Quietside Makes Minisplits into Big Business

Ernest applied those lessons from Goodman to the Samsung products. After all, when end-users and contractors saw the products and technology behind them, they were thrilled. But the price compared to standard unitary systems was much higher — indeed, price was the barrier. So Quietside lowered that barrier by bringing down the price. “Our focus was to drive that cost down to where the contractor would feel like this is something that is affordable,” Ernest says. “So it would not only meet the needs of that person but fit within a budget that the individual could afford.”

Ernest said lowering the price — thus reducing the profit margins — was the only way to introduce the product to the market and then grow it from there. “With minisplits, we said we needed to trim the cost, and Samsung agreed to price the product at a point where nobody was losing money, but the margins were very thin,” Ernest says.

The strategy has paid off for both Quietside and the minisplit industry. From one manufacturer selling 5,000 minisplit systems annually, there are now multiple manufacturers now selling upwards of 50,000 systems per year, Ernest says. Reflecting the growth of this market is the increase in the number of manufacturers who now sell these systems.

Ernest is passionate about the HVACR industry and minisplit systems in particular. He believes in the products that he sells and the benefits that HVACR has delivered for people in the United States and around the world. “I take a lot of pride in the work that we do as an industry and that our minisplit technology and the tankless, on-demand products represent a new wave and can make a difference in the comfort level and the economy of our country,” he says. “We're offering products that make a difference.”

While Quietside came to the market with pricing that was competitive with the unitary systems, it also established customer service as a cornerstone of its operations. Recognizing that the HVACR distribution model in the North American market works very well, Quietside had to establish itself as part of that system. “We had to look like, talk, act and walk like a U.S. manufacturer as opposed to being an importer,” Ernest says.

Quietside employees at the Carlisle, PA, operation.

With the combined experience of Lee and Ernest in distribution, they made certain that the support system was in place as they built its distribution network. That included quick and easy access to technical support as well as sufficient inventory, including parts, on hand. “We did it as quickly as we could, and history has proven that we did a reasonably good job,” Ernest says. Today, Quietside has a staff of eight technical support persons led by John Miles.

Quietside began with a 20,000-square-foot warehouse in Whittier, CA. Within a year, it moved its operations to a larger facility, which includes a technical training center, to keep up with the growth. In 2003, Quietside opened a new facility in Carlisle, PA, to serve the eastern United States and Canada. This includes a 60,000-square-foot warehouse and a technical training center. Quietside works with distributors to bring contractors to the training center and better familiarize them with the technology of the systems. Ernest is now in the process of opening a Midwest office, warehouse and technical training center in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Ernest is quick to credit the work of the independent sales representatives in growing Quietside's business. Some of the salespeople worked with Ernest at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and came to Quietside with a base of knowledge about minisplits.