Repeat customers are key to the success of any business, including your HVAC business. You invest in marketing to grab their attention, guide them through your sales funnel, and finally close the sale. Then what?
No matter how successful your marketing efforts are, there’s something that trumps customer acquisition: customer retention. According to Forrester, it costs 5 times more to acquire new customers than to retain existing customers, but most businesses fail to make the right kind of loyalty investment. And if that’s not convincing enough, a 5 percent increase in customer retention can boost your profitability by 25 percent.
Don’t let your initial investment of time, money, and resources go to waste. To make the most of your marketing efforts, you want to keep customers coming back to you again and again to get more service over the years. Between regular HVAC maintenance, repairs, and new equipment purchases, a strong base of repeat customers will help a steady stream of revenue to grow your business.Â
So, how do you convince your HVAC customers to hire you again? Here are some effective, immediate changes you can make to start converting single sales into repeat customers.
Onboarding might be an important component of your customer acquisition plan, but the importance of onboarding can’t be overstated when it comes to customer retention. According to 2020 customer onboarding statistics, an incredible 86 percent of customers say they’d stay loyal to a business that actively welcomes and educates them after the initial purchase.
Onboarding can make or break your customer retention strategy. A successful onboarding process is crucial for customer retention, as it will set the tone for your relationship moving forward. The right customer onboarding experience will lay the groundwork for a loyal customer, while a negative experience can push your customer into the hands of a competitor.
If you’re not empowering your customers with valuable information on your products and services from the time they click onto your website, it’s time to adjust your strategy. Fortunately, with platforms to measure customer data—from demographic information to behavioral trends—it’s easier than ever to create a great onboarding experience.
Remember that reducing your customer churn won’t happen by accident. The more guidance you’re able to give during the onboarding process, the better.
Chances are, your customers already know that they can save on preventive maintenance over reactive maintenance, but they need an extra nudge to actually schedule the appointment. Energy efficiency, extended equipment life, and reduced downtime can make your customers’ lives easier while bringing down their costs dramatically, but how can you show them that?
To encourage your customers to choose you for preventive maintenance, you’ll need to use data that demonstrates the real costs associated with a lack of regular HVAC maintenance. Shareable, digestible content, like infographics and videos, can help you really get your message across. Infographics can compare operating efficiency curves for HVAC equipment with and without preventive maintenance. Meanwhile, showing the costs of risks—like an AC leak—can help clients realize the importance of regular maintenance.
In addition, you’ll want to mix it up with different types of content for your customers. Your main goal is to keep customers coming back to your website, reading your emails, and checking out your social media pages for new posts, so you want to keep things interesting. For example, you might create a short video series with tips on energy use, the latest HVAC technology, or maintenance tips to lengthen the lifespan of HVAC equipment.
With informative, engaging blog posts, social media content, and videos, you’ll make sure your business stays at the top of customers’ minds. When it comes to customer retention, content marketing helps you build a strong relationship with your existing customers. At the same time, content showcases your expertise and reminds customers why they should choose you over the competition.
Every HVAC business owner knows that there’s no alternative to great service when it comes to customer retention—but building loyalty requires much more than great customer service. In today’s consumer landscape, the customer service, the quality of the product or service, and the overall experience can make all the difference in customer satisfaction.
In other words, if you’re not keeping your customers happy after closing a sale, there’s no way you’re going to win their loyalty and repeat business. From the initial phone call to the moment you walk out their door, customers expect a seamless experience with your company.Â
So, how can you offer a customer experience that delights your customers and exceeds their expectations? Here are some tips to get started.
Beyond repeat business, a seamless customer experience can make a dramatic impact on your bottom line. Studies show that repeat customers will buy more from your HVAC company over time. As they do, your operating costs to serve them will decline.
Along the way, they’ll refer their friends, family members, and coworkers to your HVAC company (and, if you ask, they might even leave a positive review). And they’ll pay a premium to continue doing business with you instead of switching to a competitor.
Today’s customers are less loyal than ever before. They’re ready to give up your business based on a single poor experience—or even just to experiment with the competition. On top of that, countless companies are incentivizing customers to move with discounts, promotions, and other deals. When there’s so much competition out there, how can you convince customers to stick with your business?
Enter loyalty programs. When you reward loyal customers, you’re taking a proactive step toward generating repeat business. Plus, loyalty programs are one of the best ways to ensure that your happy customers stick around.Â
The concept behind loyalty programs is simple: When you reward customer purchasing behaviors, you increase a customer’s desire to stay loyal to your company. Research shows that customers who participate in high-performing loyalty programs are 80 percent more likely to choose the brand over competitors and twice as likely to recommend the brand to their friends. Sounds like a win-win, right?
Of course, the specific terms of your loyalty program will depend on your business. You might offer free merchandise, discounts, or advance savings on new HVAC equipment. For example, after installing a new heater, you might offer a discount on the next maintenance tune-up. Many loyalty programs also offer rewards for referrals. Remember: Your loyalty program doesn’t need to be complex or extensive—it just needs to incentivize customers to keep working with your company.
Customer feedback is a win-win for customers and businesses. Think about it: Asking customers for feedback doesn’t just show them how much you value their opinion—it also helps you improve your overall customer experience and better serve your customer base. After all, you can only retain customers when you know what they want from your business.
So, how do you ask for customer feedback without sounding annoying? If you’re not sure where to start, something as simple as a “How are we doing?” follow-up email is a great starting point. This way, you’re providing an open-ended avenue for customers to share their thoughts on your brand, customer experience, and the quality of your products and services.Â
Of course, you can always attach a customer satisfaction questionnaire and direct satisfied customers to leave an online review. Your customer satisfaction survey should ask the following questions:
Believe it or not, 70 percent of customers will leave a review if they’re asked, but you want to make it quick and convenient for customers to provide feedback with simple questionnaires, CTAs with links to leave reviews, or business cards with scannable QR codes with online review forms. Consider using a review request and management tool like Max Feedback to make the process of sending feedback requests quick and simple.
Our clients have the best results when they send feedback requests relatively early (think: a few days after completing the job) to keep the relationship positive. To maximize survey engagement, use your loyalty program to reward customers for their participation with a discount on their next service.
Your customers aren’t mind-readers. Chances are, they have their hands full, so they’re not thinking about scheduling seasonal AC maintenance or replacing their air filter regularly. Without regular reminders, your customers probably aren’t going to schedule preventive maintenance appointments.
Instead of just assuming that customers read your latest update or marketing email, you need to make an effort to keep them in the loop. That’s where SMS marketing comes into play. By establishing a reliable form of communication with existing customers, you can make life easier with appointment reminders and ongoing promotions.
Text messages reach customers more effectively than any other form of communication. SMS marketing messages have a 98 percent open rate, with 60 percent of customers reading texts within 1 to 5 minutes of receiving them. If you’re not using SMS marketing to your advantage, what are you waiting for?
When it comes to increasing your routine and preventive maintenance business, if you are pressed for time, you can have all of your customers contacted at similar times with automated messaging, also called a drip campaign. This automated communication to existing customers helps you build up a maintenance business while you focus on other aspects of your business—you set it in motion, test it to see what works, and continuously make improvements. And if you have more time to further customize the messages? Well, that is even better.Â
“Customized communication often results in increased open rates and follow-up business, so it is a good idea to experiment and see where your efforts are best spent,” says John Antognoli, Senior Client Advisor at Company 119. “Just keep in mind that you don’t need a hard sales pitch; you want to come across as friendly and approachable.”
Good morning! It’s time for your biannual HVAC maintenance. We have openings on Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon. Would either of those times work for you?
Along with appointment reminders, you can also use SMS marketing to tell customers about discounts and promotions. These are great ways to incentivize repeat business, but they only work if your customers know about them. Instead of sending emails that might go unread or end up in a spam folder, you can send a mass text to your existing customers about your promotion—it’s that simple.
You’ve already done the hard part by winning customers over. Now, you’ll just need to shine and polish your customer retention strategy to make the most of your marketing efforts. When you take the time to build relationships with customers and follow-up regularly, you can ensure that they stick with you in the future.
No matter what your sales funnel looks like, any combination of these customer retention strategies is fair game. And if you have any questions while crafting your customer retention plan, our team is here to help at any step of the process.
