option. We would have been in and out in 15 minutes if we didn't give them all their options.
[00:35:33] Ed: Right.
[00:35:34] Aleisha: And I don't know if that's a point that contractors are doing, but in this industry we have to do better.
We have to be clear with our customer about the Plan. We have to be clear with the customer about what their options are. 'cause there's many options when it comes to ductless. Every plan is a little different. it's figuring out what plan works the best for the customer. It's not about us, it's about them.
We have to remember that and we have to do better. Then even when it comes to explaining the rebates, we have to do better at explaining to them what their two different options are and how financially drastically different each option is. Especially with Massachusetts, we have a 10, 000 rebate that in a 2, 000 federal tax credit for doing the whole house.
So in a lot of situations, it's a no brainer to do your whole home versus one or two rooms,
[00:36:30] Ed: Which was what it was for them. Your whole home solution.it covers twice the house
[00:36:34] Aleisha: and
[00:36:34] Ed: it covers twice the seasons.
[00:36:36] Aleisha: You get two more indoor units,
[00:36:38] Ed: two more indoor units for heat in the winter all year.
And then you've got the cooling that's more evenly distributed throughout the whole house. and out of pocket, it would have been less. It would have been less than the half a home solution.
[00:36:49] Aleisha: Yes.
[00:36:49] Ed: Yeah. That was super interesting to watch. And I could see it was hard to do. You did it masterfully, but I could see that it was hard to do.
[00:36:55] Aleisha: hard to explain. Yeah. Especially where you're trying to visualize, have the customer visualize the numbers in their head with you.
[00:37:02] Ed: totally. But
[00:37:03] Aleisha: It's important. It's important for them to know what their options are. Yeah.
[00:37:07] Ed: That was extremely well explained. so wrapping up with two questions.
One is what's got you excited about the future in heat pumps for your business?
[00:37:17] Aleisha: It is so exciting seeing where the culture is going with mini splits. Mini splits are the future. They're where all the rebates and incentives are. fossil fuels are just, there's just so much uncertainty right now with fossil fuels that heat pumps and mini splits are, they feel like a solid and they are where everything's going, which is great.
I'm excited to continue to grow the company. see where it goes. and yeah, just keep focusing on doing good work precision installs and making sure we have the happiest customers possible.
[00:37:57] Ed: The most impressive thing about that answer was you [00:38:00] did it while going through the hardest intersection we've been on, we've gotten on this drive yet.
Then the last question. Any resources you'd recommend to other folks out there trying to build a heat pump focused business?
[00:38:13] Aleisha: They stay positive. It's huge.
[00:38:15] Ed: take the leap, rely on your supply houses for support and trainings. there's some great podcasts out there too.
[00:38:23] Aleisha: Close It Now has been really good to listen to on the road and Drive Time University has been Pretty good for me. If you're in sales and you're in the industry, you spend a lot of time on the road. So it's good to have stuff to listen to and keep growing.
[00:38:38] Ed: Aleisha, thank you so much for being on the Heat Pump Podcast.
[00:38:41] Aleisha: Thank you for having me.
[00:38:43] Ed: It's been great.
[00:38:46] Eric: thanks for listening to The Heat Pump Podcast. It is a production of Amply Energy. And just a reminder that the opinions voice, were those of our guests or us, depending on who was talking. If you like what you've heard and haven't subscribed, please subscribe in your favorite podcast platform. We'd love to hear from you.
So feel free to reach out. You can reach us once again at hello@amply.Energy. No .com, just .energy. Thanks a lot.