Illustrative case study · Private Equity
Retrofit managers want an installer who works around their tenants.
A growth plan was riding on retrofit work. The PE-backed commercial HVAC installer behind it had grown on new-build jobs: could it win retrofits in existing buildings, and was there enough of that work? We interviewed 150 facility and project managers, and the report was ready in 11 days.
Illustrative example. The company, scenario, and all figures are fictional. They show UserCue’s method and deliverable format. They do not come from any client study.
The engagement
Illustrative scenariodays, with the report, the data file and a live readout.
Facility and project managers who choose the HVAC installer.
80 managers on new-build and 70 on retrofit projects.
Seven criteria scored for the installer each manager uses now.
A PE-backed commercial HVAC installer
Whether to push its growth plan into retrofit work
Growth planning, before a new segment push
AI-moderated interviews with a seven-criterion installer scorecard
Buyer needs, installer ratings, planned work and spend
Managers from a market panel; none were the company’s customers
Headline figures
out of 5 is what retrofit managers give their installers for working around occupied floors
of retrofit managers would invite a new installer to bid on after-hours, phased work
of the HVAC installation spend respondents plan over three years is retrofit work
The question
Can a new-build installer win retrofit work?
The company grew on new-build installs won through general contractors. Its growth plan now leaned on retrofit work in existing buildings, where facility managers hire directly and an incumbent holds the relationship. So the evidence had to come from managers who had never worked with the company.
What do facility and project managers need from an HVAC installer?
How do they rate their installer on seven criteria, and would they try another?
How much new-build and retrofit work do they plan over the next three years?
What we did
How the study ran, start to finish.
- 1Kickoff
Retrofit growth, on the table.
Can a new-build installer win retrofit jobs, and is there enough retrofit work for the plan? The kickoff turned it into three questions: what each group needs, how they rate their installer and would try another, and how much work they plan.
- 2Design
Outside managers, seven criteria.
The screener drew managers from a market panel, so none were the company’s customers, and kept those who choose the installer: 80 on new-build and 70 on retrofit. Each scored their current installer on seven criteria, and project plans fed a sizing model.
- 3Fielding
Retrofit managers recall the last job.
Retrofit managers recalled what tenants went through on their last job, by voice or text, quant and qual in one conversation, in median 31-minute interviews. The researcher read all 170 and removed 20 for duplicate identities or residential-only work, leaving 150.
- 4Analysis
Incumbents stumble around tenants.
The researcher put each criterion’s importance against the current installer’s score, which showed where retrofit incumbents are weakest. Working around occupied floors ranks second of seven for retrofit managers, and their installers score 2.4 out of 5 on it, their weakest mark.
- 5Readout
Bid lists are open to newcomers.
The researcher reviewed the 31-page report, scorecard, sizing model and full data file with the market team and the investor at a live readout. The retrofit plan now leads with after-hours, phased work for the 61% ready to invite a new installer.
What we found
Four findings from the report.
Retrofit managers judge an installer on how it works around tenants, and the installers they use today score worst there. Their bid lists are open: most would invite a new installer for after-hours, phased work. Retrofit is the larger pool, holding more than half the installation spend respondents plan over three years.
Retrofit buyers rank working around tenants second.
Retrofit managers put working around occupied floors second of seven criteria, behind quality of installation; only 5% of new-build managers pick it. 91% of planned retrofit projects are in buildings that stay occupied during the work.
Criteria in their top three of seven · retrofit managers · n = 70Incumbents score worst on what retrofit buyers rank second.
Retrofit managers give their current installer 2.4 out of 5 on working around occupied floors, against 3.4 on average across the other six criteria. Only 9% rate it 4 or 5 there.
Most retrofit managers would put a new installer on the bid list.
61% of retrofit managers would invite a new installer to bid on after-hours, phased work, against 31% of new-build managers. A written phasing plan and named after-hours crews would earn the bid.
Retrofit holds more than half the planned spend.
Retrofit holds 54% of the HVAC installation spend respondents plan over three years. Retrofit managers plan a median of three major system replacements each, led by rooftop units and controls upgrades.
Retrofit projects planned over three years · multi-select · n = 70“Our installer does good work. The trouble is they do it at ten in the morning with a full floor of tenants upstairs.”Facility manager · Illustrative quote
Illustrative quotes
Three themes behind the numbers.
“Every shutdown turns into forty complaint emails. The installer never sees them. I do.”
“They promise nights and weekends at the bid, then the crew shows up mid-morning because that is when they have people.”
“I would add a new name to the bid list tomorrow if they showed me a phasing plan for an occupied building.”
What the company did
Three moves made with the report.
Made retrofit in occupied buildings the plan’s lead.
After-hours crews and phased schedules head the offer, built for the 61% of retrofit managers who would put a new installer on the bid list. The sizing model sets the first-year targets.
Put a phasing plan in every retrofit bid.
Each bid now shows how the work moves floor by floor around tenants, the criterion retrofit managers rank second of seven.
Trained crews to work around tenants.
Tenant notices, shutdown windows and floor-by-floor handover joined crew training, aimed at the criterion where incumbents score 2.4 out of 5.
Illustrative example. The company, scenario, and all figures are fictional. They show UserCue’s method and deliverable format. They do not come from any client study.
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