Comfort Supply's Blog by Clay Blevins

• MAX, Whisper Series, Pearl, 4-Way Cassette and Slim Duct systems qualify for a $50 gift card
• Each Free Joint Multi indoor unit installed qualifies for a $75 gift card

*Only one system per form can be submitted. For example, if you install two separate systems, you’re required to fill out two separate forms.

If you’ve spent any amount of time in the HVAC industry, then you know that there is a lot of competition out there for customers. Successful companies are the ones who build solid relationships with their customers and therefore get, not only repeat business, but also referrals to neighbors and friends.

There is nothing in the world as effective at building your business than having customers recommend you to people they know. Word-of-mouth is king. But there is more to it than just asking your customers to recommend you to their friends. Here are some tips on establishing a word-of-mouth campaign.

Earn it.
First and foremost, you should earn that referral. That means providing stellar service: being on time for appointments, resolving issues quickly and communicating effectively with your customer.

What’s in it for me?
There is an old saying in marketing: A customer who has a good experience may tell one person, but a customer who has a bad one will tell a dozen. You can reverse that axiom by providing incentives to your customers for referrals. Maybe it’s cash, movie tickets or a discount on an upcoming service call. If you give your customers a reason to tell their friends about your business, you’ll see better results.

It’s not just words
To truly implement a word-of-mouth campaign, you’ll need a way to track referrals back to their source. For example, if your business card has a place for your customer to sign his name before passing it along to a friend, you can easily figure out whom to thank for the extra business.

Follow up
No matter what incentive you use to get your customers talking about your business, you can extend that good feeling with a simple follow up. Let your referring customers know you appreciate their efforts – a phone call or a card will give them an extra push to keep the word-of-mouth going.

Comfort Supply received communication from Ruud about a technical issue involving “N” coils with “C” TEV. Ruud has received reports that some of these valves are sticking in the open position and as a result, will be replacing the defective parts in our inventory. For those who have already installed a defective TEV, Ruud has implemented a $300 labor/material allowance for replacing them within the first year. The affected TEVs are any “N-design” indoor R-410A coil with the letter C as the 12^th character in the part number. Example: RCFL-HM4824CC.

We at Comfort Supply apologize for any problems associated with this quality issue and would like to offer these special promotions for our customers to thank you for your continued loyalty.

Also, Comfort Supply will host a free Samsung product training class, 8-11 a.m., August 25th at the Lane Motor Museum, 702 Murfreesboro Pike, in Nashville. Please call Crissy at 244-0920 to reserve your spot.

We just got word about a summer promotion from Kwik Comfort Financing and GE Money. Fund a sale between May 1 and June 30 using financed over six months with deferred interest and the dealer fee will be reduced from 5 to 2.75 percent.

You can call Merchant Service at 800-330-5189 for details.

We have a lot of great promotions coming up at Comfort Supply . . .

First, Comfort Supply has issued its first catalog. You can download a PDF of it here. It contains selected products from our full line and should make it easier for our customers to find the parts they need. We’re sending them out to our customers now, so look for them in the mail soon.

Second, The Ruud Consumer Rebate will run between now and Nov. 15. Purchase any Ruud qualifying equipment and receive a cash rebate of up to $1,000. Contact your salesman for details.

Third, between now and the end of May (while supplies last), if you buy three Black Max Coil cleaners, you’ll get a fourth free.

Fourth, beginning in May, we’ll be running a Samsung Mini Split promotion. For every qualifying Samsung Mini Split you buy from our stock between May 1 and July 31, you will receive your choice of a $50 gift card from either Wal-Mart or Bass Pro Shops. Ask your salesman for details.

In other industry news, I recently saw where HVACBusiness Magazine has started a new service for HVAC contractors called SocialTract.com. This is a social networking content service. That means if you join, Social Tract will set up a personalized blog and accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. They blog for you and use the other sites to drive readers to the blog. It’s a little pricy at $500 a month, but to learn more click here.

Comfort Supply has teamed up with Standex, maker of air distribution products, to give valuable prizes to our customers, based on the increase in sales of Standex products between March and June.

We have three levels of prizes to give away based on sales volume increase over 2009 purchases of Standex products.

• Increase sales by $2,000 and receive a digital camera.
• Increase sales by $3,000 and get a Blu-Ray DVD player.
• Increase sales by $4,000 and win a GPS system

You can contact your Comfort Supply sales consultant to find out your sales target and good luck.