A Look inside Eden Energy Equipment, Your Geothermal Partner
December 2011 -- Grant Blackmore, president of Eden Energy Equipment has just returned from the annual Canadian GeoExchange Coalition conference, where he has been recently elected to the Board of Directors. He has a healthy “to-do” list from being out of the office for three days. What he doesn’t have in front of him is a list of customer calls to return. Those he gets to right away.
Despite the extra work that comes with running a multi-million dollar operation, the president of Guelph-based HVAC specialty distributor Eden Energy Equipment doesn’t hesitate to stop everything to take a call from a customer or to discuss the details of a particularly complex project.
“Our commitment to meaningful customer relationships is what sets us apart,” he says. “Bringing on a dealer is an investment we can’t afford to take lightly, so we focus on helping them build awareness of their company, as well as selling our products.”
By first ensuring that Eden Energy represents only the most exceptional specialty HVAC brands in the market, and ensuring they know the products “inside and out”, his team has the freedom to focus on building relationships with customers, bringing leadership and support to their marketing and helping find solutions to design challenges.
Blackmore says his entrepreneurial philosophy has been not to focus on growing his business, but instead to help his customers with growing their businesses.
“Our objective is to help our customers grow their companies by stocking leading-edge products, and providing access to comprehensive training and support. By participating as a marketing partner with customers, we help build awareness at the consumer level and provide the tools and support they need to sell the products. That way everyone wins,” says Blackmore a Mechanical Engineer who in 2011 celebrated his 22nd year as owner of Eden Energy.
“It’s pretty clear Grant has a passion for this business,” says Chad Hayter, principal of The Hayter Group of Alvinston, Ontario, one of Ontario’s longest-running installers of geothermal products. “For me, what sets them apart is their combination of expertise and accessibility. They have a commitment to really knowing the technical side of the products, and are always available to help us promote and install them.”
Eden Energy Equipment has earned the distinction of being North America’s top-selling distributor of WaterFurnace geothermal products for six years in a row - not to mention the number of “Outstanding Sales” and other industry awards from previous years. Blackmore is not typically someone who puts stock in awards, but says it is quite an honour to better rivals many times their size.
“I see this as a great example of how our commitment to promoting and supporting the best products can pay off across the board,” he says.
He attributes the success of Eden Energy Equipment to his staff’s keen eye for the very best HVAC products.
“I bought Eden Energy in 1989 because I saw the potential to build a unique distribution company. There was a certain type of high-quality HVAC and IAQ product that was not really being represented, and I focused on meeting these needs,” he says.
Anticipating the shifting needs of the market has been a priority for Blackmore. Popularity of geothermal was increasing, and he was able to meet the demand because of well trained and knowledgeable staff and partnerships with leading manufacturer’s like vanEE, WaterFurnace, Bosch & ecobee.
“It’s important to surround yourself with the best people in the industry,” says Blackmore.
He believes the next big priority shift will be around indoor air quality, long an area of expertise for him and the company. Products like vänEE HRVs and ERVs, and PureAir Hepa Shield systems, were carefully selected to meet new, complex requirements, he says. Today, the product line includes HEPA filtration systems and high-end IAQ solutions from leading brands including vänEE and PureAir.
Matt Irvine, Product Manager, says “To continue with Grant’s vision of Eden Energy, I’m always on the lookout for new specialized premium products that are top quality and meet the new demands from our customers.” Recent additions include, REHAU Radiant Heating Systems, Bosch and the ecobee smart thermostat to name a few.
A reliable and growing product base is supported with quality training, support and marketing. The company has always emphasized supporting customers in any way they need it, any time they call.
“Training and marketing are hallmarks of our business model. Our dealers can pick up the phone and talk to someone with a lot of knowledge about any of these products. It’s very important to us that we not be one of those suppliers that doesn’t know much about the product line,” says Michael Ridler, Eden Energy Equipment’s Technical & Support Services Manager, who helps develop the programs and services that help set Eden Energy apart.
“We don’t just sell you a product. We also provide with each purchase hands on, technical assistance, warranties, training and marketing. Clients will tell you we go out of our way to support their business needs. This also leads to a different approach to customer appreciation and incentives. Rather than spend thousands of dollars on trips or other perks that come and go, we invest in improving our systems, having the best warranties, well trained support staff, and creating marketing tools that give our customers a longer term benefit. They tell us time and again they appreciate the difference here,” says Ridler.
Ridler notes the company is focused on helping dealers build a market for their products, investing in consumer advertising including radio, television, print, internet and social media advertising. In 2010, they sponsored closed captioning for the Winter Olympic Games. And more recently, they were featured on an episode of HGTV’s popular program, Holmes Inspection.
“We’ve got a marketing team on site and are able to bring in outside experts where needed to provide the best resources and advice our dealers can use. These have been very successful programs to help our customers do more than just sell our products, but to create a demand for them,” says Ridler.
Blackmore sees plenty of opportunity to continue to help grow his customers’ businesses by focusing on premium HVAC products in emerging areas such as renewable and recovery-based energy, while continuing to refine the company’s approach to service by providing turnkey service and better bundling to make installations easier.
“I’ve never been afraid of failing. It’s how you learn. As an engineer you realize every problem has a step-by-step procedure to solve it. With this mind set, anything can be done.”
