* Is the site professional looking? Does it promote your company’s brand and brand promise? Does it communicate the “key differentiators” that make your HVAC company a better choice to do business with — fast service, satisfied customers, specially trained technicians, etc.?

* Is your website integrated with the rest of your HVAC marketing efforts? Are all of your marketing materials consistent in look and feel? (Think about your brochures, your logo, advertising, etc.) Your home page should also have a “specials” button and/or a visible link to any offers or promotions you may be running.

* Who’s in charge of your HVAC web marketing? One person should be assigned to manage the content of the site. A website that is not updated consistently becomes stale, doesn’t get picked up by search engines and undermines your HVAC marketing efforts.  It won’t do a good job of selling your company or your products.

It’s no secret that more and more of your customers make their buying decisions based on what they see online.  So it’s critical that a recession-proof HVAC contractor has a site that drives business and portrays the right image of your company. If you already have a website, are you happy with it? What are you doing to make your website an active part of your HVAC marketing efforts?

Sometimes we forget. But this industry has been the leaders in going green for long time. Consider this - The #1 way to go green is to save energy. And we’ve been doing that for years, especially by installing high-efficiency equipment for our customers. On top of that, we use environmentally safe cleaners and solvents when we work on their equipment. And we’ve placed heavy emphasis on IAQ, which fits the green model well.

Alot of contractors have made it a point to tell their story and show customers what it means to save energy and be green. Some have diversified by shifting their businesss model to include whole house energy analyses, certified by third-party agencies like BPI, www.bpi.org. Others have taken a more tactical approach by delivering common-sense tips and actions to reduce energy as they promote tune-ups or in their direct mail.

The bottom line? We’ve been green for a long time. We’re the energy-saving experts. And we’ve got to keep getting better at telling our energy-saving story to our customers.

What does your company do to tell your story?