My grandfather started an HVAC business way back in 1956. As a kid, I remember asking him how he sold so many air conditioning systems. He said, “there are three secrets to selling ACs… heat, heat, and more heat.” Based on his simple answer, I didn’t need to ask about his magic formula for selling lots of furnaces!
For most HVAC contractors, replacement sales fluctuate wildly based on weather extremes. When summer’s heat scorches the neighborhood, older condensing units fail and sales for replacement air conditioners soar. Furnaces almost sell themselves when Old Man Winter hits town.
This “wait for it to break” approach has its predictable outcomes that affect both the contractor and the homeowner, creating unnecessary stress for all concerned, as shown in this table.
But, what happens during the mild-weather months, when temperatures stay moderate and homeowner urgency fades? It’s easy to fall into the trap of weather-driven demand. But, for a business to thrive year-round, it needs a different approach.
Imagine your business with a well-balanced installation schedule that relies on customer education, not the weather, to drive more profitable sales in a stress-free way. It’s not a fantasy - it’s a matter of shifting your strategies to be proactive, rather than reactive.
You can break free from the difficult challenges of seasonal demand by keeping your HVAC business running smoothly and profitably, no matter the time of year.
Here are seven strategies you can employ to enjoy a more predictable and profitable HVAC business in the coming years:
1. Adopt a long-term relationship mindset: Build long-term relationships with your customers to ensure repeat business, consistent referrals, and greater trust. When you treat customers like close friends, they'll keep coming back and support you in return.
2. Expand your product and service offerings: Offer additional products like indoor air quality improvements or smart home solutions to diversify revenue streams and attract new customers year-round. Develop bundled packages that can be individually installed. That way, customers can enjoy a complete system renovation over time. Add affordable monthly payments to your lineup, too. Payment plans make it easier for homeowners to invest in bigger and better solutions today.
3. Educate homeowners year-round: Most homeowners don’t know how old their HVAC equipment is or its expected service life. Providing ongoing education to homeowners about HVAC system improvements, maintenance requirements, and energy efficiency gains keeps your business top-of-mind and encourages proactive upgrade requests.
4. Promote proactive system upgrades: Regularly educate homeowners on the benefits of upgrading aging systems before they fail.
This leads to more planned replacements, avoiding the seasonal rush, unexpected expense, and inconvenience. Share the benefits on your website, newsletters, and flyers that your service team can hand to customers with older equipment.
5. Create “off season” system upgrade incentives: Offer incentives for system upgrades during off-peak shoulder months to help balance your installation schedule and keep revenue flowing steadily. While financial discounts are attractive in some cases, consider offering greater peace of mind through extended warranties and maintenance agreements as incentives.
6. Maximize maintenance agreement customer relationships: Focus on building and maintaining “partner” relationships with homeowners through maintenance agreements, ensuring consistent revenue and opportunities for future upgrades. Your job is to get and keep customers. Maintenance agreements are the best way to build lasting value in your business.
7. Leverage technology to streamline sales: Access to important information is easier than ever through the Internet. Use technology to simplify your customer education and sales processes to make it easier for customers to make their own best choice – which should include you and your company – to upgrade their home’s indoor comfort systems.
While weather will always play a role in the HVAC industry, smart contractors know they don’t have to be at the mercy of extreme temperatures to keep their installation schedules full.
By embracing long-term relationships, expanding your offerings, educating homeowners, promoting proactive replacements, offering off-season upgrade incentives, maximizing maintenance agreement relationships, and leveraging technology, you can create a stable, profitable business year-round.
The key is to be proactive, rather than reactive - because when you take control of your customer education and sales process, you take control of your future.
David Holt is the president of SilverBullet Price Page, Inc., a technology company dedicated to helping HVAC contractors simplify customer education and sales, driving improved results and profitability. With over 40 years of experience in the HVAC industry, David has developed several software solutions, pioneered innovative marketing strategies, provided business coaching, and led numerous seminars and training programs. Discover more about SilverBullet at www.SilverBullet.ac.