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For HVAC companies, Meta ads give a huge opportunity to generate dozens, if not hundreds, of replacement leads each month.
Yet many contractors struggle when it comes to scheduling in-home appointments, and landing jobs, from those leads.
There are reasons why this happens, and in this article we'll be breaking down those reasons so that you can dial in your ads, improve your process, and start maximizing the effectiveness of your Meta campaigns.
Let's dive in!
Here's What's Happening
The customer buying journey
To understand what's going on with Facebook leads, we first have to look at the customer buying journey.
When a homeowner replaces their HVAC system, they go through a few stages first.
- Awareness stage: They become aware of the problem. Their unit is getting old, or they can tell that it's performance has been getting worse.
- Consideration stage: They start to do their research, checking out local HVAC companies, filing mental notes away whenever they see an ad.
- Decision stage: This is when they take action and call a few companies to get quotes.
When you get leads through Facebook, most of the time they are towards the end of the consideration stage. They do need a new unit, but they haven't necessarily done their research yet and also may not be in a hurry. Especially in shoulder seasons.
Getting those customers to know, like, and trust you
When a homeowner has already gone through the consideration phase, they've already had time to think about which companies they want to get quotes from, and do their research. But since we're pulling them out of the typical customer buying journey early, these customers haven't gotten to know you yet.
Since people buy from people they know, like, and trust, this hurts your chances a bit to close that lead.
How to Turn Facebook Leads into Sold Deals
Building trust
For homeowners to feel comfortable working with you, you'll need to do a little extra work to make up for that research they haven't gotten to do yet.
At Service Allies, we help our contractors do this by creating a video to help pre-sell the leads.
Once leads submit their info, they are directed to a landing page with a video that helps them get to know the company better, as well as highlighting great reviews the company has gotten, pictures of work, etc.
Following up
Facebook leads require a different type of follow up.
Speed-to-lead isn't quite as important as it is with Google leads. But how often you follow up, and how long you continue following up for, is important.
Since these leads are slightly further back in the customer buying journey, you need to walk with them the rest of the way to schedule appointments, and sell those jobs.
The appointment setting script
A mistake a lot of CSRs make when calling Facebook leads is to start off the conversation with "Hi this is Peter calling from ABC HVAC."
Since homeowners are inundated with cold callers, this sounds like just another cold caller. Homeowners will use the automatic filter in their mind and either hang up or tell you they aren't interested.
In reality, they ARE interested and clicked on your ad for a reason. But because their only interaction with your company was an ad on Facebook for a FEW seconds, they just aren't going to remember you.
Instead, when you call, you want to say "Hi this is Peter getting back to you from ABC HVAC." When you say "getting back to you," you're immediately alerting them that they are the one's who reached out first.
This helps them think back, remember submitting their information, and be more likely to schedule the appointment with you.
Provide a real reason to sign up
Having time limits on the quotes that you give to homeowners can help. If customers can make the decision whenever they want, it will probably get pushed down in their priority list - whether they intend it to or not.
If there's a time limit on their quote, which only allows them to receive a certain discount or offer within that time limit, helps keep the decision top of mind. And that means you are more likely to get the job.
Conclusion
Facebook leads are a powerful tool to grow your HVAC business - but they need to be handled properly.
If you're willing to put in the time and effort, the rewards can be well worth it!
