No One Wants to Buy Your Stupid Air Conditioner

Have you ever really considered this thought? No one woke up this morning HOPING they would have to call you. No one wants to call you at all. No one considers it a good day when they make an unexpected emergency call, or especially when the time comes where no more Band-Aids can be applied, and they have to fork over several thousand dollars for a new A/C system or water heater.

Okay, so your air conditioner is not stupid, and it almost seems blasphemous to insult the magical machine keeping me comfortable while the heat index is 103 just outside the wall beside me. But, as with many luxuries, we never think about and appreciate the things that are working for us behind the scenes… until they quit working behind the scenes.

Jumping in the car and driving to work starts a normal day but ending up on the side of the road calling roadside service starts a BAD day. I love my car when it runs, but if it breaks down, suddenly it’s the stupid thing that inconvenienced me horribly. Never mind my choices to ignore scheduled service and flashing lights on my dash are what got me into this position, it’s the cars fault, it’s stupid and I’m mad.

Sound like anyone you’ve encountered?

Cars, A/Cs and water heaters are stupid when they break down, pipes are stupid when they burst and wires are stupid when they cause fires. It’s never the homeowner’s fault they’re having to make that unfortunate call, right? But here we are… now I’m ticked, and you’ve got to deal with me.

I think you get my point, and I’m only halfway joking. When the phone rings, contractors want to picture themselves flying off to rescue someone in distress, red cape and all. But, in reality, you encounter a homeowner who is some combination of these things: furious, worried, stressed, hot, cold, wet and, at the very least, inconvenienced. As trained as you are, you aren’t Doctor Phil and you can’t fix all the emotions. Your job at this point is to salvage what you can and try to make their day slightly less crappy. So, what now?

During a recent contractor coaching call, I was asked a question. “How do I get my customers to call me BEFORE their unit goes out? All of our replacement calls are after the unit is gone, and there’s the homeowner and family sitting in the heat until we can get there and get the job done.” I told him, quite simply, “If you can figure out how to convince the average consumer to be PRO-active instead of RE-active, you just solved marketing.” Why is this so hard? You’re fighting against human nature. We won’t fix it until we absolutely have to, why do today what you can put off until tomorrow and all that jazz.

A friend of mine has a saying, “Your lack of preparation is not my emergency.” I love that little line, and I’ll probably use it daily with my kids, but it’s hard to get by with in an industry where you’re PAID to handle other’s emergencies, whether their lack of preparation is the root cause or not. There’s just no way around it…  You offer a service, and most people don’t really want you or appreciate you until they need you to come fix a mess. You have quality products for sale that few people will even consider buying unless they absolutely have to. Tough gig, right? Absolutely.

I realize I’ve painted a pretty bleak picture, but before you drop your head and walk toward the corner, listen to this statement. Good marketing can help. And I emphasize, HELP… not solve completely. But if you knew you could convert even a few more people over to maintenance agreements and find more replacement needs during service calls convincing them to go ahead and make the upgrade, you’d want this magic formula, right?

The key is 100% in the messaging you are putting out there.

Gone are the days where simply sending out discount coupons drummed up a lot of business (if those days ever existed in the first place). People are now full-on skeptical of anyone trying to sell them anything, and they require some convincing. So, what is your marketing saying? Is it whispering, “Hey, we’re here if you need us. We’ll be over there quietly waiting…” just like the other million options listed in Google search, or is your marketing saying, “YOU NEED US. You need us right now, and here’s why…”?

There are two ways you can get more proactive instead of reactive buying out of your base:

First of all, your marketing must be educational. No, most homeowners don’t know what a TXV is or what it does. Nor do they care. What I’m not recommending here is putting a bunch of random equipment photos on your marketing pieces and talking about SEER ratings. That’s Greek and worthless jargon to most. What they do care about are things that directly affect them, like ways getting healthier indoor air might cut down on sick days, getting your plumbing inspected could prevent the loss of valuable memories in a flood or getting whole home surge protection might keep the new TV from getting fried and lower their insurance rates. Paint a picture of the loss BEFORE the loss. Don’t just sit back and hope, make sure your prospects feel the risk they’re running by not calling you to do something before the consequences strike.

Second: Repeat your repetition. The average American has an attention span of 18 seconds. That means the awesome thought your prospect had of calling you when the hot water turned cold during their shower is gone by the time they’re finished toweling off. We move on from one thought to the next, one item on the to-do list to another so quickly that very rarely do things ever really get accomplished. Especially if they can be dismissed as, NOT A PRIORITY.

Fortunately, there’s one thing science has proven about the human mind a good marketer can take advantage of. Things that are repeated greatly increase the chance of being remembered, or at the very least, you have multiple chances of getting a person to call you during that 18 seconds of magic when it’s on their mind. Why? Because you keep reminding them it needs to be done. Men, ask yourself, how does your wife get you to finally do things around the house? If she just asks once and it’s done, I don’t like you. You’re making all the rest of us look bad. Chances are she has to repeat herself, getting a touch louder each time before you take action, right? Your customers are regular, busy people too and when they hear from you only once or twice during the year, or you’re taking the, “We’re on the Google when you need us” approach, it’s just not cutting it.

Soon the seasons will be changing and the emergency calls that have been driving much of your business (HVAC especially) will get fewer and fewer until winter. Now is a crucial time to make sure you’re staying in front of your prospects consistently with the right message.

Please don’t wait to call me in October when the phones have gone silent. Then your lack of preparation becomes my emergency… and you’ll have to sit in the heat while we try to fix it.

Let’s get the ball rolling now - Hudson,Ink has some incredibly easy, automated programs to stay in front of your customers, informing them of the huge benefits of doing regular business with you. Click here to request one of our free customer retention kits, or call (800) 489-9099 to arrange a time to speak with a marketing coach and develop a personalized plan.