Install Labor Flex Pool
Pool install crews across proximate branches so sold work is never delayed by one branch running short on labor
Peterman Brothers separates install crews from service technicians in how they are deployed. Service technicians stay within their branch geography. Install crews are pooled across any branches within roughly one hour of each other. When a branch sells more install jobs than its local crews can cover, Peterman dispatches crews from the nearest branch. The direction comes from a central install manager in Indianapolis, not from the individual branch manager. This means a branch does not need to maintain excess install capacity to handle peak demand, and the company captures revenue from sold jobs rather than delaying them. The model works because install direction (equipment specs, system design, process) is already centralized, so moving a crew between locations does not disrupt the job.
- Install labor is portable; service labor is local
- Revenue lost to install delays is permanent; it does not reschedule, it cancels
- Centralized install management makes crews interchangeable across branches
- Proximity clustering of branches is a prerequisite for the pool to function
- Connectors between branch clusters extend the model to geographically dispersed networks
- Centralize install management directionThe install manager sits at HQ and sets all standards: equipment selection, install process, quality checks, crew protocols. Branch managers coordinate and support but do not direct install operations. This is the prerequisite that makes crews interchangeable between branches.Pro tipThe branch manager's accountability for installs is on the customer-facing side: scheduling, access, follow-up. The install manager owns the technical execution.WarningIf branch managers retain authority over install decisions, crews flex between branches but the work gets done differently at each one, eliminating the benefit.
- Map proximity clustersGroup branches by drive time, not straight-line distance. For Peterman, four of ten locations are within one hour of Indianapolis, forming a central cluster. Fort Wayne is two hours from Indianapolis but one hour from Muncie, making Muncie the connector. Map your own clusters using this logic.Pro tipFor excavation crews covering six locations all within the central Indiana cluster, the crews all originate from Indie each morning. Apply the same hub-and-spoke logic to install crews where the geography supports it.
- Run a daily cross-branch install dispatch viewBefore each day's work is assigned, the central install manager reviews sold jobs across all branches in the cluster and allocates crews to cover demand. A Lafayette branch that sold four jobs gets two local crews and two from Indianapolis. This requires a dispatch tool (Service Titan) that shows all-branch job boards in a single view.Pro tipSolve for capacity before the technician calls the customer to confirm the appointment, not after. Same-day reallocation is harder and more expensive.WarningBranches that consistently oversell their local install capacity and draw on the pool frequently are a signal to either hire a local install crew or to evaluate whether the branch marketing is outpacing sustainable fulfillment.
Lafayette, Indiana has two install crews. Indianapolis has ten. On a high-demand day, Lafayette sells four install jobs for the next day. Rather than delaying two of those jobs or turning them away, the central install manager dispatches two crews from Indianapolis to cover the Lafayette jobs. The crews operate under the same install standards because direction comes centrally. The customer experience is indistinguishable from a Lafayette-based crew doing the work.
Fort Wayne is two hours from Indianapolis, making it impractical to draw install crews from HQ. But Fort Wayne is only one hour from Muncie. Peterman built the connector by treating Muncie as the flex partner for Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne can send excess crews to Muncie and vice versa. The same logic will extend to South Bend once that branch matures.
Extracted from Owned & Operated ($100M HVAC episode). Chad Peterman described the specific example of Lafayette having two install crews when Indianapolis has ten, and Indianapolis sending two crews to Lafayette when Lafayette oversells its local capacity.