It's the busy cooling season and advertising may be the furthest thing from your mind right now as you're working to keep up with the jobs you have pouring in. The response of many HVAC business owners is to relax marketing efforts through the busy season and turn them up in the off-season. But, why would you not optimize your marketing efforts during the peak season when the most amount of people see your brand? Here are a few easy marketing strategies you can implement now to better equip your business for continued success in the off-season.
Build Your Contact List for Email Marketing
Each time you book a job, whether it's quoting a new system or performing maintenance, you already collect the customer's contact information for your records. This is the perfect opportunity to get them into your marketing email list as well. Requesting permission to use the customer's email address for marketing purposes can be built seamlessly into your sales process, or even as simple as adding an "opt-in" check box on a contact form. Be sure to include a brief, yet accurate description of what kind of content they can expect to get when they sign up so that they don't feel like they're getting unsolicited marketing content from you.
The key to creating effective email blasts is to cater the content to your audience. Many HVAC companies find the 80/20 rule to be a successful strategy: 80% of emails should educate, interest, or help the customer; 20% of emails should focus on selling to the customer. Send email blasts that are worthwhile to read, relevant to the season, and helpful in some way to the customer. This continual email content will keep your company top-of-mind even during the off-season in the chance that they (or perhaps someone they know) may need a service you can provide.
Ask for Online Reviews
Another perk of dealing with so many customers during the busy season is the opportunity to build up online reviews for your business profile on Google. Soliciting reviews from satisfied customers over the summer will help build your company's online reputation, so that when potential customers are searching for you during the off-season, they'll be more likely to give you a call.
There are countless creative ways to ask customers to review your business. However, the most effective way is in-person and by the person who has built the deepest relationship with the customer (ie. their salesperson). In-person requests tend to get better results when they're followed up with an email reminder that includes a direct link to the page where the customer can leave the review.
If you're not coming out of your peak season with significantly more email contacts and Google reviews than you had previously, it might be time to re-evaluate your sales process. By implementing these easy marketing strategies and staying consistent through this busy time, you'll reap the rewards during the off-season!
