The Commodity Mindset

Let’s face it, no one is excited about calling you. Well, hopefully friends, family, and the occasional overzealous car warranty telemarketer are, but I’m talking about from a business point of view. Few people enjoy calling an HVAC or plumbing contractor.

Sure, there are some proud couples who finally pulled the trigger on home renovations and those who’ve been weighing options on system upgrades who finally make up their minds. That may spike the endorphins a little, but overall, homeowners don’t wake up in the morning looking forward to calling a contractor. And if they do end up making that call, it usually means something has gone wrong, and their day is already off to a rough start.

Except for those rare examples above and the saints of the human race who actually believe in preventive maintenance, the majority of your calls are driven by unexpected necessity. So you, on the other end of the phone, often experience the buying public at their worst: panicked, stressed, and unreasonably demanding. This isn’t a recipe for great first impressions on either end.

Unfortunately, life is full of calls we didn’t want to make, unexpected expenses, and things that break which suddenly change our plans in order to deal with them. No one gets excited about dentist appointments, oil changes, or trips to the DMV either. But all are necessary evils, and there are people called to serve in specific jobs to make our pain less painful… hopefully.

I don’t think I’m surprising anyone about the nature of our business here, and I doubt any of you are shocked to know that people would rather NEVER need to call us again. But it does shock me how many contractors tend to react so differently to this reality. Knowing that people largely don’t want to think about you until they’re forced to, don’t care about you until they desperately need you to run to their rescue, and hardly ever listen to expert advice until after something’s on fire can turn some contractors into jaded and cynical people. The first words on your lips could probably be, “I tried to tell you,” or “Oh, NOW you need me to drop everything and get there ASAP, huh?” on almost every home visit. I’m sure seeing how quickly people can go from “I couldn’t care less” to pleading with you to come be their hero can be hard to stomach sometimes. But where you go from there is what separates the true business heroes from those struggling to survive.

As long as people want toilets that flush correctly and would rather stay comfortable in their homes than sweat or freeze, there will always be demand. And far too many HVAC or plumbing contractors happily sit back and wait on their share of the desperate public to turn their attention their way. But is that all there is?

It’s surprising how many contractors either choose not to market or to market very little just thinking they’ll get theirs eventually. But the game is rapidly changing, and your default piece of pie will get smaller and smaller each year.

Here's the danger of commodity-thinking: You are not a commodity. That’s pretty cut and dry, isn’t it? It’d be nice if we were the only game in town, everyone had to buy their services from us, and we could just send a bill out once per month like the electric company. Pay or be cut off.  But even if you’ve been maintaining a certain level of success without really trying—even for years—the free market is about to catch up with you.

According to IBIS World Data, over the last 5 years there have been an average of 6,000 new HVAC companies opening each year nationwide. This is new competition and additional options for your finite customer base, and as a caveat, these new companies tend to make a lot of early marketing noise to steal market-share. Even for those of you blessed enough to live in rural areas where you’re really the only game in town, the data says you won’t be for long. A mindset change must happen with contracting business owners even if they hope to just keep getting what they’ve been getting. In today’s market, if you’ve adopted an “Awww, they’ll be back,” mentality and you’re simply waiting on customers to come to your door, you’re likely losing previous customers and missing prospective new business in droves.

So, what’s the answer to a public that is largely apathetic until they need help and NOW have more options to choose from than ever? Your marketing battle is now in the arena of public experience.

Remember the old saying, “People don’t remember what you do for them, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel”? Yes, they have an entire Google results list of options (that you may or may not even appear on) to come fix their leaky faucet. And, you might argue, most of the list can perform the job sufficiently. So, ask yourself, what WOULD make them choose me, then REMEMBER me, and choose me again?

You don’t want to feel like an afterthought or just a “necessary evil” to your customers, and they don’t want to feel like you only see them as a dollar sign. Good business is a mutually beneficial partnership where both parties should feel appreciated and served. Start to picture every phone call and every transaction, not as the end goal, but as the start of a relationship – a relationship that will take work and nurturing to continue.

Make it a goal in 2024 to work on building the relationships you have with your existing customer base and the potential homes in your service area. Let the other companies be the cold, faceless, options who all look alike. Show your area a little love, and you’ll be surprised how much they give it back.

Don’t know where to start? Hudson,Ink has a simple, automated customer retention system that will make every customer of yours feel like a part of the family. Click here for a free information kit and pricing.