Revolutionizing HVAC Systems with Jeremy Williams
In the virtual Lemonade Stand, Emily is joined by Jeremy Williams from Bluon! They discuss Bluon's journey with innovation, technology, and support - all centered around their transformative app for HVAC technicians.
0:07 - Bluon's HVAC Technology Innovations
12:22 - Bluon for Business
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We’ll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
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Speaker 2: 0:07
What's up, lemonheads? Welcome back to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I'm Emily, and today we've got a very special guest who's going to help us talk about some things of how they are helping HVAC technicians with some very cool technology, and so I can't wait to dive in and sip some lemonade with our special guests. So, without further ado, let's sip some lemonade, all right? So today we are very happy to welcome Jeremy Williams. He is on the dynamic sales and development part of Blue On, a leading HVAC tech company. He's known for his innovative approach and Jeremy has successfully spearheaded numerous initiatives driving significant growth and transforming the company's market presence. His leadership and vision continue to propel Bluon to new heights in the HVAC industry. So welcome, jeremy.
Speaker 1: 0:59
Awesome Thanks, Emily. Yeah, I appreciate being on here and looking forward to the conversation.
Speaker 2: 1:04
Well, as we were kind of chit-chatting a little bit before, you're saying like, hey, there's some big things up ahead for Bluon and so I can't wait to dive into it and learn some more. So tell me how did Bluon start and what do you guys do? Give us a little introduction for everyone that doesn't know.
Speaker 1: 1:20
Yeah, so the Bluon story is kind of a funny one. So we started out as a refrigerant manufacturer for a premium R22 solution and when we brought it to market, adoption was the toughest part right, technicians that are out there doing service work and working on R22 equipment. We had to turn around and try and figure out a way to get the people that are going to use it right to know about it, want it, see the value in it. So we went back to the drawing board as soon as we launched it and said, okay, let's develop an app that encompasses everything in the R22 space retrofit steps, all the manuals, diagrams, tech specs for those units to make our refrigerant the easiest possible to retrofit into these systems.
Speaker 1: 2:14
What we saw was, quickly the refrigerant sales started to tick up. But the app downloads far surpassed the refrigerant sales. So we sat back, stretched our heads like what did we just build? Far surpassed the refrigerant sales. So we sat back, stretched our heads like what do we just build? And we built the largest brand agnostic database in the R22 space at the time and then, just through technician adoption and relaying information to them, they were like, hey, we need this, we need that. And it just kind of built from there. So, yeah, that's kind of how we got started. No, that's awesome of how we got started.
Speaker 2: 2:45
No, that's awesome. Like you know, you think you're solving one problem and then, like, as you get in and get going, it's grown to this other thing and, um, I'm sure if you were talking to someone like not in the hvac space at all, they'd be like huh, like what is it that you? Do, but obviously you guys have found a real niche and something that, like is super appealing and very needed to a very specific target demographic.
Speaker 1: 3:07
Yep exactly.
Speaker 2: 3:09
No, that's extremely cool, extremely valuable. So what are some of the features of Blue On? So like if I was a technician, or maybe even like the owner of a company, like I know, there's probably like different features from different sides. However you're using it. Can you give me some? What are some high points on each of those aspects?
Speaker 1: 3:27
Yeah, so that's a great point. So we as a business with Bluon, have kind of transformed into not just a technician-based app where they can go in and download it for free, get in there and get all the information that they need to, more of a business platform that we call Blue On for Business that's geared towards the contractor as a whole. So it's not only just that app that a technician can go in, find the manuals and diagrams, tech specs, parts info and even use our AI master mechanic tech support, but furthermore you get a desktop site that's geared towards anybody that's working internally at the business and getting a lot of value just out of that. So, across the board, that's kind of the transition that we're in right now as a company of not only just having the free app that they can go in and download but a paid subscription model as well for the platform.
Speaker 2: 4:26
Now that's very interesting and I love hearing how, like you mentioned the AI part that you guys are trying to integrate and stuff, and like I just love when companies are so adaptable and always being up on the forefront and like adapting with the change, if you will, and it sounds like that's been how this company has grown so much as just y'all being willing to be nimble and pivot and add to when needed yeah, 100.
Speaker 1: 4:51
You know our master mechanic, ai tech support, uh, has really taken off. It's been around for about six to seven months now and, um, you know questions that I could ask it six or seven months ago to what I can ask it now completely different way, more in depth. I mean, it has grown exponentially and we jumped on the AI craze that's going on right now, you know, just in the world in general, but in a really unique way. We fielded over 150,000 tech support calls over the last four years through the app being free tech support calls over the last four years through the app being free and we actually transcribed all of those tech support calls and layered them into a large language model.
Speaker 1: 5:31
So the backbone of information isn't Google. It's not reading off a manual, it's not reading off a diagram. It's coming from live tech support calls. You can't locate it. It's, you know, proprietary, one of a kind across the board. So a lot of folks are gravitated towards it in regards to being able to go through and just get those instant answers. They need Right Zero weight in tech support. That's unheard of right now in the industry.
Speaker 2: 6:01
No, like having like a, a virtual technician, right there with you, right? Is that a kind of accurate statement of like that help right there?
Speaker 1: 6:08
Yeah, exactly, yep, you can speak into it, you can type into it. Either way. A lot of folks they'll just speak into it, because you can turn around, click the button, throw it up on the unit and start talking into it Like you're talking to a coworker or your boss or tech support in general, whatever it may be. So a lot of folks are using it because, again, it's zero wait times, instant answers and it's like you're working with a seasoned technician on the other end, right?
Speaker 2: 6:36
Well, and then I'm sure probably like operationally, so like from a business owner's perspective, I'm sure how much freeing is it to have, like you don't have to have a dedicated person that's going to sit there and just talk on the phone to your people out in the field all the time, or, you know, maybe that's the actual contractor himself, like he's having to be on the phone problem solving and troubleshooting these people, like I'm sure that frees up so much manpower to be able to have that feature for them directly there.
Speaker 1: 7:02
Exactly. I mean, some of the biggest things that I talk to contractors about is, you know, their tech support side of things. They have a field supervisor or a service manager and that's all they do is take calls all day long, right? They're not doing revenue, producing things for the business, they're just keeping the business going by fielding those calls. The other thing is you have a lot of technicians calling each other, right? So a lot of you know a lot of the things at that point is like that's two people in one job. From a business perspective, that's a net negative right off the bat. So you know, across the board, it's really just taking that barrier and that load off of them on a day-to-day basis and using technology to, you know, increase that efficiency right off the bat.
Speaker 2: 7:49
Well, and I'm not saying this is always the case, but you know the technicians calling each other. You know, sometimes that can be the blind, lean the blind. You know we have to say like don't be asking your friend. We tell our own teamers like don't be asking them, and they give you the wrong answer, the wrong advice. You know. So, having like a trusted source that has you know that is that industry knowledge, specific specificity, you know I'm sure there's tons of value to that. What are some? Could you share some like success stories? Or how have you seen it like drastically impact some individual technicians or companies? What are some unique things that stood out to you as people have used Blue On?
Speaker 1: 8:27
unique things that stood out to you as people have used Blue on. Yeah, so you know, from a tech support standpoint, I've heard a lot of success stories with our tech support internally where you know there's been times that OEMs have said just call Blue on tech support because it's just easier, quicker. So that's one aspect there, um, so that's that's one one aspect there. The other is, um, you know, with the database that we have, uh of literature and diagrams, it's things that go back 35 years plus it's. It's stuff that in information that you can't find even online. Um, so a lot of folks they'll be looking something up, especially in the commercial world where those units are that old. It's something that they'd be looking for a couple of days and they found it on Bluon within minutes.
Speaker 1: 9:14
So just kind of those success stories we hear a lot of from the parts aspect of it. So we also have the largest database in regards to parts across the board and some of our largest contractors and best users across the board on the platform currently are using the cross-reference database just to speed up time and efficiency within their parts procurement aspect, because now they have the information they need to make purchases in the right way from the right folks with lead times that are a lot shorter across the board. So you know things that would take them a couple of days to find. Using our database, they're finding it within a couple of minutes and being able to secure and procure those parts.
Speaker 2: 10:00
So that's pretty amazing, you know and like contractors spend a lot of time on training and you got to train on. Like you know and like contractors spend a lot of time on training and you got to train on like hey, here's what you're going to see, like 90 percent of the time, but it's always those little outliers that you know get you so hung up or takes the most time and you make the least amount of money on it and stuff. But yeah, just centralizing that place for all that information, that's that's truly amazing. And to being able to find those outlier pieces Wow, I can see how a lot of contractors find a lot.
Speaker 1: 10:30
Yeah, I mean if you talk to any parts procurement person or like warehouse manager or anything like that, that are constantly looking at parts or trying to find them and source them, I mean they're spending hours and hours a week on this and a lot of it's calling the distributor down the street or across town, whatever it may be, to try and find this information at times right. So with just having this system in place and in their hands on a desktop site, they just can quickly and easily find that information and be able to use e-commerce platforms at that point right, Because this gives them the opportunity of they know what they need now.
Speaker 1: 11:14
They're not relying on their distributor partner to give them that information, because they have that now.
Speaker 2: 11:21
So, and then, just how much does it impact the customer experience? So, from going to waiting days to research to try to find this or whatever, like now they're able to get answers and like they don't even know that something's wrong or that they're having to do all this hard extra work, but like it just helps you, you know the end result to the user ultimately exactly right.
Speaker 1: 11:39
So a lot of folks um are really good at going in and being able to say, hey, here's the good, better, best options for equipment. Right now. They can give good, better, best options for parts.
Speaker 2: 11:56
So now I think there's so many benefits and so, like you were saying, there's different levels, for I think there's a free version for technicians and then there's probably some upgraded levels with enhancements and features. Could you explain that and like maybe how different people in the organization, like you mentioned the warehouse manager what levels could they utilize and benefits?
Speaker 1: 12:15
Thank you, yeah, so you know, you have the BlueOn app that they can go in and download for free. The biggest thing now is that we've made it limited access. So they have they can look up three manuals a month and they have three master mechanics sessions. That's the AI tech support. So that's kind of what they're limited to. If they want to have unlimited access or more access, it would be on BlueOn for business, and that is geared towards the contractor as a whole. So the biggest thing right now is hey, you've got so many technicians using the BlueOn app, but their service manager or owner doesn't even know that they've been using it for years. So now it's getting in the hands of the service manager and owner so that they see the value that it's bringing to their technicians and, across the board, the entire business. So that's kind of the two sides to it right now, and a lot of folks right now are onboarding onto Blue On for Business.
Speaker 2: 13:15
That's amazing. How does the pricing work? Is it by per user that the contractor would utilize this, or how is that pricing structured?
Speaker 1: 13:26
Yes, so it is on a per tech basis. So we've actually just went from a bucketized pricing, where you fall into a certain bucket depending on shop size, to per tech pricing.
Speaker 2: 13:39
Any like just one technician, it would be looking at $100 per month and then you know, as you scale up and have more technicians, the price goes down is down so Well and I just you know we kind of hit on it earlier but just being able to remove that person on staff that has to be field support and they do reach a capacity when you're having another one so like that overhead is tremendous and this is a much more manageable and scalable way for a much more affordable cost.
Speaker 1: 14:10
Exactly. I mean, we work with anyone that's just a one one man shop right on the field, up to thousands and thousands of technicians under an umbrella of companies, so pretty awesome across the board and how we can kind of map out and work with any size company across the board and a lot of folks see that value right off the bat. Right, there's no longevity of getting up and running, right, we have people up and running in a couple of days. So you know, we're bringing in folks that are 50 to 75 to 100 man shops right now and onboarding them in the heat of summer, right?
Speaker 2: 14:53
So I know that's the biggest pain point for so many is, you know, when you implement a new software like oh my gosh, like what is this onboarding going to be? Or like what fresh hell am I going to have to walk through to get this integrated, things like that. But hearing that it's so quick, that's very beneficial. So those are all tools that contractors can utilize and technicians right now and on some different levels. But what about the future of Blue On? Like? You've kind of alluded towards some new and exciting things, but like what could people be expecting to see in the near future?
Speaker 1: 15:23
Yeah. So you know we're learning as we're going right now. The AI aspect is. I mean, what we're doing there is awesome, and with everything that's coming out within AI and everything like that, we have a lot of cool features that are going to be coming into master mechanic Can't dive too deep into those yet, but they will be coming out.
Speaker 1: 15:45
And then we also have some beta testing going on with FSM, so field service management softwares FSM, so field service management softwares. So we've launched some big partnerships with ServiceTitan and others so that we can push our data into their service and everything like that, so it's all integrated. So that's one big thing that we're working on right now and that's going to be the future of where a lot of this blue on for Business, you know business goes. The other big thing is we are working with distributors right now as well in beta testing for integrated partnerships where they can have all of this information listed on their e-commerce sites and then, furthermore, in the future, through Blue On for Business, it will be able to show pricing and availability per account for that contractor within the system. So now they don't have to go anywhere else but there to find all the information they need and go ahead and shop through Blue On for Business, for their parts and go ahead and shop through Blue On for Business for their parts.
Speaker 2: 17:00
Very cool, very cool, okay, well, jeremy, how could people learn more information or maybe ask some specific questions about how they could get it integrated into their company?
Speaker 1: 17:05
Yeah. So really, if you want to just go to blueoncom and you can either sign up right there if you'd like, or you can even request a demo I do a lot of the enterprise size shop demos Then I have a team that will go in and actually have demos as well. So that's the quickest and easiest way to get in touch with us to show you everything that you have to offer on Blue On for Business and how it can help the team.
Speaker 2: 17:35
That's awesome. Well, we'll link it down below, but that's blueoncom. So, jeremy, thank you so much for your time today. I feel like I've learned so much and I can truly see the real benefit that technicians and contractors and business owners alike can really save their time but also, you know, expedite their efficiency and things like that. So it's been great talking with you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: 17:59
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate y'all having me on.
Speaker 2: 18:02
Yeah, absolutely Well. Thank you for listening to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love us if you gave us a review. Give us a follow on all the social medias, share it with a friend. Hopefully, you got something from this and can share the love with someone else. So, as always, thanks for sipping some lemonade. We'll see you next time.
