The current times of crisis are strengthening the desire for independence from gas supply: The demand for heat pumps is booming.
This presents providers with challenges: Shortages of craftsmen and problems in procuring materials lead to long delivery times. However, when it comes to many factors that cannot be influenced, there are certain adjustments that can be made to efficiently meet the high demand.
Digital lead management in heat pump sales
To avoid a clutter of Excel lists, emails and personal notes, it is recommended to digitally combine inquiries in a central system. This creates transparency for all process participants and time-consuming coordination can be avoided.
Regardless of which channel an inquiry comes in, e.g. via e-mail, contact form, customer center or telephone, it should be digitally recorded according to a predefined scheme. In doing so, can digital inquiry routes help to consistently request the same information from the interested party. They are either filled in by the interested party himself on the website or in the service center or used by the employee as a discussion guide and can be used both in pre-qualification, post-qualification and when concluding a contract.
Pre-qualification: In order to make the quotation process as streamlined as possible, pre-qualification can be carried out with the customer's first request. First, it should be checked using geodata whether the customer's place of residence belongs to the sales area. By providing the address details, the customer's creditworthiness can also be checked.
Once the availability issue has been clarified, questions about previous fuel, building type, occupied area, type of heating or water heating can be queried. Date preferences, interest in additional products, e.g. a solar system, or whether the heat pump should be bought or rented, can also be recorded.
If you want to go one step further and further automate the enquiry process, you can link the various answer options directly with products and price components — this allows an initial cost indication to be automatically displayed to the interested party.
Post-qualification: Not all information is relevant or known to the interested party at the time of the first inquiry. A digital post-qualification route can be used to remedy this situation without the need for manual effort. In this way, the prospective customer himself can receive an e-mail with a post-qualification route after a predefined time or certain completed work steps on the provider's website. Alternatively, when the building is inspected, the post-qualification can also be carried out by a technical specialist. The corresponding data can be entered directly into the post-qualification route via smartphone or tablet.
If the provider also offers support in applying for BAFA funding for a one-stop service, the necessary data can also be collected here via post-qualification routes.
Preparation of offers and conclusion of contract: If all necessary information for the preparation of an offer is available, a digital solution should also be used here. Variable-based offer templates can be automatically filled with the prospective customer's values and sent by e-mail or made available in a custumor portal. To avoid manual costs associated with sending mail, a digital signature should be offered.
Digital project management in heat pump installations
Once the contract has been signed, it is important to satisfy the customer with the technical implementation. In the best case scenario, lead management and project management are mapped in one system to avoid data transfers and to obtain complete transparency about the project and the customer.
Efficient workflows: Processes such as the installation or maintenance of a heat pump require work steps that can be standardized as far as possible in digital workflows. With the help of predefined processes and automated task assignments, transparent collaboration is made possible. In this way, every employee knows what to do and when. Product-specific or customer-specific features should also be taken into account — for example, the workflow for a geothermal heat pump would look different than the workflow for an air heat pump. By carrying out processes in a standardized manner, errors can be minimized and the quality of dealings with customers can be increased.
Digital collaboration with technical partners: Skilled tradesmen are scarce these days and can choose their orders. Providers should therefore clearly structure their cooperation processes and handle them efficiently in order to be attractive as clients.
Specialist partners such as installers or drilling companies should therefore directly be integrated into digital workflows to minimize necessary communication via telephone and e-mail. In a digital file about the project, all necessary customer data, responsibilities, messages, notes, tasks and next steps should be presented transparently, consistently across all projects. The specialist partner can document his work steps directly in the file.
Transparency for customers: Over the entire duration of the project, the customer should have a customer portal what the current status is and what dates have been agreed on site. This reduces inquiries by telephone and e-mail and thus creates more time for employees.
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