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PerplexityBefore Louis took the reins of AC Guys, the company already had a name. Literally.
His wife, Gabriella’s grandfather started the HVAC and refrigeration business in 1951, serving customers in Northern Mexico as Becerril Air. The company had such a strong reputation that people knew the name, even on the US side of the border.
So when the couple launched the California branch of the business in 2020, they weren’t starting from scratch. But they also weren’t starting with modern practices. “We had an internal system that stored customer history and invoices, but it had no integrations, no automations, no communications. Everything was manual.”
Louis isn’t a typical HVAC operator. He had served as mayor of his hometown, advised state energy commissions, and sat on the national board of ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America). His colleagues are the best biggest operators in the country: companies with hundreds of trucks, government contracts, and nationwide recognition. But for AC Guys, Louis wanted to keep things small and tight, with loyal customers and the breathing room to do things right.
The problem
At their peak, Air Conditioning Guys had nearly a 1:1 ratio of office staff to field techs—five office staff for five techs. “We had someone for inbound calls, someone for outbound scheduling, someone else asking for reviews,” Louis explained. “We even had someone hand-typing reminder emails. It wasn’t cost effective.”
That load wasn’t sustainable.
“I didn’t want to grow like crazy. I want to protect my team, protect cash flow, and serve our existing customers with excellence. That’s what they paid us for.”
But that goal—high-quality service without bloated overhead—was impossible without modern systems. Louis had tried others: Housecall Pro, Podium, Breezy AI, Google Calendar integrations, Zapier, even his own Gmail automations. “Nothing talked to each other,” he said. “And we were still typing things by hand.”
Why Workiz
Louis discovered Workiz while looking for a platform that could finally help him streamline and automate operations. What caught his eye?
- Native automations without Zapier
- Workiz Phone is fully embedded
- Fully customizable documents he can use for legal and contract compliance
- Expense cards with team-level permissions
“I didn’t even realize how many people don’t take advantage of this stuff,” Louis said. “But I test everything. I make sure that every email, every text, every call… I make sure it all works exactly how I want and then I automate it so that the experience happens every time.”
Louis rebuilt the business’s workflows around Workiz. The result?
What changed
Fewer staff. Better results.
Today, Louis runs the entire business with two office staff instead of five (reducing his payroll overhead by a whopping 60% just by increasing his operational efficiency).
“We had more staff before, but less control. Now everything’s automated. I don’t need someone calling for reviews or sending reminders. Instead, they are offering great service to our customers.”
Post-job workflows run themselves
Once a job is completed in Workiz, automations trigger 20 different custom sequences, review requests, and estimate follow-ups. “We used to hand-type those,” Louis said. “Now they just go out, on time, every time.” This saves an estimated 110 hours per week, which is directly reflected in his reduced payroll, and has helped AC Guys rack up almost 350 reviews, well greater than the competitors in his market.
Phone system that’s actually integrated
Louis replaced Podium and Nextiva with Workiz Phone. “When someone calls now, we see who it is, the full history, notes, recordings. It’s all in one place. I know what every call is. I know if we’ve returned the calls”. Workiz Phone has given Louis more than just clarity, it’s given him a new level of organization. “There is no guessing if I called a client back or not. Every number is assigned to either an existing client or a lead and nobody falls through the cracks”.
Legal compliance—handled
California requires strict documentation on every job: a sales agreement and a three-day right-to-cancel notice, both with specific font sizes and date formatting.
“Before, we had to build those manually. Now Workiz auto-inserts the date and name values. It’s all compliant, every time, with no extra work.”
More than just saving time, these automations give Louis something more – peace of mind. He knows that he’s always covered on the compliance side and not exposed to chargebacks 6 months down the line.
Smarter field spending
With the Workiz Expense Card, techs can handle gas, Home Depot trips, and job-site purchases without waiting for approvals. Every tech has their own card, which Louis maintains with unique spend controls per card.
“They’re not calling the office for a PO anymore or swinging by to pick up a card when they need to do an inventory run. They just swipe, and it’s logged. We even use it to track marketing spend now.”
Lessons Learned
For Louis, the real win wasn’t just cutting overhead or automating busywork. It was getting back to what mattered: building a business he could be proud of. He’s proof that modernizing doesn’t mean sacrificing quality or personal touch. In fact, by automating the routine, Louis gave his team the space to offer even better service.
Because with the right systems in place, he’s not buried in manual work anymore.
He’s leading. He’s sharing. And he’s finally got the headspace to think about what’s next.
Louis didn’t modernize to grow at all costs. He modernized to take back control.
By streamlining operations with Workiz, he was able to reduce overhead, eliminate manual work, and run a tighter business — without sacrificing the quality or reliability that built AC Guys’ reputation in the first place.
“I’m not juggling tabs anymore. I’m running the business I want.”
