Pandemic Changes How North Reading AC Company Does Business

NORTH READING, MA — The summer heat is a welcomed friend to North Reading's Royal Air Systems as the season usually brings more customers for air conditioning services. This season is no different, except for the layers of gear workers wear when entering a home. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way Royal Air does business, but it hasn't kept it from doing business entirely.

Like many businesses at the beginning of the pandemic, Royal Air took a bit of a hit. Being an essential service, the business never closed down, but rather slowed down. In March, when quarantine restrictions had first been imposed, customers were cancelling left and right.

"People were scared, they didn't want anyone coming into their homes," said Kate Mahoney, an employee with Royal Air, "We were afraid at the beginning — how do you keep your staff safe, customers safe."

Mahoney said there was lots of trial and error before the business got into the comfortable groove it's in now. More information about the virus and how to prevent its spread helped ease fears, Mahoney said.

The business now has a thorough process it follows before it services customers. First, a call is made the night before an appointment to make sure no one in the home is sick or displaying symptoms. Then, workers arrive at the home equip with masks, glove and shoe booties — all tools that workers use are cleaned before and after the appointment. Mahoney said workers do all the work they can that's not in the main living space and when they can, they call clients from outside the home and instruct them on how to set and adjust the systems instead of being in the living space themselves.

"We clean everything we touch," Mahoney said, "We leave things cleaner than we found them."

Summer has always been a busy time for Royal Air and Mahoney speculates that while this month isn't necessarily different, people are spending so much time in their homes, they're eager to change or fix systems that didn't bother them before.

"We've been really lucky, we heard horror stories — we're doing good this year, not bad but good," Mahoney said.

Gearing up for appointments and maintaining social distance aren't the only major changes Royal Air implemented. The business dove head first into technology during the pandemic — something it hadn't done much of before.

"We used to rely heavily on face-to-face interaction in the office," Mahoney said, "Our first meeting during the pandemic was in the parking lot of our office, in March, it was freezing."

Not wanting to spend more time socially distant in a cold parking lot, the business embraced Zoom and virtual meetings became the norm. Mahoney said the push into technology was "a lifesaver" and made all the difference to Royal Air.

Looking forward to the fall, Mahoney said she hopes the business can keep its momentum and continue learning with each obstacle its throw.

"We're looking forward to another 40 years in North Reading," Mahoney said.