July 1, 2025 • 23 mins
Every contractor has experienced it – that sinking feeling when you're tagged in a neighborhood group post asking for the "cheapest HVAC company." Or the frustration of price-shopping calls that waste your time. What if you could transform your marketing to eliminate these tire kickers before they even reach your CSRs?
In this value-packed episode, Crystal breaks down exactly how successful contractors position their brands to attract clients who appreciate quality over price. She delivers a masterclass on premium positioning with her signature straight-talking approach: "You can't charge Ruth's Chris prices when you look like you're running through Whataburger on a Saturday afternoon after mowing the yard."
The key insight? "Price is only an objection in the absence of value." When your marketing establishes clear value from the first touchpoint, price objections naturally diminish. Crystal walks through practical strategies to build this value perception: creating consistent, professional branding; using compelling before-and-after content; showcasing powerful customer testimonials; and carefully selecting language that positions you as premium rather than "cheap."
For contractors struggling with sticker shock and tire kickers, this episode provides actionable tactics to transform your lead quality. You'll learn how to confidently discuss pricing, what marketing language attracts premium clients, and how to train your CSRs to handle price objections. The result? Higher close rates, better customers, and a business that competes on trust rather than price.
Ready to stop racing to the bottom and start attracting clients who value what you provide? This episode is your roadmap to building a brand that naturally repels tire kickers and magnetizes your ideal customers. Subscribe now and share this episode with fellow contractors who deserve better than bargain-hunting leads.
If you enjoyed this chat From the Yellow Chair, consider joining our newsletter, "Let's Sip Some Lemonade," where you can receive exclusive interviews, our bank of helpful downloadables, and updates on upcoming content.
Please consider following and drop a review below if you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to check out our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.
From the Yellow Chair is powered by Lemon Seed, a marketing strategy and branding company for the trades. Lemon Seed specializes in rebrands, creating unique, comprehensive, organized marketing plans, social media, and graphic design. Learn more at www.LemonSeedMarketing.com
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We'll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up, lemonheads ?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom the Yellow Chair.
I am Crystal and today we arecalling out the tire kickers.
We're calling out all thosepeople that want to call your
office.
Just check, for how much is itfor you to come out?
How much is a pound ofrefrigerant?
All of those people that arejust not who we ideally want to
(00:21):
be attracting and so we don'twant.
The ones that are getting fivequotes, asking for discounts,
ghosting you when you won't raceto the bottom of the thing and
how fast can you get here.
All of those things we'rediving in to.
How you can use marketing toreally eliminate price
objections before they happen,start attracting customers who
see your value and are willingto pay for it.
(00:43):
Get ready, let's go.
Let's sip some lemonade.
All right, listen, my goal hereis to educate contractors on how
strategic marketing can reallyeliminate, hopefully, the tire
kicker mentality that happenswhen people call our office and
(01:07):
they're chatting in or they'remessaging our social media page.
But I have a question for youhow many of you contractors live
life to where those littlefancy neighborhood groups, when
people start saying who is thecheapest, most affordable HVAC
company near me?
Does anybody know the mostreasonably priced plumber and
you're like secretly likeVACcompany near me Does anybody
know the most reasonably pricedplumber?
And you're like secretly, likeplease don't tag me, please
(01:29):
don't tag me, please don't tagme.
And then someone that thinksthey're doing you a really good
favor tags you and you're likemainly because you want to be a
resource for your community.
But your biggest problem isthat you're not the cheapest guy
on the block.
And listen, guys, we can'tbuild growing, successful,
(01:52):
scalable companies being thecheapest guy on the block.
We have to elevate.
And so today we're going totalk about positioning your
brand to attract the rightcustomers when those people want
to value service over price.
And listen, many of youlistening you're guilty of being
the tire kicker yourself.
So there are some instances inmy life where I'm just straight
up looking for the cheapestprice, right, straight up.
(02:13):
Maybe it's what I'm looking forspecifically, maybe it is a
difficult financial time rightthen, or I know I have something
big coming up.
So there's all these obstaclesout there right now already for
contractors to overcome.
But let's just talk about whatwe can do to control that.
At the very end today I willtalk about like what are some
tactics that your CSRs can useto flip those calls around.
(02:35):
But let me verify for you guys alittle bit.
What is a tire kicker?
Right?
These are the people that arejust looking right.
Usually they're super pricedriven.
They're not value driven Likehey, it's hot, I just need air,
how much is it?
Come fix it out.
I'm sorry, come fix it up.
And when that happens isthey're just not here for the
(02:56):
upselling and the joining of thememberships and the things that
you are wanting to provide forthem as options to really have a
energy efficient home with agood partnership with you.
They're just not here for it,right?
So again, people are indifferent phases of their life
and that is fine.
But we as contractors, we haveto focus on that ideal target
market and know that when wetalk and when we push out
(03:19):
messaging it absolutely mustmessaging it absolutely must
M-U-S-T.
It must be spoken into themarket the way that we want to
be received.
So if these tire kickers keeplanding in your sales funnel,
somehow there's odds are there'sa couple of things.
Maybe our messaging is just toogeneric.
We love everybody.
(03:40):
Everybody can get a new systemfrom Crystal Seating and Air
Conditioning right, we wanteverybody.
If I've had one contractor,tell me that I've had 10.
So, yes, ideally, I'd love forevery single person in Angelina
County to buy from me.
Okay, as Crystal Seating and AirConditioning.
Odds are that ain't going tohappen.
I'm going to be lucky tomaintain 60 to 70% market share.
(04:01):
That'd be fantastic, right.
That'd be gold numbers there,right.
But I have to get very specificwith my message.
Number two your brand justreally lacks authority.
So think about it.
You know, going into thesupermarket, that the store
brand sometimes is going to becheaper, or the, let's call it
where I live, is called high top.
So I know you're going to getit with me.
(04:22):
You're going to get it.
You're going to know you'regoing to put this into your
market.
We have there's high topcrackers and then there's like
Ritz.
Right, there's like Ritzcrackers.
So my husband will be like hey,don't buy high top crackers.
So odds are, when I look downthere, I know that Ritz crackers
are going to be more expensivethan high top crackers.
So if you're not built anyauthority in the space of hey,
(04:46):
these people know what they'retalking about.
They look the part, they haveadvertising going and then you
run up there and they've neverseen you before.
Your vans look ratchet, yourpeople look ratchet.
Your social media is not postedon.
These people are like, hey, Inever hear about these people, I
never see them.
Look at these vans, look atthis logo.
They better be cheap.
And then you bust out with one99 or something that they're not
(05:08):
expecting.
That is where it's justconfusion, um.
And so you've got to buildauthority like man.
These people really know whatthey're talking about.
You have to look the part, andyour ads just scream cheap, $29,
um inspections and things likethat.
All the time.
Um can make people feel likeman.
This is just a rat race, right?
(05:28):
Price is only an objection inthe absence of value.
Price is only an objection inthe absence of value, right?
So when people can't find thevalue, they won't pay the price.
And so your team has to be onguard from moment number one.
You have to look the part.
Your CSRs have to talk the part, your dispatcher has to follow
(05:51):
that same lead.
Your technician has to park inthe right spot, say the right
things, present the rightoptions.
If you're selling an install ora later service work, everybody
has to be on par.
We've got to synchronize.
We've got to win this gamebecause we are building.
The value is in our service,it's in our attention to detail,
it's in our product quality,it's in your overall customer
(06:13):
journey with us, not in thevalue, not in that actual dollar
amount.
And so we have an objectionhere of people are just calling
for price.
So first of all, you have to beokay that it's not your peeps.
You have to be okay that it'snot your customer.
So that's when you can say,okay, I know who I'm going after
(06:33):
.
I'm going to get very specificwith my messaging.
I'm going to elevate what welook like, feel like and talk
like and I'm going to elevate myads and my marketing for sure,
so that everything just feels alittle bit more expensive, so
that when they see the pricethey don't have sticker shock.
We want to price, conditionpeople just through our overall
appearance, condition the marketto understand that not only do
(06:55):
you look the part but you'repriced appropriately.
I say this rarely ever do youwalk into Burger King and you
see a couple going to prom,right, because they're not
dressed for that part, right.
You know, when I go to BurgerKing, like when I've got kids
and we're after practices.
And we're running through there, right?
You just don't look the partright.
(07:15):
So you can't have, you can'tcharge Ruth Chris Steakhouse
prices, but look like you arerunning through Whataburger on a
Saturday afternoon after youmowed the yard.
So everything has to go intandem to really have success
there.
So that's that rule number one.
Or the first thing we weretalking about there is what is a
(07:36):
tire kicker?
Why did they land in yourfunnel?
And that quote of price is onlyan objection.
In the absence of value, we mustbuild value.
Dig your well before you'rethirsty.
So you have to dig a good well,right?
So we're not trying to be janky.
Build a good well that is solidand you make plans for it.
It's built to last.
That is why branding is soimportant.
(07:57):
So let's talk about marketingstrategies that can pre-qualify
your leads, right?
So building a premium brandpresence.
Consistency in the look and tonebuilds trust with your market.
Consistency, like they shouldnot guess.
Is that a?
Is that a Nick Williams band?
Is that a Crystal CityInterconditioning band?
Why is it black?
(08:18):
Like those of you that love todo like oh, I love, I just
wanted to change it up.
I'm like okay, we hear our ownsales pitches all the time.
The average person does not.
So when you, you just can'tlose.
You can't lose the fact thatconsistency is what's going to
build brands.
So be consistent, put outcontent, put out advertising
(08:40):
that really is consistent.
It's on brand, it's going tobuild trust.
And then make sure that you'vegot quality photos, logos and
professional branding.
It just screams like hey, we'renot here for price, we're here
for quality.
Right, when you look good, youfeel good, you do better work
right.
So all of that has to build upand so consistency and looking
good is so important.
(09:02):
And you're going to look up sixmonths from now and be like
dang, I wish I would havestarted then.
I wish I would have known now.
I wish I would have known thenwhat I know now.
And y'all almost every singleperson that rebrands with Lemon
Seed ends up telling us I wish Iwould have done this three
years ago, two years ago, sixmonths ago, when I talked to
y'all the first time.
You're just so scared to getout there and do what you need
(09:23):
to do and I'm like listen, it'snot hard, the hardest part is
convincing yourself and timethat's the hardest part.
So the other way that we canbuild out some strategies to
pre-qualify leads is use casestudies, testimonies and before
and afters.
Before and afters are the mostengaging pieces of content that
you can put out there,especially when there's a major
(09:44):
transformation.
So this old, rusted, crustedlooking thing that somebody hit
with a lawnmower, bent over,looking all crazy on the outside
of your house, replaced withthis nice, beautiful shout out
to pro tip of my private labelpeeps, private labeled equipment
outside.
Or a water heater that wasrusty and crusty, it was stuck
(10:05):
in there and it was all rustedand there was stuff all around
it spider webs and you go in andyou de-web and you put that new
water heater there and it hasthis beautiful label on it and
it is looking fresh.
People love to see thattransformation from man.
This looks great.
Listen, we're not going to runout and buy a new water heater
because you made it look good.
But it's again.
We're all about just engagingcontent, getting testimonials.
(10:28):
But it's again, we're all aboutjust engaging content, getting
testimonials, video testimonies.
Chef's kiss, perfection, right,wonderful, perfection, love.
A good testimonial.
That's a video testimonial, letme see.
We love to call themzestimonials, but a video
telling about their environment,of working with you, their
customer journey.
Hey, I called Crystal's Heatingand Air Conditioning last Sunday
(10:48):
afternoon.
My family was headed in thisweek and they showed up on
Monday morning, were able to getme a new water heater installed
, carried my old one away.
It was the best experience.
Thank you, crystal's.
Heating, air Conditioning andPlumbing Right.
So boom, that is powerful.
And even a Google review oreven a go as deep as like a case
study kind of thing.
Like write it out, kind ofnarrate their story.
(11:11):
Guys, game changer, gamechanger on social media Right,
customer would say things like Ichose crystals heating and air
conditioning and plumbingbecause I trusted them.
I've used them in the past.
My parents use them.
How do we build up someauthority?
Right.
Also, to help pre-qualify thoseleads, let's educate through
content, blogs, faqs.
(11:32):
If you have not gone to yourGoogle business profile and
asked and answered somequestions, easy, easy, easy.
But make a video about whycheap HVAC installs fail.
Right, don't use the term HVAC.
But why does cheap equipmentfail me?
Or why can't I install my ownsystem?
Why should I trust aprofessional to install my
system?
Why can't I install my owngarbage disposal?
(11:55):
All these different things.
You definitely can put thingsout there that you know people
are searching for and tell themwhy they shouldn't be doing that
.
Right, just get out content.
Your content is king and guys,I don't know what else to tell
you Content freaking king.
You got to get it out there.
But you also have to teach thedifference between oh my gosh,
(12:16):
that water heater cost me Xamount of dollars, that new,
complete new system cost me thisamount of dollars, and how big
of an investment it is in yourhome, like you're heating an air
conditioning system and yourwater systems are the one of the
most, if not the most,important piece of your home,
especially those of y'all thatlive in the South.
Listen, y'all are crazy tryingto live without eating and air
(12:37):
conditioning, and the statewon't even let you live without
running water.
So, come on, now it's aninvestment.
But when you walk up and yourguys like smell like cigarette
and he's chomping on a piece ofgum and his shirt's all untucked
and he goes, yeah, this isgoing to cost you a pretty penny
, but, sir, absolutely not.
So educating through content,elevating the experience with
(12:57):
your team and then letting yourteam understand like, hey,
especially those of y'all thatare on incentive pay man.
You should be coaching them onhow you talk through like why
you need this investment right.
Also, avoid wasting time andset expectations.
They ask, you answer is areally great book I'm in the
middle of reading right now.
They ask and you answer.
(13:19):
So you know why are we afraid togive pricing out?
You know why?
Because we don't really knowand we we think somebody might
get mad or what if my competitorcalls who freaking cares?
Do you think that homeownersdon't tell the other guy what
you charge them?
Do you think that they don't goto a summer barbecue with some
friends from church and they'resitting there and be like, oh,
you own that other airconditioning company.
(13:40):
Yeah, I just paid that airconditioning company $15,000.
Do you know that's going on?
So you got to like grab a pairand just be like this is what
happens, right, so you can oursystem install started $8,500
with financing available.
But all of that's very looseinformation, because we'd really
(14:01):
like to come out and make surethat your system's sized
correctly, make sure that we canget it in the home correctly,
make sure that you actually needa new system.
We just like to come out.
It takes about an hour and ahalf, but we just try to make
sure the blah, blah, blah, blah,blah, right, so you gave them
the answer they ask.
You gave them the answer andnow you're just not wasting any
time.
So, if people are asking you forhow much is the cost of a new
system, they have some sort ofconcern.
(14:22):
Right?
A lot of y'all have heard.
If you've got to ask, you can'tafford it, right?
No one walks around being likeI wonder how much that yacht is,
other than people that can'tafford it.
Right, it's just reality, right?
So if money's not an issue,they're not as concerned about
the actual cost of the item asmuch as they're concerned about
the process.
How fast can you get itinstalled?
What does it look like?
(14:43):
All those different things,right?
So, again, educate throughcontent and start pricing and
giving pricing ranges the bestyou can.
Those of you.
This is a shameless plug thereis.
I have no vested interest inContractor Commerce.
I just think they're a greatcompany.
Contractor Commerce will allowyou to sell your equipment, your
IAQ, your memberships and allkinds of things online, and then
(15:04):
you need to utilize those linksto drive traffic to your online
page.
And, again, what you're doingis showing solutions to people's
problems.
Homeowners have issues they'retrying to figure out.
Even those of us that havemoney we are trying to figure
out like what kind of price am Ilooking for here?
So it's not my first question,but it's definitely in the
ballpark of me, trying tounderstand it.
(15:26):
So Contractor Commerce is agreat plugin that allows you to
like, list equipment online andall those things.
Definitely check them out, butalso use strategic offers.
Ideally, if we're really tryingto sell $12,000, $15,000,
$20,000 systems, it's reallyhard to do that with a $19
tune-up.
You have to really beintentional about that marketing
(15:47):
strategy.
Why are you doing it?
You're trying to get into homes.
Well, odds are you're going toget into homes that have a lower
value in the service itself.
So again, you just have to becareful there because if you get
too low, you really areattracting the people that have
an issue, that know they have anissue.
They just can't afford to fixit.
So they're going to nickel anddime you.
But using offers that positionyou as premium, like get a free
(16:13):
indoor air quality package whenyou install a new system, one of
our top tier systems, a freeWi-Fi thermostat right, some
things that are cool that reallyelevate that right.
So tons of options there.
So, as far as marketingstrategies that pre-qualify
leads, build a premium brand,tell stories that show value,
(16:33):
educate through content, startat least giving ranges and price
structure and then usingstrategic offers that are not
designed to grab a tire kickerbut a more invested person that
maybe it's like, uh, why not, Ishould go ahead and try it when
they see it at that.
So, and then what to say inyour marketing, right?
So use phrases like systemsthat are built to last.
(16:54):
Your peace of mind starts here.
You get what you pay for and wemake sure you're worth it.
We're not the cheapest, but weare the most trusted company
around.
You'll hear Crystal.
My whole entire Lemonside teamknows I hate the word free.
Free is like it cheapenseverything, right?
Complimentary is even a betterword than free, right?
(17:15):
So, and I even avoid thingslike affordable, lowest price,
best deal in town.
I kind of start feeling alittle and like no hate here,
because these guys have supremehustle.
A little used car salesy likecome on down, best rates only
today.
Like I get the sense of urgencythat we're trying to create but
at the end of the day, likeit's not.
(17:37):
We want to make sure that we areestablishing our messaging as a
brand, that we are affordable,but not to everybody, okay, that
we have a good price, not thelowest price, and we're
definitely not the best deal intown.
You can go somewhere else andget something cheaper that will
work Right.
So at the end of the day, itwill keep your house cool.
Now, is it energy efficient?
(17:58):
Are you guaranteed that companyis going to be a business when
you have an issue?
Do they offer the extendedwarranties?
Do they do all the cool thingsthat you do?
No, but will it cool theirhouse?
Yes.
So that's why those peoplecannot be our jam.
Y'all are better than that.
We're going to elevate betterthan that, especially those of
(18:18):
you that are limited clients.
We are better than that.
We are seeking people that carequality over quantity, right.
So an example would be like atAir Max we don't race to the
bottom, we raise the bar.
Our customers are looking forpeace of mind, not just a cheap
fix.
So boom, like you just straightup said hey, we're not for the
broke people and that sounds soterrible.
I hope some of y'all don'tthink I'm being like too
facetious here.
I'm really just trying to drivemy point home here that it's
(18:40):
not that we don't care.
And, at the end of the day, ifyou want to go help low income
families get heating and airconditioning, please go, do it
as a part of a ministry.
Go do it as a part of a servicethat you just want to provide.
But but when we are marketingto our ideal avatar, we are
seeking people with expendableincome.
We are seeking people that canafford to place quality over
quantity.
It's just a matter of who weare.
(19:00):
So again, help who you want tohelp.
But what we're talking abouthere is getting leads and new
customers that fit our profile,that aren't sticker shocked
every time we show them a priceright.
And what happens when we startmarketing correctly?
You have fewer unqualifiedleads, you have higher close
rates and you have a sales teamthat's more confident in what
their decisions are, and youstop competing with price and
(19:23):
chasing everybody to the bottomof a pile and you start
competing on trust right.
So I just want you guys toremember a couple of things.
Marketing is not just leadgeneration, it's lead
qualification.
If your branding and messagingdo not match your pricing,
you're always going to getpeople that think you're too
expensive.
Get clear, get bold, build abrand that attracts customers
(19:44):
that value what you do, anddon't be afraid to polarize
that's a little bit of a roughword polarized me, and I want
people to know that I'm afterthose Lexus driving people, I'm
after those Yukon driving mamas,because I know who my target
market is and that's how Icurate all of my messaging, all
(20:06):
of my graphics, all of mycommunity support.
You see, if you're marketing toeverybody, you're marketing to
nobody.
So when you speak directly tothat ideal client, you naturally
repel the ones that aren't asuper great fit.
Again, repel is a strong word,but what I'm trying to drive
home with you here, guys, isspeak to your ideal target
market and speak well enoughwhere they understand that
(20:29):
you're not the cheapest guyaround, and when those tire
kickers kick back up, whathappens is you're able to be
like okay, hey, yeah, absolutely, and speak with confidence
because you know what youprovide for people is a good
service.
So here's my little pro tip, mylittle extended version right
here, my little sip of lemonade,for those CSRs and contractors
(20:49):
are like man, I just keepgetting a bunch of them.
What do I do with them on thephone.
In my opinion, when people arecalling the office asking for
pricing, I would give it to them.
So we are $89 to come out andyou have to remind them.
The good news is we have afully stocked van.
We can actually make mostrepairs on site.
You're not going to be waitingon a part.
Odds are you're not going to bewaiting on a part or waiting on
(21:10):
me to come back.
We can pretty much serviceeverything right then and there.
But listen, we do completelyunderstand that $89 is a
diagnostic fee.
That is just our fee to comeout and let you know what's
going on.
If you make our recommendedrepairs, we actually waive that
$89 or we apply that $89 to theservice work itself.
You need to be prepared.
So step off my soapbox.
(21:30):
Your CSRs need to be preparedthat they don't lose a step when
someone says oh my gosh, that'scrazy.
I can't believe y'all charge$89.
Yes, I completely understandyou being surprised, but at
McWilliams we're always strivingto provide high-end service,
which would mean that we comewith a completely stocked band
with our technicians who havebeen background checked and drug
screened to make sure thatwe're keeping you safe, and also
(21:52):
we've been in business over 50years, so we are going to be
here if and when should anythinggo wrong.
We are here to support you andwalk you through any warranty
work.
Can I go ahead and get you onour schedule for this afternoon
between three and five?
Right, don't miss a beat.
It's when your CSR startfumbling around.
Well, yes, sir, I mean, I knowwe're expensive.
(22:18):
I don't really know why wecharge everything Like don't
shoot the messenger.
I'm really not that when theystart that, you've lost all
credibility with that homeowner.
So get your CSRs to feel solidand feel true about what you
offer.
Spin it around If you want togive them a little discount code
.
You know what, sir?
I could tell that you werereally surprised by that $89
dispatch fee.
Right now, just for some newclients, my boss has given us a
$25 coupon.
I'd love to apply that to youraccount, so it will be taken off
of any service or repair thatyou make today, whatever it
(22:41):
takes right.
Get the job booked.
What is your CSR's role?
To get the job booked.
That's what their role is,right.
So you know, I think, at theend of the day, when you really
start caring about new customeracquisition and building a brand
and doing all the things thatyou need to do, you start
naturally tire kickers, startknowing that they're not your
(23:04):
ideal person.
So then they start saying Ilove to support local man me too
.
I love for you to go supportChuck in the truck.
I hope he makes it.
It's rough out here in thesestreets, I hope he makes it.
You're just, we've grown pastthe tire kickers.
We're looking for people thatvalue quality and options.
So again, guys, I justencourage you to be
(23:25):
authentically yourself.
This podcast is hosted by Liveand See Marketing.
We're your full service coachesfor marketing, for advertising,
for branding, all of thosethings.
Remember, we're not thetraditional marketing company,
because who would want to bethat?
We're definitely somethingunique and fun.
If you want more information,email us at hello at
lemonseedmarketingcom.
Tell them you heard us on thepodcast and let's get talking,
(23:46):
because friends and family talkfree.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode.
We will see you next week.
Look forward to sippinglemonade with you guys.
Again, talk soon.
Bye.
What's up, lemonheads ?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom the Yellow Chair.
I am Crystal and today we arecalling out the tire kickers.
We're calling out all thosepeople that want to call your
office.
Just check, for how much is itfor you to come out?
How much is a pound ofrefrigerant?
All of those people that arejust not who we ideally want to
(00:21):
be attracting and so we don'twant.
The ones that are getting fivequotes, asking for discounts,
ghosting you when you won't raceto the bottom of the thing and
how fast can you get here.
All of those things we'rediving in to.
How you can use marketing toreally eliminate price
objections before they happen,start attracting customers who
see your value and are willingto pay for it.
(00:43):
Get ready, let's go.
Let's sip some lemonade.
All right, listen, my goal hereis to educate contractors on how
strategic marketing can reallyeliminate, hopefully, the tire
kicker mentality that happenswhen people call our office and
(01:07):
they're chatting in or they'remessaging our social media page.
But I have a question for youhow many of you contractors live
life to where those littlefancy neighborhood groups, when
people start saying who is thecheapest, most affordable HVAC
company near me?
Does anybody know the mostreasonably priced plumber and
you're like secretly likeVACcompany near me Does anybody
know the most reasonably pricedplumber?
And you're like secretly, likeplease don't tag me, please
(01:29):
don't tag me, please don't tagme.
And then someone that thinksthey're doing you a really good
favor tags you and you're likemainly because you want to be a
resource for your community.
But your biggest problem isthat you're not the cheapest guy
on the block.
And listen, guys, we can'tbuild growing, successful,
(01:52):
scalable companies being thecheapest guy on the block.
We have to elevate.
And so today we're going totalk about positioning your
brand to attract the rightcustomers when those people want
to value service over price.
And listen, many of youlistening you're guilty of being
the tire kicker yourself.
So there are some instances inmy life where I'm just straight
up looking for the cheapestprice, right, straight up.
(02:13):
Maybe it's what I'm looking forspecifically, maybe it is a
difficult financial time rightthen, or I know I have something
big coming up.
So there's all these obstaclesout there right now already for
contractors to overcome.
But let's just talk about whatwe can do to control that.
At the very end today I willtalk about like what are some
tactics that your CSRs can useto flip those calls around.
(02:35):
But let me verify for you guys alittle bit.
What is a tire kicker?
Right?
These are the people that arejust looking right.
Usually they're super pricedriven.
They're not value driven Likehey, it's hot, I just need air,
how much is it?
Come fix it out.
I'm sorry, come fix it up.
And when that happens isthey're just not here for the
(02:56):
upselling and the joining of thememberships and the things that
you are wanting to provide forthem as options to really have a
energy efficient home with agood partnership with you.
They're just not here for it,right?
So again, people are indifferent phases of their life
and that is fine.
But we as contractors, we haveto focus on that ideal target
market and know that when wetalk and when we push out
(03:19):
messaging it absolutely mustmessaging it absolutely must
M-U-S-T.
It must be spoken into themarket the way that we want to
be received.
So if these tire kickers keeplanding in your sales funnel,
somehow there's odds are there'sa couple of things.
Maybe our messaging is just toogeneric.
We love everybody.
(03:40):
Everybody can get a new systemfrom Crystal Seating and Air
Conditioning right, we wanteverybody.
If I've had one contractor,tell me that I've had 10.
So, yes, ideally, I'd love forevery single person in Angelina
County to buy from me.
Okay, as Crystal Seating and AirConditioning.
Odds are that ain't going tohappen.
I'm going to be lucky tomaintain 60 to 70% market share.
(04:01):
That'd be fantastic, right.
That'd be gold numbers there,right.
But I have to get very specificwith my message.
Number two your brand justreally lacks authority.
So think about it.
You know, going into thesupermarket, that the store
brand sometimes is going to becheaper, or the, let's call it
where I live, is called high top.
So I know you're going to getit with me.
(04:22):
You're going to get it.
You're going to know you'regoing to put this into your
market.
We have there's high topcrackers and then there's like
Ritz.
Right, there's like Ritzcrackers.
So my husband will be like hey,don't buy high top crackers.
So odds are, when I look downthere, I know that Ritz crackers
are going to be more expensivethan high top crackers.
So if you're not built anyauthority in the space of hey,
(04:46):
these people know what they'retalking about.
They look the part, they haveadvertising going and then you
run up there and they've neverseen you before.
Your vans look ratchet, yourpeople look ratchet.
Your social media is not postedon.
These people are like, hey, Inever hear about these people, I
never see them.
Look at these vans, look atthis logo.
They better be cheap.
And then you bust out with one99 or something that they're not
(05:08):
expecting.
That is where it's justconfusion, um.
And so you've got to buildauthority like man.
These people really know whatthey're talking about.
You have to look the part, andyour ads just scream cheap, $29,
um inspections and things likethat.
All the time.
Um can make people feel likeman.
This is just a rat race, right?
(05:28):
Price is only an objection inthe absence of value.
Price is only an objection inthe absence of value, right?
So when people can't find thevalue, they won't pay the price.
And so your team has to be onguard from moment number one.
You have to look the part.
Your CSRs have to talk the part, your dispatcher has to follow
(05:51):
that same lead.
Your technician has to park inthe right spot, say the right
things, present the rightoptions.
If you're selling an install ora later service work, everybody
has to be on par.
We've got to synchronize.
We've got to win this gamebecause we are building.
The value is in our service,it's in our attention to detail,
it's in our product quality,it's in your overall customer
(06:13):
journey with us, not in thevalue, not in that actual dollar
amount.
And so we have an objectionhere of people are just calling
for price.
So first of all, you have to beokay that it's not your peeps.
You have to be okay that it'snot your customer.
So that's when you can say,okay, I know who I'm going after
(06:33):
.
I'm going to get very specificwith my messaging.
I'm going to elevate what welook like, feel like and talk
like and I'm going to elevate myads and my marketing for sure,
so that everything just feels alittle bit more expensive, so
that when they see the pricethey don't have sticker shock.
We want to price, conditionpeople just through our overall
appearance, condition the marketto understand that not only do
(06:55):
you look the part but you'repriced appropriately.
I say this rarely ever do youwalk into Burger King and you
see a couple going to prom,right, because they're not
dressed for that part, right.
You know, when I go to BurgerKing, like when I've got kids
and we're after practices.
And we're running through there, right?
You just don't look the partright.
(07:15):
So you can't have, you can'tcharge Ruth Chris Steakhouse
prices, but look like you arerunning through Whataburger on a
Saturday afternoon after youmowed the yard.
So everything has to go intandem to really have success
there.
So that's that rule number one.
Or the first thing we weretalking about there is what is a
(07:36):
tire kicker?
Why did they land in yourfunnel?
And that quote of price is onlyan objection.
In the absence of value, we mustbuild value.
Dig your well before you'rethirsty.
So you have to dig a good well,right?
So we're not trying to be janky.
Build a good well that is solidand you make plans for it.
It's built to last.
That is why branding is soimportant.
(07:57):
So let's talk about marketingstrategies that can pre-qualify
your leads, right?
So building a premium brandpresence.
Consistency in the look and tonebuilds trust with your market.
Consistency, like they shouldnot guess.
Is that a?
Is that a Nick Williams band?
Is that a Crystal CityInterconditioning band?
Why is it black?
(08:18):
Like those of you that love todo like oh, I love, I just
wanted to change it up.
I'm like okay, we hear our ownsales pitches all the time.
The average person does not.
So when you, you just can'tlose.
You can't lose the fact thatconsistency is what's going to
build brands.
So be consistent, put outcontent, put out advertising
(08:40):
that really is consistent.
It's on brand, it's going tobuild trust.
And then make sure that you'vegot quality photos, logos and
professional branding.
It just screams like hey, we'renot here for price, we're here
for quality.
Right, when you look good, youfeel good, you do better work
right.
So all of that has to build upand so consistency and looking
good is so important.
(09:02):
And you're going to look up sixmonths from now and be like
dang, I wish I would havestarted then.
I wish I would have known now.
I wish I would have known thenwhat I know now.
And y'all almost every singleperson that rebrands with Lemon
Seed ends up telling us I wish Iwould have done this three
years ago, two years ago, sixmonths ago, when I talked to
y'all the first time.
You're just so scared to getout there and do what you need
(09:23):
to do and I'm like listen, it'snot hard, the hardest part is
convincing yourself and timethat's the hardest part.
So the other way that we canbuild out some strategies to
pre-qualify leads is use casestudies, testimonies and before
and afters.
Before and afters are the mostengaging pieces of content that
you can put out there,especially when there's a major
(09:44):
transformation.
So this old, rusted, crustedlooking thing that somebody hit
with a lawnmower, bent over,looking all crazy on the outside
of your house, replaced withthis nice, beautiful shout out
to pro tip of my private labelpeeps, private labeled equipment
outside.
Or a water heater that wasrusty and crusty, it was stuck
(10:05):
in there and it was all rustedand there was stuff all around
it spider webs and you go in andyou de-web and you put that new
water heater there and it hasthis beautiful label on it and
it is looking fresh.
People love to see thattransformation from man.
This looks great.
Listen, we're not going to runout and buy a new water heater
because you made it look good.
But it's again.
We're all about just engagingcontent, getting testimonials.
(10:28):
But it's again, we're all aboutjust engaging content, getting
testimonials, video testimonies.
Chef's kiss, perfection, right,wonderful, perfection, love.
A good testimonial.
That's a video testimonial, letme see.
We love to call themzestimonials, but a video
telling about their environment,of working with you, their
customer journey.
Hey, I called Crystal's Heatingand Air Conditioning last Sunday
(10:48):
afternoon.
My family was headed in thisweek and they showed up on
Monday morning, were able to getme a new water heater installed
, carried my old one away.
It was the best experience.
Thank you, crystal's.
Heating, air Conditioning andPlumbing Right.
So boom, that is powerful.
And even a Google review oreven a go as deep as like a case
study kind of thing.
Like write it out, kind ofnarrate their story.
(11:11):
Guys, game changer, gamechanger on social media Right,
customer would say things like Ichose crystals heating and air
conditioning and plumbingbecause I trusted them.
I've used them in the past.
My parents use them.
How do we build up someauthority?
Right.
Also, to help pre-qualify thoseleads, let's educate through
content, blogs, faqs.
(11:32):
If you have not gone to yourGoogle business profile and
asked and answered somequestions, easy, easy, easy.
But make a video about whycheap HVAC installs fail.
Right, don't use the term HVAC.
But why does cheap equipmentfail me?
Or why can't I install my ownsystem?
Why should I trust aprofessional to install my
system?
Why can't I install my owngarbage disposal?
(11:55):
All these different things.
You definitely can put thingsout there that you know people
are searching for and tell themwhy they shouldn't be doing that
.
Right, just get out content.
Your content is king and guys,I don't know what else to tell
you Content freaking king.
You got to get it out there.
But you also have to teach thedifference between oh my gosh,
(12:16):
that water heater cost me Xamount of dollars, that new,
complete new system cost me thisamount of dollars, and how big
of an investment it is in yourhome, like you're heating an air
conditioning system and yourwater systems are the one of the
most, if not the most,important piece of your home,
especially those of y'all thatlive in the South.
Listen, y'all are crazy tryingto live without eating and air
(12:37):
conditioning, and the statewon't even let you live without
running water.
So, come on, now it's aninvestment.
But when you walk up and yourguys like smell like cigarette
and he's chomping on a piece ofgum and his shirt's all untucked
and he goes, yeah, this isgoing to cost you a pretty penny
, but, sir, absolutely not.
So educating through content,elevating the experience with
(12:57):
your team and then letting yourteam understand like, hey,
especially those of y'all thatare on incentive pay man.
You should be coaching them onhow you talk through like why
you need this investment right.
Also, avoid wasting time andset expectations.
They ask, you answer is areally great book I'm in the
middle of reading right now.
They ask and you answer.
(13:19):
So you know why are we afraid togive pricing out?
You know why?
Because we don't really knowand we we think somebody might
get mad or what if my competitorcalls who freaking cares?
Do you think that homeownersdon't tell the other guy what
you charge them?
Do you think that they don't goto a summer barbecue with some
friends from church and they'resitting there and be like, oh,
you own that other airconditioning company.
(13:40):
Yeah, I just paid that airconditioning company $15,000.
Do you know that's going on?
So you got to like grab a pairand just be like this is what
happens, right, so you can oursystem install started $8,500
with financing available.
But all of that's very looseinformation, because we'd really
(14:01):
like to come out and make surethat your system's sized
correctly, make sure that we canget it in the home correctly,
make sure that you actually needa new system.
We just like to come out.
It takes about an hour and ahalf, but we just try to make
sure the blah, blah, blah, blah,blah, right, so you gave them
the answer they ask.
You gave them the answer andnow you're just not wasting any
time.
So, if people are asking you forhow much is the cost of a new
system, they have some sort ofconcern.
(14:22):
Right?
A lot of y'all have heard.
If you've got to ask, you can'tafford it, right?
No one walks around being likeI wonder how much that yacht is,
other than people that can'tafford it.
Right, it's just reality, right?
So if money's not an issue,they're not as concerned about
the actual cost of the item asmuch as they're concerned about
the process.
How fast can you get itinstalled?
What does it look like?
(14:43):
All those different things,right?
So, again, educate throughcontent and start pricing and
giving pricing ranges the bestyou can.
Those of you.
This is a shameless plug thereis.
I have no vested interest inContractor Commerce.
I just think they're a greatcompany.
Contractor Commerce will allowyou to sell your equipment, your
IAQ, your memberships and allkinds of things online, and then
(15:04):
you need to utilize those linksto drive traffic to your online
page.
And, again, what you're doingis showing solutions to people's
problems.
Homeowners have issues they'retrying to figure out.
Even those of us that havemoney we are trying to figure
out like what kind of price am Ilooking for here?
So it's not my first question,but it's definitely in the
ballpark of me, trying tounderstand it.
(15:26):
So Contractor Commerce is agreat plugin that allows you to
like, list equipment online andall those things.
Definitely check them out, butalso use strategic offers.
Ideally, if we're really tryingto sell $12,000, $15,000,
$20,000 systems, it's reallyhard to do that with a $19
tune-up.
You have to really beintentional about that marketing
(15:47):
strategy.
Why are you doing it?
You're trying to get into homes.
Well, odds are you're going toget into homes that have a lower
value in the service itself.
So again, you just have to becareful there because if you get
too low, you really areattracting the people that have
an issue, that know they have anissue.
They just can't afford to fixit.
So they're going to nickel anddime you.
But using offers that positionyou as premium, like get a free
(16:13):
indoor air quality package whenyou install a new system, one of
our top tier systems, a freeWi-Fi thermostat right, some
things that are cool that reallyelevate that right.
So tons of options there.
So, as far as marketingstrategies that pre-qualify
leads, build a premium brand,tell stories that show value,
(16:33):
educate through content, startat least giving ranges and price
structure and then usingstrategic offers that are not
designed to grab a tire kickerbut a more invested person that
maybe it's like, uh, why not, Ishould go ahead and try it when
they see it at that.
So, and then what to say inyour marketing, right?
So use phrases like systemsthat are built to last.
(16:54):
Your peace of mind starts here.
You get what you pay for and wemake sure you're worth it.
We're not the cheapest, but weare the most trusted company
around.
You'll hear Crystal.
My whole entire Lemonside teamknows I hate the word free.
Free is like it cheapenseverything, right?
Complimentary is even a betterword than free, right?
(17:15):
So, and I even avoid thingslike affordable, lowest price,
best deal in town.
I kind of start feeling alittle and like no hate here,
because these guys have supremehustle.
A little used car salesy likecome on down, best rates only
today.
Like I get the sense of urgencythat we're trying to create but
at the end of the day, likeit's not.
(17:37):
We want to make sure that we areestablishing our messaging as a
brand, that we are affordable,but not to everybody, okay, that
we have a good price, not thelowest price, and we're
definitely not the best deal intown.
You can go somewhere else andget something cheaper that will
work Right.
So at the end of the day, itwill keep your house cool.
Now, is it energy efficient?
(17:58):
Are you guaranteed that companyis going to be a business when
you have an issue?
Do they offer the extendedwarranties?
Do they do all the cool thingsthat you do?
No, but will it cool theirhouse?
Yes.
So that's why those peoplecannot be our jam.
Y'all are better than that.
We're going to elevate betterthan that, especially those of
(18:18):
you that are limited clients.
We are better than that.
We are seeking people that carequality over quantity, right.
So an example would be like atAir Max we don't race to the
bottom, we raise the bar.
Our customers are looking forpeace of mind, not just a cheap
fix.
So boom, like you just straightup said hey, we're not for the
broke people and that sounds soterrible.
I hope some of y'all don'tthink I'm being like too
facetious here.
I'm really just trying to drivemy point home here that it's
(18:40):
not that we don't care.
And, at the end of the day, ifyou want to go help low income
families get heating and airconditioning, please go, do it
as a part of a ministry.
Go do it as a part of a servicethat you just want to provide.
But but when we are marketingto our ideal avatar, we are
seeking people with expendableincome.
We are seeking people that canafford to place quality over
quantity.
It's just a matter of who weare.
(19:00):
So again, help who you want tohelp.
But what we're talking abouthere is getting leads and new
customers that fit our profile,that aren't sticker shocked
every time we show them a priceright.
And what happens when we startmarketing correctly?
You have fewer unqualifiedleads, you have higher close
rates and you have a sales teamthat's more confident in what
their decisions are, and youstop competing with price and
(19:23):
chasing everybody to the bottomof a pile and you start
competing on trust right.
So I just want you guys toremember a couple of things.
Marketing is not just leadgeneration, it's lead
qualification.
If your branding and messagingdo not match your pricing,
you're always going to getpeople that think you're too
expensive.
Get clear, get bold, build abrand that attracts customers
(19:44):
that value what you do, anddon't be afraid to polarize
that's a little bit of a roughword polarized me, and I want
people to know that I'm afterthose Lexus driving people, I'm
after those Yukon driving mamas,because I know who my target
market is and that's how Icurate all of my messaging, all
(20:06):
of my graphics, all of mycommunity support.
You see, if you're marketing toeverybody, you're marketing to
nobody.
So when you speak directly tothat ideal client, you naturally
repel the ones that aren't asuper great fit.
Again, repel is a strong word,but what I'm trying to drive
home with you here, guys, isspeak to your ideal target
market and speak well enoughwhere they understand that
(20:29):
you're not the cheapest guyaround, and when those tire
kickers kick back up, whathappens is you're able to be
like okay, hey, yeah, absolutely, and speak with confidence
because you know what youprovide for people is a good
service.
So here's my little pro tip, mylittle extended version right
here, my little sip of lemonade,for those CSRs and contractors
(20:49):
are like man, I just keepgetting a bunch of them.
What do I do with them on thephone.
In my opinion, when people arecalling the office asking for
pricing, I would give it to them.
So we are $89 to come out andyou have to remind them.
The good news is we have afully stocked van.
We can actually make mostrepairs on site.
You're not going to be waitingon a part.
Odds are you're not going to bewaiting on a part or waiting on
(21:10):
me to come back.
We can pretty much serviceeverything right then and there.
But listen, we do completelyunderstand that $89 is a
diagnostic fee.
That is just our fee to comeout and let you know what's
going on.
If you make our recommendedrepairs, we actually waive that
$89 or we apply that $89 to theservice work itself.
You need to be prepared.
So step off my soapbox.
(21:30):
Your CSRs need to be preparedthat they don't lose a step when
someone says oh my gosh, that'scrazy.
I can't believe y'all charge$89.
Yes, I completely understandyou being surprised, but at
McWilliams we're always strivingto provide high-end service,
which would mean that we comewith a completely stocked band
with our technicians who havebeen background checked and drug
screened to make sure thatwe're keeping you safe, and also
(21:52):
we've been in business over 50years, so we are going to be
here if and when should anythinggo wrong.
We are here to support you andwalk you through any warranty
work.
Can I go ahead and get you onour schedule for this afternoon
between three and five?
Right, don't miss a beat.
It's when your CSR startfumbling around.
Well, yes, sir, I mean, I knowwe're expensive.
(22:18):
I don't really know why wecharge everything Like don't
shoot the messenger.
I'm really not that when theystart that, you've lost all
credibility with that homeowner.
So get your CSRs to feel solidand feel true about what you
offer.
Spin it around If you want togive them a little discount code
.
You know what, sir?
I could tell that you werereally surprised by that $89
dispatch fee.
Right now, just for some newclients, my boss has given us a
$25 coupon.
I'd love to apply that to youraccount, so it will be taken off
of any service or repair thatyou make today, whatever it
(22:41):
takes right.
Get the job booked.
What is your CSR's role?
To get the job booked.
That's what their role is,right.
So you know, I think, at theend of the day, when you really
start caring about new customeracquisition and building a brand
and doing all the things thatyou need to do, you start
naturally tire kickers, startknowing that they're not your
(23:04):
ideal person.
So then they start saying Ilove to support local man me too
.
I love for you to go supportChuck in the truck.
I hope he makes it.
It's rough out here in thesestreets, I hope he makes it.
You're just, we've grown pastthe tire kickers.
We're looking for people thatvalue quality and options.
So again, guys, I justencourage you to be
(23:25):
authentically yourself.
This podcast is hosted by Liveand See Marketing.
We're your full service coachesfor marketing, for advertising,
for branding, all of thosethings.
Remember, we're not thetraditional marketing company,
because who would want to bethat?
We're definitely somethingunique and fun.
If you want more information,email us at hello at
lemonseedmarketingcom.
Tell them you heard us on thepodcast and let's get talking,
(23:46):
because friends and family talkfree.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode.
We will see you next week.
Look forward to sippinglemonade with you guys.
Again, talk soon.
Bye.
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