{"id":843,"date":"2020-04-10T20:47:57","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T20:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/?p=843"},"modified":"2020-04-13T22:44:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T22:44:24","slug":"hvac-marketing-ethics-and-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/hvac-marketing-ethics-and-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"HVAC Marketing Ethics and COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

HVAC Marketing Ethics and COVID-19<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t Sell.\u00a0 Educate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cShould I advertise my company during the pandemic?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a health crisis, not a marketing opportunity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIs it ethical to promote IAQ equipment to homeowners during the coronavirus crisis?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cUsing homeowner\u2019s fears to sell them isn\u2019t right!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

These are just some of the questions and comments we are seeing HVAC contractors posting on social media.\u00a0 All are valid points and concerns.<\/p>\n

On the one hand we see some contractors taking the stance that promoting IAQ right now is unethical.\u00a0 Some are even blasting their competition for taking advantage of customers by \u201cpreying on their fears\u201d or \u201cselling them false hope\u201d in the form of IAQ equipment that hasn\u2019t been tested against COVID-19 yet.<\/p>\n

(To be fair, there are some bad actors out there claiming to “have the cure” for coronavirus.\u00a0 It only takes a few of these snake oil salesmen to damage the credibility of their HVAC brothers and sisters.)<\/p>\n

On the other hand, we have contractors who say that IAQ sales are the only thing keeping their business afloat right now, and customers are asking for these products, so what is the harm in promoting them?<\/p>\n

Your Peeps Are At Home<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s early April 2020, and most parts of the country now have shelter-in-place mandates.\u00a0 People are either furloughed, out of work, or working from home.\u00a0 But the common denominator is that they\u2019re all AT HOME.\u00a0 And do you know what they\u2019re doing?\u00a0 (I mean when they\u2019re not trying to home school their kids, doing spring cleaning or making TikTok videos.)\u00a0 They\u2019re on their laptops, tablets, and smartphones.\u00a0 They\u2019ve got time on their hands, they\u2019re stuck at home and they\u2019re worried about their health and their family.\u00a0 Of course they\u2019re more interested in IAQ products now.<\/p>\n

It’s Still Early<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since it\u2019s relatively early in the pandemic, IAQ manufacturers have not tested their products on this insidious strain of virus yet.\u00a0 But things do look promising.\u00a0 Ron Saunders, Director and Co-Owner of FreshAire UV reports that \u201cWhile <\/em>our systems have not been specifically tested against coronavirus, they have been tested and proven effective against similar pathogens\u2013 some that require an even greater UV dosage for inactivation than coronavirus.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

COVID-19 Sucks<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an ethical contractor, you should always sell the best solution for the homeowner\u2019s needs, wants, health and safety.\u00a0 Pandemic or not.\u00a0 Coronavirus sucks.\u00a0 Really sucks.\u00a0 It\u2019s daunting on so many levels. \u00a0People want information.\u00a0 They want to feel safe.\u00a0 They want to feel like they are doing everything in their power to keep their loved ones as healthy as possible.<\/p>\n

You have information and products that may provide them some peace of mind.<\/p>\n

Educate.\u00a0 Educate.\u00a0 Educate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right now, the most ethical thing you can do is to educate.\u00a0 Instead of a hard sales push, you should be educating homeowners on the benefits of UV lights and air purifiers.\u00a0 Your approach here is important:\u00a0 you should be completely transparent with the information available to date.\u00a0 You should not make false claims.\u00a0 You should not promise unproven benefits.\u00a0 Just educate with the facts and provide quality equipment that you personally believe in and stand behind.<\/p>\n

This is an opportunity to position yourself as a trusted resource for information in your community.\u00a0 The benefits to being viewed as such will long outlast this damn virus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how about those questions and concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould I advertise my company during a pandemic?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s wise to do so. Many contractors have halted their marketing, so the field isn\u2019t as crowded, and your message will be less diluted.\u00a0 Keep your name top of mind, so that customers remember you when this is over.\u00a0 Keep communicating.\u00a0 Stay on top of your social media \u2013 this is a low-cost way to stay visible and deliver important safety information to customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a health crisis, not a marketing opportunity.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure, that\u2019s true.\u00a0 And that\u2019s easy to say for large, profitable dealerships with cash on hand.\u00a0 But smaller contractors may not survive this crisis unless they stay open and keep selling.\u00a0 Just remember that your approach matters more now than ever.\u00a0 Instead of a hard sell, use this time as an opportunity to create awareness of how IAQ products can improve health.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it ethical to promote IAQ equipment to homeowners during the coronavirus crisis?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

As long as you are educating customers, not making false claims or selling unproven solutions, in my opinion, it\u2019s perfectly ethical to market IAQ products now.\u00a0 Standby generators become very popular around hurricane season, and you feel good about selling them because they help keep homeowners safe and comfortable.\u00a0 This is no different.<\/p>\n

Using homeowner\u2019s fears to sell them isn\u2019t right!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely. So instead of using scare tactics, educate them.\u00a0 Installing a system that will supply cleaner air overall, and gives the homeowner some peace of mind is something you can feel good about.\u00a0 Ask yourself this: would I feel safer with this equipment installed in my own home?\u00a0 Of course you would.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have questions or need help with your IAQ marketing?\u00a0 Give us a call at 315-685-9500.\u00a0 Or email:\u00a0 info@ebandlmarketing.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HVAC Marketing Ethics and COVID-19 Don\u2019t Sell.\u00a0 Educate. \u201cShould I advertise my company during the pandemic?\u201d \u201cThis is a health crisis, not a marketing opportunity.\u201d \u201cIs it ethical to promote IAQ equipment to homeowners during the coronavirus crisis?\u201d \u201cUsing homeowner\u2019s fears to sell them isn\u2019t right!\u201d These are just some of the questions and comments we are seeing HVAC contractors posting on social media.\u00a0 All are valid points and concerns. On the one hand we see some contractors taking the stance that promoting IAQ right now is unethical.\u00a0 Some are even blasting their competition for taking advantage of customers by \u201cpreying on their fears\u201d or \u201cselling them false hope\u201d in the form of IAQ equipment that hasn\u2019t been tested against COVID-19 yet. (To be fair, there are some bad actors out there claiming to “have the cure” for coronavirus.\u00a0 It only takes a few of these snake oil salesmen to damage the credibility of their HVAC brothers and sisters.) On the other hand, we have contractors who say that IAQ sales are the only thing keeping their business afloat right now, and customers are asking for these products, so what is the harm in promoting them? Your Peeps Are At…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[85,11,61,97,47],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860,"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843\/revisions\/860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebandlmarketing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}