Benchmark Conversion Rate for Replacement Sales from Service Agreements

In the HVAC industry, air conditioning contractors can expect to sell one replacement air conditioner for every 10 to 11 service agreement customers. This statistic comes courtesy from Ron Smith a member of the Contracting Business Contractor Hall of Hame and author of HVAC Spells Wealth.


1 Replacement Sale for Every
10 to 11 Service Agreements

Service agreements are the true life blood of a heating and air conditioning company. With a service agreement, you establish an ongoing relationship with your customer. Without a service agreement, the moment your service truck pulls away from the customer's house, he becomes a free agent and a prospect at large.

With a service agreement customer:

• Repeat business increases


• Return on marketing increases


• Referrals increase


• Margins increase


• Company value increases


• Employee retention and morale increases

As you are developing your 2011 plan, set targets for your service agreements. Benchmarks should include - total number of new service agreements, percent of service agreements retained and service agreement conversion rate.

If you are struggling to develop a plan or need tools to help your technicians increase their conversion rate, please don't hesitate to contact us. We have several affordable and effective tools to increase service agreements sales.

Sincerely,

Brian Starzec

Soldering and Brazing Video Now Available!

Soldering and Brazing Training Video by Carl Pollex - For Sale!

For the first time ever, HVAC Industry legend and instructor Carl Pollex has recorded his famous soldering, brazing and oxygen acetylene safety course. Carl Pollex has been teaching this class for over 30 years and now all of his valuable knowledge is available in this hour-an-a-half long video course. In this training course, Carl not only covers the fundamentals of metallurgy, but he gets hands-on and demonstrates techniques and everyday options for soldering and brazing.

Video Trailer

Click the image below to view a 2 minute overview of the Soldering and Brazing DVD.






View Website

For more information, we have created a dedicated website for this HVAC Training video - http://www.solderingbrazing.com/ or http://www.solderingbrazingtraining.com/.


Order Now

Click the image below to order the DVD for your HVAC company.

Soldering and Brazing Training Video by Carl Pollex - Help Needed

Many any of you know Carl Pollex and have attended his Soldering, Brazing and Oxygen Acetylene Safety training class over the years. Here is a picture of the demo that normally got your attention:

We have worked with Carl to record his entire training class and put it on DVD. Along with his course materials we have added some special effects to make the information even that much easier to learn and remember.

Originally we recorded the class simply to capture all of the knowledge tucked away in Carl's head, but over time, our entrepreneurial spirit came through and we decided to make a professional DVD for sale:


We Need Testimonials Please!

For those of you who had the opportunity of attending the class, you know how great it truly is. It is very rare to have a class that is both entertaining as well as educational, which is why Carl is one of the best in the business.

We are looking for people to share their experience and to provide feedback on the course. Your review will be posted on the product website. In addition to your comments about the class, we will need a picture of yourself (to lend credibility to the testimonial) and your company logo.

Next to your feedback, beneath your picture and your logo, we plan to provide a free link to your website. We are all aware of the value of back-links and how they can improve your search engine ranking. This is a simple, easy and free way to gain additional exposure for your business and your website.

We plan to launch the website in October of 2010, so all testimonials, including your picture, need to be emailed to me before October 1st. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.


Sincerely,
Brian Starzec

P.S. Here are some screen captures from the video for everybody:

Before you put a customer on hold...

Before you put a customer on hold...


I found this interesting quote and I wanted to share:

"Place Customers on hold, in silence, for one minute and 52% will hang up. If music is played, only 13% will hang up. If a message is played, only 2% will hang up. When callers hang up, 34% will never call you again." - Sold on Hold ^TM

We have had a ridiculously hot summer and I'm sure on more than one occasion, as you were talking to one customer, another one called in. Ideally, you never want to place a customer on hold, but sometimes it just happens. The only question is, "What does the customer experience?"

Silence? The Radio? Music? A brief message on the benefits of a service agreement or the current seasonal special? For most companies this is a lost opportunity in more ways than one. Not only are you are not taking advantage of this opportunity to market your company, a product or service, but you are also increasing the chances that the customer never does business with you again.

It's like being in the red zone and throwing an interception that is returned for touchdown. Not only did your team not score, but you also gave away points to your opponent. Like the research revealed, once the customer hangs up, there is a good chance they are not calling again. If they need service, that means they are calling your competition (points for your opponent).

There are 2 good reasons never to play the radio. One, you risk being sued if you don't have a proper license to rebroadcast. Two, we all know that there are several air conditioning companies that advertise on the radio. You wouldn't want your customer hearing an advertisement for your competition, right?

This month we are going to focus on the little details that often go overlooked, but can have a great impact on your business. Our goal is to work smarter, not harder. I hope this tip helped.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Sincerely,

Brian Starzec

Solar Powered Attic Fan

We just completed the website for the Attic-Cool solar powered attic fan. A solar powered attic fan is a great way to lower your monthly electric bill. The best part is that compared to other energy saving products, the solar powered attic fan is affordable, has a quick payback and high return on investment.

The solar powered attic fan circulates the air in your attic and removes the heat that builds up. By reducing the attic temperature it reduces the cooling load on the house and as a result, air conditioning systems run less - saving you money. Since the fan is solar powered, there are no ongoing costs once the product is installed.

The Attic-Cool model has several features that make it superior to the competition and they have 3 different models. The company is always looking for more dealers and expereinced technicians.

We have been fortunate to work with Lumina Global, the manufacturers of the Attic-Cool. They are a great organization and produce a high quality product and I would definitely recommend their product whether you plan to put one on your home or whether you intend to resell to your customers.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact myself or Lumina Global.

Why Educated Homeowners Add to the Bottomline

In the recent American Home Comfort Study by Decision Analysts of over 27,000 homeowners, they found that:


"It is important to note that the more informed the homeowner, the more they will spend on their new central system. Those using the Internet for example who research the most spent almost $1,000 more than those who did not."


This comprehensive research study validates what we have already known - that an educated homeowner can better understand the benefits associated with higher efficiency equipment and other high dollar add-ons for example, whole home indoor air quality systems. Therefore, one of the goals every dealer must have is to increase the knowledge level of their customers.


The statement is even more revealing as it identifies the source of these high-spending customers ? the Internet. To make your dealer website even more educational, HVAC Business Solutions is pleased to announce the introduction of a series of educational animations called the Ideal Home Comfort Showroom.


The 15 animations will help home owners

• understand how air conditioning and heating systems work,


• learn about products that will help protect HVAC equipment,


• learn the benefits to improving indoor air quality

Not only will the animations educate your customer base, it will also increase the level of trust and credibility in your organization due to the high quality level of the animations.


The animations can be previewed at Ideal Home Comfort Showroom or by clicking one of the images below:









If you are interested in adding these animations to your website and increasing your bottomline, please give us a call at 713-270-6400.