HVACR Business: Tips to Improve Your Selling Process

Service businesses, even large ones, often neglect building a deliberate selling process. Instead, you rely on waiting for the phone to ring, as it inevitably does during the busy season. And then you close as many as you can get to. That may be good enough to keep you going; in fact many businesses can operate for decades like this.

However, implementing an organized and efficient selling process can bring many benefits to your business and help you grow:

• Prevent leads and opportunities from falling through the cracks
• Get visibility into what’s happening with every sales prospect
• Help sales staff get more done in less time
• Monitor the effectiveness of each sales person
• Help prospects view your salespeople as more competent and trustworthy
• See where in the process you’re losing prospects, and make improvements that help you close more sales

Here are some tips to help you create a selling process that works for your business. 

Document the stages of your selling process

Creating an organized selling process requires documenting what you’re doing. There are many excellent tools designed to make it easy to do this. If your budget allows, investing in a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is the way to go. If not, you can use spreadsheets.

So, what exactly ARE you doing? Think through the steps you go through in selling a new system or service contract to a customer. Chances are, it’s something like this:

• New lead
• Initial contact
• Consultation/system inspection
• Create & send quote
• Follow up
• Quote accepted or declined
• Project in progress
• Project complete

You might have more steps than this, depending on what you want to track. The important thing is to have a standard set of steps that you apply to every sales opportunity, and document the status of every lead that comes in. When each step is completed, that should be entered into your CRM or tracking spreadsheet, so you can always see the status of every lead.

Also, it’s very important to attach a target date for the completion of each step, and also define what needs to happen if the date passes and the step is not completed. For example, if a quote has not been sent by the due date, who should follow up with the responsible party? Document every step of your process, including roles and responsibilities, and make sure that everyone on your team understands them.

Learn more: HVAC Sales: The Benefits of a CRM to Grow Your Business

Know your target customers

Part of defining your selling process should include identifying your target customer. In most cases, it’s a mistake to try to be everything to everyone. Doing that can end up reducing the quality of your services and reducing your profits.

Instead, identify your ideal customer: those that bring you business you excel at, want most, and those that bring in the most revenue and profits.

Next, learn everything you can about what’s important to those customers and how they make decisions. Armed with that information, you can prioritize these types of customers and design your selling process to meet their needs.

Qualify leads

When new leads come in — from phone calls, emails, website form submissions, or other marketing and sales activity — the first thing to do is qualify that lead. Doing so gives you a way to prioritize leads and put your best efforts into the ones that are most likely to bring you the business you want. 

• Is the prospect in your target market? If you prefer to do commercial work, then residential leads should be prioritized accordingly. 
• Is the prospect ready to buy soon? Are they looking for a replacement system right now, or a new service contract to take effect in a few months? Prioritize accordingly.
• How valuable is the potential business? Consider prioritizing a larger sale that has the potential to become a valuable, long-term customer over a smaller, one-time job.

Develop a set of lead quality scores and apply them to each new lead that comes in.

One caveat: At times you’ll get leads that are a poor fit for your business and lead scoring makes it easy to identify them. Don’t leave those people hanging. That will only hurt your reputation. Be honest and let them contact someone else.

Gather information to drive your selling process

You have the best chance of closing the sale when you truly understand what your customer wants and needs, and can tailor your offer accordingly.

In your initial contact with the customer, ask questions to learn as much as possible. When a business owner calls you about replacing her air conditioning system, she could be motivated by any of the following (in addition to having a working system, of course):

• Poor temperature & humidity control that drives away customers
• Having a quieter system that doesn’t interrupt business activity
• Reducing energy costs
• Improving air quality

Also, it’s smart to do a load calculation and inspection of the space and existing equipment before making your recommendation. Doing that can give you an advantage over the competition. You’re showing the customer that you are committed to providing the best solution for her needs instead of a “canned” offering.

Make a customer-centric pitch

Your selling process should include policies for how to talk to customers, such as:

• Provide the level of information that the customer wants. Don’t discuss details that the customer doesn’t care about.
• Avoid jargon and use language the customer understands.
• Set expectations about the timeframe. When will you get back to them with a quote? When can the work get started?
• Ask about barriers that may prevent the customer from buying. 
• Differentiate your offer from those of your competitors, using what you know about your customer’s priorities. That might mean highlighting your excellent customer service, for example.
• Offer financial incentives if you can, such as financing options, rebates, limited time offers, and payment options.

Quote and close the sale

You’ll close more sales when you establish guidelines in your selling process for quotes and following up. Here are some recommendations:

• Quick turnaround is key: track when you promised the quote and make sure you meet that deadline.
• Anticipate common questions and answer them right in the quote you provide.
• Whenever possible, meet with the customer (even if it’s over the phone) to review the quote and ask for the sale.
• Define a period of time for follow up after providing a quote.
• Make it easy for the customer to say yes and get started. 

More business advice for HVACR service companies

You can find more helpful business advice and information on our blog. Check it out.

HVACR Career Connect NY was created to promote the exceptional quality-of-life benefits of a career in HVAC and Refrigeration service, and also to provide a clear path for getting started in the profession. In doing so, we serve as a resource for employers in the New York City metro area to find and hire smart and capable new technicians. We also serve as an educational resource to support business growth and to help service technicians succeed in their chosen profession.