7 HVAC Sales Tips to Book More Jobs (+ Sales Scripts)

1. Find prospects to contact

Looking for potential customers to contact (known as prospecting) is the first step to selling HVAC jobs successfully. Here are a few ways to find HVAC leads:

• Ask existing customers for referrals in your customer service follow-up emails
• Connect with potential customers in Facebook groups dedicated to home improvement, smart home technology, and home service entrepreneurship
• Create profiles on lead generation sites where potential customers are searching for HVAC companies
• Set up Local Services Ads on Google to attract potential customers in your area

Collect at least one contact method from everyone you meet—ideally an email or phone number—and keep a list of these contacts. If you’ve connected with someone on social media, you can use that same platform when you reach out.

2. Reach out and book a conversation

Contact everyone on your list of leads to get them talking and find out what problems they’re facing. Instead of trying to push your products and services, figure out the answer to their problem.

You’ll rarely get the sale after one phone call or email, so your goal should be to continue the conversation with your lead. Finish every message with a call to action, whether that’s a 15-minute phone call or a home visit.

Start a phone call with a lead using this simple script:

3. Ask questions to qualify your leads

Not everyone you contact will be a good customer for you. For example, you might get called in for a simple A/C fix that your customer could take care of in minutes—and that would waste your time and money.

Qualifying your leads is how you get to know a potential customer better and whether they’re a good fit for your services. Here are some qualifying questions you can ask in person or on the phone:

• What are you looking for in an HVAC system?
• What kind of issues have you been experiencing?
• What have you tried doing to solve this before?
• Have you tried to solve this problem in the past with another HVAC company? Why didn’t that work?
• Have you ever hired an HVAC company before? If so, what made you consider us for the job this time?

This qualification process is especially important for commercial or industrial HVAC jobs as those are more complex and time consuming.

If you can visit your potential client’s home and have this conversation in person after inspecting their current HVAC system, you’ll have a better chance of building trust and proving your expertise.

4. Be ready to handle objections

You’re bound to face some pushback and concerns when you’re selling HVAC work. Listen carefully to your leads, be empathetic, and use these tips to respond to common objections:

• “I can’t afford this right now.” Explain the value of your services in terms of long-term cost savings, how a quality HVAC system can prevent other household problems, or improvements to their quality of life. You can also offer financing to customers so they can pay in small installments.
• “I’m already with another HVAC company.” Ask them why they chose their current HVAC contractor, what’s working with that relationship, and what isn’t. Explain to them how you’re different.
• “I don’t want to get stuck in a contract.” This is usually a financial concern, so give options for month-by-month or quarter-by-quarter payment. Open the conversation to talk about payment terms and schedules that will work for the customer.
• “I have too much going on right now.” Be understanding and respond with something like: “for sure, I know it’s a busy time!” Offer to schedule a follow-up call a few weeks or months from now when their calendar clears up.
• “This sounds great, but I have to talk to my partner before making any decisions.” Let them know you understand—that’s out of your control. Say you’ll call in a couple of days to check in.

If the prospect has an objection you’re willing to work around, ask this question to move the sales process forward: “If we can find a way to deal with [objection], would you be able to sign the contract on [date]?”

If they’re not ready yet, give them some time to think through their concerns. Let them know you’ll follow up after a few days—this shows the lead you’re considerate of their needs and allows them to make a more informed decision.

Pro Tip: Sharing success stories and testimonials from your happy customers is a great way to show you’re a trustworthy service provider. Start collecting reviews from customers if you don’t have any testimonials to share yet.

5. Send a detailed estimate

Once you’ve overcome your prospect’s objections, send an HVAC estimate to show the services and products they’re paying for and how much they’ll cost. Describe the HVAC unit you’re installing, repairing, or maintaining so your customer knows exactly where their money is going.

Your estimate should look professional and include you and your customer’s contact details, your logo, estimate terms and conditions, and any special discounts or rates.

Here’s an example of an HVAC quote, made in Jobber, that a customer can sign online:

6. Follow up until you get approval

It can take a while for some customers to approve your quote. In your quote follow-up emails, be proactive and tell them you’re ready to send a contract or schedule a service date.

Often, the best way to close the sale is to act like your prospect has already signed off on the work. This way, you remove the opportunity for more objections.

Here are a few statements and questions you can use to get your quote approved:

• If you’re ready to move forward, I can email you the contract and collect a deposit right now.
• Do you have your calendar available? I’ll be in your area this Monday, Thursday, and Friday—let me know which day would work best for you.
• What day would you like that scheduled on?
• Taking everything into consideration, I’d say either X or Y are your best options.
• Which one should we go ahead with?

7. Sell more services to your existing customers

Knowing how to sell more services to your existing customers is a great way to guarantee ongoing profitability for your HVAC business. With the right cross-selling and upselling techniques, you can make more revenue from existing customers.

Here are HVAC sales tips to use for your current customer base:

• Add optional line items to your estimates to offer customers additional products or services that could improve their air quality, like a blower wheel replacement or HEPA filter installation. On average, adding optional line items can increase quote totals by 35%.
• Offer tiered pricing. When you’re at a customer’s home for a service visit, give clients the option to upgrade their HVAC system and maintenance agreement with good, better, best pricing options. Tiered pricing packages help you sell on value instead of cost and close higher-priced jobs.
• Expand your services to solve customer problems. Are some of your customers asking about humidifiers, ductless HVAC, or anything else you don’t offer yet? Responding to those needs will keep customers happy, book you more work, and help you win new customers looking for those services.

Keep checking in on your customers over email and two-way text messaging to see if they’re happy with their HVAC systems. This is the best way to find out if customers need more assistance or other solutions.

Remember—your customers trust you because you’ve done great work that solves their problems. Maintain that trust by only selling what your customers actually need.