ACCAbuzz

ACCAbuzz Has Moved!

Where has ACCAbuzz gone? Why, we've moved to fancy new digs. Please follow us, and change your links (and feed subscriptions) to www.accabuzz.com. See you there!

Break the Rules!

Only a month left until the 2006 ACCA Conference & Indoor Air Expo! We're going to "Break the Rules" at the San Jose Convention Center from March 28-30. There's still time to register for our most exciting experience yet. Contractors from all over the country will gather to learn how to break the rules, and become innovative forces instead of mere copycats. This is one you definitely won't want to miss!

Blogging here will slow to a halt over the next month, but that's because we're blogging up a storm over at the conference blog. Take a look at www.indoorairexpo.com/news for news, interviews, and the occasional provocative commentary. While you're there, be sure to watch our special online video, "45 Rules for Rule-Breakers," and don't forget to register! See you on the coast!

Marketing Advice

Paul Tulenko, a small-business consultant who writes for the Scripps Howard New Service, has some good advice on how to position your business and market it. Start by writing a statement about what you do -- in 25 words or less. That will help you focus and qualify prospects more easily. Of course, the other part of it is to look at your business from the customer's point of view, not yours. The latter tends to lead to long-winded statements.

Man's Best Friend ...

... just may be the solution to the energy crisis. San Francisco is experimenting with using dog poo as a source of energy. Norcal Waste Systems has come up with a way to convert animal feces into methane gas, which can be used in stoves abd heaters, for example. Good doggie, good doggie.

Tax Credits

The IRS has issued guidelines concerning tax credits for energy-efficient residential heating and cooling equipment. Contractors or manufacturers will need to provide a certificate saying that the new equipment meets federal standards. For more information, click here.

Generation X Takes Its Place

The Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration NEWS has an interesting story this week about marketing to Generation X (Gen-X) home buyers. They accounted for nearly half of new home sales in 2003. Get to know what they want and how to sell it to them -- and those who are building their homes.

Ask and You Shall Receive

Most top managers, especially in large companies, don't really know what their customers want, writes Paul Tulenko in this article on marketing. Instead, they build fancier mousetraps. What consumers want are solutions to their problems, and you can set yourself apart from the competition by marketing your solution. The best way to find out what problems you can solve and the best way to solve them is to ask your customers! Here's a strategy for doing just that.

Jerry Kelly Named CB Contractor of the Year

ACCA member Jerry Kelly Heating & Air Conditioning has been named Residential Contractor of the Year by Contracting Business magazine. The St. Charles, MO-based company attributes much of its success to its involvement in ACCA, particularly its ACCA MIX Group. Congrats to Jerry, his wife Janet, GM Steve Miles, and all the other great employees at Jerry Kelly!

ACCA Members in the NEWS

Some ACCA members in Texas are prominently featured in this week's ACHR NEWS. They participated in a roundtable luncheon meeting. The ACCA members are Kahn Mechanical, Air Rite Air Conditioning, and Stark Air. There's also a nice plug for MIX Groups and the North Texas Chapter's Heat the Town effort, which led to the nationwide Heat the Country program. Way to go!

Ready for GPS

According to a study done by Boston University's School of Communication found that the public is ready to embrace global positioning systems (GPS), confirming the predictions of consultant Robert Siciliano. He believes we'll see GPS suppliers making a major marketing push this year. The "unique selling point"? Safety. He says that consumers aren't as concerned about privacy as they are safety. That's one way to convince your employees it's a good idea, too.