I need to count the instances on the word "Trane" in a range of cells, but
base the countif statement on the information in another range of cells.
If
the parameter range has a "N" in it, then count the corresponding cell in
the
counting range with "Trane" in it. If not, don't count it. This needs to
be
a formula entered in one cell that displays the results of the countif. I
have tried this formula:
=COUNT(IF(($A$2:$A$297="N")*($O$2:$O$297="Trane"), $O$2:$O$297))
that is shown in the help section, but it only returns zeros when I use
it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Give this formula a try...

=SUMPRODUCT(--($A$2:$A$297="N"),--($O$2:$O$297="Trane"))

Rick