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The Do's of HVAC Lead Generation

Feb. 11, 2015
Are you receiving good quality leads? Do you know the source of these leads? Do your sales people receive their leads in a timely manner or are they months old?

Leads are the lifeblood of any sales organization and you just cannot get enough of them. Are you receiving good quality leads? Do you know the source of these leads? Do your sales people receive their leads in a timely manner or are they months old? Would you like to receive notification in real time? How long does it take your sales force to follow up with those leads?

It seems that these days, everybody has a lead generation story. There are companies that specialize in ways to generate leads. The questions are what really works and how can you make it work for you and your organization?

ANDY FRACICA NEEDS YOUR MARKETING QUESTIONS TO GENERATE FUTURE COLUMNS. SEND YOUR MARKETING QUESTIONS TO [email protected]. Find him online at www.fracicaenterprises.com

Do Homework Before Hiring
If you are looking for a company to assist you in lead generation, do your homework and research the company. Talk to their clients to see if they are happy with the service. Legitimate companies will always let you talk to their satisfied customers. Find out what their customers would have done differently if they had to do it over again.

When you generate leads from your website, use an opt-in methodology as opposed to opt-out. With opt-in, your customers give your permission to contact them. In an opt-out methodology your customers have to tell you not to contact them, they often miss this step, and potential customers may become angry when you contact them.

A qualified lead is a lead that gives you the person’s name, contact information, the date they contacted you, and the information they would like to receive from you.

Regardless of whether you set up your own lead generation program, or hire an outside firm to handle it for you, immediate follow up is critical to success. When you receive a lead, either through your own efforts or from a vendor, what is your follow-up procedure? Do you call the lead personally? Do you assign it to someone in your office to handle the follow-up? How long do you wait to make the call?

A name without a contact method is not a lead. In fact, a name without contact info and the date you received it is worthless. A qualified lead is a lead that gives you the person’s name, contact information, the date they contacted you, and the information they would like to receive from you. However, if you don’t receive that lead for a couple of days or a week, and then you don’t follow-up for a couple of more days, the quality of that lead quickly begins to degrade.

Having a lead in your hand the instant the potential customer wants something from you is as good as it gets. Consider building a lead generation tool into your website. With the right steps, you can set up your tool so that you receive an email the moment you receive your lead. The sooner you follow up the on your lead the better the response that you will receive from the potential customer.

Lead 'Wow' Factor
The Home Depot, has a philosophy about lead generation, it believes that there is a "wow factor" with leads. The timeframe for the wow factor is 10 minutes from the time the potential customer generates the lead until you make contact. When you call the customer during this ten-minute window, they invariably say, “Wow, how did you contact me so fast?”

If you intend to use your company website as the source of for lead generation, then you will want to ensure that your website generates enough traffic to sustain your lead generation program.

When you contact your lead during this window, he or she is more inclined to make a buying decision. You approach them when their guard is down, when they are interested in your product, and when you have the most influence with them. Think about it, they have just spent time on your website, they liked what they saw, they believed in what you told them and now they want you to contact them so they can make the next step to purchasing your product or service.

If you intend to use your company website as the source of for lead generation, then you will want to ensure that your website generates enough traffic to sustain your lead generation program. Take advantage of manufacturer lead programs, but ask if they have a way to forward the leads to you in real time so that you receive the lead as it is generated. Follow up on every lead; regardless of how old it is because you never know if the person just might be ready to make a decision.

Lead generation works very well when you get qualified leads, you act very quickly, and you make your initial phone call within 10 minutes of receiving your lead. If you think this is something that you would like to try, but you don’t have the expertise to do it yourself, contact a marketing professional to assist you. Even old leads have some value because if you have one person in an area looking at replacing his system, more than likely there will be others in the neighborhood who might be interested and you can target that neighborhood for a direct mail campaign.

Andy Fracica is president and CEO of Fracica Enterprises, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in marketing, PR, social media, and lead generation strategy. He has over 30 years of sales, marketing, and product management experience in the heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) industry. He concentrates on helping manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and startup companies find their voice in an ever increasingly crowded market by do more with less($). Contact him at 260-338-4554, [email protected] or visit the website www.fracicaenterprises.com.

Copyright 2011 Fracica Enterprises, Inc.

About the Author

Andy Fracica | President/CEO

Andy Fracica is the author of Navigating the Marketing Maze, he is, a speaker, a marketing coach, and president and CEO of Fracica Enterprises, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in marketing, and social media strategy. He has over 30 years of sales, marketing, and product management experience in the heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) industry. He concentrates on helping companies deliver their message in an ever increasingly crowded market by helping HVAC dealers more effectively market their businesses without breaking their budgets. Contact him at 260-338-4554, [email protected] or visit the Fracica Enterprises, Inc., website.