Optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) listing is crucial for a service-based company to maximize local search visibility, engage potential clients, and drive conversions.
There is no better way to get you piece of your local market with this low-hanging fruit approach.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get the most out of your GMB listing:
Claim & Verify Your Listing
If you haven’t already, claim your business on Google My Business and verify ownership. This process may involve receiving a postcard at your business location with a verification code. This is easy to do and has to be completed in order to get your business listed on google.
Complete Every Section
Business Name: Ensure your business name is consistent across all online listings.
Category: Select the most relevant category for your service. You can choose multiple categories if applicable.
Address: Input your exact address. If you serve customers at their location (like a plumber or electrician), make sure to set your business as a “Service Area Business” and define your service areas.
Hours: Update your operating hours. Include special hours for holidays or events.
Phone Number: Provide a local phone number for better local ranking.
Website: Link to your official website.
Add High-Quality Photos
Showcase your work, team, and office/premises. Regularly update photos to keep the listing fresh. Google has reported that businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions and 35% more click-throughs to websites.
Optimize the Business Description
Describe your services clearly and concisely, emphasizing what sets your business apart. Utilize relevant keywords without stuffing. Once you finish describing your services, read it out loud to make sure it flows elegantly and doesn’t sound like you are cramming a bunch of top ranking keywords together in incoherent sentences.
Encourage Reviews
Ask satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your GMB listing.
Respond to all reviews, both positive and negative. This shows prospective customers that you value feedback and are engaged with your clientele.
This is an easy way to out earn your competitors and capture market share.
Answer Questions
The Q&A section allows users to ask and answer questions about your business. Regularly monitor this section and answer queries to ensure accurate information is provided.
Use Google Posts
Share updates, promotions, events, or news about your business. Google Posts appear on your GMB listing and can help engage potential customers.
Add Services & Products
List out all the services and products you offer, with descriptions and prices if possible.
Utilize Messaging (if available)
Google allows some businesses to communicate with customers directly through the GMB listing. This can be an effective way to answer queries or provide quick service.
Analyze & Act on Insights
Google provides insights on how customers found your listing, what actions they took, and where they came from. Regularly review these insights to adjust your GMB strategy and improve visibility.
Utilizing these 10 different actions will be sure to put you in the top 10 service companies in your location and specific industry.
It’s hard to get cheap leads for HVAC. We all know that. A typical HVAC lead cost has gone bonkers. It’s gotten harder and harder to do HVAC lead generation.
But It’s also no secret that the HVAC industry is booming. In fact, according to a recent study by IBISWorld, The market size of the Heating & Air-Conditioning Contractors industry in the US has grown 3.6% per year on average between 2017 and 2022.
That’s great news for HVAC companies, but it also means that competition is heating up and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get HVAC sales leads at a good price.
HVAC companies need new, creative ways of generating leads that cost less and yield better results.
In this article, we’ll explore 15 different ways that HVAC businesses can do lead generation in the coming years.
Some of these methods are traditional, while others are more innovative; but all of them have been proven to be effective in generating new business opportunities.
1. Have a strong online presence.
If you want your HVAC business to thrive in 2022, you need to have a strong online presence on search engines like google.
This means having a website that’s well-designed and easy to navigate, as well as a strong social media presence. In addition, you must have s strong search engine optimization (SEO). That is a non-negotiable.
There are other search engines like duck-duck-go, Mozilla, and firefox, but the most important at this time is going to be google.
Make sure your website is up-to-date with the latest HVAC industry news and trends, and post regularly on your social media channels.
This will help you reach potential customers who are interested in HVAC contractors. Remember everyone who comes to your site could be a potential HVAC lead for you.
You can also connect with local businesses and organizations to promote your services. Get involved in the community by sponsoring events or donating services/products.
This will help you build relationships with customers and generate exclusive HVAC leads.
2. Use social media For Lead Generation.
There’s no doubt that social media is one of the most effective ways to reach potential customers.
HVAC contractors can use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to connect with customers and promote their services.
Facebook in particular can be extra effective for being an HVAC lead generator.
Make sure you post regularly on your social media channels and use relevant hashtags to reach a wider audience. You can also run social media ads to target specific demographics.
Make sure your website and social media profiles are up-to-date and accurately reflect your business. This will help you attract online leads from social media.
3. Connect with local businesses and organizations
Another great lead generation avenue for your company is to connect with local businesses and organizations.
Get involved in the community by sponsoring events or donating services/products. This will help you build relationships with customers and get HVAC leads.
This can generate more leads for both residential and commercial HVAC leads.
You can also connect with local businesses and organizations on social media. Post regularly on your social media channels and use relevant hashtags to reach a wider audience.
You can also run social media ads to target specific demographics for an HVAC lead.
Make sure your website and social media profiles are up-to-date and accurately reflect your business. This will help you attract more online leads from social media.
4. Do your Marketing Research.
The quickest way to get an HVAC lead is going to be through lead generation online through paid ads.
Try and stay away from HVAC lead generation companies to do your marketing and lead generation for you. This is true for both residential and commercial HVAC leads.
Once learned, HVAC lead generation is one of the most valuable things for an owner to run or manage. Generating quality leads is the difference between a company struggling and a thriving local business.
Using a service life AHrefs or Ubersuggest to figure out what people are searching for online is invaluable.
Once you find what keywords your customers are searching for through these keyword search services you can use them for your HVAC advertising.
Google and Facebook are still our #1 choice for digital marketing for your HVAC website. An HVAC company’s marketing team or owner must focus on local SEO and focus on the target audience.
You don’t want to be forfeiting valuable leads using digital marketing in a larger search area when you can first target a service area that is local to you.
New customers can be right around the corner!
5. Sponsor events or donate services/products
Sponsoring events or donating services/products are great ways to get involved in the community and start HVAC lead generation for your business.
By sponsoring events, you can reach customers who are interested in HVAC. You can also donate services/products to local businesses and organizations to help them promote their services.
This will help you build relationships with customers and essential buy HVAC leads for your HVAC services.
6. Participate in tradeshows and industry events
HVAC businesses can also participate in tradeshows and industry events to build relationships with customers and lead generation.
By participating in these events you get the chance to talk one-on-one with customers who are interested in working with an HVAC company.
You can also connect with other HVAC business owners at these events so that you can form strategic partnerships.
This will help you connect with more clients down the road and further the lead generation of your HVAC company.
7. Provide content marketing that’s helpful and informative
One of the best ways to generate exclusive HVAC leads for your business is to provide content marketing that’s helpful and informative.
By providing useful content, you can attract customers to your company. This will generate quality leads.
You can also use content marketing to connect with other HVAC business owners. This will help you form partnerships or create a Hire Me page on your website. By connecting with other businesses, you can create leads for your company.
Make sure your content is well-written and accurate. This will help you attract exclusive leads for HVAC and convert them into customers.
8. Create a lead magnet or freebie to attract leads
One of the best ways to generate quality leads for your business is to create an HVAC lead magnet or freebie.
In this particular case, a lead magnet is a piece of content that attracts HVAC leads and encourages them to subscribe to your email list.
You can create HVAC leads using a lead magnet such as creating an ebook, whitepaper, or checklist. You can also offer a free trial of your HVAC service. This will help you attract more HVAC leads and convert them into customers.
9. Lead Generation through paid advertising
Generating HVAC leads through paid advertising is a great way to reach customers who are interested in HVAC contractors.
You can use a variety of paid advertising platforms to reach these customers, including Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads.
Make sure you target your ads to reach the right demographics. This will help you get more HVAC leads and convert them into customers.
10. Use telemarketing to contact potential customers
Telemarketing is a great way to generate HVAC leads for your air conditioning and heating services. You can use telemarketing to contact potential customers who are interested in an HVAC service.
By contacting customers through telemarketing, you can get exclusive leads and convert them into customers.
Make sure you target your telemarketing efforts to reach the right demographics. This will help you get leads and convert them into customers.
11. Reach out to past clients for referrals
One of the best ways for lead generation for your business is to reach out to past clients for referrals. By reaching out to past clients, you can connect with future customers who are interested in an HVAC service.
Make sure you reach out to past clients who are happy with your HVAC service. This will help you generate leads and convert them into customers.
12. Develop partnerships with other HVAC businesses
Developing partnerships with other HVAC businesses is a great way to generate HVAC leads for your business.
By partnering with other businesses, you can connect with customers who are interested in an HVAC service. You can also exchange leads with other businesses to generate leads for your business.
Make sure you partner with businesses that offer complementary services. This will help you generate leads and convert them into customers.
13. Attend HVAC training courses and webinars
Attending HVAC training courses and webinars is a great way to generate HVAC leads for your business. By attending these courses and webinars, you can learn about the latest HVAC trends and technologies.
You can use HVAC training courses and webinars to connect with other HVAC businesses.
By connecting with other businesses, you can generate warm leads for your HVAC business that may be out of that particular person’s HVAC services area.
14 . Lead Generation through email marketing
Email marketing is a great strategy for lead generation for your business. You can use email marketing to contact customers who are interested in HVAC.
By contacting customers through email, you can get leads and convert them into customers.
Make sure you target your email marketing efforts to reach the right demographics. This will help you get leads and convert them into customers.
15. Offer HVAC packages to your customers
Offering HVAC packages to your customers is a great way to generate HVAC leads for your HVAC business.
By offering HVAC packages, you can connect with customers who are interested in HVAC services. You can also offer discounts on your HVAC packages to attract more customers.
Make sure you offer HVAC packages that meet the needs of your customers. This will help you generate more profitable sales.
Conclusion
The ability to get HVAC leads for your business can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. It will end up being priceless for you if you can master the flow of leads into your company.
There are many different ways to do lead generation, including paid advertising, telemarketing, reaching out to past clients, developing partnerships with other businesses, and attending HVAC training courses and webinars.
You can also use email marketing or offer HVAC packages to your customers. By using these methods, you can connect with customers who are interested in HVAC.
Generating solid HVAC leads through online marketing at a good price and driving them to your HVAC website is an essential part of lead generation for any HVAC company.
Make sure you use the right methods to reach the right demographics and convert them into customers at an acceptable HVAC leads cost. Remember, you need qualified leads.
If you are getting HVAC leads online, you may get plenty of unwanted leads that you will need to effectively and quickly sort through to find the gold.
Making sure that you get exclusive HVAC leads from your efforts will be well worth the time.
Remember, lead generation is key for growing your business in every aspect whether it be hiring, online marketing, or HVAC sales leads. You always need valuable leads coming in.
Look, Starting and growing a small business is hard enough as is.
You don’t need to add any additional layers of stress in your life by not systematizing and organizing all your customers, sales, and interactions in one place.
If you want to get serious about your company’s future and growth, it’s time to throw away the note pads with customer’s phone numbers you can hardly read and the outdated paper invoices and folders.
You know who you are! I’m talking to the guy who has all his receipts, customer phone numbers, and invoices thrown on the dashboard of the truck.
You basically look like a homeless person sleeping in your car – not a good look. Let’s change that!
You need to understand that the list of simplicity that using a CRM affords you is a long one, and very valuable.
So what exactly is a CRM? A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is an automated system used to manage all aspects of the relationship with a customer.
CRMs are generally designed to help track, organize and analyze all interactions between an organization and its customers.
CRMs provide businesses with detailed information about their customers’ history so they can personalize future messages, target promotions, and design customized products.
Many CRMs also include software that helps you recognize which customers are most profitable, how loyal your best customers are, which marketing or advertising campaigns produce results, whether or not your employees follow up consistently with every customer — plus lots more.
There’s no doubt that CRMs can save business owners valuable time by keeping them organized and up-to-date on a company’s sales activity and customer demands.
CRMs also save money by helping to identify and track the best customers, rewarding them with speedy service and profitable deals. CRMs are extremely effective tools for small businesses as well as large corporations.
CRM software provides you with a central place to manage your contacts, schedule appointments, make notes about follow-up activities, share files, and even send email or text messages directly from the CRM.
Most CRM software has calendars that let you view all of your meetings, deadlines, and tasks in one place so you can easily prioritize what needs your attention right now.
Not sure where to start?
First, you need to understand that there are many CRM’s out there in the marketplace that serve all different types/sizes of clients.
If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur doing between $0-$1,000,000 in revenue. Monday.com could be your best bet – so read on.
Monday.com CRM
Monday.com takes just minutes to get going!
The image above is an actual shot from our own CRM. We have removed certain columns for customer’s privacy as well as a few other key metrics.
This is fully customizable, and it’s as easy to use as a spreadsheet!
If you are looking for a CRM that will grow with you & your team, Monday.com has the perfect CRM package for your business.
They understand that every company is different so they built their CRM with customization in mind.
The best part is, you do not need to have any programmers or developers in your back pocket to build this out for you or make changes.
Monday.com CRM is ideal for small businesses that want to manage and track their leads. It’s also great for businesses who want to collaborate with their team on projects in real-time.
Monday CRM is cloud-based, so it’s easy to access from anywhere. It also integrates with other popular applications, such as Google Apps and Salesforce.com.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with cloud-based solutions. Here is a run-down for you, as it is important to understand.
Cloud-based technology refers to the ability to access and use information or applications over the Internet. This means that instead of having software installed on your computer, you can access it, or store it, on a remote server.
Examples of this technology include consumer services such as Dropbox, Google Docs, and Microsoft Office 365.
You can easily build workflows by integrating Monday with your favorite apps like Slack or Google Drive. Monday also has integrations with Gmail, Salesforce, Quickbooks Online, Outlook & more.
If you are looking for a CRM solution that was made specifically for teamwork inside of sales teams and other orgs within your company, then this is the CRM you should be looking into.
They also provide a mobile app, so you can access your information on the go. Finally, Monday has a built-in reporting feature to help you analyze data and make informed decisions for your business.
This part is actually my favorite part about the service. Having access to the mobile app saved us many times over by being able to do quick customer look-ups on the road, re-routing our drivers at a moment’s notice, and double-checking if order payments were complete.
User Interface/User Experience.
The Monday.com user interface is intuitive and easy to use, as well as visually pleasing with simple navigation, that enables users to easily see existing projects or new tasks.
One of the features that I liked most was the communication log which makes it convenient for businesses that have more than one person handling communication.
Communication Updates are easy and efficient.
Oftentimes, tasks can be duplicated which can lead to several issues along the way. This is especially true for sales leads that are coming in.
On multiple occasions, there can be double communication to clients on delivery times or order confirmations.
Even worse, one rep could be telling a client one price, and later a second rep could be reaching out saying a separate price. This is common with service-based business transactions.
It also stops more than one rep “working” an account, to avoid further confusion and potential issues with crediting a certain rep to a sale. This is due to all conversations and data being time-stamped within the app.
In addition, you are able to see a full communication history that the team members are having by double-checking their conversations that are compiled in a single thread.
That way, you are able to provide more efficient feedback and correctly prioritize requests from clients based on the overall conversation.
What is the Price Range?
Monday.com pricing depends on many factors.
To start out, they do have free plans for small businesses. The service is easy to use and can be customized to fit the needs of any business.
The free plan includes all of the features of the paid plans, so businesses can get started quickly and easily without having to worry about finances.
The pricing of monday.com is going to depend on the company size since they base the amount you pay on the number of seats your company needs.
As you can see below in the photo each price is based per seat. Most small businesses have between 1-10 employees.
One thing to mention. The smallest amount of seats you can have is 3, even if you don’t have 3 employees.
Depending on that you are looking at between $24-$80/month depending on your team size. I can’t begin to tell you how worth it this is for you to utilize.
Monday.com has worked great for our small business and it can for you too!
Happy Hunting!
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We all want the growth hack that will take our existing business and shoot it to the moon. “Growth levers” is a term I constantly hear coming from the online world. I like that saying, don’t you?
Let’s unpack the quickest way to pull these growth levers so that we can scale your business as fast as possible.
The 5 Questions to Ask Yourself That Will help you grow and scale your business.
Let’s go over these 5 questions so that you can achieve growth and scale for your business. These apply to both new businesses and small business.
1. Should I do Homework or Planning Before Starting A Business?
The obvious answer is YES. Make sure to take a good look below at the following questions to determine if what you are doing is likely to be worth your time and investment. These are just a couple examples.
Are there enough customers?
Can this company scale quickly and efficiently?
Can I charge enough for my product to afford ads and fulfillment?
How is my timing of a launch?
Should I partner or not?
These are just some of the many things you need to be thinking about and evaluating as you are doing your homework.
The list is endless of people who never do their homework in the beginning and are destine to fail from day one. Don’t be one of them!
2. Should I bootstrap my Business or Raise Money?
That depends on your desired outcome.
Do you want to be a founder that is in charge of a large team, lots of responsibility, and fast growth? Then you may want to raise money.
That money will help amplify the following:
Increase the number of leads from advertising dollars.
Afford to hire a great team from the get-go.
Launch with a large amount of SKUs (if you are a product-based company)
Start off with a bang in your sales numbers due to large Ad budget and customer service in place.
On the other hand, if you want to boot strap you will be choosing to take the safer and longer path to growth (in most cases).
Boot-strapping a business will look like this:
Could be months or years until your product gets traction from building a customer base and low ad budgets.
Potentially less stress as less people are depending on your for leadership and a paycheck.
In most cases you will use your own money. Many founders claim they had to max out their credit cards to get going.
Going this route you really have control over which direction you want to take and you are not forced by a board or shareholders pressuring you to make the next move.
Between bootstrapping and raising money, I think the answer is clear – Raising money will allow you to grow and scale the fastest. But be careful.
3. Do I Need Systems and Technology In Place to Scale Fast?
More often then not, the answer is almost always yes. This is in both product based business and service based businesses.
If you start to grow and scale, that means your sales numbers are going up (naturally). If you have not put teams in place to handle the influx in sales, you will have a disaster on your hands.
Bad reviews, wasted ad dollars, upset customers and closing your doors from terrible cash flow could destroy you immediately.
Here is what you need to have in place before you are ready to pull on a growth lever for sales.
Customer service team.
Sales team Inbound and outboard (most likely).
Fulfillment whether that be ecommerce or service based. Someone has to fill the packages and go on service calls.
ERP system to effectively track all aspects of your business. Leads, orders, deliveries, SOPS, financials, invoicing, you name it.
*These are just a few and can cost you a TON.
4. Do I Need To Build a Team Beforehand or Can I Hire as I go?
Waiting to hire a team after you open the flood gates would be a complete disaster waiting to happen.
You need to get a team in place immediately that is skilled enough to handle the new requirements that are suddenly being placed on your and your business.
In order to hire effectively, you need a system and process for finding the right talent, interviewing them, and on-boarding them so they are ready to rock.
With that being said, you don’t always have to put the burden on hiring a team on yourself. You can look to outsource things like marketing and sales to other agencies that don’t need a hand-holding.
5. Where Is the Best Place to Get Leads For My Business?
That all depends on what your business is. Clearly there is no one-size-fits-all in this loaded question.
Here is a good rule of thumb to think about when it comes to service-based businesses vs. Product-based businesses.
Examples of Service-based businesses:
Pool cleaning
Christmas lighting
Firewood delivery
Power washing
Waste management
gyms
For these types of businesses we have found that google advertising and local paper, magazine, and mailers tend to work best. Also a good referral system in place is a huge asset you need to get implemented ASAP.
Examples of Product- Based Businesses:
Ecommerce
Retail Stores
Grocery
Thrift Stores
Dealerships
For these types of businesses there are so many options to go with. Google works great, Facebook, Instagram, influencer marketing, road signage are just a few. For each type of business listed above, you are almost certainly going to have a different blend of marketing channels.
Ex) Dealerships do well with word of mouth and referrals. Ecommerce can do well with google, Instagram, meta and influencer marketing.
It is up to you to get testing and figure out what channel will work best for your business. Good luck out there!
If you own a service-based business it can often be a race to the bottom to provide the most cost effective pricing and win over clients from your competition.
Many owners can be tempting by simply competing on price and “offering better service.”
I would argue that the exact opposite is true – let me prove it to you.
Here are the 5 ways you can absolutely dominate your market whether you are a lawn care business, pool care, A/C or heating company, laundry mat, contractor, or auto shop (just to name a few).
Generating Leads
Pricing
Showing up
Systems
Follow up
Generating leads. Without leads, you don’t have any customers. If you are a business owner that looked at that and said “advertising doesn’t work, I have tried everything,” you are in serious trouble.
That is simply not true. There is always a profitable way to acquire customers. You may be asking yourself the wrong questions here:
Wrong: “Well where can I go to advertise and generate a profit. I have tried ads everywhere”
Correct: “To what price can I increase my service, so that I CAN afford to advertise on all these sites?”
The minute you can afford you generate leads, your business will become a money printing machine if you have the right people and systems in place.
Pricing. As stated above – you NEED to have your pricing on point. It isn’t a race to the bottom! You will fail trying to do that model.
You need to be the premium in the market. Your service, skills, and your image needs to back up your pricing. A magical thing happens when you are a premium service.
It goes like this: You can afford ads – and much more of them than competitors. That means more leads. More leads means more customers. More customers means more money. More money means more leads….
It’s a license to print.
Showing up. Currently I own and operate a commercial and residential firewood business. Do you know what the main thing people say to us is when we pick up the phone?
“Thank you for picking up the phone.” OR
“I called a ton of people and you were the only one who picked up.”
That is only because we constantly show up when our competitors don’t. It’s so simple and boring, yet for some reason it’s hard for people to do. We make thousands of dollars a month from our competitors that don’t pick up.
Honor your business hours, pick up your phones, don’t over promise and always try to over deliver. Customers will notice your company showing up. Referrals will follow. Stay the course.
Systems. Systems are the glue that holds everything together in your business.
Some of the systems you will want in place:
1-888 number that you can get voicemails logged and even transcribed through.
CRM like Monday.com or Hubspot to track your customer interactions from your web forms and phone calls.
Logistics app such as route4me that can get you the most efficient routes for yourself and your drivers.
Payment gateway for mobile and static payments
Email sequencing and email generator for generating sales and compiling customer emails. I like convertkit.com and Hubspot for this.
Follow up. Follow ups can happen in many ways and in take many different forms throughout your business.
Follow up in phone calls – Always try to pick up your calls immediately. If you miss a call, call them back ASAP. Often your customers are going on a call blitz to shop the competition.
Follow up in emails – Set up an auto responder that acknowledges their initial reach out, then get back to them ASAP.
Follow up in lead forms. Have these set to notify you via website or mobile. Stay on top of them and also set up a template(s) in order to quickly answer questions efficiently. Craft/tailor them to each person if possible.
Follow up with reviews – Use email sequences, phone calls, texts, or physical mail to follow up with clients/customers to get their valuable reviews. Reviews help you rank, convert, and ultimately make you more money.
Using these methods, we were able to take our 4 month old service business to $60,000 a month in sales with 64 – 5 star reviews on google. Not bad. This will certainly help your business if you apply these learnings.
scalecustomers.com 