3 digital strategies to help grow your contracting business

You’ve heard it a thousand times: the consumer market is changing. We live in the age of convenience, where competitive prices and quality service aren’t always the top priorities anymore. Customers want everything at their fingertips, including their HVAC services.

You could say, “No, that’s not how this industry works; you have to make a phone call.” But then you’re isolating yourself from potential customers while other contractors jump on board with consumer trends. If you want to stay current with the trends and grow your contracting business, here are some digital strategies that could help.

INVEST IN A WEBSITE

Did you know that 62% of customers search online before choosing a home services contractor? That’s almost 2/3 of potential clients you’re missing if you don’t have a website. A website tells a client a lot about your business, such as what services you offer, if you’re in their area, and if you offer financing.

Websites are also a great opportunity to offer features that appeal to millennials, such as online scheduling and payment. Why do you need to appeal to millennials, you may ask? The average age of first-time homebuyers is now 36 years old. 36-year-olds are peak millennials, and, considering this is an average, younger millennials and Gen Zers are also first-time homebuyers. By appealing to them with a website and other digital tools, you can scoop up their business before someone else does. 

DEPLOY TECHS WITH DISPATCH SOFTWARE

As you grow brand awareness through your website, you’ll also need to rethink your internal processes. More business means more calls, but with the HVAC labor shortage, you may still have the same number of techs.

HVAC service software can be a great tool to increase your business’s productivity and your customer’s experience. This software can help you easily schedule jobs based on factors such as employee, job type/length, and distance between jobs. Some HVAC service software, such as Trane Link, can even help your techs perform simple repairs and installations, saving time and money on training.

Efficient scheduling can help increase your techs’ productivity with less time spent on the roads and more time spent completing jobs. And your customer’s experience will be better because they can get their HVAC system serviced faster without sacrificing quality.

PERFECT YOUR PROJECT PROPOSALS

Project proposals are an essential tool for your HVAC business. They tell your customer exactly what you’re doing and the estimated price. But a professional project proposal also communicates your business’s credibility and gives your clients confidence in your services.

So how is this a digital strategy? Couldn’t you just write a proposal on a piece of paper? You could, but that could also affect your credibility. Our society has moved away from pen and paper and towards digital documents. In fact, as of 2020, only 20% of adults print finance-related documents, such as project proposals. 

Plus, a handwritten document could cause confusion if a homeowner can’t read the handwriting or if there are discrepancies between their copy of the proposal and yours. Digital project proposals eliminate the possibility of these problems.

FTL Finance’s project estimator lets you easily create professional project proposals to share with your customers. All you have to do is enter the project estimate and description and select a financing option; the project estimator will do the math for you. You can offer your customers up to three proposal options (good, better, best). When the proposal is ready to go, you save, email, or print it to meet everyone’s needs.