How Summers & Smith uses Distance to focus on what matters

For over 50 years, Summers & Smith Cooling & Heating Ltd has been a trusted name in their community. Beyond keeping homes comfortable, they’ve consistently given back—supporting local programs like the Cancer Society, educational co-op students, community golf tournaments, and youth sports teams in Newmarket and Aurora. As a locally owned and operated business, Summers & Smith takes pride not only in serving their customers but also in strengthening the communities they call home.

Summers & Smith wanted to modernize how they interact with customers while freeing up their team to focus on high-value work. Their goals were twofold: to introduce more automation in lead handling and customer communication, and to be available across multiple channels. Leads can come through anywhere—calls, website chat, or social media platforms like Facebook—and they wanted to ensure no inquiry ever went unanswered, regardless of where it originated.

How Distance helps

Decreasing call volume

Before Distance, the Summers & Smith team spent valuable time fielding every type of call—from quick questions to service inquiries that weren’t always the right fit. With Distance, routine questions and unqualified leads are handled instantly by AI. This allows their team to focus more energy on qualified jobs and higher-value tasks, improving efficiency while reducing the stress of constant inbound calls.

Increasing Lead Capture

Many businesses lose opportunities when potential customers can’t get through or when inquiries slip outside business hours. Distance ensures every lead is captured, every time. Summers & Smith now sees a higher volume of leads entering their system because Distance follows up instantly and consistently, creating a stronger pipeline for growth.

Providing instant answers across channels

Today’s customers expect answers the moment they’re searching, whether on the phone, a website, or social media. Distance enables Summers & Smith to provide real-time responses not only on their website but also across platforms like Facebook. This multi-channel coverage ensures prospects get immediate clarity and guidance, building trust and increasing the likelihood of conversion.

By using Distance, Summers & Smith has been able to free up their team’s time, focus on the most important jobs, and capture more opportunities than ever before. With AI managing routine inquiries and lead intake across multiple channels, their business runs more smoothly, customers get the quick answers they expect, and the team can dedicate itself to delivering the reliable, community-rooted service that has defined Summers & Smith for over half a century.