Labels Stickers and Tags, Oh My 2!
In an earlier article, we discussed how to use service labels, stickers, and tags. That article was a discussion of the standard selling points for using labels:
- Increased Brand Recognition
- Improved Organization and Efficiency
- Increased Customer Satisfaction
- Affordable and Cost-Effective
- Easy to Create and Customize
The information in that article was and is good information. Because labels remain in place, sometimes for years, they outlast almost any other kind of marketing. Labels are also visible. They jump out in the moment of need.
But, while readers appreciated the information that we presented in our first article, it didn’t go far enough.
We received several questions asking for some specific thoughts about how to use service labels, stickers, and tags so they work even more effectively.
Industries that get the biggest returns from using labels and stickers
Not all industries get the same level of return from using labels. For the largest returns, the products you sell need to have the following characteristics.
- Your products are made up of one or more individual yet substantial sub-systems that are frequently in more than one area in your client’s business or home.
- These sub-systems are usually in an enclosure designed to keep the sub-systems out of everyday view.
- Your products are always assembled and installed by a professional installer.
- When the system is working well, it operates quietly in the background without anyone noticing. When it breaks, it is an emergency requiring immediate attention.
Based on these criteria, 2 markets come to mind that are ideally positioned to get the biggest returns from using labels and stickers – HVAC and Plumbing.
Let’s think of some specific processes about how to use service labels that will have a direct result to generate additional business.
Labels must be attached to every system you sell
Let’s be even more specific. After you sell your product, when you are at the customer’s site installing that system, every single component of that system must have your “For Service Call” label affixed to it where it can easily be seen. Every. Single. Component.
If you are a plumbing company
If you sell your client a new water heater, when you install that water heater, it must have your label on it where the label can easily be seen. If you leave a User Manual for the water heater, you must have your label on the outside of the top page of that manual.
Link to example: 0151 Water Heater Service Label
If you sell your client a water softener, when you install that water softener, it must have your label on it where the label can easily be seen. If you leave a User Manual for the water softener, you must have your label on the outside of the top page of that manual.
If you sell your client a sprinkler system, when you install that sprinkler system, it must have your label on the door to the system control box – on the outside of the door where the label can be easily seen.
If you are an HVAC company
If you sell your client a new air conditioning system, when you install that system, every component must have your “For Service Call” label on it where the label can easily be seen. That means that there is a label on the air handler component inside the site and the condenser/compressor component on the outside of the site. If you leave a User Manual for the A/C system, you must have your label on the outside of the top page of that manual.
Link to example: 3453 – Reminder Time for a Tune-Up Air
HVAC Reminders – every spring and every fall, you should be sending colorful postcard Tune-Up Reminders to every single client. There are no circumstances where it is acceptable to use an “Avery Label” on the postcard. Figure out how to run the postcards through your office printer so that the client’s address is printed directly onto the postcard. If it will make printing the address easier, Crownmax can provide your Tune-Up Reminder postcards in a 4-up design with a standard 8 ½” x 11” size so that these postcards can easily be run through your office printer to add the client address.
Labels must be attached to every system you service
Homes are changing hands at an incredible rate. In most cases, the new owner or manager doesn’t know who to reach out to when their systems need a service call or replacement. If the original provider had left a label stuck to the system, the new owner or manager would call the name on the “For Service Call” label.
Link to example: 0054 – HVAC Service Label
If there is no label on the system from the original provider, the new owner or manager is probably forced to play “Google Search Roulette”. The first company that answers the phone when they call for service usually gets the work.
Let’s assume that you got the service call, when the system is successfully repaired and is running, talk with the owner or manager. You are already at the site. Offer to do a free systemwide inspection to see if there were any other pending problems. Most people are not going to turn down a free systemwide inspection – especially since you are already on site. In the worst case, you might have to go back at a more suitable time.
When you do the free systemwide inspection, apply your “For Service Call” labels on every component and sub-component. Make a little show out of applying the labels. Tell the client that you put your “For Service Call” labels in different locations throughout their site with the current date, so they will know what has been inspected and when you were there. On your “For Service Call” labels, you might want to have lines where you can put a date into the “Date Inspected” area of the label.
By applying your service labels to a system when you make a service call, you aren’t claiming that it is your system. When you attach your labels, you are simply letting the owner or manager know who inspected the system, the date of that inspection, and who they should call for service the next time it is needed.
To view the Crownmax Labels Stickers and Tags for a specific industry, please click on one of the following links: Pest Management, HVAC Plumbing, or Products.