Insights

You care for your techs. What is holding you back?

The challenge of HVAC tech turnover

Commercial HVAC service company owners already know how to keep good people: Give them autonomy, respect, and a clear career path forward. However, building this into your daily work-order-to-work-order operations can be a real challenge - especially when your field service software seems to be fighting against you instead of fighting for you. Many people view adversarial software and high turnover as “normal.” We disagree. This is not normal. The following is the story about how we uncovered a solution to this problem.

Background

Over the past 35 years, Ucora Corp has worked with hundreds of service businesses to create workflow software that creates real, lasting job satisfaction. The mindset behind how workflow software is designed has a significant impact on how technicians perceive the companies they work for. The concepts we learned provide a real, practical solution to the technician turnover problem. But before we go there, we first need to address the elephant in the room: Big field service software companies and the claims they make.

Bigger is not necessarily better

Big field service software companies are making claims of being “people-first”, of providing technicians with easy-to-use software, and of helping companies grow their teams. We are challenging what we see as exaggerated claims - and in some cases, outright misinformation. This misinformation has created unnecessary confusion across the mechanical service industry. These big systems do not support empowering technicians, nor do they help build their careers. They are almost entirely focused on the needs of management, and while that is important, leaving the technicians’ needs aside is a critical oversight. We aim to correct this by offering a real, battle-tested alternative.

Why would Ucora’s software be any different from anyone else’s? Because Ucora’s path was unlike that of others. Our unusual journey crafted software that had to be very different from the standard dispatch-and-control systems. Let’s look at how Ucora’s past shaped the GamePlanPro workflow platform.

Not the usual journey

In the early 1990s, Ucora was making custom workflow systems for businesses throughout Ontario and British Columbia. We created systems in dozens of service fields, allowing us to gain deep, cross-industry insights into how software supports job satisfaction, productivity, loyalty, and profitability.

25 years ago, the first version of the GamePlanPro field service software platform was created. Around the same time, Ucora switched to an all-inclusive CSaaS model (Custom Software as a Service): cloud-hosted, with zero fee increases for custom system improvements. (Some would say an all-inclusive custom software model would be business suicide. That’s a story for another day!)

Because our CSaaS model included unlimited improvements, management could involve us freely in meetings, and so we were often invited to participate. Managers, dispatchers, and most importantly, technicians told us what worked well in GamePlanPro, what didn’t, and what they really needed. The feedback was brutally honest, but it kept us sharp. And with technicians outnumbering everyone else in those meetings, the software was shaped around their needs first. As a CSaaS system, GamePlanPro evolved from customer to customer, year after year.

Real results

Over time, the software increasingly focused on technician motivation through skill and career development. Its impact on productivity and turnover became clear, with some customers doubling their revenues in one year without adding any extra staff. On average, growth rates were over 30%. Staff turnover plummeted. Soon, word spread among technicians at supplier counters that GamePlanPro companies were great places to work. Some of our fastest-growing customers had a lineup of technicians who wanted to join their team. Then, an unexpected problem started to emerge for Ucora.

Victim of success

GamePlanPro was providing a clear strategic advantage to our customers. They were taking lucrative maintenance contracts away from their competition, and naturally they did not want their competitors to have the same advantage. They became uncomfortable referring others to Ucora. As one HVAC company owner - who refused to tell others about GamePlanPro - put it, “You are a victim of your own success.” That was difficult to hear, but it also taught us a lesson. Good ideas always find a way to spread, and as we continued focusing on improving the platform, we kept getting customers through word of mouth. Then the next pivotal moment occurred.

Hidden opportunity

Around ten years ago, all of the GamePlanPro implementations were custom systems. Each customer had their unique solution. Having access to this diverse set of needs, Ucora could see where the commonalities were and where the differences were across a wide range of businesses. We could see which features best propelled companies forward and which held them back. We used this knowledge as the starting point for each new customer, and this further focused and accelerated the development of GamePlanPro. As the system became full-featured, requests for additions and changes gradually declined. In effect, we had built a product, born from the needs of multiple custom projects over many years. We then realized we could offer two plans for the same software:

• Enterprise GamePlanPro – custom systems (design-your-own). Expensive but highly effective.
• Flex GamePlanPro – a highly configurable, lower-cost, off-the-shelf option. The same software as the Enterprise plan, but for customers who don’t need to modify existing functionality.

We now have the best of both worlds. Enterprise customers allow us to continue experimenting and evolving GamePlanPro - even into new markets, such as roofing. Meanwhile, the Flex plan allows us to offer a considerably less expensive option to customers, while still permitting them to switch to the Enterprise plan whenever the business case for full customization arises.

Greater reach

Offering a lower cost plan changed everything. Now we are reaching more companies, faster - helping support their commitment to caring for their teams, providing career and skill development paths directly integrated into their daily workflows. Every workday provides autonomy, empowerment, information symmetry, and transparency, so technicians can self-coordinate, self-manage, and grow professionally - and even personally - within caring companies.

• Owners experience fewer interruptions, less stress, and can focus on company growth. The entire team sees the whole playing field, and everyone knows the plan. Their staff respect management and reward them with productivity and loyalty. Stress is reduced, and time with friends and family is restored.
• Managers switch from command-and-control micromanagement to mentorship, providing knowledge and support when needed. Coming home at the end of the day, they have good stories to tell about how they helped people grow - and how this is helping them grow in turn.
• Technicians manage their workload in the context of priorities and what makes the most sense in terms of driving time, parts supplier locations, deep knowledge of their customers, and available team members. They operate like a business-within-the-business, addressing the needs of customers, management, and owners. This is very rewarding work, and they feel great about it. They are growing professionally and personally. They are trusted and valued, and they take confidence home with them every evening.
• Facility managers love working with GamePlanPro. A prospect of Ucora called us one day and said, “OK, you got me. I need to switch to GamePlanPro.” I asked, “What happened?” He said, “I was in a bidding competition with two other companies, and both are using GamePlanPro. And the buyer wasn’t subtle about GamePlanPro being a requirement.” Not only does GamePlanPro make your job easier, it also makes your customers’ job easier. That gives you yet another strategic edge.

Growing our family

So that’s our story. We’ve been a family-run business for over 35 years, and we would like you to be part of our extended family. But even with all of the above, why should you trust what we are saying? This could all be marketing spin, just like the big guys spin their deception. Two reasons:

1. You get to talk to the actual people who founded Ucora and designed GamePlanPro. Meet with us and walk through some of your specific scenarios using the actual software. Then have us set up a trial system for you - no obligation, no risk other than some of your time. Switching systems is a big decision. Maybe you have been burned before by the big guys. We get that. We’re here to help.
2. We guarantee results. If you are not satisfied, you pay nothing. How can we afford to do this? Ninety-eight percent of customers stay with us for 10 to 20 years or more. We know that once you experience GamePlanPro, you will love it.

You care about your technicians, your customers, yourself, and your family. We provide the software to support the level of care you already believe in.

See how motivation and loyalty can become part of your workflow. Let’s talk.