when you know what you do well, success is inevitable. That's been the secret for Zimmer Heating and Cooling of Cincinnati, Ohio. "We found our niche years ago and we stay right here," says Clifford "Kip" Zimmer, Retired.

That niche is what Zimmer calls "the old-house market" repairs, replacement, and curing ills of the home. "If certain rooms don't heat well, we try to fix the problem," he says. "We like to say that we do the nasty work nobody else wants to do. We like to solve problems for people."

Zimmer Heating and Cooling was founded in 1946, and has grown from a one-man operation (started by Zimmer's father) into a business with 27 employees, including Zimmer's sons . Skip, Vice President runs the commercial division and is in charge of safety concerns, and Chris, President oversees residential business. The 1999 Carrier Distinguished Dealership servers the tri-state area of southwestern Ohio, southeast Indiana, and northern Kentucky.

Another reason for the company's success is a clearly articulated focus, says Skip Zimmer, evident in the company's goals:

• To be a customer-oriented and successful HVAC contractor in the residential and light commercial market.
• To strive to be a leader in the market we serve, while conducting ourselves professionally at all times.
• To provide quality products and services at reasonable prices.
• To provide our employees and opportunity to develop their skills in an atmosphere of cooperation and respect.

"That pretty much covers it from one end to the other," says Skip Zimmer.

The mission is borne out in the way the company conducts business. Every customer receives a complete needs analysis. "We go into the house, measure the site, and conduct a heat-loss analysis," says Kip Zimmer. "Then we go back when both the husband and wife are available and spend about an hour going through a checklist of questions. We spend time with the homeowners to determine their needs and requirements. I've had people tell me the competition spent five minutes in the house and then sent them an estimate in the mail. We believe a professional job requires professional assessment and professional presentation."

Brian Newport, Territory Manager at CAC Distributing, says Zimmer Heating and Cooling does the best job of making a sales presentation of anyone he's seen. "They're very good at using a sales presentation book, at parlaying both the high quality of the Carrier equipment as well as the things Zimmer Heating brings to the table. They regularly take part in sales training to continually improve their sales ability."

But selling is only the first step.

Zimmer Heating and Cooling has its own sheet metal fabrication center, one of the very few dealers in greater Cincinnati that does. The shop has been in existence as long as the company and can design and custom build ductwork for virtually any installation. "If you need a certain size , twisted a certain way, with a certain degree of offset to make it fit into the home and look like it belongs there, we build it ourselves, " say Zimmer. "There's no making do."

Within three weeks of an installation, the service technician makes an appointment to come back and meet with the homeowner and check on the equipment. "We run the equipment through its paces by someone who's been trained to do that," says Zimmer. "We want to make sure the equipment is doing what we told the people it would do. The service technician can answer any questions, and if someone isn't quite happy with something, we have an opportunity to take care of it right away."

Zimmer Heating and Cooling is visible in the community, from the business' location in a heavy traffic area, to its 18 brightly lettered trucks, and its sponsorship of community activities such as Boy Scouts and children's athletics.

While Zimmer Heating enjoys a tremendous word-of-mouth reputation, they make an active effort to keep their customer base engaged. They advertise, and every spring and fall conduct a special marketing effort to existing customers for "clean and check" service. "They bring in someone part-time, specifically to call each customer. If she can't get a hold of someone, she sends a reminder letter," says Newport. "They do very well with that."

But the Zimmers contend that's just icing on the cake. What's important is the quality of the work itself. "There's no big secret to what we do," says Skip Zimmer. "Our guys do good work and we do it right the first time."

"We're the best because we don't take shortcuts," adds Kip Zimmer. "Our most used tools are drop cloths and shop vac. We pride ourselves in doing a quality, clean job,"

The above was an article published in the Winter 1999 volume Newsletter "Weather Vane" from Carrier.

• Licensed in Kentucky
• Certified in Ohio
• Member of ACCA
• Carrier Leadership Dealer
• Member of Rotary Club
• Actively involved in Boy Scouts of America
• Member of Cincinnati Apt. Association
• Actively involved in church
• Involved in Children's Sports