When a company was established more than 20 years ago you may find them stubborn and hard to change their ways, but not at a local heating and air conditioning company, Cold Craft, Inc.  Actually it is quite the opposite. Last year they installed a state of the art customer management system to assist in managing the business so the employees can do the business of heating, cooling and refrigeration.  This new database comes with a lot of great features including iPad technology, GPS for finding the customer faster and the ability to take, send and attach photos to an account for reference.

Sometimes a picture or two are worth a thousand words, so the IPad really comes in handy when a picture is needed to get the point across.  This was especially true when the tech said the ductwork is crumbling, we thought it was an exaggeration, then we got the picture (see above).

Cold Craft is very close to being paperless in the field and that means that the technician can focus more on the customer and troubleshooting instead of juggling paperwork.  “This is a huge leap forward for us and the reception from the customer has been very positive.” added Kent Penning, Founder of Cold Craft, Inc.

At the office although the new system has a scheduling calendar, there are physical boards showing the activities of the field personnel.

“It seems that our employees still need this board as a crutch to see what the work looks like and how busy we are.  It is unclear if the management is using it as a crutch or the employees, but for now until we are totally comfortable we are using it as backup.” Susan Nichol, Cold Craft.

The iPads are not the only thing that Cold Craft, Inc. has changed over the past couple of years, the website, advertising and promotions plus the type of work being completed has changed.  Cold Craft, Inc. still has one foot firmly planted in residential service, and changeouts, but the other foot is doing quite well in the commercial arena.  So the automated invoicing, call routings, GPS directions and tech to office communication of the new system has provided us with the ability to be more productive.

Along with the database Cold Craft has updated computer systems and a changed wireless company for better reception (surprisingly at a better price) with new cell phones.

Cold Craft is also in the process of installing a state of the art Mitel phone system for quicker less complicated service for its customers. We have increased our lines and added voicemail for the individual phones. It may seem like a simple step – but this one will allow us to manage our business better and to move from an expensive answering service to instant voicemail to email – thanks to the experts at PSS.  This will save us time and money responding to customers.  The phone service provider was also changed to Comcast to provide high speed Internet and a significant savings on phone usage from the prior provider that coupled with more functionality – is a win win situation.

“It’s all about the customer experience.” added Nichol, “as the company focuses on continuous improvement it’s quite amazing how we can grow.”  Many of these changes just happened over the past year or two and the resilient employees at Cold Craft make all of the difference.  They have embraced these changes.

Cold Craft always had the HVAC technical expertise but now it is really advancing with these new admin systems.

If you need help with temperature, contact Cold Craft, Inc.

408.374.7292 or [email protected]