Many businesses today are making political statements to find they are alienating certain segments of the population. In this video, Joshua Griffin goes through some of the experiences he has he has had when dealing with customers, and whether political, religious, or worldviews, play a role in who customers decide to do business with. He also talks about Tom's when businesses also decide who to sell their product to and whether this is a good idea or not.
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Griffin Air and Joshua Griffin have partnered with Daikin on multiple projects. FTC requires disclosure of these relationships due to the compensation received.
Chapters
0:00 Intro: Political views and business
0:58 Bud Light and Trans influencer
1:53 High School Coach
2:07 Company choosing over race
2:31 Political Views in HVAC
3:26 Company refuses service
4:17 Supporting Employees' Views
5:11 Lines that can be crossed
5:45 What's your position?
#hvac #politics #business
For more information on Griffin Air, visit https://www.griffinair.net/
For more information on New HVAC Guide, visit https://www.newhvacguide.com/overview
*Need Financing for your HVAC? Visit https://www.newhvacguide.com/financing
*Own a Service Biz and want to grow? Visit https://www.newhvacguide.com/mastermindgroup
*Our favorite products?
Favorite Thermostat click here: https://amzn.to/3wt3Vwh
Favorite Air Cleaner here: https://amzn.to/3Nfxw27
Favorite Air Filter here: https://amzn.to/3vpVbWl
Air Tester/Monitor here: https://amzn.to/3oJ3LvD
Dehumidifier here: https://amzn.to/3Q4woPp
Humidifier here: https://amzn.to/3ilZ9vq
Smart Vent here: https://amzn.to/3JDfGDX
HVAC Soft Start: https://amzn.to/3kMXlwT
HVAC Guide for Homeowners is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Amazon offers a small commission on products sold through their affiliate links. Each of your purchases via our Amazon affiliation links supports our cause at no additional cost to you.
Griffin Air and Joshua Griffin have partnered with Daikin on multiple projects. FTC requires disclosure of these relationships due to the compensation received.
Chapters
0:00 Intro: Political views and business
0:58 Bud Light and Trans influencer
1:53 High School Coach
2:07 Company choosing over race
2:31 Political Views in HVAC
3:26 Company refuses service
4:17 Supporting Employees' Views
5:11 Lines that can be crossed
5:45 What's your position?
#hvac #politics #business
Video on a very touchy subject and a lot of times I will avoid political views or political statements in my videos, partly because probably lean one way or the other when it comes to a lot of Elections and things like that. but in reality I'm not really a fan of either side on a lot of things so I normally just kind of steer from that. Plus it's just not something that I'm going to do is just argue with folks over certain things. I like to state facts and just point things out that if you are buying a heating and air system or just doing your homework and you just happen to catch one of our videos, maybe pointing out facts that maybe you didn't know, even if it has something to do with a political view or such just pointing out those facts.
But I did want to do this video because in today's climate we are in a little bit of a crazy time. We've seen companies kind of take political stances. they'll do marketing campaigns with certain individuals to kind of make a political statement and I wanted to do a video on this because I have actually had some experiences dealing with customers myself where this has come up. so I thought I'd dive into this during the May making of this video.
Recently, we saw Anheuser-Busch do a deal where they had a trans individual do some marketing with Bud Light and they saw some repercussions from that Now, good or bad, they may have anticipated that. They may have said we're going to make a statement here whether we lose business or not. we're going to put our view out there because that's more important to us than say how much our Shares are worth. And so my question would be, if you are in the market for a heating and air system or really any other kind of product, does this matter to you? Does the political views of that company matter now I'm not saying whether you believe in what Bud Light did.
Maybe you stopped drinking it because you didn't like what they did. or maybe it made you like them more because you did like what they did. but I am curious. Have you ever dealt with this? It may be a service person was in your house and they seem to either be making a statement.
We actually had a coach at a local high school who had a tattoo on his arm and the tattoo was making a sort of statement the statement of beliefs that he had and because of that a lot of parents were uncomfortable with him as the coach. I Can tell you me personally I had a customer a few years ago who told me that they only did business with me because I hired some employees of a different skin color that matched hers and she said that's the only reason I'm going to do business with you. If you did not have any folks that matched my skin color or My Views then I would not use you I would choose elsewhere I Also had a customer about a year or two ago tell me that they were choosing me because their last company had some political statements some views if you will on their own website that they said look, this is what we believe as a company and the customer said I'm not going to do business with you then that's an important subject to me and because of that I won't be doing business with you What's interesting is I don't always agree with customers with some of the things they're saying. but again, as I said earlier in the video, a lot of these topics I don't care. It's not that I don't care about the topic, but I want to take care of their needs or provide the service that we provide to them. even if I don't necessarily agree with their beliefs all the time. Now, you may disagree with that. That's just what we've always done.
Whether or not we agree on one particular subject has nothing to do with whether or not I can put food on the table for my family and again, you may disagree with that, but that's just something that I've always just kind of done. I Remember years ago, there was a gentleman in our local area that he was providing a product I don't want to get too specific, but he was selling to a gentleman and he was kind of rambling about what he thought about a recent political event and the customer who was buying that product had gotten quiet and so this business owner was telling me. He said I asked them do you believe what I believe and they said no I don't I voted the other way I don't believe what you're saying and this business owner said well listen, you can take your business elsewhere then I will no longer provide this work for you And so I just thought that was interesting. It was an interesting statement.
It was an interesting point of view. Is it right? Do you think that's right that a business owner did that? It's just kind of interesting that folks are this passionate and I'm not saying it's bad that they're passionate, but it's just interesting. I'll share. One last thing is because I do have employees that have challenges or maybe challenge isn't the right word, but they've dealt with things that I've never dealt with because I look a certain way and I've told those employees hey, if you ever run into a situation that you don't feel comfortable, maybe you pulled into a customer's driveway and they had a particular flag flying and you were not comfortable being there providing that service there, leave and again, This is not me saying if you're watching this video, this is not me saying that you're wrong for flying that flag I Think that's a whole other topic I Do think it's important for me as an employer to be able to say to my employees: you don't have to do certain things if you're not comfortable.
It's the homeowners right to believe what they believe, but it's also my employees right in my opinion, to believe what they believe and to step away if that's what they believe and don't feel comfortable doing. I do think there are lines. so even for me, even though that I'm not going to get on my soapbox and have an argument with a customer and decide to do business with them just because they believe something I don't I do think there are still lines that I won't cross that if they are trying to be aggressive or treat my employees a certain way because they do or don't believe what they believe I would not put myself in that position and I'm not going to put my employees in that position either. Whether I believe one thing or another has no bearing on this. Not my right to say to that employee, you're going to do that work anyway I don't care if you do feel uncomfortable, so that's just my position I Would love to hear your position on this. I'm not saying that my position is right on all of this. I Just think it's interesting how folks think about these things and when they're doing business, let me know your thoughts. Comment down below: Is this something that plays a role in who you do business with or who you will work for? It's such a sensitive topic today when we see companies and individuals when they're doing work with others.
Sometimes you do cross paths with folks that maybe you don't necessarily agree with on everything. So comment down below I'd love to hear about that. Thanks for watching. Please hit that subscribe button.
We'll see you next time.
JG: I think some of your followers need to do some self-analysis and reflection on it! I will include myself as well. Have a nice afternoon!
Joshua Griffin whenever you deal with the general public always keep out politics and religion. It's ever a touching feeling. I've learned that very long ago as a kid.
You are right on. There is a towing company hung up an election sign.
I agree with you- you’re running a business not a political talk show. 👍🏻 Are you in Ottawa ?
We’re all Americans and having different views is part of living in a democratic society. If a person or company wants to support something that’s fine but I would rather not hear their political views unless we are good friends and can agree or not agree and then move on. Service area Barrhaven??
My belief: There's no room for politics or religion in business interactions, or indeed in polite society as a whole. It cuts both ways. I don't want to hear businesses bandying around these kind of statements, but likewise, a customer who does it is putting that company/service provider in a really uncomfortable and unfair position. Frankly, I think people should keep their mouths shut about controversial opinions and beliefs in casual interactions and save it for their friends, families, or organizations.
Let’s vote for the company that wants to change Freon every 5 years and have guaranteed work forever. Not
We are a service provider for comfort in your environment, what may I help you with mechanically?
You have to avoid this subject…especially in business. NOT A GOOD IDEA due to so many people out there who align their life with politics. It's bad enough to have to deal with the crap that is stuffed down societies throat from both sides of the aisle aka Government, Schools, County, City etc.
Your customer who used your business because you had employees who had her skin color is a huge RACIST. First one to bring up the subject is usually the racist. This matter is getting worse and worse during the current administration… Are you in Nepean ?
Political, religious, and complaints shouldn't be voiced to people you don't know well. There are too many sensitive/ crazy people out there. If you feel uncomfortable with someone you don't have to explain why, all you need to do is walk away, change subjects or just tell them straight out it's a bad subject.
I learned a lot by you hearing you say this. I now see through you.
Will not watch another video of yours
Comes down to people that just choose money over principles. If you are this way I don't respect you
I would see it as a way to do a quick background check if you could truly trust the customer to pay you.
This is the most random video to pop up on my recommended, and I appreciate how every single time it sounded like you would say anything slightly political you always just turned it back to "I just want to sell HVACs man", it's nice for someone to not even imply a political opinion in a video explicitly about politics.
Yes. It matters what you support
It's unfortunate that so many people see the other side of political issues as evil or stupid. We all have our own points of view and reasons for getting there.
I have had friends accuse me of inflating low temp inverter performance as being part of the heat pump / no gas / de carbonization movement…. That is kinda not great as really, down to maybe 10F, I have no need for heat strips…. And mini splits go even lower without any loss in btu/h.
Whether you are a racist or not is not politics in my mind. Its decency.
I dont for a second think that beer company stook their necks out for That person. They have no beliefs or values other than to make money. They are spineless and do whatever they think is popular. Its good to see them punished by the boycott.
Honestly I don't give money to people who advertise their politics regardless if you are lib or conservative. Those kind of people are less professional and probably do a shitter job than someone who keeps their political beliefs private.
Here’s how it works – let’s use Twitter as an example. The left was 100% behind banning, shadow banning, editing, falsely fact checking, and attacking speech that went against their woke narrative. They said it’s a private company and they can do anything they want. But when Elon bought twitter and he opened up speech for both political parties the left went insane and screamed for the government to come in and regulate twitters “free speech”. All of a sudden private companies need to be regulated but only by democratic government not conservative government.
It’s not really a question of the political views of the company….it’s whether the company has a firm grasp on reality. Since you mentioned Anheuser-Busch, they were indeed expecting to grab market share in a younger generation by the use of what you called a “trans individual.” They did not expect to lose money, and they did not do it to “make a statement.” They thought that this was actually a smart idea. I work in commercial HVAC, and whenever people ask me questions about refrigerants being outlawed and the requirements for very expensive motors in pieces of equipment, and why they are experiencing so many failures, I have to explain to them honestly that these changes are due to the environmental protection agency, and the department of energy….who do not have to pay for their mandates. They expect every day Americans to bear the full cost of what they are mandating. Now you can call that political, or you can call that being a realist.
Great video!!! I agree with you 100% I tell the guys all the time that if they don’t feel comfortable don’t do the work, luckily it hasn’t happened yet. Keep up the great videos
When I go on a call, if i see or hear anything that has to do with certain political agenda’s, that’s an immediate %15 up charge.
We should never discriminate, we are at your home to provide good and honest service and not to judge. If my employee ever refused to provide service to someone because they disagree with their way of life, they are fired! I don’t care as they are not going to give my business a bad name based on their hateful ways. My employees always stay away from politics and religious discussions as my team is a group of good non discriminating people and I tell them when I hire them if, you have any hate or if you have issues with people being different then this is not the place for you. We serve the public. Unfortunately there is a lot of radical groups out there trying to put fear and hate in our minds and we must not play into this hate as they don’t care if we lose our business as long as we hate like them they are happy. Keep this in our minds and hearts written by – Maya Angelou…..Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet. One thing I will defend my employee if some nut has a Nazi flag outside their home and they refuse to do work for a hater then that’s a different story but, don’t come to me because someone has a gay flag outside their home because they are not advertising hate.
I don’t envy you having to deal with politics as a business owner. I like to tell anyone who will listen that it’s ok to disagree, but let’s not treat each other as enemies. Are you in Orleans ?
I believe any personal business should be able to turn away anyone for whatever reason, but state and federal service workers should not be able to. Federal and state services are where everyone should have service no matter what. Example : The notorious cake baking with what the frosting had written. They should be able to decline anyone, they are not state/federal.
I don't care about a company's politics, can they do the job I need!
A business has a right to make known their political, religious, or world views/stance if they so chose. If they chose to I have the right to chose or not chose to do business with them based on their views. What I despise is if I choose to give my business to a business who doesn't make known their views but one of their workers/service person chooses to make
known their own personal views yet not respect my right to state I disagree, if I do. If they want to make a situation anything other than business I'm not going to stand back and keep my mouth shut. If they want to preach they can find another place to do so other than to me whom I'm paying for their SERVICE, not to be given a sermon or political speech or snide remarks about others. What matters to me is the quality and trustworthiness of the service. I don't express my views to a service person but when a view is forced on me in a situation which I'm paying them for service I'm not going to stand quietly when someone is trying to force their views upon me when I didn't ask & don't want their view. If I chose to do business with a business who has made their stance known on religion, politics, then still keep quiet. One may have chosen to do business despite holding different views based solely on a good reputation and service of the business.
Politics are part of the heat pump rebates on a federal level so hard not to discuss that with customers? Service area Kanata??
I don't discuss politics on the job or even with my family and friends cause we all don't agree.
I am more inclined to do business with people I agree with, but if I owned a business, I would be a-political. No need for business to get involved. If I’m paying for service, I just want quality work for a reasonable price. I’ll go for the best service.