If you’ve ever run the numbers on the cost of producing an incoming telephone lead, you know how high it can go. This article explains how and why you should record and track incoming phone calls for your HVAC or similar business for three purposes: source of business, lead quality, and your company’s effectiveness of handling the lead.

How to Track Incoming Phone Calls
Asking a caller how they learned about your company is rarely reliable. First, hardly any phone reps remember to do it consistently, especially when other callers are waiting. Second, for internet leads, many customers do not know the difference in a natural search result (center part of a search results page) and your text ad on the top of the page or the right side column. The solution: tracking telephone numbers that forward to your main telephone. These were created for marketing and offer many useful reports and features. They are available in toll-free or local numbers that look like your current phone number. In the process of forwarding, tracking numbers capture the source of the call and other important statistics. Recording the conversation is optional, and has benefits along with some privacy and HR responsibilities.

Tracking phone numbers have long been used for print ads. They can also be coded into your website to tell you the call came from the website. The latest improvement: dynamic substitution on your website to identify and track multiple sources of incoming calls. When both features are combined, you can see your calls from multiple sources in the same online dashboard: calls from natural traffic plus your marketing efforts by source.

Clients often ask us who owns a tracking number, and this is a legitimate concern. The better tracking number providers allow clients to “port over” a number at no cost. This means you can move the tracking number to a new service provider.

Why Tracking Call Numbers Puts More Profit In Your Pocket
Tracking phone calls provides three critical pieces of information: a-the source of the call (truck sign, website, etc.), b-the quality and potential value of the lead, and c- how well your phone rep handled the call. The first two parts are straightforward and monitored by some of the more effective HVAC companies. The third part gives you insights into how your phone reps can handle calls more efficiently or effectively, and often gets overlooked, especially during the busy season. Having listened to thousands of minutes of recorded conversations, I can assure you that listening to them is worth the time it takes or cost to pay a service to do it for you.

Your goal is more business and profits, not more phone leads, right? Then you must understand the source and quality of incoming calls and how effectively your company is handling them. It’s that simple. Tracking calls combined with improved internal handling allows you to spend less to get new customers leads you need at the time you need them.

About the Author
Gary Walker has a BS in Environmental Science and more than 25 years experience in marketing, sales management, customer service and search marketing. He is certified as a Google AdWords professional and with Yahoo! Search Marketing. His company, TopSide Media, uses online search technology and internet publishing to connect the best local HVAC companies with consumers to achieve more indoor comfort while saving energy. Visit his HVAC marketing blog at http://www.hvacmarketingonline.com or email gary.walker@topsidemedia.com. Toll Free 1-866-516-2301.

How Web Site Search Engine Ads Can Increase Your Sales NOW
September 2008
By Gary Weber

For most of the country the summer heat and humidity was not as much of a business-generator as you could have wished for. On top of that more homeowner’s’ household budgets are being stretched thin from increased costs of gasoline, utilities, food and more. Below are three search engine advertising actions your company can use in the slower seasons to keep your phones ringing with new customers.

1. Use sponsored link ads to attract customers looking for Indoor Air Quality solutions
While maybe not as motivating to every human as extreme heat or cold, the online search volume for IAQ products tends to be less seasonal than A/C or heating searches. Someone suffering from pollen allergies or humidity levels that are too high or low can be very motivated to get relief. The topics of whole house air filters, humidity control, ventilation, or carbon monoxide prevention are good demographic matches for Internet users, who tend to have higher average household income and education.

2. Reach customers while they are searching online for a related topic or benefit and direct them to your website
An example of this “side door approach” would be a sponsored link text ad campaign using keywords such as “pollen relief”. Your potential customer may be searching with medication or medical treatments in mind, but might buy a whole house air filter system for their home or office. In cost-per-click advertising, there is no incremental cost for an ad that does not get clicked. Another example would be someone searching online for information on lower utility bills. Serve them up an ad with a rebate or off-season special offer for a new high-efficiency heating and A/C system.

3. Use the contextual mode of advertising offered by engines such as Google AdWords.
Instead of reaching customers while they are actively searching (like the two above examples), with content (also call contextual) ads you reach them with sponsored link text ads while they are reading related content. The content can be a consumer information site, a blog, Gmail, etc. In the past few months, there have been improvements in this mode of online advertising that make it worth a look, once you have maxed out the search option in the geographic area your company services.

About the Author
Gary Walker has a BS in Environmental Science and more than 25 years experience in marketing, sales management, customer service and search marketing. He is certified as a Google AdWords professional and with Yahoo! Search Marketing. His company, TopSide Media, uses online search technology and internet publishing to connect the best local HVAC companies with consumers to achieve more indoor comfort while saving energy. Visit his HVAC marketing blog at http://www.hvacmarketingonline.com
or email gary.walker@topsidemedia.com . Toll Free 1-866-516-2301.