Performance Matters - E-Newsletter - July 2009

• A Seat at the Table, a Slice of the Stimulus Pie
• Plan to Attend the New York Contractor Exchange set for August 3-4
• Affiliate News: Affiliate network continues to expand
• BPI News: New BPI.org coming soon
• BPI News: BPI at AHR Expo
• Industry News: BPI Applauds Passing of The American Clean Energy and Security Act
• Industry News: Are you LinkedIn?
• Joe’s Marketing Corner: Use Your Customers as Part of Your Sales Force
• Events

A Seat at the Table, a Slice of the Stimulus Pie

BPI is actively pursuing a seat at the table with several State Energy and Weatherization program plans funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

As of July 3, 2009, the Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has been awarded $954 million for State Energy programs and $1.6 billion for Weatherization programs.

ARRA funding to EERE is given to the State Energy Offices and State Weatherization Programs, who in turn apply it where they see fit. These agencies have to submit plans in order to get funding, but many of the plans are not yet concrete.

BPI is involved in a large-scale outreach initiative to educate energy officers and program directors on the ways in which BPI can provide added value by affording increased validity, transparency and accountability. These principles are cornerstones of the economic stimulus package and a promise the Obama Administration has made to the American people: we must prove to them that their dollars are being invested in initiatives and strategies that make a difference in their communities and across the country.

Our message? Because we focus on the house-as-a-system approach to home performance diagnostics and prioritizing prescriptive retrofit work that maximizes return on investment and does not compromise the performance of other systems in the house, BPI accredited contractors can deliver the results State Energy and Weatherization programs require under the ARRA.

BPI is also working with State workforce development offices and the Department of Labor (DOL)to present opportunities for the rapid creation of green collar jobs because our proven knowledge-base standards and curriculum are ready right now, allowing them to jump-start their projects and get people to work faster.

The DOL has published the solicitations worth $500 million in funding from the AARA, and a webinar for prospective applicants was held on July 13, 2009. A recording of the webinar will be available on http://www.workforce3one.org by 3 p.m. ET, July 17. Applications are due on September 4, 2009. The available funds have nearly doubled, with money available at state and local one-stops. Half of the money that has been allocated is for training the unemployed, and the focus is on green energy training. These grants include Energy Training Partnership Grants, Pathways Out of Poverty (available to non-profits or government agencies) and State Energy Sector Training Grants (through the State Workforce Investment Board).

BPI accredited contractors and affiliates are encouraged to ‘go grassroots’ and contact their State Energy Office, Weatherization Program or Workforce Investment Board and tell them why training and certification are so important, how the quality assurance program works to protect the homeowner (and in this case, the taxpayer dollars) and ensure the comfort, health and safety of the occupants—as well as the reduced energy consumption. The health and safety portion included in BPI training is not addressed in many other curricula, so this is an important point to stress!

Watch for progress reports on this important initiative in upcoming issues of Performance Matters.

REMINDER: Affiliates should also note the opportunities presented by $500 million allotted for the training of a green-collar workforce in the ARRA. BPI will work directly with each of its Affiliate organizations to prepare proposals to State Energy Offices and state and local weatherization agencies on expanding BPI related training and credentialing. Please contact Larry Zarker at LZarker@bpi.org for more information.

 

Plan to Attend the New York Contractor Exchange set for August 3-4

A New York Building Performance Contractor Exchange themed "Growing Your Business in a Difficult Market" will be presented on August 3-4 in Kingston, New York. The event goal is to facilitate networking and professional development for the owners and senior managers of firms focused on home performance contracting, traditional residential and small commercial remodeling, replacement and service contracting.

BPI is offering scholarships to the first 20 accredited contractors who apply, provided the attendee is a business owner or senior manager. This special sponsorship will allow one free registration with one paid registration to this important contractors exchange in Kingston. This opportunity will be available on a first come/first served basis.

This is a $195 value and a great opportunity for you to double the attendance from your business owners and management staff. Just choose the “Payment Method Comp” when you register, and in the Notes Section add that this is for the “BPI Scholarship Offer.”

Three major business management sessions will be presented by the renowned firm of Callahan, Roach & Garofalo. The first 90 minute session is “Positioning Your Company as “The Quality Contractor,” followed by a 90 minute session entitled, “Improving The Key Drivers of Business Profitability.” The third session focuses on “Transforming Financial Statements into Management Tools.”

General sessions will feature panel presentations with owners of New York-based contracting firms and industry experts who will discuss the potential for incorporating energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives into traditional contracting business practices to leverage federal, state and utility-sponsored incentive programs aimed at green collar workforce development, energy efficiency, smart meters, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

Attendees will learn how to profit from the emerging roles for building performance diagnostics and contractor certification to address energy savings as well as the comfort and health and safety concerns of building owners. The workshop is ideally suited for company owners and presidents to attend with their sales, service, installation, and financial managers; and other key employees in the organization.

The event is being co-presented by the Building Performance Institute and the Electric and Gas Industries Association with funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and host utility, Central Hudson Gas and Electric. Other sponsors include: Owens Corning, Building Performance Contractors Association of New York State, Efficiency First, ACI (Affordable Comfort, Inc.), GreEEnCollarEdu.net, and Callahan/Roach & Garofalo. UtilityExchange.org is handling event logistics and recruiting event sponsors and exhibitors.

 

Affiliate News

Affiliate network continues to expand

BPI’s network of training Affiliates is exploding. We now have 78 organizations providing training and proctoring exams for home performance certified technicians! In addition, over 90 other organizations have applied for Affiliate status. Watch for an updated roster of Affiliates in the September issue of Performance Matters.

 

BPI News

New BPI.org coming soon

The plans are approved and development is underway on a comprehensive overhaul of www.bpi.org. Features of the new site will include easier navigation (so you can find what you need), more detailed information (so the info you need is actually on the site), interactive contractor and affiliate locator maps (so more people can find you), searchable course schedules and more. Look for the new and improved website in late summer, 2009!

BPI at AHR Expo

BPI will be exhibiting at the 2010 AHR Expo in Orlando, Florida January 25-27, 2010. This event is one of the world’s largest HVAC trade shows, featuring more than 1,800 exhibiting companies, dozens of industry organizations and over 25,000 visitors from all 50 states and over 120 countries.

 

Industry News

BPI Applauds Passing of The American Clean Energy and Security Act

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA) was passed by the US House of Representatives in late June and includes energy efficiency provisions that are expected to have significant impact on performance requirements for existing homes. Also referred to as the 'Waxman-Markey Bill,' this landmark energy and environment Act is intended to provide incentives for reducing energy consumption, establish limits on U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and create a trading system for GHG emission permits.

Section 202: Building Retrofit Program of the ACESA establishes a Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program. Key elements of the REEP program include:

• Energy Audit: Support for a free or low-cost building energy audit that achieves at least a 20 percent reduction in energy use, by providing an incentive equal to the cost of the audit (but not more than $200).
• Prescriptive Approach: A total of $1,000 for a combination of measures for an audit designed to reduce energy consumption by more than 10 percent; a total of $2,000 for a combination of measures for an audit designed to reduce energy consumption by more than 20 percent.
• Performance Approach: A total of $3,000 for demonstrated savings of 20 percent, according to a performance-based building retrofit program; and $1,000 for each additional 5 percentage points of energy savings beyond those listed in the approaches above.

"Our community is uniquely positioned to tap into this opportunity and we stand ready to assist the realization of the resulting programs thanks to our nationally recognized standards, training programs and coast-to-coast network of professional home performance contractors," says Zarker.

BPI will continue to advocate for and monitor the progress of this proposed legislation as it progresses to the Senate and Conference Committee.

Are you LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a high-profile social networking site for professionals, and now there is a RESNET BPI – Energy Audit and Home Performance group. Come join the conversations on topics that range from job opportunities to marketing your business, from safety tips to how-tos and from program and industry news to where to take BPI CEUs. To join LinkedIn, visit www.linkedin.com. Already a LinkedIn member? Click here to see the BPI group profile and join the fun!

 

Joe’s Marketing Corner

Use Your Customers as Part of Your Sales Force

We’ve all done it at some point in our lives. We’ve told a friend about a product or service we really liked. Maybe we recommend a good restaurant or a good book. Maybe we tell a friend that the service at a certain store is really good.

But what happens when you have a bad experience? Well, statistically, you tell 10 people. That’s the old saying: a happy customer tells a friend and an unhappy customer tells everyone they know.

This is where we home performance contractors have a distinct advantage over those run-of-the-mill guys. Our business is solving the customer’s true problem. We find the root cause of the pain and fix it. And because we do the test-in and test-out, we know we fixed it right.

Your customers are more likely to be satisfied—not just immediately but over the long term. That means they’re likely to mention you to a friend, a neighbor, a colleague, whoever. This means FREE advertising for you, AND, it’s more effective than anything you can buy! It might not be today, but a few months down the line when they’re enjoying the lower energy bills and the improved comfort and they’re talking to someone who has high energy bills and poor comfort, they will mention your name. After all, it makes them look pretty smart to have solved the problem already, and who doesn’t like to look clever?

I remember getting a call from the neighbor of a past customer who simply said, “I’m getting sick and tired of hearing how low his energy bills are! I want you to come fix my house and make sure you get my bills lower than his, whatever it takes!” Naturally, I said, “NO PROBLEM!”

We want them to tell lots of people about their great experience. So how can we maximize our happy customers and get them to work harder for us?

One tactic that can work really well is to contact your former customers for 6-month and 1-year follow-ups. Ask them how things are working out. Make sure the corrections are living up to expectations. While you have them on the phone, use the same skills we discussed a couple of issues ago when we talked about successful customer interviews. Really listen to the answers you get. Work on building trust. Demonstrate your expertise a bit.

If you find out there’s a minor problem that you can correct quickly as a value-add, get in there and fix it at no charge. Make sure they are 100% satisfied with you and your work. This often impresses the customer more by the simple fact that you cared enough to call and ask. After all, how many “regular” contractors do that? If you come and fix a minor problem at no charge, you may have just earned a substantial number of high-quality referrals from that customer for a meager investment.

Don’t be afraid to ask them straight-up if they’ve recommended you to anyone. If they say no, ask them why not, and find out what it would take to make them feel comfortable doing that. If they say yes, thank them and tell them you hope they will continue to do so. If they’re comfortable telling you who they recommended you to, this can be a valuable piece of information if and when that person calls you or sends an email. Consider giving your personal cell phone number to customers to give their most trusted friends, just to be sure that those calls don’t “fall through the cracks” of the daily business grind in your office.

When you’re able to find a customer who might be willing to provide something more formal, don’t be afraid to ask them for a reference letter you can include in your packages or post on your website. Sadly, there are still so many “bad” contractors out there, giving the entire industry a bad name, that consumers have a case of “Contractorphobia.” People trust contractors almost as much as they trust lawyers, so you do the math. We know home performance contractors are different, but most of our prospective customers don’t know that, and they don’t understand why they should trust your company more than the average company.

Evidence of several satisfied customers can help quell the fear and build trust and confidence in your professionalism. It’s also a great way to demystify the whole house-as-a-system thing. They get to hear that it works—from someone just like them—and that starts building trust. When possible, use a reference for your prospective new customer to call who (a) had a similar problem that you solved, (b) lives in a similar age or style home (for example, a Cape-Cod), (c) works in the same profession, or (d) lives in the same zip code.

When we discover a customer who is giving us referrals, it’s important to encourage the same behavior for the future, so a little reward can go a long way. Something as simple as sending flowers or a box of cookies with a little note thanking them for the referral can prod them toward telling more people. And don’t forget to send a card during the Holiday season! When possible, have this gift delivered to their place of employment, which will spark a lot of interest from coworkers about your company, what you do, and how you helped them. If a customer keeps sending you great referrals over time, consider a bigger show of appreciation, like a gift card to a good restaurant or something.

Little things like follow-up calls and thank you notes can go along way toward building your reputation. You might find you suddenly get a bunch of calls within a particular neighborhood, or from people who work in the same place or whose kids attend the same school. And isn’t that worth a little extra effort?