Case Study
Central Carolina Air Conditioning
Central Carolina Air Conditioning, a leading HVAC, plumbing, and electrical company, faced challenges in managing a growing customer base while maintaining quality service. They chose ServMan by WorkWave for its adaptability and extensive features. Since its implementation in 2017, ServMan has transformed its daily operations, improved efficiency, and streamlined payment processes, resulting in a tailored ERP solution that supports Central Carolina Air Conditioning’s unique workflows and continued growth.
Founded: 1967
Services Provided
Maintenance, repair, and installation of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems
Areas Served
Central North Carolina
WorkWave Solutions
ServMan, RouteManager GPS, Slingshot, WorkWave Payments, AWS
About Central Carolina Air Conditioning
Originally founded as Lacy Air Conditioning in 1967, Central Carolina Air Conditioning began as an air conditioning service and repair outfit with an office in a 2,000-square-foot military building in the O.R.D. section of Greensboro, NC. Shortly after, the company started growing and hasn’t stopped since.
Today, Central Carolina Air Conditioning provides HVAC, plumbing, and electrical repair and maintenance for customers throughout the state, proudly serving both residential and commercial customers.
The Challenge
As a large-scale HVAC, plumbing, and electrical company, Central Carolina Air Conditioning found itself fielding huge volumes of customers, both in terms of incoming leads from new customers and scheduling jobs for existing customers. While having plenty of customers to take care of is never bad for business in theory, it was becoming evident that handling all those leads and customers — and doing so in a way that doesn’t compromise the quality of customer service — wouldn’t be possible without finding a way to organize data, optimize routes and keep things running smoothly even during the busiest times.
While seeking out an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that would be the right fit for Central Carolina Air Conditioning, Director of IT Derek Barmer quickly found that he had his work cut out for him; different departments within the company had unique needs that had to be met, from scheduling to accounting.
After exploring several different ERP options, Barmer could see that ServMan by WorkWave’s wealth of features and integrations made it the best option to help Central Carolina Air Conditioning thrive.
I could see from the beginning that [ServMan by WorkWave] was going to be a good fit for us.
The Solution
Since starting with ServMan in 2017, Central Carolina Air Conditioning has been able to redefine the way they carry out everyday tasks along every step of the customer journey. This has been due in large part to ServMan’s ability to adapt to their unique needs and workflows.
A significant factor for Central Carolina Air Conditioning has been the ability to tailor so many elements of ServMan to their specific needs rather than being forced to work with an out-of-the-box solution. Barmer has been using ServMan to the fullest by taking advantage of various modules configured to his business’s exact needs. They’ve also taken advantage of ServMan’s partnership with AWS hosting services, with Barmer noting, “Since we switched to AWS, our performance is so much better… We’ve seen a big improvement from where we were to now.”
The adaptability ServMan provides has been crucial across departments, allowing managers to easily run reports that are meaningful to them outside of more standardized reporting. The entire Central Carolina Air Conditioning team has been using ServMan to automate weekly reports, as well, ensuring that everyone has the details they need on hand before their weekly recap meetings.
In the field, ServMan has been integral in allowing technicians to get more done, both in terms of their schedules and how they approach their everyday work. Through integration with RouteManager 360 by WorkWave, ServMan has removed manual work from the process of finding the best fit for each job. Instead, routes are optimized automatically, eliminating wasted time on the road and enabling technicians to get to more jobs each day.
While they’re in the field, ServMan Mobile enables them to tackle their tasks with ease and get more done. With WorkWave Payments integrated into ServMan, they’re able to take payments instantly in the field to keep cash flow moving.
The guys in the field taking payments — that’s so much easier than it used to be. We can take a picture of the check front and back, and boom! There you go.
Better yet, ServMan Mobile allows their team to work without interruption, even when they’re visiting remote locations or working where cell service isn’t available. As Barmer points out, “Just the simple fact that if the guy has a bad or weak connection in the field [ServMan Mobile] can continue working and syncs up in the background later, that’s huge savings for a tech.”
Another invaluable integration for their team has been Slingshot by WorkWave, which provides Central Carolina Air Conditioning with industry-trained customer service representatives who can answer questions, provide quotes and even schedule service visits. Barmer was particularly impressed with the Slingshot team’s ability to quickly build out scripts that worked not only within the industry but within Central Carolina Air Conditioning’s specific approach to the industry and its customers.
Slingshot has been very helpful. Their willingness to listen and learn about HVAC, learn about our customers…they were so great about listening to us and building the right script.
This has been instrumental in helping them to take on more and more customers as they grow, particularly during the peak season — or during unexpected busy periods. Right after getting set up with Slingshot, a dramatic cold snap led to Central Carolina Air Conditioning receiving over 800 interactions in just two days, including hundreds of new customers as well as 450 customers reaching out for HVAC service. Barmer notes that with their old system, they couldn’t have handled the sudden influx on their own, but with Slingshot all of the leads were handled without a hitch.
With ServMan and WorkWave’s integrated products as members of the team, Central Carolina Air Conditioning has found the tailored ERP solution that works perfectly with their unique workflows so they can get more done.
The Results
Able to handle a sudden influx of 800+ contacts in a weekend
Managers can pull uniquely meaningful reports
Technicians can quote and upsell in the field
Alleviated double-expensing inventory from vendors and warehouse
WorkWave products that are integrated into ServMan — that has been a big plus for us.
