During our webinar earlier last month, we discussed how to create an opportunity from extreme winter events. Click here to watch it again.
One topic, in particular, that piqued the interest of the audience was the concept of the “10/70 Rule”. Before we go further, let’s take a quick step back. When you are in a situation like we experienced this winter, where customers are calling for anything from “I’m out of oil” to “My house isn’t warm”, the key to triaging these calls are your CSR’s. The 10/70 Rule is one of the many tools that help your CSR’s better understand the reason behind the panic calls on a level that will ultimately help calm the customer and potentially create a sales opportunity for the company.
The 10/70 rule – equipment that is properly sized for a homeowner’s house and is functioning correctly should keep a house at 70 degrees inside when it’s 10 degrees outside. If its 10 degrees outside and the homeowner is telling your CSR that their house is only getting to 66 degrees or even 62 degrees, then you know it’s an equipment issue. So, if it’s 20 degrees outside the house should be able to heat to 80 degrees and so on.
Although the last thing a homeowner wants to hear in the midst of a winter storm is that “it’s an equipment issue”, knowing why their house can’t get as warm as they would like should calm them down until you can schedule a visit to check the equipment.
Now, for the opportunity part…if you have a homeowner with a known equipment issue during a winter storm, be sure to contact them immediately following the storm to suggest an upgrade. Customers are more likely to hear your pitch and possibly purchase the upgrade after experiencing a winter storm with faulty equipment.