Four Seasons Heating and Air Conditioning's name makes sense not only because the HVAC provider works year-round, but also because its roots come from a Chicago firefighter who wanted to keep busy all the time. Owner Dave Musial says his father, Ken, learned the trade while in the Navy in the 1960s and began offering his services as a way to fill the downtime he normally experienced. Even though his duties as a fireman kept him away from HVAC work for days at a time, Musial says his father's customers didn't mind waiting for their projects to be completed.
"A lot of people were willing to wait for my father because he was honest and trustworthy," Musial says. Those values have carried over into the next generation and have propelled Four Seasons into a position of prominence in the Chicago HVAC market. Musial says the priorities instilled in him by his father have made Four Seasons a trusted name.
"Either we do it right, or we don't do it," Musial says.
Musial began helping his father with the business after graduating high school in 1990. Right then and there, he says, he knew he wanted to make it his career. Musial bought the company - which at the time consisted of a single truck in the family's driveway and a garage full of parts - and began developing it into something much larger than a side business. Once the ball got rolling, he says, it didn't stop.
"By the time I was about 22, I had about 15 guys working for me," Musial says. Eventually his father retired, leaving Musial in charge by himself but armed with the knowledge and teachings handed down to him.
"I'm glad I was able to have all those years of training with my dad because it really taught me the right way to do things," Musial says.
The Right Way
Doing things the right way is not just a goal for Four Seasons - it's the only way it does business - according to Musial. The company emphasizes a laser-like focus on meticulous processes and consistent review of employees' work. This way, Musial says, the customer is assured that an HVAC system installed or serviced by Four Seasons will run smoothly.
Doing things the right way begins with hiring the right people, and Four Seasons is extremely particular about how it fills positions. Musial says that for every position available, the company might interview up to 100 candidates but hire only one.
"That's been our historic trend through our HR department," he says. "We were not able to hire people from other companies because, unfortunately, they don't install the way we do."
Because some trade schools are only interested in pushing students through, Musial adds, the company has established its own training program designed to give anyone interested in the trade the skills necessary to work for Four Seasons. The company looks for top-flight candidates who meet its standards for integrity and skill but might not have the requisite experience and trains them for one year in Four Seasons University after hiring them.
After completing the training courses, a new hire then will be paired with an experienced mentor in the field for another year. The ultimate test comes later, when new hires are given the task of installing a system in a co-worker's home. Musial says this in-house test gives the new recruit valuable real-world experience without risking its customers. "We're not out there using our customers as guinea pigs," he says.
When the company is working in a customer's home, the customer can expect to see a lot of Four Seasons. The company's team of eight field supervisors observe crews in the field and make unannounced visits to each job.
Once the job is completed, a quality auditor visits the site and grades each crew's work, taking photos that are shared with the installation manager. The installation manager then reviews each job with crews during daily meetings. Musial says with the number of things that can go wrong with installing an HVAC system, having each individual job studied carefully is essential for meeting customers' needs.
"We do that because heating and air conditioning is not like buying a computer, where they're assembled in a controlled environment," Musial says.
The practice of having each job inspected came from Musial's father, who would always examined Musial's work at the end of each job. Even though taking the additional step costs Four seasons a little extra, Musial says it results in successful projects and satisfied customers.
"It is an extra cost, yes, but in the long run, it saves money," Musial says. "It's cheaper to go out there and let them know that the job needs to be done right the first time than to go back there and fix it."
Going Strong
The company's devotion to quality has earned it numerous awards, including the Super Service Award from Angieslist.com for the past five years. Four Seasons also has received the Dave Lennox Circle of Excellence Award from Lennox, making it one of only 25 out of 7,000 dealers nationwide to receive that honor. The company also has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, the highest rating possible.
Musial says the company's stellar reputation is even more impressive when one takes into account the sheer number of customers the company services in a given year. He adds that unlike some other service providers, Four Seasons' growth has not made the company sluggish or less responsive to customers.
"Because we touch so many homeowners in a year, we're servicing well over 100,000 people a year," Musial says. "As we become a larger company, I'm noticing our ability to respond to a customer's needs has really improved."
The key to maintaining Four Seasons' success in the future will be remembering to treat the customer the same way after he signs the check as before he did, Musial says. He says the company continues to stick to the principles his father adhered to back when the company was just a part-time enterprise. For Four Seasons, customer service is a year-round commitment, and one that Musial has no intention of giving up on. "I will not take a new customer until I take care of my old ones," Musial states.