5 Certainties For an Uncertain 2022

Do not limit your marketing to your prospective customers.  Pay attention to your existing and past customers.  They already know you.  Do not let them forget about you.  If you do not send a newsletter to your customers, this is the time to start.  Make sure it is a newsletter focused on the things interesting to them, the information they need.  Do not make it about you. 

2. Raise Prices 

Higher prices is today’s expectation.  Consumers know prices are rising.  They see them with every trip to the gas station and grocery store.  If you raise your prices, it will not be a surprise. 

Since your costs are rising, your prices should rise in proportion.  Maybe, they should even rise a little more than that.  Not only is the environment ripe for it,

you are going to need to spend more to prosper.  You are going to need to spend more on marketing and more on personnel.  You are going to tie up more money in inventory.  You cannot save your way to prosperity so don’t try.

The only way to prosper when inflation is increasing input costs is to get in front of it and stay in front.  The price of everything continue to go up as long as we have loose money monetary policies, out-of-control government spending, and a government led war on fossil fuels.  When the government prints more money without commensurate growth in productivity, dollars are worth less.  When oil prices rise, the price of everything that uses oil as an input or is transported will rise as well. 

3. Pay People More 

You will either pay your people more or someone else will.  Pay them more and pass the added costs along in your service and installation pricing.  If you have had a problem with competitors raiding you for technicians before, it will get worse in 2022.  Re-examine every human resources policy from the employees’ eyes.  Pay at the top of your market.  Be more employee friendly.  Be ready to turn away business if necessary to keep from burning out technicians.

Something strange has happened with the nation’s labor force during the pandemic and months since the election.  It is getting harder and harder to get people to work.  This makes recruiting harder.  It means recruiting must involve more than an ad on an Internet site.  You need to sell your company and sell the industry.  Talk about why you are different.  Talk about the benefits of working at your company.  Share your vision. 

Engage high schools and vo-tech schools to talk about HVAC. Start apprenticing newbies with seasoned people to grow your future labor force.  Talk about how HVAC is important, and the work is meaningful.  Stress the benefits of a career in HVAC and career paths in your company.  

4. Stock More

The supply chain problems could be solved in a manner of months if we had proper leadership at the federal level.  We do not.  Thus, they will not be solved anytime soon, though the problems will eventually get worked out.  In the meantime, stock it if you want to sell it. 

If you lack space, rent it.  Rent mini-warehouses.  Stuff them with product, but control who has access.  Make sure your suppliers allow you to rebalance your inventory if necessary in the future. 

When you stock equipment and the manufacturer raises prices, raise your prices accordingly.  The difference between what you paid and the new manufacturer price helps cover the cost of storing the product.

5. Be Ready For the Unexpected 

About the only thing that’s been certain since March 2020 is that nothing is certain.  How do you prepare for uncertainty?  Be nimble.  Be ready to change and adapt as curve balls come your way.

Do your best to collect the early warning indicators.  Read the trade press.  Get involved with contractor groups, including your state or local trade association and a business alliance or two.  These are where you are more likely to find contractors who are paying attention to the changes in the marketplace and more likely to get an early warning sign that something else is changing.  Apparently, abnormal is the new normal. 

Since some, if not most of your competitors are going to act defensively during 2022, this will be a great time to drive your business forward aggressively and pick up market share.  This will be a year that rewards the bold, not the frightened.

Stay on top of changes in the industry with the Service Roundtable.  Membership is only $50 a month and includes unlimited business and marketing template downloads, free membership in the Roundtable Rewards buying group, and access to the best contractors in the business.  Learn more at www.ServiceRoundtable.com or call 877.262.3341.