Raising the Bar: Proven Strategies to Make Your HVAC Business a Standout
In today's competitive market, it can be a daunting task for businesses to stand out from their competitors. However, with the right strategies and mindset, it is possible to set yourself apart and establish your brand as a leader in the industry. As someone who has successfully navigated through a saturated market, I would like to share some tips on how you can make your business stand out from hundreds of other contractors.
Respect Their Time
In addition to these factors, it is essential for businesses to streamline their processes and offer convenience for customers. One way we achieved this at our company is by implementing a 2-hour window of arrival when scheduling appointments with our clients instead of the 4 or 6-hour windows. This not only shows respect for their time but also allows us to manage our schedules efficiently while providing timely service.
Flat Rate Pricing
Pricing plays a significant role when it comes to choosing between competitors within an oversaturated market. That's why we implemented flat rate pricing on both parts and installs at our company. Not only did this provide transparency for our customers, but it also eliminated any surprise costs or hidden fees along the way.
Offer a Lifetime Warranty on Parts
One of the most important aspects that sets a business apart is its commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. So cliche, right? This is why I offered a lifetime warranty on the parts we replaced. By providing this guarantee, you are not only instilling confidence in your customers but also standing behind the products used in your services. It relieved the customer's thoughts of, "Well, what happens if this part fails again? Do I have to pay for another replacement? Why do these parts fail so often?"
This forced us to buy the highest quality brands. And it goes a long way in building trust with clients and differentiating yourself as a reliable and reputable contractor. I mean, what's $100 dollars to you for another motor that you selected for the customer that failed after 3 years? You probably charged $700-$900 for the part. There can be restrictions to this unique selling proposition. We didn't cover some big items that can fail due to homeowner negligence, like compressors, heat exchangers, and coils.
Considering that the quality parts you choose to install will rarely fail, I think this is a unique selling proposition that will separate your business from the others. I know it did for mine because other techs would remark that it was "quite a risk" to operate like that.
No Surprises on the Day of Install
Lastly, standing out from competitors also means providing exceptional estimates for equipment replacement. We guaranteed no price increases if something unforeseen arose during the installation process that was not accounted for in the original estimate. Also, you're the one with all the experience and knowledge, right? Account for everything that goes into the typical install. If you only sometimes have to do a certain task, like increase the size of a return duct or grille or additional refrigerant because of a longer line set- include that in your flat rate pricing that you create and update every year.
My thought process was that there would be jobs that don't need every little thing, such as a new thermostat (because the customer liked theirs already). So, in this case, we came out ahead on the sale because A—we didn't have to replace this person's return duct and B—we didn't have to replace their thermostat. But I still got paid the same price for this installation as I did for any other job.
Then there would be jobs where we didn't catch something, like difficult access to the unit or where a duct was displaced from its collar, and conditioned air was just blowing out into the attic, which is obviously inefficient. I'd let the customer know about it and reinforce our price guarantee, which would surprise them and make them feel better about choosing our company for the installation.
I maintained my reputation and happy customer by just eating the cost of the replacement duct and collar. Without making a big deal about it to my technician, I made sure I trained my techs better to catch these things so they don't happen again.
It also made it way easier for my techs to sell systems. They didn't have to give a million different prices for the same system going in. It was like, here are the prices to give to the customer for the installation. And if there were extras the tech could foresee, like building a catwalk to the platform or installing a new lighting circuit in the attic to meet the building code standard, then I had flat rate pricing on the sheet that the tech could add to the cost. But ultimately, when the customer was given their quote, it included everything without having to add cost for the customer later on the actual day of the installation. In those situations, what's the customer going to say? They sort of have to begrudgingly go along with the price adjustment because they're stuck. You're already there. What's he going to say? No?
10-Year Labor Warranty on Installs
Then, after the installation, be the company that offers a 10-year labor warranty. The systems come with a 10-year parts warranty; why not stand out from your competitors and make the customer feel secure in knowing you stand behind your craftsmanship and the equipment that you chose for the customer? I've seen so many companies nickel and dime their customers only to end up with negative reviews online. For what? A little extra money today? Think about the future. This one install can make or break you in two ways: A positive referral to family and friends, which will come back around to you when they need a new system, or a tarnished reputation that smears your 5-star rating on multiple online platforms. Reviews never go away. They will always be posted on those sites, and you'll never have the opportunity to get that decision back.
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Two Years of Preventive Maintenance Included
One of the things I did was offer a preventive maintenance plan. A tune-up. One is for the AC in the spring/summer, and the other is for the furnace in the fall/winter. This isn't super unique in itself, but on my installs, I gave the customer two years of preventive maintenance with their install (built into the flat rate pricing of the installation, of course). So what this did was let them see how valuable our tune-ups were, so when the two years were up, they would continue the maintenance on their system. And that was the one caveat of our 10-year labor warranty on installs. We'd cover that for up to 10 years or as long as they continued the maintenance on the system. Because if they let us come out and take good care of that system, there's really no reason for it to break down.
Develop Your Online Presence
One of the most innovative ways for me to make my business stand out from the rest was to create YouTube videos. This allowed me to showcase my creativity and expertise and reach a wider audience than any other means would allow. Creating content that wasn't just focused on my business but also offered valuable insight to my potential customers was key to building a transparent relationship with them. And that's how I started making an impression even before I got my first customer.
Check it out yourself if you want. Just look up Fox Family Heating and Air on YouTube and see that I have over 300 videos of me doing service calls, explaining what I was doing, answering customers' most common questions, and setting up a camera so people could see me perform an installation.
This form of marketing, or SEO, was genius, too, as I found out later. At the time of writing this, Google (The largest search engine in the world) owned YouTube. So, videos that became popular on YouTube automatically ranked high on Google searches in my service area. One marketing expert researched my videos' performance and told me that these videos were ranking as high as another company paying $15,000 a month to get on the first page of the search results. I made all of these videos for free with my GoPro camera and, later, a DSLR camera and some stage lighting. PLUS! I was getting paid by Google/YouTube. I was considered a "content creator". It wasn't a ton, but what started at $100 every couple of months grew to $2000 a month during the peak of summer.
Create a Website That Answers Your Customer's Questions
"They Ask, You Answer" is a book written by Marcus Sheridan. The book taught me how to brainstorm the questions we were asked every day by our customers. It awakened me to stand out from others who literally do the opposite of They Ask, You Answer - It's called "Ostrich Marketing." "Why is it called ostrich marketing? When an ostrich has a problem, what does it do? It buries its head in the sand. (Yes, it is a myth, but we’ll go with it anyway.) And why does it bury its head in the sand? Because it thinks the problem will go away. But does the problem ever go away? Of course, the answer is no."
Marcus explains, "Look at it this way—how many times have you been asked a question by a prospect or customer and thought to yourself: “We’d better not address that issue on our website. Let’s just wait until we are talking face-to-face with the prospect, and then, if he or she asks about it, we can bring it up.”
Like Sheridan, I sat down with my team and asked them to come up with the 6 most commonly asked questions. We came up with:
So, I formatted these questions on the very first page of the website, right up at the top. I mean, let's get down to brass tacks here, right? They have questions when they get to our website, and it isn't a statement highlighting our mission statement and the awards we've received. In this section, you could hover your mouse over the question, and it would flip over like a card and give the answer!
"A TUNE-UP is for those whose system is currently working correctly but are looking for preventive maintenance."
"A REPAIR is needed for those whose system isn’t working correctly, and they need someone to come out and fix it."
Trust me when I say that not everyone is demonstrating such transparency in their company. And I dare agree with Sheridan when he says it's because the business owner doesn't want his competition to know his methods. Well, you know what? Everyone who has any sense of your business already knows how much you charge, as well as the answer to other common questions.
This book is simply a way to make yourself surprisingly approachable to customers. I recommend you read it to find out more.
It's Easy to Stand Out!
So, while it may seem like a challenging task to stand out in a market swamped by competitors, there are ways to set yourself apart and establish your brand as a leader in the industry. By offering a lifetime warranty on parts, which forces you to only use high-quality products, streamlining processes for convenience, implementing transparent pricing models, providing exceptional after-sales service and ultimate transparency - you can create a lasting impression on your customers and leave your competitors behind. It takes dedication and flexibility, but these strategies have been proven successful in making my business stand out among hundreds of others in the contractor market.
I Sell Heating and Air Companies
5 个月Great article