HVAC providers offer many services like heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. It can be challenging to spearhead marketing and sales campaigns when offering a wide range of services.
Our guide will help HVAC companies identify and target a specific audience to optimize sales. Plus, we'll cover general tactics to help HVAC businesses better understand marketing and sales.
What is HVAC marketing and sales?
HVAC marketing helps businesses raise awareness about their services to residential and commercial clients to increase sales.
Typically, an HVAC business handles inbound and outbound sales. For inbound sales, most people will contact an HVAC provider when a problem arises or during the construction or renovation of buildings.
HVAC companies can drive repeat sales by proactively reaching out to customers to remind them of their annual service on the outbound side. They can also prospect real estate developers or commercial properties for ongoing opportunities.
What are the benefits of HVAC marketing and sales?
Marketing to existing customers for repeat services is an effective marketing strategy as it’s easier to sell to an existing customer than to a new one. HVAC businesses can stay on their radar whenever they need a service by proactively reaching out to existing customers for relevant updates.
Marketing can also help HVAC businesses build trust and credibility with new customers by educating them on why they need to service their units annually, justifying the service cost, or explaining why they’re the best HVAC provider. Establishing credibility with customers is crucial to winning their business.
As we mentioned, HVAC businesses deal with inbound and outbound sales. Honing in on sales techniques can help HVAC professionals shorten their sales cycle to acquire more customers in less time. Plus, HVAC businesses can focus on building long-term sales relationships with other companies to retain clientele and gather referrals through partnership opportunities.
HVAC marketing and sales 101
Identify target audience
The first step in marketing is to figure out who to market. HVAC encompasses multiple specialties — heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and everything else that falls under these umbrella categories.
HVAC companies have numerous specialties, depending on their product, job type, or whether they serve primarily commercial or residential clients. The goal is to target a particular niche that fits their specialty. Understanding what the community needs can help HVAC professionals narrow their service list to be more targeted.
Some providers can focus on targeting commercial clients, whereas others can lean into specializing in a specific service. Whatever an HVAC company chooses to specialize in, the goal is to be relevant to their surrounding area.
Target key audience with personalized messaging
After determining a customer type, the next step is to personalize all marketing and sales messages to the customers’ needs. Research from Epsilon shows that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a product or service when a brand offers a personalized experience.
A personalized experience is more than using a customer’s first name to address them — it’s when messaging is tailored to the individual customer, not the group. One way to personalize messaging is to segment customers into smaller groups.
For example, HVAC businesses can segment customers depending on their geographic locations, needs, or prior services. HVAC professionals can assign a technician to handle inquiries from each customer group to ensure they’re speaking with the right team member.
To learn more about creating a personalized customer experience, read our article “How to create a personalized customer experience that drives retention and revenue.”
Build trust with potential customers with a good CX
Trust is crucial in the home service space, especially for pricier services like those in the HVAC space. HVAC repairs can cost upwards of $10,000.
Businesses can build trust by providing an exceptional customer experience. Some ways to give a good CX include educating customers on services for transparency on pricing; another way to build trust is to communicate quickly.
Educate customers on HVAC services
Providing educational resources in the form of a blog or free quotes helps customers understand their problem and how to solve it. Most people are unaware of how their units work or what HVAC services do, so educating customers is integral to the sales process.
Educating customers makes it easier for them to comprehend pricing for specific services. When customers understand the breakdown of costs, they’re more likely to agree to the pricing.
Be quick with communication
Studies show that the first company to respond to a lead has a 78 percent chance of converting them compared to those who reach out to a lead later. That’s why it’s crucial to get back to leads before other competitors.
One of the fastest communication tools is SMS; texting has an average response time of 90 seconds. With business texting, HVAC providers can communicate back and forth with customers to understand an issue, provide a free quote, and gather necessary details to complete the service. SMS works even better when used with other communication channels, like phone and email.
5 effective HVAC marketing and sales strategies
We broke down our list of strategies to target three specific categories of marketing and sales for HVAC: direct-to-consumer, B2B, and partnership opportunities.
1. Leverage digital advertising and paid search
Most inbound sales for HVAC services occur when people have an issue that needs an immediate fix. Potential customers will Google the closest HVAC service provider and choose one of the top results that fit their preferences.
At least 68 percent of online experiences begin with a search engine. Most people will focus on the first few results of a search. That makes purchasing a digital ad worthwhile. HVAC businesses can leverage search results like “A/C repair near me” or other keywords like “commercial HVAC providers” by qualifying for a Google Local Services Ad.
Facebook Ads can also help HVAC companies target customers who fit their key audience with geo-targeting. Geo-targeting means having the ad appear to customers within a specific area code or who match a set of predefined criteria.
2. Build an online presence
Online is one of the first places potential customers, residential and commercial, will gather more information about an HVAC business or scope out deals.
Having an online presence in the home service space means owning a website, business profiles on sites like Yelp, Google, and Angi’s list, and being active on relevant social media platforms.
When establishing an online presence, HVAC businesses should include general information, including but not limited to:
- Contact information (address, phone number, texting number, etc.)
- A free quote request form or number
- Available services
- What sets the business apart from its competition (i.e., quick response, reasonable prices, same-day availability.)
- Customer reviews or awards to help build credibility
Online reviews are crucial to gaining trust. Seventy-two percent of customers won’t purchase until they read a review. HVAC providers could ask for customer reviews after service if the customer had a positive experience.
To learn more about asking for a customer review, read our article “How to ask for customer reviews using business texting.”
3. Offer multiple communication channels
HVAC providers need to use a channel that their customers feel comfortable using. Phone, email, and business SMS are common communication channels.
Each has its perks, but business texting offers the fastest response time and open rate. Plus, it’s easier to continue a conversation in a text thread than over the phone or via email. That means HVAC companies can proactively text customers to book an appointment when their next service is coming up.
Businesses on Textline can have multiple departments or phone numbers to assign to each category of HVAC or individual agents.
Regardless of which channel customers prefer most, each one fulfills a different purpose, and using these channels interchangeably is the best way to engage with customers.
4. Invest time in a company blog
Blogs can help HVAC businesses establish credibility in their space as experts in the field. They also can improve brand reach to get in front of more customers. These blogs can feature content relating to self-maintenance or contain information relevant to commercial consumers.
HVAC businesses can take their blog further by focusing on SEO marketing. SEO-focused content is essential because it helps HVAC providers target top keywords their prospects use, such as “top HVAC in my area” or “how often do I need to maintain my A/C unit?”
SEO can help an HVAC website get more organic traffic. When done with quality and consistency, blogs can help HVAC businesses gain leads for less money or nurture customers faster with good content.
5. Establish partnerships with realtors or property managers
An efficient way to use time and resources is to establish partnerships with the right people. That means forming relationships with homebuilders or property managers for the HVAC space.
A partnership with a local home builder or landlord can mean a steady influx of leads through word-of-mouth referrals. These partnerships can also offer their tenants or customers special deals if they choose their preferred HVAC service.
While some businesses will look for an HVAC provider independently, it’s more beneficial for HVAC companies to scout partnership opportunities instead of waiting for someone to come.
Remember, the best way to gain referrals or build a partnership is to provide exceptional service throughout the customer experience.
The bottom line
Whether an HVAC business hones in on one specialty or chooses to offer a wide range of services, the way they relate to their customers will determine their success. Personalized marketing and sales can keep an HVAC business top of mind for residential and commercial customers.
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