67% of Homeowners Ask Around Before They Pick an HVAC Contractor — Your Crew Is Your Best Ad

Two out of three homeowners lean on recommendations and word of mouth to find an HVAC contractor — a 2024 survey put the share at 67%, social media included. The article also puts the cost of winning a plumbing or HVAC customer at $400 to $500 in marketing spend. And a small reward for a referral can cost far less than that — if your tech makes the ask while he is still in the home.

What the survey actually found

A 2024 Clear Seas Research survey found that two-thirds of homeowners lean on recommendations and word of mouth, social media included, to find an HVAC contractor. That is two out of three.

The ACHR NEWS asked a few marketing people how contractors can make the referral ask easier and more effective. Their answers came back boring in the best way: great service first, then a simple ask, made at the right moment.

Chris Hunter, a principal industry advisor at ServiceTitan and a former contractor, said it in nine words: "Great service is still the best marketing there is."

Nothing to buy. Nothing to install.

The article gives you the moments, not the words. That part is mine, further down. First, the number that makes this worth an hour of your week.

The $400 to $500 problem in your ad budget

Josh Crouch, who founded Relentless Digital Marketing Solutions and once managed a branch for an HVAC contractor, prices things in job costs. He put the number on the table: winning one new plumbing or HVAC customer usually runs $400 to $500 in marketing spend.

Then he described what a referral costs. One company he knows of sent a $25 gift card to customers who crossed a spending threshold, then came back a few weeks later with a second $25 card and a $50 card for whoever they referred. Crouch's math: give away $50 for a referral and you save real money on that new customer.

David Wachs, who runs the marketing firm Handywritten, likes a lighter touch — his example was a maintenance credit that both the referrer and the new customer can use. The customer feels good about the introduction instead of feeling like your salesperson.

Crouch also named a source that is easy to overlook: HVAC contractors sell to the same pool of homeowners as the electricians, plumbers, roofers and landscapers working that area. Ten or fifteen trades, same homeowners, no overlap in what they sell.

What this means if you sell through people (my read)

Here is my read. This is not a marketing problem. It is a closing problem that happens after the sale, and it shows up in next quarter's lead flow.

Picture a manufactured home dealer in a slow February. A buyer signs, walks the finished home, and stands in the kitchen with the lights on. That is the window Anna Anderson calls the peak satisfaction moment — and Wachs said it plain: "The moment right after a great experience is when goodwill is highest."

If the rep shakes hands, hands over keys, and moves to the next file, the dealer paid to get that buyer and got one sale. If the rep says one line about family and friends before the buyer reaches the car, the dealer just opened a second conversation that costs nothing.

My read on the dealer's version: buyers talk to people who already bought. That is why the ask has to be specific. Who else should we talk to gets a shrug. Is your sister still looking gets a name.

Now picture a plumbing company on a Tuesday afternoon. The tech has cleared a backed-up line, shown the homeowner the photo of the repair, and wiped down the utility room. Wachs said the thing people repeat is not the fix itself — it is whether the tech showed up on time, explained the work clearly, and left the house tidier than he found it. That is the moment. A company that asks there gets a name and a review. A company that waits for the invoice email gets a paid bill and a cold lead.

Same tech. Same job. Different number of leads next month.

How to use it this week

1. Write down the moment. Hunter listed where the ask belongs: right after an install, on the follow-up call, when a five-star review lands, or when the customer is telling your tech how pleased they are. Pick two and make them mandatory. Ten minutes with a marker and a whiteboard.

1. Give the tech one line and nothing else. Anderson said a plain spoken request made inside the home can open a steady stream of referrals — name the customer's good experience out loud, say why referrals matter to you, and ask whether anyone they know needs the same help. Two sentences. Then stop talking.

Here is the plumbing version I would give a tech: Glad that's running right. Most of our work comes from people passing our name along. Is there anybody you know who needs a plumber?

Here is the manufactured home version: You're all set on the home. Most of our buyers come from family and friends of people we've already sold to. Is there anybody you know who's still looking?

1. Make it two steps for the customer. Anderson said referrals often do not just happen without a two- or three-step path the customer can actually finish. One text, one link, done. If your referral request needs an account login, it's dead.

1. Send the thank-you the same day. Hunter's order of operations was a thank-you text or email once the job is done, then a review request, and if the customer is happy, the who-else question. It only works if it happens every time, not when somebody remembers.

1. Put a small, real incentive on it. A maintenance credit for both sides is what Wachs suggested, and Hunter has a line on why customers pass names along: "People like referring companies that make them look good." A $50 card against a $400 to $500 customer is a lot less than that acquisition cost.

1. Keep your name in the house. Anderson recommended text messages customers opted into, postcard drops, and even old-school magnets or stickers carrying the company name and referral details. Old school. Works. Hunter's caution was that a customer won't recall your phone number six months later — so hand them a text link or a QR code.

1. Call the trades that see the same customer. Crouch said one of the easiest moves is to build relationships with nearby contractors who sell something you don't. Ten or fifteen calls. Plumber, electrician, roofer, landscaper, pest control.

If you want a head start on the writing, hand this to whatever AI tool your team already uses: Write two 25-word text messages a plumbing company can send the same day as a service call. One thanks the customer and asks if they know anyone else who needs a plumber. One asks for a review. Sound like a person, not a company.

Mistakes I see owners make

• Asking on the invoice. It is the coldest moment you have, and it reads like a bill with a favor stapled to it.
• Asking the wrong customer. The article flags techs who worry about leaning on someone who has just paid for a repair. Fair. Ask after the fix lands and the relief shows up, not while the estimate still stings.
• Making the customer work for it. Anything past two or three steps dies in the driveway.
• Only touching customers when you want something. Wachs said it plain: when the only times a customer hears from you are a bill and a pitch, you have taught them you are a vendor. And nobody eagerly recommends a vendor.