With Malloy at Helm, Keep an Eye on Carrier’s Residential Side
Expect more of the same from the hardworking Malloy now that he’s responsible for all residential split system air conditioners and heat pumps, gas furnaces and fan coils, as well as room air conditioning units, packaged terminal air conditioning, and duct-free split products.
Contrary to what you might think, I do not say this to kiss the rear end of Carrier or Malloy. Instead, I write this as a “heads up” to manufacturers of residential and light commercial cooling and heating products. Let’s just say Malloy does not sit still.
Translation? Keep an eye on Carrier’s residential side.
“I think one of the big challenges, certainly in the Carrier and Bryant brands, is to reaffirm the connection with our key program dealers,” said Malloy in a recent exclusive interview with The News. “These are the folks that are most loyal. These are the people that have been with us for a long time. These are the people that have the greatest expectations about how we are going to fulfill our end of the partnership.”
NEW PRODUCTS ON THE HORIZON
While he wants to keep the Carrier faithful happy, Malloy has seen the rapid growth of small businesses — “the dealer who has one truck,” as he put it. He wants to connect with these smaller-sized contractors, which means they can expect some enticing programs in the near future coming out of Syracuse, NY.“We want to address all segments,” stressed Malloy. “There are other channels we’re not going to ignore.”
Malloy said the company is committed to investing “hundreds of millions of dollars in the next three years” to produce new products and technologies. Instead of R-22, expect a ramping-up of use of its Puron® refrigerant into its products, too. Beginning this month, for instance, its WeatherMaker® two-speed Model 38TDB air conditioning units and Model 38YDB heat pumps have Puron.
“We are noticing more and more homeowners finding a way, I would say, to pay more money to get more value in their hvac systems,” he said. “We want to supply homeowners with value from top to bottom.”
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This also means, said Malloy, producing products that are easier for homeowner to operate and technicians to maintain. Respond-ing to consumer feedback, the company recently introduced an external cabinet that enables consumers to change their furnace filters “without going inside the furnace.” They are presently standard on the company’s deluxe and premium gas furnaces.
In addition, Malloy noted that the company has a broad range of thermostats, but only about 10% of the market. “We should triple that,” he said.
Greater INTERNET PRESENCE
Malloy is certainly aware of the technician shortage and its impact on the industry. He said he is looking into ways to help keep company information in front of the contractor and tech, which he believes will improve installations and the warranty process.Expect the company to focus more on contractor and technician training via the Internet and at the distributor level.
“We have the technology today to do this,” he said. “The majority of the quality problems occur when a system is not installed properly. Our distributors are looking to us to provide more training and education. And, we plan on doing that.”
Speaking of the Internet, more than a few hundred Carrier dealers are currently ordering company products online. While it is presently a pilot program, Malloy said it will be expanded in the not-so-distant future.
“We just want to make sure that the online experience truly adds value for our dealer. We want to make sure that it runs properly before we open it up to others,” he said, noting that more than a third (and rapidly rising) of the company’s parts business is now being ordered via the web.
Malloy added that more news will be on the way, but failed to provide any hints.
He quipped, “I have all the answers then, just three weeks into the job, right?”
Well, not exactly. However, give him time. See what happens.
Skaer is editor-in-chief. He can be reached at 248-244-6446; 248-362-0317 (fax);skaerm@bnp.com (e-mail).
Publication date: 02/12/2001