Good Neighbor Podcast: Colorado Springs
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Colorado Springs. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Tony Hills helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Is your business serving the residents of Colorado Springs? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpColoradoSprings.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Colorado Springs
EP #74: Honest Work, Honest People: A Family's Journey in Heating and Cooling
What makes Gary Randolph with Falcon Heating and Cooling, Inc a good neighbor?
Ever wonder what makes a family business endure for nearly three decades in an industry often associated with high costs and questionable sales tactics? The answer lies in values that transcend business transactions.
Sarah Miller and Gary Randolph share the remarkable journey of Falcon Heating and Cooling, founded on April Fool's Day 1996 when "everybody said we were fools to start a business in Falcon." Gary's 43-year industry experience began during his college years when he discovered his HVAC career was more rewarding than his studies. The business truly embodies "family-owned" – employing Gary's daughter Sarah, son, son-in-law, and wife.
They openly address industry misconceptions, acknowledging that air conditioning can seem overpriced, largely due to government efficiency mandates and refrigerant regulations. But they challenge the common practice of pushing new equipment sales when repairs might be more economical. "You should have that information to make that decision on your own," Gary explains. Similarly, they warn about suspiciously cheap maintenance offers that inevitably lead to unnecessary upselling.
The family's resilience shone during the 2009 economic crisis when they nearly closed. Gary worked days alone after employees departed, then taught college courses until 11 PM to keep the doors open. This crucible strengthened their business foundation and created lasting relationships with former students he still encounters today.
What makes Falcon Heating and Cooling special? "We're a family-owned group, we're a small company and we're honest," Gary states. "We're not the cheapest guy on the block, but we're always the best value." Their commitment to integrity recently earned them recognition as Nextdoor's #1 heating and air company for 2024.
Curious about working with a company that values relationships over transactions? Check out their services at falcon-heating.com or find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Nextdoor.
To learn more about Falcon Heating and Cooling, Inc go to:
https://www.falcon-heating.com/
Falcon Heating and Cooling, Inc
719-683-4567
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Tony Hills.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a great heating and cooling company? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing our good neighbors Sarah Miller and Gary Randolph, with Falcon Heating and Cooling Folks, how's it going today?
Speaker 3:we're doing great today. How are you, tony?
Speaker 2:awesome, awesome. Hey, we're excited to learn about your company, so tell us about your business so our business?
Speaker 3:we're a full-service heating and air conditioning company. We've been in business since 1996. Everybody said we were fools to start a business out in Falcon area in 1996. So we opened on April 1st.
Speaker 2:Okay, how did you both get into this business?
Speaker 3:When I was going to college I was working full-time days and going to school full-time at night, and I reached a point where I wasn't really enjoying college and I was making really good money working in an air conditioning company, and so it just kind of moved in that direction. So I've been doing this 43 years now. We've been in business 28 years as Falcon Heating and Cooling, and Sarah's my daughter, so she was born into it.
Speaker 4:I grew up doing it.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. What are some myths or misconceptions in your industry?
Speaker 3:Excuse me, I don't know about myths or misconceptions. I think maybe a lot of people think that particularly air conditioning is really overpriced, and I guess I would have to agree to a certain extent that it is based on a lot of regulations in our industry between efficiency standards mandated by the government and changing refrigerant requirements. It's made a lot of cost increases for us that we've had to deal with over the years, but you just you roll with it and just know that it's there. Maybe another myth is that a lot of companies will come into your home with the intention of selling you new equipment, and that's not necessarily the case. Sometimes it's more cost-effective to repair what you have rather than replace. That's not always the case. There are arguments to be made both ways, but you should have that information, be able to make that decision on your own.
Speaker 2:Who are your target customers and how do you attract them?
Speaker 3:Our target customers are homeowners, that they're interested in maintaining their homes and taking care of their equipment. If you don't take care of your furnace and air conditioner, it's not going to last as long. So we encourage people to get regular annual visits from a licensed heating and air conditioning contractor to check the equipment, maintain it, make sure it's in proper working order. Now, that being said, there are a lot of contractors out there that will offer a real, real cheap special to come in and maintain your equipment, maintain your equipment. But since the actual cost of coming in to do that is about two to three times what they're charging, they've got to make their money somewhere. So you may be getting something you don't necessarily need. So it's important to watch out for that. But we encourage people that are homeowners to maintain their equipment and they're they're interested in a quality, honest company. That's the demographic we're looking for.
Speaker 2:Okay, outside of work, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:Oh, we love to have fun. We uh, we're all a family owned business. We all work together my son, my daughter, my son-in-law, my wife. We all work in the business. And when we're not at work, we like to go camping together. We like to do barbecues together. The boys are really good at smoking meat, so we all eat way too much, but totally worth it. We also like to vacation. We tend to vacation together. We have a resort in Mexico where we bought a membership years ago, so when we have to just get away, we like to go down there and just enjoy a week in the warm sunshine.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Let's switch gears. Can you describe a hardship or life challenge you overcame, how it made you stronger and what comes to mind?
Speaker 3:Sure, business-wise, in 2009,. The economy, as we all know, hit a pretty rough patch there and business was not very good and we were on the verge of closing our doors. We got to the point where it was just me working closing our doors. We got to the point where it was just me working. All of our employees had gone off looking for other things where they could actually get paid to work, since we didn't have any work, and at that time I started teaching at the college level at night to supplement what I was making to keep the doors open.
Speaker 3:It was a very difficult time for us, working full-time in the daytime by myself and then teaching until 11 o'clock every night. Very difficult time, but it's what it took to get us through that rough patch. As we got through that and came out the other side, we were there, we were prepped and, as the economy started getting better, we were ready to get back in and start to expand back to where we had been. So it was a very difficult time, but I learned a lot through it, made a lot of good contacts. I still see former students to this day when I'm in supply houses and they'll come up and visit with me and tell me how their lives are going, so it turned into a really rewarding situation.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, sarah and Gary, please tell us one thing they should remember about Falcon Heating and Cooling.
Speaker 3:Well, the thing to remember about us is we're a family-owned group, we're a small company and we're honest. We don't lie or cheat or steal. We don't tolerate that out of anybody we work with. We just want to be the best product at the best price. We're not the cheapest guy on the block, but we're always the best value and that's where we want to be.
Speaker 4:We're your friendly neighborhood furnace guy.
Speaker 2:Awesome. How can our listeners learn more about Falcon Heating and Cooling?
Speaker 3:We have a great website at falcon-heatingcom and you can go there and check into everything we've got. We're also on, sarah, help me out here. Facebook.
Speaker 4:Instagram and Nextdoor. We actually were voted Nextdoor's number one heating and air company for 2024. It was kind of an exciting thing for us.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, Sarah and Gary, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business much success moving forward. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 3:Well, Sarah and Gary, I really appreciate you being on the show we wish you and your business much success moving forward. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPColoradoSpringscom. That's GNPColoradoSpringscom. Or call 719-679-4720.