Commercial HVAC is a highly competitive market, especially as a small to medium-sized, family owned business. However, there are some best practices that your sales and marketing teams can follow to secure more commercial HVAC leads, resulting in higher quality deals.
Here are some commercial HVAC lead generation best practices to follow:
Define Your Ideal HVAC Customer
First thing’s first—what does your dream HVAC client look like? Defining your ideal customer profile (ICP) is important for B2B lead generation because it allows your sales, marketing, and lead generation teams to pinpoint the kind of business opportunities you want.
As you consider your ideal HVAC client, it’s important to look at your current book of business to find similarities between your happiest clients. Here are some of the most common customer trends to consider when defining your ICP:
- Industries served
- Types of decision-makers
- i.e. business owners, facility managers, etc.
- Square footage of air conditioned space
- Demographics
- Product or service interests
Use Online Marketing to Rank on Google
In the digital age, B2B online marketing has become one of the most common approaches to lead generation. However, very few HVAC businesses know how to do it effectively.
To be successful in HVAC online marketing and put your business ahead of competitors on search engines like Google and Bing, your marketing teams must follow search engine marketing strategies. This includes search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search.
SEO techniques and paid advertising campaigns boost visibility, making it easier for potential clients to discover your HVAC services when searching for relevant keywords in the Google or Bing search bar. This not only increases website traffic, but also enhances credibility and trust. Additionally, online marketing allows for targeted outreach, enabling you to reach the right audience at the right time, ultimately driving ready-to-buy leads and securing more revenue.
For more information on how to create an effective HVAC online marketing strategy, read our blog here.
Actively Reach Out to Prospects
While online marketing is becoming more popular for commercial HVAC lead generation, you shouldn’t undermine the impact of actively reaching out to prospects and connecting with decision-makers one-on-one. And ideally, securing more HVAC sales meetings.
Waiting for potential customers to find you isn’t enough for filling your HVAC sales pipeline. Active outreach allows you to identify and engage with potential clients, showcasing your HVAC expertise and services. This not only increases brand visibility but also fosters trust and credibility between the prospect and your business.
Through targeted outreach strategies like cold calling, cold email marketing, and social media engagement, you can address specific customer needs, inform them of your product and service offerings, secure qualified sales meeting, ultimately convert qualified prospect into clients.
Ask Happy Customers to Leave Reviews
Even with all the advancements to HVAC lead generation, word of mouth advertising is still one of the most effective ways to get more sales. However, it looks different today compared to years past.
Today, the best way for potential customers to share positive reviews of your HVAC business is by writing reviews online. This can be done under your Google My Business, Yelp channel, or company social media profiles.
Positive reviews act as powerful testimonials, building trust and credibility among potential clients. They enhance your online reputation, distinguishing your business in a crowded market.
Additionally, online reviews influence search engine rankings, making your HVAC service more visible to potential customers searching for similar services. These reviews provide valuable feedback for continuous improvement, ensuring you meet customer expectations.
While positive reviews are great for building your business’s reputation, not every client you have is going to be happy with your services. When negative reviews come in, it’s still important to respond so you can showcase that you hear their concerns and are willing to make adjustments based on their concerns.
Align Your HVAC Sales and Marketing Strategy
When HVAC sales and marketing strategies are aligned, they create a unified customer journey. Lead generation and marketing teams generate awareness and interest, while sales capitalizes on these leads, converting them into paying customers.
Sales and marketing alignment ensures consistent messaging, nurturing leads, and targeting prospects with tailored content and offers—and this is where B2B lead generation teams come in. This collaboration enhances efficiency, reduces lead leakage, and maximizes your ROI.
For example, let’s say that a sales development rep (SDR) cold calls a lead that says they’re not ready to reevaluate their current HVAC contract yet. Until then, the SDR can put them in a lead nurturing campaign to build the relationship over time.
Outsource to B2B Lead Gen Providers
Commercial HVAC companies can improve their efforts by outsourcing their B2B lead generation efforts to specialized sales and marketing firms. B2B lead gen outsourcing allows HVAC companies to:
- Have high-performing business growth experts (without the additional hiring, onboarding, and overhead costs)
- Gain access to the best lead gen tools and technologies (without having to learn how to use them to their full capabilities)
- Save time from implementing a sales development and marketing strategy that may or may not work (minimizing the risk of trial and error)
- Scale their B2B lead gen efforts up or down as needed (reducing risk mitigation)
- Focus on what they do best—run a successful commercial HVAC business
Key Takeaways
HVAC may be a competitive industry, but there are some best practices you can follow to get more prospects and leads in your sales pipeline.
At Abstrakt Marketing Group, our sales development and marketing experts have the proven knowledge and expertise in HVAC lead generation to help growing businesses like your build a B2B lead gen strategy that works.
When you’re ready to get the best results from your HVAC sales and marketing efforts, contact the experts at Abstrakt!
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