CHICAGO, IL — The PCA, MCAA’s subsidiary association for plumbing contractors, held their first Plumbing Service Roundtable on June 21 at the Hilton Chicago O’Hare Hotel. The meeting brought together plumbing contractors that were already performing service work to allow them to share ideas and learn from their peers.
“The format really helped us to to be as productive as possible,” PCA Chairman Scott Wallenstein, Neptune Plumbing shared. “The meeting allowed us to be out of the office only one day and concentrate on solutions. Most of the attendees are service managers and although we need to devote time to education, its hard to get out of the office for extended stretches.”
The roundtable was able to pack in sessions on recruiting, training, software, technology, niche markets, inventory, sales and collective bargaining into a one-day session. Each topic was combined with presentations, table discussions and group discussions so that contractors were able to learn from each other and gain valuable insight from each other’s experiences.
Contractors were able to share and demonstrate solutions they were using for sales software, bid proposals, and dispatch software. Attendees were also able to see a demonstration of next generation service technology, thanks to Matthew King of XOi Technologies. In the demonstration, attendees were able to see how service software is adapting to integrate with all of the features of mobile phones and even augmented reality.
Due to the success of the meeting, the PCA is planning on having up to two more plumbing service roundtables next year. To learn more, contact Sean McGuire with MCAA.