We've had the best results from building relationships in our local community rather than chasing leads.
For us, word-of-mouth, Google reviews, referrals, and being visible where we live and work have consistently outperformed paid lead platforms. We sponsor local youth sports, support schools and community organizations, and stay active in neighborhood Facebook groups. It doesn't generate leads overnight, but it builds trust, and that's what drives quality calls.
We've also learned that educating homeowners on social media has been surprisingly effective. Instead of constantly advertising, we post real jobs, explain common HVAC issues, and show how we diagnose problems. That transparency has helped people feel like they know us before they ever call.
Like you, we've moved away from lead aggregators. Competing against five or six contractors for the same lead, while paying for the opportunity, just wasn't a good return on investment for our business. We found many of those leads were shopping strictly on price.
Our focus now is simple: invest in our reputation, be involved in the community, ask every satisfied customer for a Google review, and let referrals compound over time. It has produced fewer tire-kickers and more customers who already trust us before we walk through the door.
Exactly! We were focusing more on work of mouth and referral because that's how we grew so much. We will need to work more on our google presence though as we haven't really dove into that. We have be utilizing Yelp more so since we started but are ready to expand a little now that we have our footing.
