Aire Serv® Heating And Air Conditioning Franchise Conversion

BELLEVILLE, ILL. (Thursday, January 15, 2004) - Hirth Plumbing and Heating, in Belleville, Ill., kicked off 2004 by celebrating its 100th anniversary. The State of Illinois proclaimed Jan. 15th Hirth Plumbing and Heating Day, the City of Belleville dedicated the whole month as Hirth Plumbing and Heating Month, St. Clair county presented the company with a plaque of recognition for contributions to the community, and the anniversary was entered into the U.S. Congressional Record. As a family operation that dates back four generations, the company epitomizes the great American success story.

But this year, the company also will celebrate the fourth anniversary of its Aire Serv® Heating and Air Conditioning division, a franchise that was awarded to Hirth just four years ago that now represents approximately 60 percent of the company's business.

According to co-owner Steve Terschluse, a company as old as Hirth still had plenty of room to improve, and the Aire Serv franchise was the perfect answer.
The business, which was founded by his great-grandfather George Hirth in 1904, was ready for some changes.

"We used to do everything the old way," Terschluse said. "It was a regular practice to take every call, go out and handle the service, bring the work order back to the office, mail an invoice and hope to get paid within 30 to 60 days." Not anymore.

"In 2000, we had one heating and air conditioning technician on staff, and we decided to try and grow that part of the business," Terschluse said. "After intensive searching, we found Aire Serv and discovered that it best fit our way of doing business, giving us a program to follow to achieve our success." That included the flat rate pricing menu that allows Aire Serv to handle more calls more efficiently, receive prompt payment and always stay on top of earnings as they happen.

Today, Terschluse has 12 heating and air conditioning technicians and an overall staff of 32. He said franchising revolutionized the way the company does business, but it also took serious commitment. He credits his General Manager and Vice President Thomas Simmons for being the catalyst behind Aire Serv's growth.

"It's not easy for a contractor who has been around a long time to adopt another system of policies," he said. "It was an exhaustive process. People don't want to lose their names. Owners don't want to paint their trucks. Technicians don't want to wear booties in the house. It seems awkward in the beginning. But the more we adopted the Aire Serv® system, the more successful we became. It's second nature to us now, and the team is going to do it and succeed because of it as well. As the implementation of Aire Serv® continued throughout our operations, it gave us the means of crossover heating and cooling opportunities with our existing plumbing clients, who for years would not recognize us as a heating and cooling company."

Steve, an engineer, along with his co-owners and brothers David Terschluse, a licensed plumber, and James Terschluse, a stockbroker, continue to raise the bar for the family business.

"Last year, we served 10,000 customers overall," he said. And the Aire Serv® franchise territory that includes five counties on the Illinois side of the St. Louis metropolitan area is experiencing explosive growth that the family wants to continue to capture.

If history tends to repeat itself, then the combination of a solid family business, a forward-thinking franchise and a dedicated management team should make the next 100 years a piece of cake.

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For more information, contact Eric Abercrombie, 254-745-2400, eric.abercrombie@dwyergroup.com

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