ARLINGTON, Va. - In response to requests for better educational opportunities for service managers, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) will host the first National HVACR Service Managers Forum, Oct. 9-10, in Houston at the Doubletree Hotel Houston Downtown.

“To succeed as a service manager, you can’t just be a technical expert, you have to be a people expert, an organization expert, a management expert,” said Ray Isaac, president of Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning, ACCA 2008-2009 chairman, and a former service manager himself. “The Service Managers Forum is a terrific opportunity to help these professionals improve themselves and the companies they work for, and is an important step in ACCA’s goal to help professional contractors differentiate themselves.”

The two-day intensive educational and networking event has been designed by contractors to provide maximum learning impact on the people who manage service departments, or who are being groomed for possible management positions in an HVACR contracting business.

ACCA said the forum is built around six real-world workshops, each of which is being offered twice so that attendees will be able to participate in each one. The topics to be addressed are:

• Structure Your Service Department for Profit

• The Perfect Service Call

• How to Stay Cool When Customers Get Hot

• Finances for Service Managers

• Leading Effective Meetings and Training Programs

• Taking Your Service Agreement Program to the Next Level

At the opening general session, “Getting Great Results: Turning Talent Into Performance,” management guru Garrison Wynn will combine the results from a major management survey with real-life management and leadership solutions to show how to get the most from your people, regardless of their skill level. Service managers will learn how to manage their top producers, how to hire for talent and turn it into performance, how to listen like a leader, and how to help low performers fight their way into the middle.

At the closing luncheon on Oct. 10, service managers will learn how to communicate better with their employees, colleagues, customers, and bosses during an interactive session, “Can You Hear Me Now?” Communications expert Sarah Michel will help service managers identify their own natural style of communication, use their natural talents to create buy-in, reduce miscommunication and conflict, and use differences to create stronger teams.

Service managers will also get the opportunity to meet and learn from other service managers from around the country. At the Roundtable Luncheon on Oct. 9, attendees will be able to choose “topic tables” and participate in conversations with other service managers on a variety of challenges and opportunities, such as GPS and fleet management, productivity pay, dispatching improvements, and more.

“Many years ago, ACCA used to hold meetings for service managers, and I attended them and found they made a huge difference to my personal growth and our company’s bottom line,” said Isaac. “I’m proud that we are bringing them back, especially now when contractors are finding that service is not just a function, it’s a business. It’s where value is created for your company, through reoccurring revenue and client development.”

The National HVACR Service Managers Forum is being presented by ACCA in cooperation with the Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration NEWS.

For full program information and to register for the Forum, visit www.acca.org/servicemanagers or www.servicemanagersforum.com, or call ACCA at 703-824-8856.

Publication date: 06/16/2008