Home services businesses have extremely busy times and slower periods as well. These less busy times may be the result of inquiries who aren’t quite ready to pull the trigger on their HVAC services, while busier times usually occur as the weather changes significantly and people realize their HVAC system isn’t up to par.
Whatever the reason or season, you need a way to organize customer calls and inquires to make sure you serve every customer in a timely manner.
Because technicians are rarely in the office, call tracking can be a vital tool in making sure customers get their questions answered and that you understand which ads are driving most of your business.
What is Call Tracking?
Call tracking is a software tool that shows you which ads are getting the most attention, how many times customers visit your website, where your clientele is located geographically, and much more vital information.
There are many benefits of call tracking.
For starters, it lets you see the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns (ROI). You can clearly see which ad campaigns were a hit and which ones flopped, so you don’t waste your money on the same advertising strategy in the future.
Call tracking uses dynamic number insertion so you know where a potential customer learned about you and what convinced them to call. However, it doesn’t show the customer a different phone number than the one listed on your website or Google profile. This reduces confusion and makes your company seem less reliable.
You can compile data on the demographics of your callers with call tracking. Knowing basic information about the client can help you market to a similar demographic in the future.
There countless features of call tracking software that can be tailored to meet your individual business needs. Once a call tracking system is integrated into your marketing strategy, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to do business any other way.
Why Use Call Tracking for Your HVAC Business
An HVAC service is in high demand when summer rolls around, but you want to keep business flowing all year long. Call tracking can help.
It will help you eliminate ads that aren’t performing well so you can focus on the ones providing a solid return on investment (ROI). For example, you can run ads that focus on HVAC maintenance or replacement throughout the year, and this may lead to more business in your non-peak times.
A surprising benefit of call tracking is that it can make your website menu more functional. It can show you if there are tabs that don’t get any activity. You can delete these tabs or replace them with different information and move the important information on those pages somewhere else.
Your staff will be able to instantly recognize repeat customers when they call, which reiterates how caring and genuine your staff is.
Best Practices to Use with Call Tracking
There are several things you can do to make call tracking even more effective.
- Use unique content in each ad so you know specifically what customers are looking for. When a customer calls, you will know which HVAC service they are inquiring about right away, which cuts down on the initial conversation that usually occurs during a consultation call. This will make your HVAC company appear efficient and professional.
- Select a plan with enough numbers that the information will be beneficial. Research shows that a minimum of 4 numbers is needed to for small businesses. (Remember, the customer will only see your official business number. These lines are connected to different ads behind the scenes, so there’s no confusion.)
- Track your performance. There is no point in having call tracking software if you aren’t going to use it! Every new job should be attributed to an ad campaign. This is called closed-loop tracking. You can use the information provided in your dashboard for immediate decisions and long-term planning.
How Can Your HVAC Company Benefit from Call Tracking?
Call tracking is an investment that keeps business flowing throughout the year, not just in your busiest seasons.
When many companies are providing the same services — like in the case of HVAC services — you need a way to set your business apart and bring in new business.
The best way to do that is with targeted, strategic marketing. But you don’t have to have a marketing degree in addition to HVAC training. All you need is a few well-placed ads and a call tracking plan from CallPanther that can analyze them to show you what’s working best.