TV ALERT: Watch the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship Friday night, Dec. 13, at 7 pm ET on the CBS Sports Network, followed by the Plumbing National Championship at 8 pm ET.
ServiceTitan Principal Industry Advisor Angie Snow says she never could have guessed she’d one day be a judge at a national championship event.
But Snow, who also co-owns Western Heating and Air in Orem, Utah, with her husband, was one of seven experts tasked with judging the competition and determining the winner at the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship, part of the Elite Trades Championship Series, at the Palm Beach Convention Center in September.
She joined ServiceTitan Principal Industry Advisor Chris Hunter and Program Manager Danielle Combs on the panel, along with representatives of Trane, Johnstone Supply, American Standard and Go Time Success Group.
What, for Snow, separated those 10 professional and 10 apprentice technicians? Attention to detail, within the time allotted, which is the biggest difference between the competition and the real world, she said.
“There's a timed feature to this, and we don't really time our technicians,” Snow said. “I think this timed approach adds a little more pressure, and so they may skip some details in the competition.”
For Snow, that provided the margin. And the hardest part of being a judge.
“As judges, we're given a very specific rubric that aligns with the scope (of work) the technicians are given,” she said. “It's very easy to see from a judge's perspective what they're skipping. There are so many times I want to jump out and say, ‘Hey, you missed something,’ or, ‘Fix this,’ or, ‘Change this.’
“But we can't as judges. So the attention to detail is key.”
And that’s true whether it’s in the ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship or the home of a customer, Snow said.
“I feel like (the competition is) a really good replica of real life,” she said. “If I send a technician out to a home to install a new system for a customer and they skip through some of the details, the system may not work properly. Then we're going to have callbacks and warranty issues and a lot of things that we don't want to have. So it has to be important.”
Hallmarks of champions
Hunter, who has been a judge at all three ServiceTitan HVAC National Championship events, said craftsmanship and attention to detail have been a hallmark of the competition. And so has problem-solving.
“In the trades, you can learn all the theory, but when you go to a job, there's a problem to be solved and you may just have to figure it out,” Hunter said. “You have to do things you have never done before.”
And, do them well.
Defending champion Craig Childress, who also won the 2023 Plumbing National Championship, is a prime example of the importance of craftsmanship in the trades, even if that work might ultimately be hidden away in a homeowner’s mechanical room or attic.
“You can tell in his work he takes great pride,” Hunter said. “He even stopped one of the judges and he was like, ‘Hey, I know it says to do it this way, but this is really nicer and neater. Can I do it the nicer way?’ Even though it would've taken more time to do it. That just shows his heart for the trade.”
The future of the trades
Something else about the 2024 event touched Hunter’s heart, too. As a former technician who built and sold Hunter Super Techs in Ardmore, Okla., he said he thought of the attention the competition, and the 10 pros and 10 apprentices involved, brought to the trades.
“Ultimately it's on their shoulders to represent the trades and to build it up,” he said. “And I think they embrace that. They really cherish it. But also I hope they take a minute just to savor the moment. I see the sparks flying and the smoke going, and I'm a little jealous. It's like a big rock star concert.
“They are the future of the trades. Wear that proudly.”
They can also wear their differences in approach proudly, even when the goal is the same.
“We're shedding light on technicians, wherever they are in their journey,” Snow said. “They're really polishing their trade, and as we saw, the final products were different everywhere. Some people, the line sets were really well done. Or the drain pipes, those were done really well.
“It was just cool to see the variety of skills, and know that everyone can grow in that skill with the proper training.”
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