7 Communication Tips for HVAC Fall Strategies: A Marketing Playbook to Reach Your Customers

Now that fall is here, it’s time to switch gears and rev up for the busy season ahead. Cooler weather leads to furnace and heat pump tune-ups, along with older equipment needing a replacement. 

While you may already have plans for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) strategies you’ll offer, have you considered how you’ll communicate them to your customers? If no one knows what you provide, your phones won’t ring and your calendar will be empty.

You need to develop a plan for promoting and educating your customers. This will help build your company’s brand and generate leads. 

Here are seven areas our BxB Media team recommends to get you started.

1. Train Your Team How to Make Effective Outbound Calls.

Outbound calling is a potent strategy for directly communicating with your customers. Your office team can quickly explain current promotions and rebates, and provide information about fall maintenance.

This form of customer contact yields instant results—immediate scheduling. Your team can also dispel any customer objections and explore details right there on the phone that are impossible to accomplish with other methods. Service reminders, maintenance plan details, promotional offers, rebates, and referrals are some of the topics for outbound calling.

2. Send Out Fall/Winter Maintenance and Service Reminder Emails.

Email campaigns can reach customers when it’s most convenient for them. The communications can include direct links to your scheduling calendar, website, or your office phones.

These campaigns can consist of a series of emails with several purposes. As with the outbound calling, the information in your emails can vary, depending on your HVAC company’s needs. Just remember to keep each communication short. Long emails or emails covering more than one topic at a time are ineffective and often unread.

Working with an automated multiplatform communication tool like CHIIRP can boost your success and relieve you of the time involved to manage these campaigns. If you’ve been considering a service like this, get in contact with our BxB team for more details.

3. Text Concise, Descriptive SMS Messages.

Texting is yet another powerhouse method for communicating to your HVAC customers. SMS messages reach customers immediately and make it straightforward for them to respond. 

Like the email, your message can focus on different needs—from fall service reminders and heater tune-up promotions to referral and rebate programs. You can create SMS campaigns, building one central message for strong results. 

Even more than the email strategy, text messages must be short. Include a link to contact your office or to a scheduling calendar. Automated communication tools can be invaluable for running these campaigns, especially if you’re interested in this method but your office isn’t equipped to run them.

4. Remember: Targeted Direct Mail Can Be Powerful.

In this digital age, it’s easy to overlook traditional marketing methods like direct mail. This is a mistake. 

At BxB, we have many HVAC clients who send out targeted flyers and postcards using heat-mapping technology with tremendous results. With fewer companies using this marketing strategy these days, your communication can definitely stand out in a stack of mail.

This marketing strategy can be combined with any of the other forms of customer communication suggested here. After sending the mail piece, you can follow up with a well-targeted email or SMS message.

5. Stay Current With Your Company Website and Social Media Posting.

Both your company’s HVAC website and your social media pages are strong messaging platforms.

Keep your website’s homepage up to date with a fall vibe. Your graphics and headlines can instantly put your site visitors in a fall mindset. Promoting furnace and heat pump service and maintenance is smart. The existing or potential customer is already searching for something on your website, so you have a ready audience. 

The same thing for your social media pages. You can immediately inform your followers, old and new, about service reminders, promotions, and the like. Be sure you keep the branding consistent and seasonal.

6. Create Consistent Monthly or Bimonthly Newsletters.

If your HVAC company hasn’t already sent out a newsletter, it might be a good time to start. Company newsletters are wonderful ways to keep in touch with your customers.

With the different platforms for sending digital newsletters these days, you don’t need to invest in the actual printed word anymore. You can email it to customers. Designing the newsletter with your company branding and voice communicates clearly who you are. With all the newsletter templates available, you can create something eye-catching without worry.

For best results, stay consistent with your time frame for when you send it. Whether it’s monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly, your HVAC customers will look forward to and watch for your issue.

7. Add Current Offers to Your Google Business Profile.

Utilize your Google Business Profile to communicate to customers. Posting promotions, service reminders, and other brand-building and lead-generating information can reach both existing and future customers.

Plan Your HVAC Customer Communication

Whether you implement all or only one of these marketing communication strategies, consistently communicating with your customers is key to good branding and lead generation. Contact our BxB team to discuss any of these marketing communication strategies in detail