Is Your HVAC Business the Next Blockbuster? 

Have you ever heard of Reed Hasting? 
 
Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t. Either way, odds are you’ve heard his story. 
 
In September 2000, Hastings flew to Dallas, Texas to meet with Blockbuster CEO John Antico about a potential buyout with his smaller mail-in DVD rental company: Netflix. Even though Hastings had been pursuing this meeting for months, Antico only gave him and his co-founder Marc Randolph twelve hours’ notice when it was finally scheduled. Netflix was struggling financially, so they chartered a private plane to get from California to Texas that very morning. 
 
Their proposal? Netflix would run Blockbuster’s online and mail-in rental operations while Blockbuster focused on brick-and-mortar efforts. The price of their acquisition? $50 million.  
 
Despite Netflix already having 300,000 monthly subscribers, Antico laughed them out of the building.  
 
Ten years later, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy and Netflix was worth billions.  
 
Here’s the thing: Blockbuster thought they had no reason to pivot. Why? Because all their efforts were tied up in maintaining present success rather than keeping an eye out on the future. They had every advantage in the year 2000, but over the course of the next decade, they lost it all.  
 
It didn’t happen overnight; disruption is slow and invisible until it isn’t. Uber didn’t overtake taxis as a primary transportation method without warning, just like Airbnb didn’t challenge major hotel chains after their first bookings. 
 
That’s the danger of good business. Today, the idea of change seems unnecessary. But tomorrow? Change suddenly becomes critical. And when companies don’t think these rules apply to them, they choose not to act on patterns as they start to develop – patterns that, in these times, are showing up in several different industries.  
 
Think about it: What do Netflix, Uber, and Airbnb all have in common? 
 
Their focus isn’t on the product or service itself, but rather the consumer’s experience.  
 
– Netflix sold the idea that when you sit down to watch television after a long, tiring day, you are guaranteed to find entertainment within the comforts of home.  
– Uber focused on the feeling customers want when traveling, not the simple act of getting from point A to point B.  
– Airbnb didn’t try to “beat” hotels but rather created a new category of travel accommodation that tapped into what cookie-cutter chains weren’t willing to offer – a home away from home. 
 
Right now, many HVAC businesses are operating the same way Blockbuster was a quarter century ago. The phones are ringing, the jobs are booking, and no one worries about the future.  
 
That’s the primary issue. Contractors are only working for today, not building for tomorrow.  
 
Just like Blockbuster. 

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HVAC Companies are Standing on the Precipice of Change

When someone suggests a new idea at work, what’s your first reaction? Excitement or irritation at the idea of change and all the work that might come with it? Growth might be possible. Better salaries could come as a result. But why waste time fixing something that isn’t broken, right? 
 
It’s easy to convince yourself that issues arising in other industries won’t apply to your business when the bills are getting paid. Heck, it’s easy to ignore the problems your competitor is facing when things are well at home.  
 
But remember: Blockbuster was busy until their final days. They co-existed with Netflix for years, and they didn’t realize how the shift in consumer behavior was affecting them before it was too late.  
 
Homeowners today want more convenience than ever before; they aren’t the same customers you served ten years ago. This younger generation has been conditioned to expect next-level care when working with specialists in all fields – especially when it pertains to their homes. They don’t just want their problems fixed. They don’t want the burden of having to call or troubleshoot issues themselves. They want to know their homes are being looked after by someone who knows them.  
 
Someone who cares.  

Can you say your business cares? Do you truly care enough about your customers to have your employees ask and consider the hard questions? 
 
If you don’t, are you willing to make a shift? 
 
Those who do will thrive as the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical industries shy away from treadmill-style marketing and service models in favor of all-inclusive comfort solutions like our Premier Program ®.  
 
And here’s the kicker: those who move first will own their markets, just like Netflix created the entertainment streaming space. Those who don’t will find themselves wondering why they didn’t consider a change when they had the chance – just like Blockbuster.  

It’s You Vs. Them: You Don’t Have to Lose 

HVAC businesses are showing the same warning signs Blockbuster showed in the early 2000s. The good news? You have a roadmap that Blockbuster didn’t. You can learn from their mistakes. You’ve read about what happens when companies won’t adapt to meet shifting consumer behaviors.  
 
That shift isn’t a question of “if” anymore. It’s happening right now. And eventually, someone in your market is going to make the first move, meeting homeowners where they are. As the cost of living rises and the need for easier, more affordable home comfort solutions increases, “eventually” gets closer and closer to “today.”  
 
What are you going to do about it?