Around our office we're always talking about tapping into "The Buyer's Journey"; the path all buyers travel between the moment they realize they want or need something to their decision to make a purchase.

Often contractors are focused on the end of that journey.

On the prospects who want proposals for direct system replacements or time-sensitive repairs.

On prospects who are ready to close.

Nothing wrong with that.

But in the HVAC world, some of the very best prospects are self-educating about their home comfort options long before they're ready to speak to a salesperson. They're not ready to buy yet. They're not ready to pick up the phone. They don't want to be sold to.

Buyers want solutions.I was reading an article in the recent issue of Indoor Comfort Magazine where HVAC pro, John Willford of ComfortMaster Mechanical in Greenville, North Carolina, talked about the level of knowledge a prospect with a challenging project had by the time they met at the kitchen table.

"The Martins contacted me with a very specific list of concerns ranging from pet dander to allergies to odors and ventilation" said Willford. "They had already decided on the Carrier Infinity System for heat and air, but wanted more control over the quality of their air."

The Martins had done their research, and based on the very secific needs of their family, made several key equipment decisions before they had their first conversation with John.

That's how buyers buy now.

Fortunately, it's easy for HVAC contractors to become the source of home comfort education in their market by implementing a digital marketing strategy based on educating customers and providing solution-based information through their website and social media like Facebook and YouTube.

Contractors looking to get more leads need only to publish case studies about the solutions they provide every day.

Create a blog article.

Include calls to action that are relavent to the content, the season and the buyer's journey:Calls to action take prospects to landing pages where they can request the offer, converting them from visitors to leads. The nature of your offer and the stage of the buyer's journey will dictate the kind of follow-up required by your sales team.

This takes us to a discussion about lead nurturing, which is the secret sauce of modern digital marketing. To learn more about lead nurturing, download our free ebook, How To Master Marketing Automation, and remember, we will never hard sell you or call you out of the blue.

We want to help you become better marketers.