In the Moment

Marketing SMACNA-SMART Expertise means being there, top of mind when owners realize their HVAC system needs work.

Marketing is one of those ongoing commitments that is as important to an organization’s success as bookkeeping and recruitment, even though the benefits aren’t always immediately obvious. Building a reliable, recognizable brand is often the only way tradespersons can get the word out among the busyness of everyday operations, and this is especially important among residential service providers trying to stand out in the digital age. In this realm, hundreds of companies are just clicks away—how can SMACNA contractors stand out and reassure owners that their expertise and highly trained workforce is the best choice among hundreds?

Brand builder, marketing expert, and author John Tyreman says the first step is understanding the customer’s process when engaging a service provider. He says there are events in our everyday lives that can trigger the need to purchase a home service, and while some of those are planned, a great many are not. “For example, when my basement flooded because of a busted hot water heater, there was an important and urgent need to get it fixed,” he writes in an article for HVAC Insider. “The only time I had to think of what kind of specialist to look for was while I was mopping up the mess. The first thing I did after mopping was go online and search for “plumbing companies near me.” Honestly, I just wanted it fixed. Fast.”

These are the kinds of moments SMACNA contractors want to be top of mind. In the throes of crisis, homeowners and building owners need to know that experts are at the ready and they don’t want to think too deeply about it. So, how can SMACNA contractors make that happen?

A new research report from Silverback Strategies shares research collected from 724 buyers of home services, and overviews how they approach finding a contractor. The study outlines key marketing actions service professionals should take, beginning with understanding a service buyer’s journey.

The study distills the process into five stages: • Realization — the moment when customers recognize they have a problem to solve. • Education — how customers gather the information they need to make a decision. • Evaluation — the criteria customers use to see if a service provider is a good fit. • Decision — how customers decide on who to work with. • Advocacy — when customers feel compelled to leave a rating or review online.

Obviously, contractors want to be top of mind during the realization phase, and they want to make their presence known while customers are educating themselves. When it comes to researching choices, online is where it is at. Most buyers surveyed found their contractor of choice using a mobile device, visiting social media or the contractor’s website directly. The key takeaway here is never underestimate the value of online presence, including social media.

In fact, 96% of respondents said they used social media at least weekly, citing Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram as the most popular mediums. But here is the truly interesting revelation: More than 1/3 of buyers spoke to only one service provider, who they ultimately hired. The reason for that is that 40% of respondents visited review sites and social media and had conversations with trusted friends for referrals and feedback about the contractors they were researching. That means service seekers are coming to the table having done their research online, having developed a strong opinion about your business, and willing to have a frank discussion about how you can solve their problem.

Almost as many respondents called a past service provider for help, though this percentage varied across the age gap. For instance, 39% of Boomers called a past contractor for help, compared with only 15% of Millennials doing so. Of course, being newer to home ownership, Millennials are less likely to have a past service provider to think about; however, it is clear that making an impression before and during services are performed are key marketing tactics.

In his article, Tyreman says the key takeaway from his experience was that going online was the go-to strategy for most buyers in 2020; however, he makes a strong case for customer service being the ultimate trump card—especially when doing so leads to positive reviews online.

“In my busted water heater example, when I searched for ῾plumbing companies near me’ I called the top three results,” he says. “They were all pay-per-click advertisements. It was Sunday. The first two didn’t pick up the phone. The third company I called was able to come to my home within an hour and they ultimately got my business.”

HVAC Expertise hvacexpertise.com

A few years ago, the Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force conducted a series of focus groups that determined many people don’t know what work the sheet metal industry performs; however, they do recognize the term “HVAC”.

Further, the number one trait customers demand when hiring an HVAC contractor is “expertise”. Thus, SMACNA and SMART developed the Expertise branding program to help identify affiliated organizations as the source of expertise for HVAC, architectural, industrial, and green construction, service, and retrofit work.

With areas for homeowners and building owner/managers, the HVAC Expertise website directs potential customers to easy to follow information on HVAC systems and their benefits, how to choose a system, factors to consider, and most importantly, the benefits of employing a SMACNA contractor and skilled union labor to complete this work.

“If you want the HVAC people who come to your home to know what they are doing and be employed by a contractor committed to meeting/exceeding standards and a quality workforce, you want to look for companies that can offer HVAC Expertise,” the site says.

For example, the “Choosing an HVAC Expert” section refers to the benefit of maintaining a superior trained workforce, contractors backed by a national support system—including national and local trade associations—in-house design and fabrication, environmental considerations, long-term maintenance, and service related perks.

“When you hire a SMACNA contractor, you get more than a single person,” the site advises. “You get professional HVAC craftspersons, whose skills are the product of the industry’s finest nationwide training program. And you can rely on topnotch managers and company executives.”

A “Find an Expert” link takes readers directly to the SMACNA website and the membership directory.

Link to the Expertise Sites Online

Resources to help brand your organization—SMACNA chapter, contractor, SMART Local, training center, or labor-management cooperation trust—as one with “HVAC Expertise” are free to use upon completion of a licensing application (available on pinp.org).

You can place the HVAC Expertise logo (or any of the other Expertise logos) on your web site, social media presence, business cards, stationery, estimates, invoices, trucks, hats, shirts, advertisements, to spread the word about the value our signatory contractors and skilled workforce offer. In addition, you can embed content from or link to the HVACExpertise.com web site, which provides professionally-developed content to help you address potential customers’ questions and demonstrate to them the value of what you offer. (The other Expertise web sites that you can harness are ArchitecturalExpertise.com, and IndustrialExpertise.com.)

Other free Expertise resources include print advertisements with the Expertise logo that you can customize with your organization’s logo and contact information, best practices how-to guides, a library of industry photographs, and press releases that highlight the benefits of using contractors and a workforce with Expertise. Visit pinp.org/Resources or contact editor@pinpmagazine.org for more information.▪