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marketing support for your business

Installers may once have got blank looks from customers when recommending a particular heating brand, but with manufacturers investing millions in consumer advertising campaigns, installers can now tap into these marketing activities to boost their own businesses. Alice Woolley, marketing director at Vaillant, explains more.

In a recent conversation I had with an installer, he told me that in the past, he had to work hard to convince customers to go for what he deemed to be the best boiler. But these days, they already have a particular brand on their minds before he even walks through the front door. This just proves the power of good advertising, and by harnessing the relationship with manufacturers, installers can benefit from their effective, integrated marketing strategies.

Lead generation Because manufacturers and installers are dependent on each other to successfully provide heating solutions to consumers, manufacturers such as ourselves, have invested heavily over the years to support installers in their jobs. Apart from developing the means to help heating engineers solve technical problems with products, support has also extended to generating leads for their businesses.

For example, for our latest multimillionpound TV, radio and digital advertising campaign, audiences are directed towards our website to find and contact a local installer. Installers who are registered on our Vaillant Advance loyalty programme then receive these leads via the app and can take the necessary actions to turn those leads into jobs. Also so far in 2020 over 1˝,000 homeowners have contacted their local Vaillant installers directly via the email or mobile phone links we display, so it’s useful for installers to be aware of consumer marketing campaigns being executed by manufacturers, in anticipation of receiving resulting leads.

Seamless process Once installers receive leads from a manufacturer, it is advisable to ensure that any processes used to follow up and track those leads are slick and ready for action. Responding quickly (we recommend within the first few hours) will maximise the chance of securing a job, so whether it’s the ability to effortlessly arrange a customer visit, drawing up a quotation, or sending product brochures, don’t let inefficient methods get in the way.

As a manufacturer that fully supports installers, we’ve already got this covered. Áaillant Advance offers quotation folders and marketing materials that are linked to our adverts, so that quotations are easily recognisable, and customers can make the connection between the installer proposal and what they’ve seen on TV. Product brochures can also be sent to homeowners from Vaillant Advance too, to help in the quotation process.

Brand messages Companies spend millions of pounds communicating their brands to consumers. This expenditure is not just placing adverts and printing marketing materials. A significant chunk is also spent on working out what they want to say about their brands and how they want their target audience to view them. Whilst smaller independent businesses don’t have the same budgets to carry out this kind of ‘brand positioning’ work, there is no reason why installers can’t communicate the same messages to their customers if these align with their service offering.

For our latest homeowner awareness campaign, for example, we are focusing on communicating efficient and sustainable heating solutions that are kinder to the planet, and empowering customers to make a greener choice. With a range of government initiatives supporting homeowners to make energy efficiency improvements to their properties in order to achieve net-zero by 2050, sustainability will continue to be high on society’s agenda for some time to come. So, for installers who want to specify more climate friendly heating products, it may be useful to adopt some of our messages when selling these solutions to customers. As part of being a Vaillant Advance installer, we provide these marketing materials for our installers to download and use for free from our online Resource Library.

Making connections Marketing in the 21st century has become far more sophisticated than just good advertising. In our industry, the relationship between product manufacturers, installers and consumers has become much more interconnected, opening up opportunities for installers to piggy-back on manufacturers’ marketing to reach their own customers.

Supporting installers

For more information on Vaillant’s Business Clinic webinars and podcasts, visit:

www.vaillant.co.uk/for-installers

Card-to-card contact tracing

To give businesses a way to protect their employees during the pandemic, Contact Harald has launched a proximity tracking card. The Covid-19 card is a contact tracing platform that records card-to-card proximity via Bluetooth, with no phone, WiFi, or set-up required.

Each individual is issued a registered contact card unique to them, and the card records when two or more people are in close proximity to each other. If an employee tests positive, or reports symptoms of Covid-19, proximity data is uploaded from the card and the contacts tracked in close proximity of that worker are immediately notified to get tested and remain isolated until the results come in. This proactive behavior is designed to get everyone back to work faster.̵ ◼ phamnews.co.uk/820/10

Guide offers lessons from the lockdown

To help tradespeople adapt in the wake of the pandemic, Scottish training provider Skills TG has launched a free guide giving practical advice and ideas about how to rise to the business challenges presented by Covid-19. ‘Lockdown Lessons for Tradespeople’ contains testimonials from building services companies about how they are diversifying to meet future demands.

The guide contains testimonials from building services companies giving their real-life accounts of life under lockdown and how they are meeting the demands of the future. It is aimed at sole traders and SMEs looking to gain new business streams, fill gaps in the market created by the current economic situation, and future-proof their workforce. ◼ phamnews.co.uk/820/11

Perk for members

Members of the Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) can now access a host of discounts and service enhancements via Propeller Workforce Management software.

Propeller provides plumbing and heating contractors with an all-in-one cloud-based workforce management system and app designed to eliminate paper-based processes, reduce administration time, create efficiencies, and improve performance.

The partnership with Propeller allows APHC members to receive a discount on the monthly subscription and other discounts on software integrations and training. The software also enables users to manage their diaries, jobs and engineers in real-time. Another benefit to ”ropeller is that it is equipped with industry specific certification across gas, commercial gas, oil, renewables, electrical and Legionella, plus it has a form builder to create any digital form that may be required, such as Covid-19 risk assessments. ◼ phamnews.co.uk/820/12

Dirm beneƩts from ƪeet management

Fleet management software from Vimcar is helping Union Plumbing, a West Yorkshire based firm, get back on the road following the easing of lockdown restrictions. The company is using Vimcar Fleet Geo to make customer visits more efficient.

With̵several engineering teams all on the road at one time,̵Union ”lumbing needs a fleet that runs smoothly so clients receive that promised service from engineers in a timely manner.̵Being able to see where drivers are̵at all times̵is helping Union Plumbing to give customers exact ETAs and ensure that someone is at home̵when the engineer arrives.

Vimcar solutions are developed specially for the needs of small and medium-sized fleets with up to 200 vehicles, and aim to substantially reduce the amount of time, labour, and money needed for SMEs to

manage their fleets.̵Key functions of Fleet Feo̵includes̵real-time vehicle tracking, digital theft protection, and geo-fencing.̵̵

“Our reputation is incredibly important to us,̧ says̵Hanna Wise, company administrator at Union Plumbing. “Now, when we knock and nobody is home, we can prove to the customer that we were actually there̵when we said we would be.̵What’s really good is being able to give̵live updates to customers without disturbing engineers on the road.̵̧ ◼ phamnews.co.uk/820/13

Why you need to be covered in an uncertain world

In these parlous times when risk runs higher than previously imagined, it just makes good sense to have comprehensive insurance in place if anything should go wrong – so says Darragh Timlin from Tradesman Saver.

As with every aspect of life since the coronavirus pandemic began, everything about working as a tradesperson has been upended in order to accommodate for social distancing measures to control the virus. Now that wider lockdown restrictions are being lifted and more tradesmen are able to return to work, ensuring you, your team, and your clients are as safe as possible remains Darragh Timlin critical. Underwriting director at Tradesman

That’s why having a solid, Saver

comprehensive insurance policy in place is more essential than ever. After all, working as a tradesman comes with its risks at the best of times, so having traditional forms of cover in place can protect your business from ƩłÖłóĢÖķĢŭŭŽāŭùŽũĢłėÖłÖķũāÖùƘ unprecedentedly precarious time. Here are the main forms of cover tradesmen should have in place.

Public liability insurance This is an essential form of cover at the best of times, providing ƩłÖłóĢÖķťũŋŶāóŶĢŋłĢłŶĞāāƑāłŶ that a customer or third party is injured or has their property damaged as a result of the work you complete.

However, in context of Covid˚ˢ̇ĢŶ̪ŭťÖũŶĢóŽķÖũķƘðāłāƩ óĢÖķ̍ Considering the short notice given when lockdown measures ƒāũāĢłŶũŋùŽóāù̇ÖłƘŽłƩłĢŭĞāù works would have been fraught with sharp surfaces and scattered detritus which could have led to someone being hurt. And even during the sustained period of time where you may have been left unable to do your job, it’s possible that you were forced to abandon a site you were working on. Having this policy in place

ƒŋŽķùðāāŭťāóĢÖķķƘðāłāƩ óĢÖķ if another lockdown - local or łÖŶĢŋłÖķ̟óŋĿāŭĢłŶŋāƦ āóŶ̍

Tools and equipment Again, this is an extremely useful policy to have in place when you’re on a regular work schedule, but even if you are weeks away from your next job, or have been furloughed by your company, tools and equipment óŋƑāũĞÖŭĢŶŭðāłāƩ Ŷŭ̍¦ĞĢŭ insurance entitles you to a payout in the event that the gear you need to do your job gets damaged, lost, or stolen, and while it may seem less likely if it is securely stored in your home, that isn’t a guarantee.

Similarly, if you are hiring any plant, you probably would have had to leave it on site, providing even more potential for damage or theft. Consequently, you should consider taking out a ŭťāóĢƩ óťķÖłŶĢłŭŽũÖłóāťŋķĢóƘ to prevent any risk of having to pay for any problems which may befall the machinery.

Personal accident As we noted earlier, one of the biggest issues facing tradesmen working during the Covid-˚ˢ pandemic is having to adapt to new ways of working to accommodate social distancing measures. This has forced contractors to reduce the number of people on site at any given time, leading to more potential for trips, slips, and more serious accidents to occur.

Personal accident insurance provides much-łāāùāùƩłÖłóĢÖķ protection in these and other circumstances in which you or your team may sustain an injury on the job. Should somebody get hurt, your insurer will be able to provide you with a payment to cover any earnings you are ĕŋũóāùŶŋĿĢŭŭĢĕƘŋŽŋũƘŋŽũŭŶÖƦ are rendered unable to work. However, you will need to make ŭŽũāŶĞÖŶāƑāũƘĿāĿðāũŋĕŭŶÖƦ is individually named on the policy, otherwise they will not be entitled to these payouts in the event of a claim. ͻ phamnews.co.uk/ˡ˛˙̓˚˝

About the company

Tradesman Saver is an insurance company specialising in providing all forms of insurance to British tradesmen for over 30 years