Understanding HVAC Dealer Motivators: Strategies for HVAC Distributors

The Toughest Months for HVAC Contractors

Winter can be a brutal time for an HVAC contractor. Depending on the climate, this can be one of the most challenging times to make money for a dealer. The end of winter, months like January, February and March, can be particularly challenging.

So how can distributors help?

Help a dealer solve their “downtime” problem in the slower months of the year, and you’ll win yourself the trust of a contractor for years to come. It’s one of the biggest challenges facing any HVAC contractor, but it’s an opportunity for distributors.

In particular, it’s a great time for a Territory Manager (TM) to have some value-adding business conversations. So what exactly does it mean to add value in your conversations with HVAC contractors?

Adding Value as a Territory Manager

TMs have myriad items on their plate for 2026. Increasing government regulation, refrigerant misinformation, product availability, slow housing markets, marketing programs, promotions, and more.

All these items are important in and of themselves. However, it is important to always remember that as a TM, we have to work from the dealer’s agenda.

Those items may or may not be at the top of a dealer’s priority list. In my experience, HVAC dealers are motivated by three priorities. The top priority is always profitability. Now is the time to have those discussions around profitability because months like January and February are typically tough months to make money.

Secondly, these months are also ones where dealers are thinking about developing a business process. With a little more time on their hands, it is a great time to talk about all the things that need to be built internally to help the business to create sustainability and repeatability. The process is so important to put in place because it allows owners to focus on working on the business from a higher-level perspective, rather than being involved in every aspect of the business.

Helping Contractors Manage Time Off and Workload

This is the final item I see a lot, another motivator for dealers that I call “time away from the beast.”

I have called on many dealers that have never had a vacation. Sometimes that is a choice, by feeling like they cannot go away from the business and have to be involved in every part of the business operation. In other cases, they just can’t afford to step away from it.

Adding value so that the business can function without the involvement of the owner in every aspect of the business, is an invaluable quality of distributor involvement, one that will yield rewards that go beyond simply the financial and help to build a true, trusting relationship with a dealer.

Building a Contractor Strategy as a Distribution Territory Manager

A dealer is going to have three primary priorities in your conversations with them:

1. Profitability

2. Process

3. Work/life balance

This isn’t comprehensive of everything on their minds, but these three items are what I call “an always on” switch for contractors.

Although TMs have a lot they might want to talk about, these three should always be prioritized. Regardless of how the sales calls go, keep in mind that these are items that your dealer is always thinking about and that the solutions you provide should have these items at the top of your list.

HARDI Training for Territory Managers: Learn to Add Value in Every Business Relationship

HARDI isn’t just aware of these issues facing both contractors and distributors. It’s actively doing something to improve it.

Our training workshops are built by industry experts and in consultation with our distributor membership and our advanced market intelligence that can identify problems facing the modern HVACR industry.

We offer territory management training, both public and private, catered to the needs of our member organizations. Your territory managers will leave having learned the skills they need to do everything outlined above.

Ready to develop your Territory Managers?

To learn more about this topic and other value-added sales techniques, be sure to check out our new Territory Manager: Foundations certification course or contact me directly at jrevlett@hardinet.org.