According to Brynn Cooksey, ACHR News Top 40 Under 40, Forbes Energy Contributor, Certified IREC Master Trainer, and a 5-year Service Fusion Pro customer, most contractors are incredible technicians, but when they step into the owner role, many don’t know how to price for profit or present themselves professionally to customers. 

Brynn has trained over 10,000 technicians and contractors across the country, and he sees the same rookie mistakes everywhere—mistakes he admits he once made, too. That’s why he not only runs his own business on Service Fusion but also advocates for it. Here’s why. 

Products used:   

Pro Plan | Custom Docs | Job Costing | Flat Rate Pricing | Recurring Invoices 

Total # of Jobs: 19K  

Number of Staff: 20 

Revenue Growth: 6x in 3 years  

Great Technicians, Struggling Business Operators 

Pricing Smarter with Flat Rate Pricing & Job Costing  

“I think when an owner steps out to start their business, they’re usually really great technicians and maybe not skilled business people at first,” Brynn explains. So what do new business owners do? They look at competitor pricing and copy it. The pattern is common. New contractors match what competitors charge and don’t calculate their actual costs. They stay busy, but they’re not profitable. By the time they realize they’ve been underpricing, they’ve already lost thousands. 

“Job costing means based on the tools and materials for this project, did we do a good job? Did we make our net profit or not? We’ll take this information and compare it to what our actual KPIs were, break down exactly how long the tech was there, what materials they used. That’s how we ensure that we hit that profitability.” 

Air Doctors uses Service Fusion’s Flat Rate Pricing feature to give customers clear, upfront pricing through a built-out price book. Each job comes with a flat-rate cost before work begins so there are no surprises.  

Brynn also explains how flat rate pricing connects with Job Costing. Once a job is complete, his team reviews materials, labor, and time to confirm whether they met their profit goals. The data from job costing then feeds back into the price book, helping them fine-tune pricing so future jobs stay competitive and consistently hit target margins. 

Looking Professional with Custom Documents 

Another mistake many contractors make is missing the chance to showcase their professionalism. Brynn uses Service Fusion’s custom documents feature to ensure every customer-facing touchpoint looks polished and trustworthy. The Custom Documents functionality lets office managers customize 3 types of documents: 

1. Custom Estimates: Send consistent, branded estimates with tailored layouts and good/better/best options. Reduce back-and-forth and close jobs faster 

2. Custom Jobs/Work Orders: Not all jobs are the same. Personalize any job by adding custom fields to capture critical details your crew needs. Create reusable templates for common services so you don’t have to start from scratch every time 

3. Custom Invoices: Email or text customers a job summary and their invoice. This is where Air Doctors maximizes value with custom documents. Every invoice they send automatically includes: 

• QR codes linking to their website for additional maintenance and service agreements 

• Professional terms and conditions that set clear expectations 

• Branded design that differentiates them from competitors 

“For custom documents, I love this feature. When we send out invoices to our customers, we have some marketing embedded into the email. We also have the ability to put transparent terms and conditions within our invoices, so that customers understand what their warranty is.” 

The Secret to Doing It All 

Brynn runs Air Doctors, operates HVAC U training programs, contributes to Forbes, and trains 10,000+ technicians. So how does he keep it all together? 

“Some people think I have a clone or twin,” he laughs. “I use a series of tools that help keep me organized. I have software programs to help me do work faster. And I got amazing staff that help take care of day-to-day stuff so I can focus on the big picture.” 

Service Fusion is central to that system. By giving his team the structure they need, Brynn is free to focus on growth and keep raising standards across the industry. Air Doctors didn’t stop at job costing and custom documents. As a Pro Plan user, they have access to multiple features that separate growing businesses from stagnant ones such as:  

• eSign Documents: Close deals faster without chasing signatures. 

• Customer Web Portal: 24/7 customer access to service history, preferences, and scheduling. 

• Progress Billing & Recurring Invoicing: Automate service agreements and large project billing. 

• Integrated Voice & Texts: Send ‘On the way’ reminder calls and text messages  

When you’re scaling to multiple employees, these aren’t nice-to-haves, they’re essential to operating like a professional organization. Get a personalized demo.  

Explore Air Doctors to see Brynn’s HVAC team in action, and visit HVAC U to see how he’s helping train the next generation of contractors to elevate the trades. 

^{Disclaimer: The information presented in this case study was collected through research interviews with participants who received a $100 gift card as compensation for their time and participation.}  

The post How Air Doctors Stopped Leaving Money on the Table with Service Fusion appeared first on Service Fusion.

Let’s look at how they grew the company and their vision to build a legacy. 

Products used:   

Pro Plan | Custom Docs | FusionPay | Integrated Voice & Text | Customer Web Portal   

Customer since: 2016   

Number of staff: 25   

Ave annual jobs: 5K   

Ave daily time in-app: 2 hrs   

From Father to Son: A True Family Business  

Pat Quill started the company three decades ago. His son, Kyle, began working alongside him at just 17 as a service tech, and seven years ago, Pat passed him the reins. Now President and Owner, Kyle is already eyeing his eldest son, Duke, to carry the legacy into a third generation. 

The family involvement doesn’t stop there. Kyle’s sister, Emily, keeps operations running smoothly as office manager, while Patti (Pat’s wife) and Rebecca (Kyle’s wife) shape the company culture. 

Carolina HVAC lives by their five core values, what they call the 5Gs: Grit, Generosity, Greatness, Gratitude, and Growth. That final value, Growth, is where their partnership with Service Fusion makes the biggest impact. 

Growth Mindset: Overcoming Resistance to Change 

“We think about the future constantly, from mergers and acquisitions to employee satisfaction and technology.”, Kyle explains. But like most growing companies, they initially pushed back against change. “When someone first introduced Service Fusion, our first thought was ‘We don’t want change‘“.  

But after realizing that the industry is changing rapidly, technicians are getting younger, and customer expectations continue to rise. The question became adapt or get left behind. 

Results after using Service Fusion’s Field Service Software  

• Sticky Note Disaster Gone  

In the early days, Pat would leave handwritten sticky notes right in front of his son’s truck before heading out for the day, which often got lost. With Service Fusion, there’s no more lost data. All job and customer information is documented, so there’s no need to dig through file cabinets. It’s also easy to reassign jobs to different technicians, ensuring job continuity and helping the team get to the job on time, every time. 

“Life was miserable with handwritten notes. If one thing changed, I had to rewrite it all and make 3 phone calls to get everybody on the same page. But now, it’s done in 1 click. If we’re doing 80 jobs a day, that’s a huge time saver” 

• Turned Happy Customers to Fans  

Pat explains that in the service industry where customers often feel left in the dark, being honest and providing constant communication to customers is key.  

Service Fusion makes this possible through automated text messages via the Integrated Voice & Text feature that let customers know when technicians are “on the way” or have arrived “on site.” As Kyle puts it, those simple communications & updates help turn happy customers into fans. Pat adds that having a complete customer history available at their fingertips has been another big advantage. 

“When I’m driving to an estimate, I can pull up a customer’s entire history. If they’ve been with us for years, I make a point to thank them right away. If they’re new, I ask how they found us, which tells me what marketing is working. Service Fusion is a powerful tool that keeps getting better the more we invest time learning and using it.”  

• Cash Flow Management Made Easy 

Managing their books used to be another headache, especially with large accounts receivables. Soon, they realized that if they made it easier for customers to pay them, it improves cash flow management.  

Carolina HVAC has been using FusionPay to provide multiple payment methods to their customers. This includes debit and credit cards as well as ACH processing. The convenience factor makes a real difference, customers can pay immediately rather than putting it off, which keeps money flowing and reduces the admin burden of chasing down payments. 

Advice for Growing Businesses 

Kyle: “Embrace change. What got us here won’t get us to the next level. The industry is always changing, and the people that embrace it are going to be the people that win.” 

Pat: “Show up on time, do great work, and treat people the way you want to be treated. If a company does that, they can’t help but succeed. Service Fusion has made us better at those things. We’re not losing filter sizes or phone numbers or wasting time maintaining manual databases. Honestly, I don’t know how any service business today can survive without it.” 

Start Building Your Own Legacy 

Carolina HVAC’s 30-year journey proves that family businesses can scale efficiently. They’ve built systems and adopted technology like Service Fusion that supports growth. Most importantly, they’ve created something worth passing on to the next generation. 

Discover why thousands of service businesses trust us to power their success. Book your demo today. 

_{Carolina HVAC has been a Service Fusion customer since 2016, growing their business while maintaining the family values that set them apart. Learn more about their services at carolina-hvac.com.} 

The post 30 Years Strong. Carolina HVAC Grows Their Legacy with Service Fusion  appeared first on Service Fusion.