MARKETING Can your company help customers smarten up?

withMarketing DOUG MACMILLAN

Doug MacMillan is president of The Letter M Marketing in Guelph, ON. To reach him, email doug@letterm.ca.

Can your company help customers smarten up?

Do you recall the mild panic you felt when the doorbell rang and you were not expecting anyone? Still in your pyjamas with no recollection of inviting anyone over, thoughts flashed through your mind: Is it the FedEx guy? What did I order? Oh, maybe the LED lightbulbs? I only ordered those yesterday, there’s no way they are here already.

In 2022, this is not a worry. Your smart home will tell you everything you need to know. You look at your doorbell camera and see exactly who is there. Your Alexa will ping and tell you, “Your Amazon order has been delivered.” You may not even need to check because you’ve been real-time tracking the package since yesterday. The Internet of Things for homes makes all of this possible, and its popularity is skyrocketing.

Smart HVAC systems allow customers more control, and by extension, more peace of mind. Advanced systems mediate more than just temperature, and they continuously allow users to adjust system parameters for perfect thermal comfort – in many cases, room by room or zone by zone. Another benefit of IoT HVAC systems is the continuously evolving and incredibly accurate notification systems, which can update customers in real time when their system requires maintenance. No more fiddling with knobs and controls they don’t fully understand, or facing an emergency no-heat situation.

Integrating solutions

Research suggests homeowners want to broaden the use of IoT beyond HVAC systems to include energy management, home security, air quality and health, never mind the gadget trends such as smart light bulbs and garage door openers. They are looking to integrate various solutions in the same central module, so it’s only logical that businesses adapt to the world around us. Embracing smart home technology is the way of the future, or actually the way of the now. Businesses in the home service space which are adopting and promoting smart home products, including (and perhaps especially) helping customers with the ever-confusing system set-up and ongoing servicing of the smart system, will be well set up to retain and grow their customer base. The only deficit to IoT and smart home technology is also ironically its greatest asset: the ability to seamlessly do anything so easily, that users expect and require everything else to be that easy, too. It’s imperative that we’re not only keeping up with customers’ expectations but are exceeding them by beating them to the punch. It’s equally important to provide accessible, highly visual

‘how to’ communications materials that also manage expectations of technology’s abilities.

It’s increasingly important that businesses in the home service capacity are marketing themselves to showcase that they’re keeping up with these trends which are ultimately becoming must-haves. Customers want to know the experts they’re trusting with their family’s comfort and safety are in the know about the technology available made to make their lives easier.

One-stop shop

Consider going seamless from start to finish; everything from installation to regular home maintenance should be unified and easy. This could mean collaborating with other businesses to ensure you’re offering top-tier service. Partnering with companies with expertise in this sector, such as home security experts and computer specialists, helps your company stay positioned as a one-stop shop for everything smart home related. This lessens the need for your customers to reach out to multiple vendors to ultimately support one system. It may seem like a large step away from traditional mechanical services; however, leadership is about evolving and companies in the home service space are especially primed to be this go-to supplier given their trusted relationship with customers.

Luckily, these services provide fully integrated platforms that can connect HVAC users with contractors and maintenance providers, and that quickly share critical maintenance data with service providers. Some go a step further and automatically schedule maintenance or call emergency technicians as soon as the smart sensors detect a problem. You want to make sure your company is the one connected when problems arise.

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