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Helping Service Technicians With Lead Generation

By Michael O'Grady
July 14, 2011

To help service technicians with lead generation, I make it a habit of riding along with them on heating service calls in the winter, plumbing service calls all year long, and air-conditioning calls in the summer. My service technicians have become experts in the fine art of replacement lead generation when dealing with heating or air-conditioning issues. Generating leads on plumbing service calls are a little more challenging.

After snaking out a kitchen drain or replacing a bathroom faucet, transitioning into a conversation about a furnace or air-conditioning system can be difficult. It’s a difficult conversation to start, but it is necessary. It’s critical to your business to cross-promote your services whenever possible, and to not just rely on hand-out marketing materials and sticker postings on furnaces and air-conditioners.

To generate more leads, I’ve learned to take things one step further. I will show up at the home while my service technician is there doing a plumbing call.

Here’s a scenario: John the service technician is on a plumbing service call. I show up and say: “I’m Mike, I wanted to stop in while John was here fixing your toilet and say hello. One of the services we offer our customers is a no charge evaluation of your heating and air-conditioning system. We look at age, condition and approximate efficiency rating. We can give you a plan for the future. You’ll know if and when you should upgrade your system with higher efficiency and newer equipment. I can do that while John is finishing up if you’d like?”

At that point, I’ve either planted a seed or generated a lead for replacement.

The best time to have your replacement specialists generate leads is in the slower months, like March and April. I have found that 10 no-charge evaluations per-week, per-person will lead to 1 much needed additional installation per-week. For the 9 that don’t close right away, that’s 9 seeds planted for future replacement work.

Michael O'Grady is the author of the new book, “Selling at the Kitchen Table: A Contractor’s Guide to Closing the Deal”. He offers sales training seminars, private coaching sessions and products for sales professionals, managers, contractors and business owners.

Share This Story

Well known in the services industry for his tenacious, self-disciplined, and self-motivated selling and training style, Michael O’Grady is an accomplished HVAC sales manager, coach, author and publisher. He conducts regular seminars and webinars and is founder of the online sales training resource, www.sales-psychology.com.

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