MSCA Connect DATELINE August/September 2017
Click and CONNECT with DATELINE, MSCA’s monthly newsletter! What you need to know to catch up on the latest news and information and all things – MSCA.
Organization: MCAA
Tech Conference to Feature White Hat Hacker
Hacking is becoming a big business these days. It is not just limited to big companies like Equifax, Target and Home Depot, but small to medium sized businesses as well. While most contractors do not store credit card data or store valuable information, they can be seen as the gateway to larger companies because of their access to their networks.
Recently, we interviewed Nick Espinosa, a “white-hat” hacker that specializes in finding weaknesses in companies’ computer networks and protecting them before criminals can exploit them. Nick is a featured speaker for the MCAA Technology Conference in Austin, Texas this November 8-10. There he will share case studies of ways that hackers are sneaking in to companies and what they have done once inside.
Watch his interview to get a preview of his session at the Tech Conference. If you are interested in attending, check out the conference website to learn more about all of the conference sessions that will help contractors compete in the new age of technology.
MCAA Tech Update Episode Six
In the latest episode of the MCAA Tech Update, we preview the 2017 MCAA Tech Conference with an interview of one of its featured speakers, Nick Espinosa. Nick is a a white-hat hacker – a cyber security specialist that protects and defends companies from the bad guys. In his interview, he talks about threats that companies face, and the role that mechanical contractors face in these new connected times. Registration is open for the event which takes place November 8-10 in Austin, Texas.
Click Here for More Information.
The update also provides a recap of the latest MCAA sponsored ConTech Roadshow in Chicago. The one-day event featured some of the best technology speakers as well as a case study by Travis Voss of Mechanical Inc. In his presentation, Voss demonstrated how contractors are beginning to use virtual reality and mixed reality in their operations to visualize designs and install more accurately.
MCAA is sponsoring the next two Contech Roadshows in Dallas, Texas and Oakland California. Visit the ConTech Roadshow website for more information.
MSCA’s Plumbing Service 101 – Cash is King Webinar is Now Available!
If you missed Plumbing Service 101, Module 4 – Cash is King, don’t worry, you can now access the webinar in both MSCA’s Resource Center and in Archived Webinars.
This fourth webinar in the MSCA original series, Plumbing Service 101, Cash is King, focuses on the financial aspects of operating a successful plumbing service business. Some of the topics discussed include the cost of an hour of service; flat rate pricing versus hourly billing; the components of labor burden; pre-qualifying customers; billing and collections; handling paperwork; and initial expenses required for start-up.
Each module consists of a 60-minute webinar and corresponding workbook. Webinars and workbooks are free to MSCA/MCAA members.
Access the webinar in Archived Webinars
“I have never been more proud to be a plumber for a union contractor…”
MCAA is a family. Tragically, members of our family now need our help. Many of our MCAA and UA families had their lives turned upside down by the unbelievable tragedy named Harvey.
That’s why MCAA established the MCAA Disaster Relief Fund. THANK YOU to those MCAA-affiliated local associations, individuals and member companies, both contractors and manufacturer/suppliers, that have contributed to our Relief Fund.
Together, We are Making a Difference!
If you would like to make a contribution to our Fund you can easily do so via a check made out to the “MCAA Disaster Relief Fund.” Checks can be mailed to the attention of MCAA CEO John Gentille at the MCAA National Office, 1385 Piccard Drive, Rockville, MD 20850.
MSCA CONNECT 2017 – Trends and Forecast for Mechanical Service Industry
Dr. Christopher Kuehl
MSCA CONNECT 2017
An Economy in Flux: Has it Worked Out as Expected?
Dr. Kuehl, leading chief economist for several national and international organizations, will discuss and share his forecast for the mechanical service industry at MSCA CONNECT 2017 Education Conference, October 15-18.
This informative session will give you a solid overview of what has transpired in 2017 and what we can expect and look forward to in 2018. The world of the mechanical service contractor engages with almost every sector of the economy. After Dr. Kuehl’s revealing session, you will have a better idea of which sectors are healthy and which still struggle so that you are better equipped to make decisions for your company armed with this important economic information.
Dr. Christopher Kuehl is a Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence and holds advanced degrees in economics, Soviet and East Asian studies. He provides forecasts and strategic guidance for a wide variety of corporate clients around the world. Dr. Kuehl was a professor of economics and finance for 15 years, teaching in the US, Hungary, Russia, Estonia, Singapore and Taiwan.
Don’t miss Dr. Kuehl’s informative session on Tuesday, October 17! Register today for MSCA CONNECT 2017 using the button below.
Water Use Reduction Strategies Webinar
In this session we will review some strategies regarding water use reduction in construction. This includes:
Review strategies being implemented on alternative equipment types and building loads:
i. Building Equipment
ii. Cooling Towers
iii. Food Waste Systems
iv. Medical Equipment Cooling
Review general design strategies to note early, budget parameters to consider, and references for further analysis
Integrated Project Planning Webinar
This webinar will review basic design and early construction kick-off strategies to implement successful sustainable strategies early in the project. Learn how to budget for ‘green scope’ and common sustainable water and energy savings features. Learn when M/P scopes need to be integrated into the project schedule to be most effective. Understand how energy modeling iterations can drive your scope and budget on a job.
Revised Safety Manual for Mechanical Service Technicians Now Available in Print
MCAA recently released an electronic version of its newly revised MSCA Safety Manual for Mechanical Service Technicians. The manual, which includes substantive revisions to sections on CPR, choking, OSHA, arc flash and electrical shock protection, and refrigerants, and new sections on hexavalent chromium, manganese, noise, and zinc, is now available in print.
The extremely popular printed version is a pocket size manual on a durable, hard stock laminated paper. It’s also spiral bound to prevent binding damage.
The member price for printed copies has been substantially reduced. The new member pricing is $5.00 per manual, regardless of the number of manuals ordered. The non-member pricing is $20.00 per manual.
Download a PDF or Purchase Hard Copies
Does Your Company Do Construction Work or Have a Fab Shop?
Then you won’t want to miss these similar titles designed especially for construction and fabrication shop workers.
Safety Manual for Mechanical Construction Workers
Download a PDF or Purchase Hard Copies
Safety Manual for Mechanical Fabrication Shop Workers
MSCA CONNECT 2017 – Does Your Company Have a Culture of Innovation?
Jay Rao – MSCA CONNECT 2017
Innovation Sandbox:
Entrepreneurial Leadership &
Culture of Innovation
Jay Rao, a highly rated MCAA ALI presenter and Babson Executive Education programs instructor, uses his executive teaching and consulting in the areas of innovation in initiatives within firms; implementation; customer experience; and corporate entrepreneurship to show how companies need to change and adapt to new technologies in order to embrace the future of our industry. Dr. Rao’s insights and examples of how big companies like Kodak missed tremendous opportunities to embrace new inventions, for the sake of keeping the status quo, will help you recognize how not to follow that old way of thinking. Dr. Rao shares how the sustainability and stability of big companies has changed with technology and how embracing innovation trends will enable us to implement new technologies into areas of our business with an open mind.
Dr. Rao teaches extensively in the Babson Executive Education programs and has taught and/or consulted for leading companies such as BAE Systems, GlaxoSmithKline and Ocean Spray.
Don’t miss Dr. Rao’s eye-opening and informative session on Tuesday, October 17! Register today for MSCA CONNECT 2017 using the button below.
West Chester Mechanical Named 2017 Mechanical Contractor of the Year
Congratulations to everyone at MCAA member West Chester Mechanical of Aston, Pennsylvania for being named Plumbing & Mechanical’s 2017 Mechanical Contractor of the Year.
Owner and COO Mark Rogers’ key to success:
“Listen to people. Listen to others who do what we do. Listen to the guys from the UA. When you listen, that’s when you learn. That’s what has helped us get to where we are now. And take care of the people around you. Be part of their lives and do for them, and good things will happen for you.”
Well said!
Robotic Total Station Analysis Webinar
In this webinar, Josh Bone, the lead author of MCAA’s Layout Systems Report, presents insights from his research findings on robotic total stations, software, devices and accessories that support digital layout workflows.
To download the report, click here.
MSCA Sales Basecamp
Sales Basecamp is where it begins for your entry-level service sales personnel. In this competitive and uncertain business landscape, the rules of sales and customer engagement have changed. This two-day program will prepare your recent hire with relevant skills for time management and to confidently sell HVACR services. Closing the deal is demystified with this course.
Pre-requisites to attend this course: Completion of MSCA’s HVAC 101 online course and completion of your company’s onboarding activities so that you have an understanding of your company’s value proposition and core competencies.
Please note: The Sales Leadership Symposium does not have to be completed in order for sales personnel to attend this course. Sales Basecamp is open to all member companies, and is an optional training.
Sales Basecamp topics include:
- Building trust with potential customers and dimensions for building relationships
- Successfully maneuvering through the prospecting process and accurately profiling customers
- Avoiding traps in proposal development, and effectively linking features with needs
2018 MSCA Sales Masters Week 2
Sales Masters Program Overview
With a curriculum designed by MSCA in-the-field experts in partnership with sales specialists from the University of Houston Sales Excellence Institute, this two-week program is perfect for service sales employees who often find it difficult to get useful training for their level of expertise that is specific to the mechanical service industry. The program comprises Sales Masters Week 1 (held April 15-19, 2018 at the Hilton Chicago / Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center in Oak Brook, Illinois) and Sales Masters Week 2.
Sales Masters Week 2
In Sales Masters Week 2, the high level of training continues on the campus of the University of Houston’s Sales Excellence Institute. This week long-program will provide an unparalleled experience in a high-tech academic setting taught by acclaimed sales experts. Participants will be challenged to use inventive thinking to cultivate their talents and elevate their sales skills to ensure peak performance. Attendees will learn through industry-specific case studies, experiential role-play opportunities and a personalized post-training plan to ensure implementation of concepts and tools learned.
Sales Masters Week 2 topics include:
- Advanced topics in verbal and non-verbal communication
- Personal and organizational time management
- Understanding complex decision centers
- Developing strategic relationships
- Managing with influence, not authority.
MSCA CONNECT 2017 – Do You Have a Values-based Company?
Robert Richman at MSCA CONNECT 2017
Built For Growth – The Value-Based Company
Engaged employees are productive, efficient, and have a great time. This means low turnover, and highly motivated employees you don’t have to micro manage. Values-based companies have employees who manage and motivate themselves. Robert Richman shares stories of the strength of the core values at Zappos.com (a company that became the #6 Best Place to Work in America and #1 in Customer Service), then shares the science behind why they work so well. Once you learn the secrets behind how values work, you will know how to shape culture. Robert shares with you a process to use in discovering and then implementing the values across your organization.
Robert is a culture strategist and co-creator of Zappos Insights, an innovative program focused on educating companies on the secrets behind Zappos’ amazing employee culture. He is also the author of The Culture Blueprint and is a sought after keynote speaker at conferences around the world.
You won’t want to miss Robert’s insightful and engaging session on Tuesday, October 17! Register today for MSCA CONNECT 2017 using the button below.
Register Now for the MCAA Technology Conference November 8 – 10 in Austin, Texas
MCAA’s annual Technology Conference is the one place where mechanical contractors in construction, plumbing, and service can get tech info you can actually use. Designed by contractors in your business, our goal is to provide takeaways for everyone attending. So if you’re a CEO or an IT geek, Director of Operations or BIM ninja, or just about anyone else wanting to know where the mechanical industry is heading and how you can use that knowledge in your company NOW, this conference is for you.
Our goal is to share both the big picture and some details that will help you optimize what you’re doing at your company every day of the week. Take a minute to check out our program, our speakers, and our roundtable plans. The registration fee is only $595 – a special value available only to our members and exhibitors.
MSCA Webinar: Cash is King (1:00 PM EDT)
This fourth webinar in the MSCA original series, Plumbing Service 101, Cash is King, we will focus on the financial aspects of operating a successful plumbing service business. Some of the topics to be discussed include the cost of an hour of service; flat rate pricing versus hourly billing; the components of labor burden; pre-qualifying customers; billing and collections; handling paperwork; and initial expenses required for start-up.
MSCA CONNECT 2017 – It’s Possible to Hug Your Haters!
Jay Baer at MSCA CONNECT 2017 – It’s Possible to Hug Your Haters!
Take a sneak peek at Jay’s video to you above.
Jay Baer, author of Hug Your Haters, the world’s first modern customer service manual, shows how companies large and small can benefit from the enormous increase in online complaints and customer feedback. If it feels like there are more complaints than ever, and that you’re spending more time and money dealing with negativity and backlash, you’re right. But the rise of customer complaints is actually an enormous opportunity. In this eye-opening presentation, Jay reveals brand-new, proprietary research into The Science of Complaints – why and where your customers complain, how to embrace your complainers and turn impossible, negative situations into positive, possible solutions. Jay has spent 23 years in digital marketing and customer experience, consulting for more than 700 companies during that period, including 32 of the FORTUNE 500.
Don’t miss Jay’s enlightening session on Wednesday, October 18! Register today for MSCA 2017 using the button below.
MSCA CONNECT 2017 Education Conference Spotlight
Julie Williamson – MSCA CONNECT 2017
Bringing The Possible to Life: Influencing Decisions Across Your Business
Julie Williamson, Vice President of Strategy & Research for Karrikins Group (founded by Peter Sheahan, a popular presenter at MSCA conferences) has worked nationally and internationally with companies both large and small, helping them execute a strategy for transformation.
Have you ever found yourself frustrated by people not getting aligned behind an investment or a strategic direction you want to make for your business? Perhaps you have a modern technology to implement, but people continue to find ways to use the old system. You need to get people to make different decisions about their everyday behaviors – how they show up, and what they do to deliver on your organizational commitments. That means you need to disrupt the ‘same old / same old’ thinking that drives most of their decisions, and you need to create new responses that are better aligned with your business goals.
In Julie’s engaging and energizing Education Session, she will dive into the 5 Drivers of decision making and how you as a leader can use them to drive your strategy forward bringing “The Possible” to your business.
Take a peek at Julie’s message below:
For additional information, click on the buttons below:
MSCA Sales Leadership Symposium
The MSCA Sales Institute is the first and only focused training program specific to service sales in the HVACR and plumbing industry. The Sales Leadership Symposium is a “must” attend for anyone who manages or supervises sales personnel and is responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, on-boarding and coaching. Presented by in-the-field industry experts, this program will teach sales leaders how to drive revenue growth and enhance profitability through a structured sales approach as well as enhance sales team productivity and ensure employee retention. This course is a pre-requisite for any company considering sending a sales employee to the MSCA Sales Masters program.
Registration is now open for the January 2018 class.