“I get excited about this,” White told the audience. “This is a great industry.”

He urged members to focus on providing quality services and not worry about companies that try to undercut them on price.

“There’s going to be somebody who’s only going to pay $49.95 for duct cleaning. Get over it, guys,” White said.

Expand your businesses, he told attendees.

“A lot of guys are not getting paid for what they know how to do,” he said. “They’re getting paid for only cleaning ducts.”

But if you want to sell additional services, you need to know how to talk to building owners and especially homeowners who don’t understand industry jargon.

“When you tell somebody ‘CFM,’ their eyes gloss over,” he said. Most don’t know what cubic feet per minute means.

White prefers to refer to basketballs — a basketball represents one cfm of air, he said. Homeowners can understand if you tell them they’re looking basketballs full of airflow.

Blower door tests should done with all clients to demonstrate leakage problems.

“If you are not doing this stuff, you are leaving a ton of money on the table,” he said.

Many cities are requiring testing ductwork for leaks, whether new construction or extensive retrofit work. These are great opportunities for NADCA members, White pointed out.

“HVAC guys don’t do this,” he said. “They don’t know anything about this. They want to sell you a box.”

If you add just a couple services to what you’re already doing, you have a chance to substantially boost revenue while standing out from competitors.