How are contractors reacting to homeowner concerns for safety amid Covid-19? How are they keeping their crews safe? How is it affecting the bottom line? This forum aims to share great ideas from the best in the industry, our trade partners.
Great Input from Josh Bigelow at Great Dane
Great Dane Heating and Air in Detroit Michigan is delivering filters to customers with no mark up and no delivery fee. Owner Josh Bigelow explains how he breaks through the clutter. “We get guidance from local govt, national, but rely more on the state. Go to state websites and get updates. Also, get down to municipalities level whenever possible. Every local area is different in how COVID-19 is moving and what the recommended safeguards are”.
“without clean air and water we can’t stay healthy so we have a responsibility to continue to provide service”
“We have 40 families to care for (my crew and at home). It’s my job to keep them as safe as possible. Staff with families in high risk groups for COVID-19 can stay home. My ultimate goal is to not lay anyone off, so far we have not. Some customers are not comfortable having anyone in the house, but still need to get things done. HVAC is essential, but healthy and safety is number one and without clean air and water we can’t stay healthy so we have a responsibility to continue to provide service. Most people don’t know that MERV 13 and higher is close to N-95. We’ve been using the AprilAire filters for over a year now and we are letting everyone know who has an AprilAire MERV 11 filter from us that we have MERV 13 and 16 available. We are waiving deliveries. The showroom is closed so we’re delivering to front porches. We’re actively calling, Facebooking and emailing to all current air cleaner customers”.
“Our staff are finally realizing all the training we’ve done about humidity, air filtration, ventilation, and keeping filters clean…now they get it”.
Final thoughts for your peers? “Safety of crew comes first – everyone has the PPE they need – we’ve always used booties by the way – I encourage everyone to share your good practices with your local businesses…even competition. We’ve shared PPE with competitors so we together can continue to serve homeowners. Help keep everybody save.
“The anxiety will be here for a while. Take advantage of time we have at home right now. Get those projects done that you always put off. Enjoy the family more!”