As companies begin evaluating budgets and planning for the future, many leaders focus on lead generation and brand awareness. While those initiatives are important, it is equally important to examine what happens after a prospect enters the sales funnel.
U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for April 2026 decreased -1.6 percent, to 361,801 units, compared to 367,604 units shipped in April 2025.
The latest numbers show that water heater shipments continued to soften in April, reflecting many of the same economic pressures affecting residential construction and remodeling activity.
Gen Z is increasingly interested in skilled trades careers, but attracting and retaining this generation will require new approaches to training, mentorship and workplace culture.
Industry leaders say Gen Z sees something previous generations may have overlooked: the trades offer purpose, opportunity and a chance to make a tangible impact every day.
For contractors, summer is the perfect opportunity to build trust and establish themselves as the experts homeowners can turn to when those projects become more complicated and they need professional support. Home service professionals who have already built credibility and visibility are far more likely to earn that business.
National HVAC Technician Day, celebrated every year on 6/22, offers an opportunity to recognize the essential role these technicians play in maintaining comfort, safety and business continuity.
National HVAC Technician Day serves as a reminder of the vital role these professionals play every day. While the industry continues working to strengthen its workforce pipeline, technicians remain the people who keep buildings running, businesses operating and communities comfortable.
In her first editor's note, Hannah Belloli-Oster shares how a carpenter father, a journalism degree, and a few career leaps led her to Plumbing & Mechanical, and why she's excited to learn alongside the industry she now serves.
Relationship-based business development should be assessed against its fully loaded cost, including principal and estimator hours, travel, entertainment, association memberships, prequalification time, and the carrying cost of bids that do not convert.
Here is the truth I have seen time and time again: most businesses do not struggle with ideas, they struggle with execution. The gap between what we know and what we consistently do is where businesses either grow or stall.
On a recent episode of And So It Flows, Kristen Bayles sat down with Gregg Holladay, business development manager for specialty markets at Bradford White, to discuss the growing role heat pump water heaters are expected to play in the residential plumbing market and why contractors need to start preparing now.