3 HVAC Marketing Rules To Live By
October 2012 Issue
3 HVAC Marketing Rules To Live By
This month we’ve got some ideas to help you build on the progress we know you’ve already made marketing your HVAC company, because you pay close attention to our newsletters!
1. Position yourself as an HVAC expert
Ensure that all communications position you as a trained expert and trusted consultant, not the stereotypical salesman. Consultative, relationship-based selling is ideal for HVAC, where you’ll hopefully have a long relationship with your customer.
Get your newsletter in gear, get your blog going, send occasional, well-timed mailings and e-mails. Encourage 2-way interaction, positioning yourself/your company as a resource for clients/potential clients. Always include your business identity: logo, photo, tagline and call-to-action/call-to-contact.
Offer professional advice that’s timely/useful/helpful, even if it involves a product or service you don’t sell. If it’s good advice and HVAC-related, talk about it.
2. Communicate a consistent message
Communicate in a consistent voice keyed to the customer base: on your website, blog and direct mail, reflecting your brand consistently.
Speak directly, personally to the customer across multiple channels: e-mail promotions, mailed surveys and more. A clean database is a must. Open rates increase and click-throughs go up dramatically with e-mail-subject personalization.
Manage and keep your database current with proper salutations, customer names, addresses and segmentation/targeting.
3. Adapt to customer search habits
Ask new customers where they heard about you – it should be a habit. Once you hear a name/source a few times, make sure your business is well-represented there; on Angie’s List, Yelp, Facebook, e-mail, the mailbox, and on the front porch.
Gather invaluable customer intelligence directly—through surveys: Check satisfaction after a new installation. Find out what your customers like and don’t, as well as their future plans. Do they know someone who would benefit from your services? Add the info to your database and follow-up for future sales growth. Now you can effectively focus products, services and marketing on what customers are asking for.
Request online reviews: They’re powerful! Ask for them. Quote testimonials on your website and in sales pitches from recent customer surveys.
Referrals/recommendations from happy clients (to their friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors) are the cheapest acquisitions you’ll ever get. Get more leads: contact all the neighbors by accessing comprehensive radius mailing lists and also send a different message to newly-arrived homeowners.
Show up in online subject matter research: Potential customers look for info/opinions/advice about the work they plan to have done or about their HVAC problem. As they’re reading your cooling system post/article they wonder – “Hey, can I hire this HVAC guru?”
Are you considering adding home performance services to your HVAC business to offer a more complete whole-home solution? Earlier this year, we created a unique marketing program for home performance companies, and are already generating leads and seeing success with our first few home performance clients!
To start building your HVAC marketing strategy, or simply learn more, please feel free to contact Halo Programs anytime.