Repeatable mis-steps that produce predictable bad results

Repeatable mis-steps that produce predictable bad results

Repeatable Mis-steps that Produce Predictable Bad Results

Guest Blogger: John Heilbrunn, President, FlashQuote Enterprises, LLC

Business experts have forever proclaimed how important “process” is for a truly strong and sustainable business model. A “process” in simple terms is a series of repeatable steps that will produce predictable results. The absence of process is often replaced by chaos. In the contracting trade, chaos almost always turns into massive amounts of RED ink.

Here are 3 common missteps that often derail profitability from even the best-designed sales processes:

Delayed implementation of price increases into quoted sales prices. The HVAC industry is no stranger to price increases from every corner, all the time.

… Read On!

What are Good Tracking Results?

Google analytics and call tracking results

What are Good Tracking Results?

We are often asked questions about what constitutes a good tracking result. Contractors want to know how many people should be coming to their website every month, or how many people should be calling or clicking through to their website from an email or a postcard. My answer is always the same: More than last time. (Or last month, or last year.)

Use services like Google Analytics and call tracking phone numbers to establish a baseline for all your marketing efforts –– and then continually work to improve those results. Yes, of course there are average industry results.… Read On!

HVAC Marketing’s Low Hanging Fruit

HVAC Marketing’s Low Hanging Fruit

Existing Customers are the LHF!

Existing customers are the low hanging fruit, folks. They’re the easiest people to market to, they’re the cheapest people to market to and you’ll receive the best return from marketing to them.

Roughly 80% of your business will come from existing customers. You’ll spend the majority of your marketing dollars trying to capture that other 20%.

So why do we overlook existing customers? Often, one of our HVAC marketing specialists will sit down to do a marketing consultation with a 2nd or 3^rd generation contractor and learn that they have 20,000 or 30,000 customers in their database – and they’ve never reached out to these customers.… Read On!

Does your HVAC website need an SSL Certificate for security?

Yes!

Think about walking up to your favorite coffee shop and seeing a large sign on the door that says, “MAY OR MAY NOT BE SAFE TO ENTER.” Would you chance walking through that door? Or just go to another coffee shop?

What is an SSL Certificate?

SSL stands for “Secure Sockets Layer.” It’s a small file that when placed on a website’s server, authenticates the identity of the website and encrypts information that users send to that server. Encryption scrambles the user’s information making it impossible to read without a proper decryption key.

… Read On!

Press Release: EB&L Ed

Press Release: EB&L Ed

PRESS RELEASE: EB&L Educates

EB&L Marketing, a full-service HVAC marketing firm, is pleased to announce the launch of their new training division, EB&L Educates. “EB&L Ed” provides speakers, workshops and classes on HVAC contractor marketing.

“Residential contractors – with their limited time and marketing training – need help to effectively promote their companies. The courses offered by EB&L Ed teach contractors the fundamentals of marketing – breaking it down into 7 easy steps,” says Elaina Burdick, President of EB&L.

Since 2001, EB&L Marketing has been working with local contractors to effectively market their businesses, generate leads and grow their bottom line by building their brand and avoiding common marketing missteps. … Read On!

What’s Your Cost Per Lead

What’s Your Cost Per Lead

Cost Per Lead

Have you figured out your cost per lead for 2017? While you are looking over your year-end numbers and closing your 2017 books it’s the perfect time to calculate your cost per lead. Cost per lead is important to know because it helps you figure out how to increase your sales.

Divide the total advertising dollars you spent on each marketing tool (postcards or newspaper ads or online marketing, etc.) by the number of leads that came in from that marketing tool. (Note: Call tracking phone numbers help you to track this accurately!)

The result is your cost per lead.… Read On!

Branding

Branding

What is a brand anyway?
Your brand is your logo, but it’s so much more than your logo.
It’s the look, the feel, the colors, the fonts, the theme and the marketing message. All of this together makes up your brand. Your brand separates you from the pack. It’s what your customers recognize. It’s how they learn to trust you and ultimately why they’ll spend money with you. You should develop a solid brand for your company before you do anything else! It’s the most important, foundational element of your company marketing.

But here’s what you shouldn’t do: don’t use the same tired, old HVAC themes.… Read On!

Marketing Whack-A-Mole

Marketing Whack-A-Mole

Did you find yourself rushing to use up marketing co-op dollars this past December? (Be honest, there’s no judgment here!) Did you spend those dollars on things like hats and T-shirts for your staff instead of spending them on marketing initiatives that would have brought you leads in the new year? Or worse, did you lose those dollars because you got busy and didn’t have time to get ‘er done?

We see a lot of “reactive marketing” in this industry. Meaning, we see contractors jumping at marketing “opportunities” that present themselves, or special deals that the radio rep stops by to sell them.… Read On!

HVAC Marketing 101: Use Your Head, Not Your Knee

HVAC Marketing 101: Use Your Head, Not Your Knee

HVAC Marketing 101:Use Your Head, Not Your Knee

HVAC marketing works best when it’s proactive, strategic and repetitive.

Are you a “reactive marketer?” Let me ask you a few questions to find out…

Are you operating without an annual marketing plan?
Ever place an ad in the local paper because your competitor did?
Purchased a radio advertising campaign or a billboard because the rep had a super great deal that she could only offer you today?
Have you ever rushed to use up co-op funds before year end?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you, my friend, are doing reactive, knee-jerk marketing.… Read On!