Skip to content
HVAC Happy Calls
It’s Friday morning. You grab your second cup of coffee of the day and sit down to make a “happy call” to Mrs. Jones, the elderly customer you just installed a new ductless system for. “How’s it going with the new system?” you ask her.
“Well, actually it’s not working right.” She tells you. You’re surprised to hear this, so you ask her a few questions and it turns out she’s just a bit confused by the remote. But she didn’t want to call. She didn’t want to be a bother. And she admits she’s a little embarrassed that she can’t see the buttons well and figure out all this newfangled technology. You tell her you’re going to swing by at lunchtime today and go over it with her, and even leave her some written instructions.
She sounds very relieved and confides in you that her son, who lives out of town and gave her the money for the new system, is getting increasingly angry that it isn’t “working properly.”
You stop by, get Mrs. Jones back on track and give her son a call while you’re there. He’s surprised and delighted that you made the extra effort to check in and fix the problem. He tells you that instead of writing a nasty online review about how your company takes advantage of the elderly, he’s going to write you a glowing review.
Whoa! See what just happened there?
A routine happy call just nipped a potential problem in the bud.
We’re a big fan of “happy calls” here at EB&L Marketing. For two important reasons.
- You’ll fend off negative online reviews
Who is more likely to write an online review about your company, a happy customer or an unhappy one? If you said unhappy, you’re correct. It’s an unfortunate characteristic of human nature, but customers who are ticked off are WAY more likely to write a negative review about you than happy customers are to write a positive one.
Which really stinks. But you can get ahead of negative reviews by simply picking up the phone and checking in with customers three or four days after an install. They might have a small nagging issue that you can solve over the phone. Or they might have a legitimate beef with your tech, or their new system. Either way, you need to know and address it head on. Before it gets away from you and out on the internet.
- Customers will believe you care
And what could be better than that? Every HVAC contractors SAYS they care about their customers. But talk is cheap. When you make that call you’re actually SHOWING them, not just saying you do.
Is making weekly happy calls a time suck? Yep. But it’s also vital to the health of your brand and your online reputation. And both of those things are worth spending your time protecting.