"I wanted to take a moment and share what my visit with my accountant this week was like. I met with my accountant this week to get the quarterly taxes in order. As she sat in front of my computer she just kept shaking her head as she scanned the chart of accounts, the profit and loss and various other reports. She completed her review, sat back in my chair and said "These are the cleanest, most organized books out of any client I have. After reviewing the profit and loss she also said "How are you doing this? Your financials look great! Your gross revenue is down, your gross profit is up, your net is up and you've lowered overhead and expenses. How are you doing this? This is no easy task, I don't have a single other client that has managed their company through this recession like you have.

I wanted to share this with you because it is a direct reflection of the collective work of Rachel Millington, Mike Maynard, and the entire BDR staff. Together we have formed a very effective team that will assure us continued success. How could we (Us and BDR) receive a better compliment then to have somebody from outside the industry ask "How are you doing this?

Thank you for all you do."

Shawn Kukowski Desert Suns Heating & Cooling Inc.

Dear Barry:

As I sit here reviewing my November Financials, I am forced to reflect back to May of this year.  That is when Jeff and I attended your Labor Management Class in Detroit.

I recall the level of fear and trepidation felt by everyone in attendance due to the state of the economy, the continued slump in the new housing market, the change in leadership in the White House and the general state of affairs in the world.  We all paid close attention in that class and there was an unspoken commitment to implement the practices you preached as never before. This class was not vender sponsored so the atmosphere was more open and less formal.  I particularly appreciated the opportunity to visit with you in small groups during the evenings where we could talk specifics and look for solutions. 

Upon our return, we went about implementing as much as we could humanly put in place.  Jeff took over Production Management (having let the previous manager go) while I de-hired our general ledger accountant, taking back those tasks, including payroll.  This put me closer to "the numbers management".  We began tracking cash flow daily and stayed on top of our receivables.  We added 2 service technicians, re-vamped our maintenance program to a monthly installment and eliminated overtime charges. 

With that done, we went into a summer that was record breaking.  Unfortunately, the records broken were for summer months where the temperature never reached 90 degrees.  It hasn't happened in over 100 years.  Then, just to add insult to injury, winter did not arrive until this week.  November was in the 60's and December has been in the 50's.  We have watched one by one as our competitors have had to close their doors, some of them 30 and 40 year old companies.

We structured our marketing plan around tax incentives and manufacturer rebates.  We looked under every rock for ways to cut overhead, negotiating every contract, changing suppliers and bidding out all services.

We are truly blessed.  I am looking at a 10% increase in sales over 2008 with Jamie selling over $1.5 million to date.  Remember when we needed you to tell him he could sell a million.  Commercial sales are way down and we have decided to eliminate all but replacement work as it comes to us.  Service is only down by 2% but it is more profitable as I did not have the same levels of overtime (by adding the 2 technicians).  My combined Loaded Labor % is just under 12%, my overhead is at 28.7% (under 30% for the first time ever) and I have double digit net profits of 10%. My line of credit is paid off and we were able to bonus our people for tomorrow's Christmas Party.

Our "boots" as I call our revenue generators have suffered a shortage of hours due to the weather and even our sales pattern.  Although residential sales have been up, we have actually sold about the same number of jobs, the big difference being that we have had two install crews all year.  The technicians are the ones who have been suffering all fall.  They have manned the phone lines mining for gold in our customer files generating tune-ups and planned maintenance sales and I am glad the phone has started ringing again. For them tension is running high going into the winter months and we will continue to look for ways to generate demand service.  So all is not perfect, but it is good.

It is actually so much better than I could have imagined back in May.  You gave us not only the tools with which to combat the negatives but the confidence that we could thrive during a down turn.  Most importantly, you showed us that you cared.  I wanted to take the time to let you know how much you have helped us over the years, with a head butt or a hug, whichever we needed most at the time. Jeff and I have boundless respect and appreciation for you and your staff.  I look forward to our continued participation in your classes and the opportunity to visit. Maybe I'll even take you up on a fishing trip.

Here's wishing you and your family the Happiest of Holidays and a Joyous New Year!

WAHOO!

Kim M. Monthie  

CEO

Bruce, Kim:

Wanted to send a quick note and let you know how great Mike Harris, Kimberly Wibbenmeyer, Angela Coombs, Jenn Amerson and Jamie Lindsey have been to Horne Heating and Air Conditioning.  We've made some great strides in the last several months , and I give a lot of credit to our BDR team.  We're going into our 3^rd year on Profit Coach and we are seeing more and more of the guidance and hard work beginning to pay off.  Wahoo to our great team!

Regards,

Chris Horne

Horne Heating and Air Conditioning

It was worth the 1 hour phone call (again ). We booked 18 appointments out of our first 60 calls and booked 10 more out of the next 30. Already – August is looking brighter! Customers were thanking us stating that they just "forgot "or "I've been meaning to call ".

Mike Graessle

"I would like to take this opportunity to commend you and the rest of the Profit Coach team. As you know I was previously a client of the Airtime 500 organization which I was led to believe offered the same benefits as BDR. After 6 months of membership in their program I was completely dissatisfied and felt as if I was taken advantage of with their outrageous entry fee and monthly fees as well.

After that experience, needless to say, I was more then a little skeptical when investigating BDR. I am happy to report that although these are very trying times and my business has not yet turned the corner to success and profitability I feel very comfortable that the process is working, and more importantly I realize that with BDR there were no promises in the beginning that were strictly designed to promote a euphoric feeling to allow easy access to my money.

I feel like everything that BDR promised me is being lived up to, you and the rest of the team work very hard to guide us toward profitability and my telephone conversations with you have always left me feeling as if you had a vested interest in Pioneer Refrigeration Inc. and want to see it succeed. Again thank you for all of the hard work from my self and everyone else here, Barry is very fortunate to have people like you, Jenn, and April on his staff, it's no wonder he has been so successful."

Sincerely,

Anthony R. Davis
President
Pioneer Refrigeration Inc.

"I want to thank you for providing the opportunity to participate with BDR. I have been around the industry for 21 years and every year it seems like it more of the same stuff and less money at the end of the month.

After sitting through the OSP class with Barry in KC last April, I finally decided enough was enough and I was going to make a change and we jumped in with both feet into the fire, taking on Opportunity Manager and the Profit Coaching Program at the same time. We have also attended Dispatch University, OSP (for second time), Running profitable service department and Profit Launch. We are scheduled for just several other classes this coming Spring as well.

Ian came in and helped to implement the Opportunity Manager and helped us get off to a running start, he has been very helpful and knowledgeable with the program.

Working with Gary Heath our profit coach has been very helpful. Gary has taken the time to help me better understand the numbers and get a better handle on the day to day processes. The monthly calls and accountability program has been wonderful. We have worked though several items since. Whenever there is an issue I can always count on Gary to have an answer or find out something helpful. Rachel Millington has been working with Melanie (Accounting) and we have finally gotten our numbers in line so we are able to have accurate reports per department. Thank you Gary and Rachel.

We have also taken advantage of the service coach on-site visit and had Angela Coombs come to our office. Angela did an awesome job of getting in and knuckling down on my service manager and myself. She has worked very hard (patiently) with Bud (Service Manager) and Glenda (Dispatcher) since, to get the 8/10 report up and going along with several other processes along the way. With the monthly call and several email conversations she has been able to help Glenda work out the details and better understand the reporting. Our drive time has been cut by an average of 8 minutes per tech and our average ticket has seen improvement overall until September. (With reporting we were able to determine what was happening with average tickets and have implemented changes that have made instant impact in that area.) We now hold weekly opportunity discussions per Angela's recommendation. Prior to her visit we had just lost two technicians and were looking to add two more to fill their vacancy. Angela ask us to hold off and work on implementing the 8/10 and other ideas she had brought to the table. We are now generating as much revenue with the 5 techs as we had been with the 7 prior to her arrival. WAHOO. We are making great strides towards our service department not only being profitable but also looking forward to the day that service will cover our overhead. (I thought Barry was full of sh*t when he said it could be done.)We're getting there!! Another Big WAHOO. Who says a service department is a necessary evil?

Profit Launch was a very exciting time for me. I hadn't really taken the time to lay out a business plan on paper relying on the SWAG theory (sophisticated wild a** guess) we were just plain lucky to keep growing (not always profitably). Now after the week in Seattle I have very clear vision for our team and have been working hard to share that vision and garner support from the ranks. My management team is on board and each department has raised the bar to another level. The commitment has been renewed and we will be a 15 million dollar company in the next 3 to 5 years. I'll definitely be back at profit launch in 09.

Basically I wanted to take the time to thank the BDR Team. It would be remiss of me if I didn't also mention the support staff in Seattle, they have done an awesome job as well and I appreciate the long hours they put in during Profit Launch and how they handle normal everyday business. I'm proud to be a part of the BDR team and looking forward to a very profitable partnership."

"Wahoo! Our coach is really helping us out and doing a fantastic job. The Profit Coach program is phenomenal! The BDR and Opportunity Interactive teams are fantastic from top to bottom. I appreciate that everyone has the same vision and everyone lives what they preach, and they do what they believe. Thank you for that!"

Listen to the audio version of Mark Sabean's Wahoo

BDR Profit Coach Unsolicited Client Testimonial Letter
December, 2007

M & A Supply executive cites BDR process for contributing to transformation of Affordable Heating & Air into a market leader. Letter written to Rachel Millington of BDR, by Kristy Hodnett.

Rachel,

Adam has been out for two weeks for a sales training class sponsored by our American Standard distributor. I went up last Friday to visit him on "Graduation Day". As you are aware, Adam is a quiet person and typically will not push his opinions upon strangers. As the President of M & A Supply was passing out the certificates, he would personally make a comment on each dealer prior to announcing their name. There was approximately 15 who attended this class, and 30 who were in attendance on this day.

As I sat in my chair across the room from Adam, I heard the President begin to speak of the next recipient for the certificate. Here is what he said: "As I stand here today, I can proudly say that the person I am about to call is our 'Poster Child.' We here at M & A Supply have watched this company grow from one person dealing limited equipment, to a full staff rated top five in Alabama! This person has strived to overcome all of his competitors and provide outstanding service! This person has been dealing with BDR over the past year and has made huge progress to brag about! This company has gone from working out of a make-shift shop, to a beautiful new building.

"Several of the other guys in the class have spoken with me about the great information this person has been sharing about his company and what BDR has helped him develop. This person makes me proud to do this job and Adam Hodnett, I'm talking about you - come get your certificate!" As I watched Adam walk across the room I couldn't help but shed a tear. After the class was over I realized that Adam had spoke highly of you guys. He was trying his hardest to get more companies to enroll with BDR. Adam told one owner "Please check into BDR, you will be amazed at what they will do for you and don't let price be a factor. They have helped me save a lot more money than I am putting out to them."

The Monday after this class was over; I received a phone call from our territory manager with M & A Supply. He wanted to know if he could bring down some other owners from North Alabama to visit our shop. Adam had such a huge impact on one of the owners, that he called his staff in on Sunday for a mandatory meeting. He discussed with his staff that his company is going to have some major changes. They are going to go to one-man crews, eliminate all of the staff from going to the supply houses, etc. Some of his staff was excited and others were not up for the change. Needless to say he has terminated the ones who were not ready!

Working with all of you at BDR has definitely been a challenge this year, but we have made huge changes around here! Just figuring out QuickBooks was wonderful! I greatly look forward to working with you guys next year, and if business ever slows down for you…just call Adam! (Ha Ha)

Merry Christmas!

Kristy Hodnett
Office Manager
AFFORDABLE HEATING & AIR, LLC, Sylacauga, AL

I distinctly recall informing our service manager that our coach was going to share with us how to enjoy higher profits while servicing our own customers better. He rolled his eyes and intensely said "WE are working ourselves to the breaking point now. "IT CAN'T BE DONE"!!!!!!!!!

As we celebrate our fifth month on this program, his report, which was laid on my desk this morning, reflects a $118,197 increase in revenue over last year.

We did not service more customers, or add more trucks, or more personnel, we worked smarter while performing a more thorough job for our clients-- using priceless, proven information taught to us from our profit coach.

Once again, as I sign Russ's multi-thousand dollar performance bonus, I could not help asking him if we should cut the coaching program from our budget. He, this time, muttered something about when "Hell freezes over".

This is just one aspect of how the profit coach has helped. Our sales program has greatly been inspired as well. Our sales department always felt a sense of fear and dread when the alarm bells would ring from the corporate towers announcing an intruding competitor salesperson was trespassing on our turf.

Our own view of obstacles versus opportunity has greatly changed. We now see things with a different perspective and dimension. In reference to our service department, the opportunities had always been there, we just did not see them.

Walking across the dark deep waters of the business world can be very intimidating until one is shown where the stepping stones are-- just underneath the surface.

One last thought, Yogi Berra once said, "You can't win tomorrow's games with yesterday's home runs." In the business sense, this is true as well. Our corporate plan needs to change for this year to allow for the 35% growth we will realize. I would like at this time to request additional appointments with our coach to help us transition to the next level.

In this current financially down market, I cannot imagine a better return on my investment then "Profit Coach™" and my own business.

Sincerely, Don Millard President Bel-Red Heating AC