Do you want to learn about the best way to create marketing lists for HVAC Dealers? Consider overlaying credit score to pre-qualify your prospects.

There is nothing more frustrating for a HVAC Dealer than spending time and money reaching out to homeowners who do not need or cannot afford a system.

Regardless of whether you are using direct mail, email or digital marketing, you need to make sure that you are targeting the absolute best prospects for your dealership.

Most HVAC companies use many of the standard targeting variables to create their list. These include dwelling type, home ownership, home value, age of home.

However, within that group are still people who are not good prospects. We can all agree that it’s a waste of hard-earned dollars to reach out to non-qualified prospects. You spend money pitching them. Not to mention the time spent at an in-home appointment and getting them to sign a contract. And then, they don’t qualify for financing.

Demographics aren’t enough

When you’re buying a marketing list for HVAC dealers, it’s important to understand that more than 25% of American Homeowners have scores under 599. If they can’t pass credit with your finance company, don’t waste your marketing money on them.

With this in mind, many HVAC dealers are now incorporating Credit Worthiness into their criteria.

First, know your customer. Make sure you select your list by the score that you know your Finance Company will accept. Remember, the credit score can be overlaid onto the specific targeted homeowner lists that work within the framework of your dealership’s lead generation program.

Then, you can consider the different types of Credit Score lists that are available in the marketplace.

Understanding Prescreened Data vs Modeled Credit Scores

It’s important to understand the difference between prescreened credit score data and modeled credit data.

Prescreened lists are typically provided by Experian, Trans Union or Equifax. Yes, they are a great way to insure that marketing targets conform to an actual credit score. They are generally quite expensive and require extensive red tape to get a marketer set up to rent lists or to get mail pieces approved.

When it comes to marketing lists for HVAC dealers, the fact is that most dealerships are just simply not qualified to receive prescreen data. That is because you are not the actual finance company. There are lots of hoops to jump through to get approved, including background checks and office visits. Additionally, there is required legal language that must be printed on your mail piece that requires you to make a firm offer of credit. That means regardless of whether you want to sell your system to someone, if they got your mailer, they get the loan.

Since most Dealerships simply cannot use the prescreened list, the solution is Modeled Credit score data. This is widely used data in the HVAC industry.

• The costs are comparatively less expensive
• It’s easier to acquire this list of credit worthy people / same day delivery
• No firm offer of credit is required
• Ability to overlay demographics, home data

Standing Out In the Crowd

We know that the key to keeping your brand and offer visible to prospects is frequency. And, it’s not just repetition in the same medium. Your message needs to be visible in multiple marketing channels to make an impact.

The more times someone sees your message and the more ways they see it, the more they will remember it. And your timing needs to be right.

For example, once you have a great marketing list of targeted HVAC prospects, you want to maximize it. That means you want to reach out to your prime prospects through as many ways as possible: direct mail, telemarketing, email and digital marketing.

Generating Leads through Direct Mail

Direct mail is still the only marketing channel that reaches 100% of your prospects. All the time, every time.

Yes, direct mail may feel “old school” – but it works. This is especially true for higher-priced items, like HVAC.

These statistics are from SmallBizGenius.

• 42.2% of direct mail recipients either read or scan the mail they get.
• Direct mail requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than email.
• Recipients purchase 28% more items and spend 28% more money than people who don’t get that same piece of direct mail.
• Direct mail offers a 29% return on investment.
• 73% of American consumers say they prefer being contacted by brands via direct mail because they can read it whenever they want.

The top direct mail format in HVAC is the oversized postcard. Smart marketers are using QR codes to drive people to a landing page on their websites. This is where they can convert these prospects into solid leads.

Telemarketing Still Generates Leads

Many HVAC dealers do very well with telemarketing. Your list can be appended with scrubbed telephone #s. If you work with a reliable marketing list company, they will provide you with scrubbed data. That means the list is purged against the Do Not Call.

Nowadays, many homeowners are “untethered”. This means they do not have a landline. If your Dealership generates leads through telemarketing, you may want to consider a marketing list of homeowners with Cell Phone numbers.

Email – Part of your Lead Generation Strategy

Email response increased in 2020. That’s because everyone was home glued to their phones or laptops. A well-crafted email to the right people can definitely generate leads for your HVAC business.

Make sure your subject line entices people to open your email. Give them a good reason to click on your Call to Action button. This way you can drive them your website where you can capture their information, develop a real time lead.

Email addresses can be appended to about 40% of your targeted lead list. As a reminder, before you embark on an email marketing campaign, make sure you double check to make sure you can important rented or appended lists into your CRM system.

Reaching your top Homeowner Prospects Digitally

Digital display advertising is a form of advertising that utilizes custom or branded images to reach a specific audience. These ads are also known as internet banners. They typically use photos, videos and graphics to attract users to click and be taken to a landing page. That landing page is where your HVAC Dealership captures real time leads.

It doesn’t matter if you are scrolling through your social media feed or shopping online. Maybe you’re listening to music or watching the news on your I-phone.  During your session, a display banner may appear in sight. The banner might be displayed on the top, bottom, or side of your screen. These are digital ads.

With addressable geo-fencing, you can serve digital ads to the same qualified homeowners from your list. By reaching these qualified prospects via another channel, your visibility, branding and chance for success improves.

Final Note about Lead Generation Marketing

The over-arching goal of lead generation marketing is to develop solid leads for your sales people. When you’re talking about creating the best marketing lists for HVAC, the place to begin is by developing well-targeted marketing lists of prospects.

When you target homeowners by their credit worthiness, you are improving the efficiency of everything you do!