We offset some of the costs of home shows by using vendor co-op money.

Again, this is part of our objective to help educate customers on what we do and why it is so important.

It remains crucial to keep the messaging at live events the same as the messaging in other marketing. Consistency is critical.

Kennihan Tracks Results

As National Comfort Institute teaches, ‘If You Don’t Measure, You’re Just Guessing.’ This truth goes beyond the HVAC side of the business. You need to measure everything, and that includes marketing results. Digital metrics are much easier to track and measure. One such measure we track closely is the cost per lead.

I discuss this with our content creators in our meetings when they share the numbers with me (another advantage of using third-party partners).

Right now, for Kennihan Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning, our cost per lead hovers around $57. That is our year-to-date digital number.

We have various benchmarks that we measure email blasts against, including things like open rate.

When it comes to tracking leads from our print programs, I look for a ratio of leads per marketing piece. In an ideal world, that would be a 10 to one ratio. In other words, for every dollar I spend in print marketing, I see $10 in sales.

However, in my experience, it’s only three to four dollars in sales.

Our strategy isn’t to shotgun the entire market area to people who don’t know us. When you key in on your existing customers, it’s not a hard sell. You’ve already built trust with them.

Because of that, we’ve already started educating them and helping them understand what we do and how we can use Performance-Based Contracting to improve their homes. Add in the pre-established trust, and they are open and willing to make the necessary upgrades and changes.

Jose Montes is the office manager at Kennihan Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning, in Valencia, PA. His industrial engineering background propels him to always look for improvement. As a contractor, he enjoys sharing what he has learned with others. Feel free to contact him at ncilink.com/ContactMe.