As the HVAC industry inches closer to the refrigerant changes coming in 2025, are contractors prepared about how to communicate these complex, and likely costly, upgrades to homeowners? Contractors know first-hand how misunderstandings spiral and result in eroded trust, which makes proactive communication strategies a must.
To help navigate these new waters, ACHR NEWS consulted Heather Ripley, founder and CEO of Ripley PR, to give insight on some of the coming challenges.
With the approaching 2025 refrigerant changes, what are the biggest external communication challenges?
As a home service company public relations agency, our biggest task will be to help prepare our HVAC clients to communicate these changes to their customers through their technicians, primarily, and through customer service representatives and service managers, secondarily.
The challenge facing home service companies is a significant one. Forces beyond their control have put them in an awkward position to have to explain how conformity with these rules and standards could cost homeowners a lot of money. And many in the public and media will be quick to revert to the old stereotype of the home service provider trying to rip-off the homeowner. Those of us in the industry know this is not true but will need to be prepared to communicate that.
Local media outlets may not be aware of these changes and will need to be informed about what these regulations will mean to their readers, viewers, or listeners. This will be up to local contractors and their PR teams to help educate them.
Technicians will be on the front lines and will need to know how to explain the changes to their clients and why it may be necessary to switch to the newer, but more expensive, A2L air conditioning units if they need a new installation. Contractors may need to help their technicians with messaging to overcome objections to the higher ticket prices.
Finally, local media may not be aware of these changes and will need to be informed about what these regulations will mean to its readers, viewers, or listeners. This will be up to local contractors and their PR teams.
There’s a lot of information out there. What can a home service business owner do to help educate the homeowners in their market(s)?
While many technicians are great communicators, they did not enter the profession because of that. They joined the profession because they like to figure out issues and fix problems. And even for the other front-line, customer-facing staff, who may be more versed in quality customer communication, these refrigerant changes will probably be difficult for them to effectively get across to the customer. So, what do we do?
Our recommendation to our clients will be that they need to develop a process of communication with specific steps, tools, and operating procedures. By adding a process of communication, you make it easier for your team members to provide the relevant information to homeowners. This will make your team feel better and ultimately make it easier for the customer to understand.
The main things we would suggest to this end are to:
1. Develop your “elevator speech” to convey the change quickly, clearly, and succinctly.
2. Train your technicians and front-line personnel on the changes. Have them role-play the elevator speech until they know it cold.
3. Make a ‘one-sheeter” explaining the changes. This would be an easy-to-read and understand handout that every tech would be armed with on every service call.
4. Have a clear escalation process for your technicians, so that when they have trouble communicating the changes to a homeowner, they can escalate it to a service manager or other manager who can hopefully discuss the changes more effectively.
5. For very upset customers, companies may determine some kind of “give back” to the homeowner to help assuage the situation. They might be in the form of a maintenance membership or some kind of discount given on future work. There are many tactics that could be employed to show how committed your company is to its customer service.
Contractors need to work with their PR partners to help them write press releases and blogs explaining the changes and what it means to the consumers in their local service areas. HVAC owners or their PR team can pitch both the subject matter and the contractor’s expertise on this subject to local media outlets as story ideas.
In addition, HVAC company owners should have their PR or marketing teams create a series of social media posts that can serve as a continual reminder to their followers that these refrigerant changes are now in effect and what that means to the consumer. Mailers and door hangers can also use the information about the refrigerant changes to promote the new AC units and any specials contractors plan to run on A2L installations.
Between social media, traditional mailers, and local press, is there a best way to proactively get the facts out to customers?
The best way is to include all forms of communication with consumers. Not everyone gets their news and information through one medium anymore.
By using a combination of press releases, social media, and blog posts, and even including some messaging about the changes in their mailers or eblasts, they will be sure to reach as many people in their service area as possible.
Can good execution on communication and getting ahead of the change give a contractor the edge in their market?
Yes. While these refrigerant changes are a popular topic in trade publications, journalists with regular news media outlets may not know these changes exist. Given that the changes mean that homeowners would have to make a substantial purchase, it is a subject that the local media would cover once they are made aware of the changes.
That’s where a proactive PR approach comes in handy. Alerting local reporters about the changes and letting them know there is a local HVAC company owner who can and will speak to the issue is a great way to build relationships with the local media, who may call on this local contractor again when another news story involving home service arises.
When consumers see that a contractor in their area is knowledgeable about the changes and proactively letting them know how it will affect them, they will be more likely to call upon that home service company to make any air conditioning upgrades. Consumers trust news stories from third parties far more than they trust ads or commercials. Seeing a home service contractor trusted to give this information on the news builds trust with consumers.
