How to Scale Your HVAC Business

Despite last year’s economic uncertainty, HVAC contractors in the U.S. are reporting a boom in sales of high-end air conditioning systems and a corresponding increase in new employees to take advantage of all the new business opportunities.

But are you equipped to handle a rush of new business—hire and manage more employees?

Knowing when and how to scale your HVAC business can be a challenge. Before expanding, it’s important to invest in resources and infrastructure to support your HVAC business growth. 

Whether your business has been around for one or 11 years, it’s crucial that you make sure you remain current with today’s technological solutions to support stellar growth for your HVAC business.

Increase Customer Focus with HVAC online software solutions

Many service contractors are switching to technological solutions to make their everyday operations more efficient and easier. From the way you keep track of new and old customers to scheduling and dispatching the right technicians for the right job to how you accept payments are all important factors of managing and scaling a successful HVAC business.

To help make these processes as painless as possible, companies worldwide are taking advantage of HVAC service software solutions and leveraging cutting-edge tools to make their jobs easier.

For example, you can significantly benefit from customer relationship management features (CRM) that keep track of business new and old and reduce the risk of losing important customer information and documents. 

It’s always helpful to maintain a healthy relationship with your customers and how your technicians can capture customer information through application and mobile technology. 

To name a few, here are some customer relationship management (CRM) benefits for HVAC service contractors: 

• Improved efficiency and time-saving factors to ensure leads are efficiently managed
• A single, centralized dashboard to keep all your operational details in one place
• Increased customer satisfaction by having all the information you have about your customers
• Seamless communication to your customers
• Better insights from data

Deliver a Better Customer Experience with Technology 

Achieving customer satisfaction is a top priority. This includes getting to know your ideal customers’ needs, getting in front of them, serving them, and making certain they’re satisfied with the experiences they have with you. 

According to SurveyMonkey, 72% of Americans were far more likely to interact with companies that are known for making top-notch customer service a priority. See more HVAC Industry Trends.

Simply put, whether you’re a three-person shop or running a 10-person shop, field service management (FSM) software has become an essential part of successfully serving and earning more customers. 

FSM software can help improve customer experience in the following ways:

• Creating trust, transparency, and listening to customers by giving customers access to real-time visibility, like who their technician will be and providing progress updates.
• Using real-time communication with customers and technicians, including SMS notifications, text widgets, and on-the-way alerts for customers.
• Offering safe, contactless document signing, which accelerates agreements, eliminates the back and forth on manual tasks, and increases convenience and safety for your customers and teams.
• Making invoicing and payments easier, which makes your customer’s life easier by giving them more convenient ways to pay. (Important note: Make sure your FSM software can interface with your accounting software, like QuickBooks.)

Leverage Online Marketing Ideas to Grow Your HVAC Business

Running an HVAC business is no easy task, and preparing to expand it is an even bigger challenge. But the good news is that HVAC is one of the best types of business that you can have. 

Whether it’s commercial or residential, HVAC businesses tend to fare well despite economic uncertainty—especially if they have a strong social media presence and use HVAC marketing strategies to dominate their competition. To achieve this, you should:

Invest in Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy

HVAC SEO is the process of optimizing your website and other digital marketing platforms for search engines like Google. Fundamental keywords like “near me” or “close by” type searches have increased 900% over two years. 

Simply put, HVAC SEO services help your HVAC business grow by:

• Improving keyword rankings on Google
• Driving more organic traffic to your website
• Filling the top of your sales funnel with high-quality leads from homeowners in your service area 
• Optimizing a recruiting page with a job description for HVAC Service Technicians

Additionally, 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else.

Service businesses such as HVAC, electrical, and plumbing service companies are competitive, with many businesses serving the same geographical areas. Given the competitive nature of these industries, incorporating HVAC SEO into your marketing strategies is essential in getting ahead of your competition and growing your HVAC business.

Run Google Ads for HVAC advertising 

What do homeowners do when an air conditioner breaks down? They turn to Google to find a local HVAC company to fix it. 

HVAC service contractors can benefit from Google Ads in the following ways:

• Cost efficiency. Not spending money unless your ads are actually clicked
• Targeted markets. Target service areas that are based on location and other demographics
• Better insights from data. Using analytics produces valuable insights and data so you know what’s working and what isn’t

Moreover, pay-per-click advertising with Google ads is a great way to position your HVAC business at the top of Google search results. This targeted marketing approach is a solid, cost-effective marketing strategy to reach potential customers and boost overall sales. 

Get More Online Customer Reviews 

Almost as good as a trusted referral is word-of-mouth marketing. Today, that word is online.

That’s why it’s crucial to have a customer feedback strategy, so you have the opportunity to ask for a review. It’s always best to ask for a review right after your customer tells you how pleased they are.

Don’t be shy. Most customers love telling other people about great service.