How A Family-Owned HVAC Brand Wins With Transparency

Peakzi Podcast: AI is changing how homeowners find an HVAC company, and it is happening faster than most home services teams can track. Julian sits down with Hans Carpenter, marketing coordinator at Air Comfort Service Heating, Cooling, and Installation in Hazelwood, MO, to unpack what modern home services marketing looks like when you build campaigns in-house, coordinate multiple vendors, and still keep the message simple: tell the truth, educate the customer, and earn trust.

We get into the real differentiators that make a local, family-owned HVAC business stand out in the St. Louis market after nearly 60 years. Hans explains why customer education matters, how techs communicate options with transparency, and why the company avoids putting a ticking clock on technicians with rigid appointment times. You will also hear how culture drives outcomes, from long employee tenure and strong leadership support to a clear operating principle: “Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.”

Then we shift into the new battleground for local SEO and reputation: AI visibility. Hans breaks down what it means to show up in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI search results, why inaccurate AI answers can hurt trust, and how Peaksy helps with AI visibility tracking, identifying where LLMs pull information, competitor tracking, and review tracking summaries that surface what customers praise and where competitors win.

If you care about HVAC marketing, customer experience, technician training, and the future of AI search for home services, this conversation gives you practical angles you can use right away. Subscribe, share this with a home services leader, and leave a review with your biggest question about AI visibility.

More info at: www.peakzi.me

https://ai.aircomfortservice.com/

Peakzi Podcast: Home Services Success Stories

Transcript

Welcome And Marketing Role Overview

Julian Placino 0:00

Welcome to the Home Services Success Stories podcast, powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business. I'm Julian Platino, your host, and we have another terrific show in store for you today. Because today we have Hans Carpenter, who is the marketing coordinator at Air Comfort Service Heating, Cooling, and Installation. Hans, welcome to the show. How are you doing? I'm doing great, Julian. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. It's great to get to know you and uh the business and also what you do day to day. So let's jump in. So, Hans, tell us a bit about your role as the marketing coordinator. What exactly do you own and what does a typical day look like?

Building Strategy From Customer Data

Hans Carpenter 0:39

Sure. So as marketing coordinator, um, we do all of our marketing in-house. So we have various vendors that we use for our traditional and digital efforts. Um, but we we build our campaigns from the ground up in-house in our marketing department. So day to day, a lot of what I do is working with our vendors, um, working on the campaigns and making sure that all of our various channels are aligned and working towards the uh campaign goals.

Julian Placino 1:08

Gotcha. And how do you go about developing a strategy for that? Where does kind of that insight come from?

Hans Carpenter 1:13

You know, it it's difficult. Um we we work very analytically um as far as uh knowing our customer base and knowing our market. And uh so then we we set what our our goals are for the year, our fiscal year, our strategies, and then we look at the available uh resources that we have, and we try to best serve those goals going forward through those campaigns.

Julian Placino 1:42

Okay, so it really starts with the customer need, meeting where they are, and kind of design strategy around that. Well, well, tell us a bit more about your background. Like how how did you always a marketing guy? What was your journey leading up to coming to uh to uh to to Air Comfort Service before starting this role?

Speaker 1:59

Okay, so I grew up in a newspaper. Um, my family uh are commercial printers uh that also had a newspaper. So I literally grew up in a in a pack and play in the office. Uh so um, you know, family businesses are always something that's really meant something to me personally, and I was exposed to a lot of uh traditional marketing and advertising from a very early age. So then after that, I graduated from Lindenwood University. I went to uh I went originally for broadcasting, but I fell into marketing on the digital side, and so I was able to take my traditional background and broadcasting background and digital marketing background and combine those into uh you know more of a broad look at the marketing um sphere. And so that really led me to a couple of different positions, and I freelanced uh right out of college for a little while, and then um now I'm with Air Comfort Service, and uh one thing I love about this role is that because we are involved in so many broadcast traditional digital um components, um I really all of that experience I get to use on a day-to-day basis. So I don't feel like any of my uh muscle memories going away.

Julian Placino 3:19

Well, I I love that. That's actually kind of what I was going to ask is how has your previous background sort of equipped you for what you're doing today? And it seems like just the different variation of the styles and the inside of the different marketing plays, I think that all kind of comes together in what you're doing, right?

Hans Carpenter 3:33

Absolutely. No, I I would agree 100%. I mean, and it's uh I would say that all of that experience, um, just on a day-to-day basis, I'm accessing it. So uh, and I'm always looking to uh improve my skills and add new skills, and that's AI is uh one of those areas that uh you know, new and emerging, and I I want to continue to learn and grow and develop.

What Sets Air Comfort Service Apart

Julian Placino 3:58

I love it. Well, we can't wait to discuss that a bit more here in a little bit. So um also as a marketing person, it's kind of part of your role is to help communicate the differentiators and also the value prop and what kind of makes you stand out. So, in your opinion, what does Air Comfort Service do uniquely that helps it stand out as a home services leader?

Hans Carpenter 4:18

Okay, well, we've been serving the St. Louis market for almost 60 years now. Um and through that, um, I think that we have exceptionally qualified technicians who are trained, they we pull permits, they follow uh all the best practices that you could, and we really take a we take a very serious approach to educating the customer. We want to make sure that our technicians, and they do a fantastic job of this, that they really communicate to the customer exactly what they're doing, why they're doing, and um give them full transparency of here, these are your options. Um here's here here's what we can do for you, and it's it's your choice. We just want to make you as educated as possible to make the most informed choice that you can.

Julian Placino 5:11

Gotcha. Okay, so it sounds like um really an emphasis on educating the customer, giving them options and helping them kind of sort of co-create the solution that's the best thing for them, right? Versus just kind of one size fits all.

Hans Carpenter 5:25

Correct. Okay, yeah, no, absolutely. And uh we just we want to put the customer in the best position to make the informed choice that's right for them. So we just uh that that kind of open and transparent communication is huge for us.

Julian Placino 5:41

Gotcha. Okay. Well, you were talking about your technician, so let's kind of jump into you know talent culture hiring, because of course the entire customer delivery is contingent upon the quality of people that you have, right? So tell us a bit about um why you think Air Comfort Service as a place to work is a great place to be.

Hans Carpenter 6:02

Well, it starts from the top. Um, our ownership, Corey and Kendra Malone, are in exceptional people who really care and show their appreciation for their employees. And uh I've been with the company a little over two and a half years. And uh, you know, I uh when I first started here, one of the things that really stood out to me and throughout the hiring process is how many long-term uh employees we have. We have some employees in our management that had been with the company since before I was born. Oh, wow. And you don't see yeah, I know it's we have a lot of people in the 20, 30 year range, and uh, you know, it's it's really refreshing in a marketplace that you know, unfortunately, you just don't see that two-way loyalty that much. Um, and so to come into a place where I know that uh you're going to be supported long term, and there's room to grow is just huge for me. And that's something that uh I think really comes across to new people when they come on board that there's um training opportunities, there's uh plenty of room for growth. I have I've taken courses, gone to workshops, um, and the uh the company and Corey and Kendra have given me every resource uh to improve myself as a professional and continue that development, and I will be grateful for that forever.

Julian Placino 7:25

So uh so first off, it's like the proof is in the pudding, right? People don't stick around at companies they don't really appreciate in 20 to 30 years. You're right, that is a bit of an outlier when it comes to tenure, especially in this industry. Um, I heard training and development, so uh I do want to touch on that um here a little bit, but how would you describe the company culture? Like what words would you use to talk about that?

Hans Carpenter 7:47

Honesty um and integrity are are huge. Uh every company meaning, um, Corey starts off with uh the same phrase uh diagnosis uh uh sorry, prescription without diagnosis is malpractice. So that's drilled into every everyone from day one constantly. We uh we really take integrity seriously as a company um for for ourselves and for our customers. And uh I think that that um that is our uh one of our best qualities.

Julian Placino 8:26

So integrity, and that was a prescription without diagnosis is what?

Hans Carpenter 8:31

Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.

Julian Placino 8:33

Is malpractice. Okay, got it. So it's kind of like uh first seek to understand before being understood, sort of thing. Sort of like really understanding what's going on before you can start taking action. And that is a kind of a long crowd that helps permeate throughout the culture. Okay. So so talk a bit about training, because you know, oftentimes, you know, top producers don't want just a job, but a place that they can grow and have a career and feel like they're being invested into. So you started touching a little bit about the training opportunities, but go a bit deeper into that if you would.

Hans Carpenter 9:02

Sure. Well, I can tell you uh from my experience that I've gotten I've taken several uh courses on marketing topics that I wanted to get deeper into and get a deeper understanding of. Um I've gotten to go to um many really valuable workshops and uh conventions and trade shows. And uh that really across departments is something that's taken seriously here. Uh our technicians uh are constantly given new training opportunities. Same thing with office staff, um be it courses, uh be it workshops, be it conferences, um, and also on a month-to-month basis, we have consistent department meetings. So our field and service technicians, they are constantly getting that training together in a group and along with their personal development.

Julian Placino 9:54

Gotcha. Okay, okay. Well, well, anything else that you think let's say top talent is is watching or listening to this podcast from a technician standpoint, maybe support staff, maybe another marketing person. Like what's in your opinion, why do you think top talent should come uh work for Air Comfort Services? Did I lose you?

Hans Carpenter 10:20

There we go. Sorry, the technical difficulty.

Julian Placino 10:23

That's okay, that's okay. Did you hear my question? I can I'm happy to repeat.

Hans Carpenter 10:26

I did not can you start over.

Julian Placino 10:28

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So so a lot of great things going for for Air Comfort Service in terms of the culture, the tenure, um, and also you mentioned the training opportunity. So so if top talent was watching this right now, a top producing, let's say, technician looking for a different opportunity or whatnot, you know, what's your message to them? Why do you think Air Comfort Service is the place to be?

Hans Carpenter 10:49

I think that this is a company that cares, will care about you and the customer. And uh if you want to be able to go to go to a company that cares about your well-being, your mental health, your physical health, your work-life balance, your professional development, and really invest in you as a professional and as a person, that is something that I think Air Comfort Service is fantastic at.

Community Support And Family Spirit

Julian Placino 11:20

Awesome. I think all those are great points indeed. And we'll leave that there for now. So let's talk a bit about um growth of the organization. And um, it's still family-owned, right?

Hans Carpenter 11:31

Correct.

Julian Placino 11:32

Okay, still family owned, serving the St. Louis areas for at least what, 20, 30 years, you mentioned? Uh almost 60. Almost 60 years. Okay. Yeah, so it's 1969. 1969. Okay, so it's been around for a minute then. So as the company has grown, how have you seen uh that the leaders of the organization have protected that sort of family-owned business mindset and you know, white glove service with local community as you continue to expand?

Hans Carpenter 11:57

Well, the local community is huge for us, and um, we're involved with uh Open Door Animal Sanctuary, with Greater St. Louis Honor Flight, uh, with NAMI, the uh uh National Alliance on Mental Illness. So we have, and uh also Team Food Pantry in Florest, Missouri. We have several organizations that we work with that uh we spend a lot of time um supporting, more so than you know, just donations that we really want to help them with their mission. We believe in it. Um I would say that as far as keeping that family spirit alive in the company, um we have regular bonding uh uh organization events with the team, we have a family spouse event um that happens every year, one with the full family where you get to bring your kids. And uh like last year we did the uh St. Louis Cardinals party box, and we've done uh putt-putt and different events like that before. But uh I would say that through regular one-on-one meetings with your supervisor, through uh you know ownership being very present for all of us and our families, uh, I we keep that spirit.

Julian Placino 13:13

Yeah, I mean two things are heard is number one, community and also family. So not just, but actually actively investing, supporting important mission and causes to the local community, and also bringing in uh not just her team members but their families as well. I think that's really great.

Transparent Marketing And Service Expectations

Hans Carpenter 13:29

Yeah, it it that is uh huge for us.

Julian Placino 13:32

Uh yeah. Well, as you know, marketing plays a very big role in shaping how customers experience the brand, right? So so being where you are in in marketing, um what would you say is kind of your philosophy when it comes to marketing to perpetuate that, to tell the truth about the brand and make sure that your customers see, feel, and experience it.

Hans Carpenter 13:53

We want our we want to be as transparent as possible with our customers. And you know, like like I mentioned before about the education, um, I think that's something that we really try to get across in our marketing. Um and uh yeah, sorry. Uh but getting getting the honesty, the transparency across. Um, like for example, um explaining to our customers, like we don't have set times for service. We will do like let's say Thursday morning or Thursday afternoon, because we don't want to have a ticking clock on our technician that would make them possibly, you know, be feel pressured to rush through a job. We want them to spend as much time as they need to with each individual customer. And so that care, that quality and um that level of service is what we try to get across with our marketing.

Peakzi And The New Game Of AI Visibility

Julian Placino 14:50

Gotcha. So really leading with transparent transparency and honesty and setting clear expectations, not to rush through the job, but to really focus on quality. Um, so I think that's great. And ultimately, it's about building trust. And I think that's one of the ways that you're doing it. So I think that's really good. So um, so we already started talking a little bit about Peakzi and also your love for marketing. So let's kind of jump into that and and talk about Peakzi. And I love it because you're coming from a straight marketing perspective, like you understand the domain, the different tools out there. So, first off, how would you explain what Peaksy is to other home services leaders?

Speaker 15:25

I would explain Peakzi as uh helping uh helping us with an AI visibility in general. Um, we have SEO, we have PPC, we've done all the traditional digital channels, but uh the AI marketplace is changing rapidly. And uh just by the just about the time you know you think you got a little bit of a handle on it, it changes. So that's why having a partner like Peakzi to help keep us ahead of the AI curve is going to keep us from getting buried.

Julian Placino 15:56

So explain to the layperson what is AI visibility and why is that important to home services leaders.

Hans Carpenter 16:03

So AI visibility is just making sure that when a customer talks to say a Chat GPT or a Gemini or choose your AI agent, um, or even the AI search within Google, that your company is showing up in the results and also that the information that the AI is uh bringing up about your company is accurate. Because, I mean, let's let's face it, they make a lot of mistakes. The the AI, AI has come a long way, but uh, you know, that's we just want to we want to make sure that when customers are using AI to help them look for uh look for a quote or find service that we're front and center and that we're being properly represented.

Julian Placino 16:49

So, number one, are you visible when people are searching on these you know LLMs? Are you actually even being mentioned in the results? And number two, is it accurate information? Both very, very important things. So what would you say has been kind of the net benefit of using Peaksy for the business?

Hans Carpenter 17:05

I think the net benefit is like I said before, we uh do everything internally on the marketing side. And um I'm not an AI expert. No one in our department uh would say that they are. So to have that expert hand guiding us um is huge.

Julian Placino 17:22

Okay, so so not just the tool, but also the people at Peakzi then, right? So kind of as a consultant who helps you leverage the platform. Um I think you mentioned AI visibility. So so you're hands-on with the with the with the platform right now, right? Correct. Okay. Have you how much experience do you have with the AI visibility tracker?

Hans Carpenter 17:40

Uh a couple of months. Um, we started in December of 25. So we're just now about finishing our first full quarter with Peakzi, and uh, we have definitely seen an increase in our visibility.

Julian Placino 17:53

Got it. So, what information, useful information, does the AI visibility tracker give you?

Hans Carpenter 17:58

It gives us information for uh which uh LLMs uh we're showing up for. GPT is by far and away our biggest. So, you know, we'd like to increase Gemini also, so it has a lot of users. Um it tells us where those LLMs are pulling from so that we can focus on, oh, is our Nextdoor account up to date? Is our Angie account up to date? Some of these listings that maybe aren't front of mind for our department, um, that aren't a major part of our strategy. But well, uh Chat GPT seems to ask this side a lot, so we need to put a little more energy into it. So we've been using that to direct a lot of our uh efforts to, okay, well, this is where the information's coming from, so we need to we need to attack uh that way.

Julian Placino 18:46

Nice. So it's giving you very empirical data as far as where you're showing up, what you need to improve on, like levers that you can tweak to make sure you increase your AI visibility, right? Exactly. Love it, love it, love it. Any other like features that you've used with Peaksy that you were like, man, that's really awesome. Didn't know what we could we could do that.

Hans Carpenter 19:05

Yeah, um the uh I would say uh a lot of the competitor tracking is is really great. Um and review tracking and and the uh summaries that that we get in the reports of here's what customers are saying about you, here's what they're saying about your competitors, here are the technicians that are showing up most often in your reviews, you know. So we uh that's all of that information is very useful to us.

Julian Placino 19:33

Competitor information, especially as a marketing person, right? There's your kind of SWOT analysis showing you any gaps, any things that you really you know exceed in. Uh and you mentioned technician analysis, so there's a lot of great like uh recruiting aspect for that as well. Yes, who's in the market, and also something for your people to sort of strive for as well. So, well, great. Well, um, Hans, before we begin to close things out, anything else did you like to mention about Pixie?

Hans Carpenter 19:58

Um, no, I think uh I think I've about covered it. We um, like I said, we're a few months in now, and uh we've seen a lot of progress already in uh what's essentially about a quarter worth of use. So I'm really interested to see where things go in the future, and uh excited for Pixie to help keep us on the uh on the right side of the uh AI wave.

Julian Placino 20:19

Awesome. Well, certainly appreciate those words, and we look forward to you continuing to succeed on the platform. So uh so, Hans, the way we like to close the show is usually with a few kind of lightning round questions, really just to kind of get to know you more. So let's kind of jump into that, okay? So uh how long have you been in home services?

Hans Carpenter 20:35

Um I have been in home services about two and a half years.

Julian Placino 20:38

Two and a half years, okay. Well, in those two and a half years, what would you say has been the the funniest service call or customer moment that you've heard of?

Hans Carpenter 20:46

Well, we had a customer that called in that uh was convinced that one of our technicians had stolen his bedazzled cowboy boots. And no, uh no, the technician did not, this has all been confirmed, but uh, I believe his exact words were you have a boot scootin' bandit in your midst. And uh so that note that note's become kind of a legend around the office.

Julian Placino 21:08

Oh, that's awesome. Bedazzled cowboy boots. I could just imagine. That is funny. That's gonna go down for for for the archives. Um, what's something about you that is interesting that most people don't know about?

Hans Carpenter 21:22

Um, well, I'm a musician, and uh back in the day I was playing uh synthesizer in a uh like an alternative folk band, and uh we opened for Afroman. Get out of here. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. I don't know if you're familiar with them at all, but uh, you know, I had a lot had a couple of fun novelty hits in the uh early 2000s we've uh opened for him, and so that's kind of an icebreaker I like to use a lot.

Julian Placino 21:45

Do the folks at Air Comfort Service know this about you? Yes. Okay, if not, they will now.

Hans Carpenter 21:52

So that's awesome.

Julian Placino 21:55

Okay, it was a one time thing, but it was a neat experience. Yeah, do you still uh mess around? With music nowadays, or not really? I do. Okay, cool.

Hans Carpenter 22:02

I do. Yeah. I'm a singer-songwriter now, mostly.

Julian Placino 22:06

And is any of your stuff like out there on YouTube or it's out there, not very well promoted.

Hans Carpenter 22:13

Uh and uh, you know, I'm looking that's something that uh I I've got on my personal agenda to uh you know ramp back up in my spare time.

Julian Placino 22:22

Well, you have to keep us up to date to that. That definitely is an interesting fact about yourselves, Hans. So um what would you say is the future of the home services industry in one word or phrase?

Hans Carpenter 22:32

Uh transparency. You know, I touched on it before what a big deal that is to us, but I think that um just for the industry in general, um especially with the rise of LLMs, you know, you're gonna open and open transparent communication is huge.

Julian Placino 22:48

Yeah, transparency, that's a good word. Okay. And last question here for you. Um you've had uh an interesting, varied background um growing up in the newspaper industry and now doing this. What what would you say is the legacy that you hope to leave behind in your career?

Hans Carpenter 23:03

Um, integrity. And that's something that I feel like Air Comfort Service is the perfect place for that. And uh my um personal ethics really align with the company ethics, and so that's this is uh this is the place for me.

Julian Placino 23:18

I think that's a great word and uh a good place to leave it. So uh Hans, this has been really great getting to know you, and of course, Air Comfort Service. So thank you so much for your time. If you would close us out, share with us how to find the website, social media, how to connect with you.

Hans Carpenter 23:31

Sure. Um, so Air Comfort Service, you can find us at aircomfortservice.com. Um, our Facebook is at Air Comfort Service, and um we are also on TikTok and Instagram um at Air Comfort Service. You can find us uh and if you all of our socials are linked on our website too. So if you can remember aircomfortservice.com, you can find us through there.

Julian Placino 23:52

Awesome. And we'll make sure to plug all your contact information in the show notes as well. So, Hans, this was a pleasure getting to know you and Air Comfort Service.

Hans Carpenter 24:00

Thanks, Julian. Thanks for having me.

Julian Placino 24:02

And everyone else, thanks for tuning in. That is it for today's episode, and we'll see you next time in the next episode of the Home Services Success Stories Podcast powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business.