Typically, that addendum is a sheet of paper with headers for safety, health, comfort, and efficiency. Beneath each header, we describe what we provide in each area for them. I leave that with the customers while I begin testing in their basement.

That’s proven powerful because when I come up from the basement, the customers usually are reading that form. They’re engaged. I then ask them what they think about the information they just read.

Their response is usually very positive. They’ll say, “I’m really glad you’re doing this. No one else does this stuff.”

This seems to wean out transactional customers, who we don’t want anyway. I think NCI taught us about firing customers.

Sometimes, our pricing or the way we do things wean them out. They don’t understand. I do my best to educate them in under two hours, but sometimes that is futile.

We also use analogies to help explain what we do and what we measure and test on their systems. Using analogies, such as comparing static pressure to blood pressure, makes things much less techie and more understandable.

Plus, I take a lot of pictures. I learned this from Tom Whitman, who called it evidencing. I take photos on my cell phone and iPad to show customers what I’m doing and what I found during my presentation. In this way, I can teach them about their system.

I also draw pictures now (something else I learned from Whitman). That’s been a godsend. It seems weird for me to draw a picture to explain how a customer’s system works. But most customers thank me for showing them in a way they understand.

Hand-drawing pictures showing how air moves throughout their home helps make sense of their issues and allows them to decide to buy from me. I often don’t even ask for the order. They say, “When can you get started, and what kind of deposit do you need?

The result of this show-versus-tell approach is having a closing rate, on average, around 40 to 50%.

Storytelling is So Powerful

Everybody loves a good story. Sharing anecdotes or real-life examples to explain and illustrate our practices and technologies is also a great way to build customer relationships. Because we practice High-Performance HVAC™, we can make the invisible visible for customers.

Where most people look through the air and breathe it, we can see it by testing and measuring air within the ductwork. Customers are amazed, especially when we show them airflow numbers. We show them how we can see what it’s doing. What other contractor can do that?

At this point, I can talk about the tools we use, the training we undergo, our certifications, and what that means in terms of providing them with solutions to their comfort and energy issues. Most customers then get it and see that virtually no other contractor offers this level of service.

I’ve gone as far as showing them our readings and measurements, but most customers, in my experience, don’t care about that. What they do care about is the evidence I gather, the pictures I share, and the explanation of the difference between what we found compared to national standards, much in the way doctors or car mechanics do.

I then end the story of their HVAC system by asking them if they can see how our proposed changes can make a difference for their family.

This is how Canco builds trust and relationships with potential customers and maintains those relationships with existing ones. Again, it’s all about communication and education.

None of this stuff just happens. It takes commitment. It takes training. And most of all, it takes practice. Training is critical to making sure that everybody is on the same page. It’s also a great way to find better solutions together.

---

Will Horner is the sales manager at Canco ClimateCare in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. He joined Canco in 2005 and is a firm believer in training. He has taken all the HVAC design courses at The Heating, Refrigeration Air-Conditioning Institute of Canada – Skilltech Academy. Horner holds current designations as a Residential Air System Design Technician and Residential Hydronic Design Technician. You can reach him via ncilink.com/ContactMe.