Our little HVAC Webworks community...
... a small group of Technology, Marketing, and Business Aficionados dedicated to helping HVAC Business Owners project world-class quality to their customers and build effective, efficient and profitable heating and cooling businesses.
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Marketing Essentials
Posted on April 13th, 2009 No commentsSo, you’re a small HVAC business owner and want to grow your business? How do you do this on a shoestring budget, if you have any budget at all? Starting a new HVAC business or growing into a larger one is the challenge faced by heating and air conditioning companies all over the world, every day. The market is highly competitive, but don’t think that this situation is unique to the heating and air conditioning market. Most markets are highly competitive.
The good news is when a market is highly competitive the potential for customer loyalty not only exists, it’s as high as it is in not-so-competitive markets.
Think about it for a minute. In highly competitive markets such as Real Estate, Automobile sales, plumbing, lawn care, insurance, banking, and more; how refreshing is it to find a vender that you can count on to take care of your needs and give you a fair price for doing so? It’s very refreshing because it is a horrible pain to find someone you trust while weeding through a pile of people who are fighting for your business. Gaining trust in a new vender is an exhausting process and whether we are aware of it, or it is just subconscious, it is a challenge that most of us like to avoid.
With this in mind we have compiled category of marketing essentials for people looking to start a new HVAC business or grow an existing one.
Stay tuned!
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Providing Real Value to Your Customers
Posted on March 27th, 2009 No commentsEver quote a repair to a customer and have them ask you why it is so expensive? That they can buy the part online somewhere for a little less than you are going to sell it for? That they can install the part themselves? It can be an akward conversation if you don’t steer it in the right direction, and both of you and your customer could end up very frustrated.
Sure they knew that their air conditioner was broken. They knew that their boiler wasn’t holding temperature. But they could not diagnose the problem. Now that you or your technician has told them what needs to be replaced, they decide it is time to save a couple hundred bucks and try to fix it themselves. And yes, they will call and want advice on how to put it in and what to do if the equipment doesn’t run quite right.
In the initial conversation after you have given them a price on a repair and after they have told you how cheap they can fix it themselves, you could have steered the conversation where it needs to go. Build value in what your company offers. Tell the customer that you take the time to order the parts from a supplier that you trust. Tell them about the warranties that you offer (maybe 3 months labor and 6 months parts). If your customer were to buy the part from www.partsripoff.com to save a hundred bucks and the part is wrong or broken, do you think they will be able to return it?
You provide an important service to your customers. You go through the headache of getting repair parts. You stand behind your repairs and the parts that you sell. That $400 fan motor isn’t just a $400 fan motor. It was a diagnostic service call. It was an expert coming to troubleshoot a complex piece of equipment. It was a repair that makes your family or your business comfortable or a chiller keeping machinery cool enough to continue production. It is a promise that the part will work.
Build value. Convey that value. If a customer wants to save a a couple hundred dollars and try to handle everyhing for themselves, than that is your choice. You will not have to track down the parts, and you will not have to fight it out with an online retailer who won’t stand behind their product. But take the chance to sell your services and always convey the value your company adds to your customer.