Watsco’s Q2 Results Signal a Return to Normal: HVAC Market Stabilizes
Watsco, the Florida headquartered distributor in the North American HVAC market, serving over 125,000 contractors and installers through over 692 locations in the US, announced 2Q 2026 earnings on July 29. Watsco reported second-quarter 2026 results that reflected a stabilizing but margin-compressed environment, with revenue up 2% to $2.1 billion. Gross profit declined 4% to $579 million as gross…
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How Agentic AI Could Change How HVACR Contractors Buy Material
Amidst the conversation about AI and data centers, both of which distributors can benefit from, there is another conversation that, as typical, starts on the…
What Matters to HVAC Contractors and What Makes Them Loyal
I recently wrote this article for a sister publication of HVACRTrends, ElectricalTrends (and did you also know we publish Industrial Supply Trends and US Lighting…
The $339,000 HVAC Financing Problem Sitting in Every Contractor Proposal
75% of homeowners know contractor financing exists. Only 1 in 3 has ever used it. That gap is entirely yours to close. MIT Taught Me…
Today’s HVAC/R Contractor Scorecard
Twenty years ago, a contractor’s scorecard looked something like this: Equipment Brand Price Relationship Today, it looks very different: Availability Pricing Delivery Service and Support…
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The $339,000 HVAC Financing Problem Sitting in Every Contractor Proposal
75% of homeowners know contractor financing exists. Only 1 in 3 has ever used it. That gap is entirely yours to close. MIT Taught Me the Lesson First I recently enrolled in the MIT No Code and Agentic AI program. The cost: $2,850. MIT gave me three payment options: Option 1: Pay in full. $2,850. Done. Option 2: Three payments.…
Today’s HVAC/R Contractor Scorecard
Twenty years ago, a contractor’s scorecard looked something like this: Equipment Brand Price Relationship Today, it looks very different: Availability Pricing Delivery Service and Support Ease of Doing Business Equipment Brand The HVAC/R industry has changed. The question is whether manufacturers and wholesalers have changed with it. For decades, the HVAC/R industry operated under a relatively simple assumption: contractors chose…
Did an Elephant Show Up at the Applied AI Conference?
Mark McGready, Director Data Analytics and Solutions for IDEA, attended the 2026 Applied AI for Distributors Conference organized by Distribution Strategy Group. While he spoke to attendees about IDEA’s Data Whispers solution and how Nudge (its avatar) helps drive sales, profits and acts as a virtual sales coach and information resource tailored to each distributor’s offering and is based upon…
Refrigeration Technologies’ Viper EZDose
By now you should have heard that Refrigeration Technologies, the Southern California-based manufacturer behind the Viper® line of non-toxic HVACR chemical solutions, recently introduced the Viper EZDose™, a gravity-fed pan and drain line maintenance system designed to help HVAC contractors prevent condensate drain clogs before they become water damage, odor complaints and costly callbacks. Another New Product! What Does it…
The Air Inside Your Home or Office May Be Making You Sick. And Most of Us Have No Idea.
Recently I was scrolling through LI and came across Chris Baca, who had an interesting posting on something in the HVAC space. I looked at his background … 20 years in the HVAC distribution (along with a detour into the elevator space!). Given the original intent of LI, networking, I reached out to get acquainted. Earlier this week we had…
Blue Hawk Brings Construct CRM to its Members
Integrating with your customers provides an opportunity to add value to them and help solidify your role as their preferred distributor. The key is recognizing the reality … that they also need to buy from your competitors (credit, availability, brands, location, price, etc) and enabling this (remember the phrase, “pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered!”) Recently I wrote about a…
DOE Furnace Rule Fight Exposes Gap Between Energy Policy and HVAC Field Reality
TL;DR: This article argues that the fight over the DOE furnace and water heater rule is really a fight over whether energy policy reflects how HVAC systems are installed in the real world. Higher-efficiency equipment has clear value, but mandates become problematic when they ignore retrofit constraints, labor shortages, consumer affordability, and regional infrastructure differences. The better path is a…
Adding a Nudge to Your Sales Coaching, at the Point of Impact
Every conference has some session about AI. And every reception at every conference has someone asking about what you’re doing with AI. So, imagine being at a conference that is all about AI and where everyone is talking AI 24x7x3. This is what will happen next week at DSG’s Applied AI conference in Chicago. If you are attending get ready…
