The survey benchmarked heat pump installers in order to establish which traits and business practices lead to better sales performance than average as well as those that result in poor performance.

The Heat Pump Installer Survey was commissioned by TermoPlus heat pumps and carried out by Texentric.

It was completed by 361 heat pump installers of which 92% represented 34 European countries.

A comparison was made between installers that claimed above-average sales performance and those that admitted below-average sales performance.

The key differences between top-achievers and under performers are highlighted below:

• Top-performing installers rated their relationship with heat pump manufacturers higher than the underperformers did. Both groups recognised the need for close relationships equally but the higher-performing installers were more loyal to their brands and appeared to get more out of these partner relationships.

• Top-performing installers (as well as the average installer) rate client referrals as the most useful way of attracting new customers. Underperformers also seem to source a lot of their customers this way but lag behind the average installer significantly.

• Top- performing installers enjoy the privilege of customers finding them rather than the other way round. Considering the significance of referrals for top performing installers, this is likely an indication of good reputation and word-of-mouth.

• The highest-rated marketing tools in terms of usefulness are ranked by importance below:

1. Client referrals

2. Website

3. Partner referrals

4. Online advertising

5. Social media

6. Leads provided by manufacturers

• Top-performing installers find all marketing activities more helpful across-the-board compared to all other installers.

• Underperforming installers are behind across the board in all marketing activity rankings except for partner referrals and manufacturer leads. This may be an indication of a lack of proactivity as these two sources are reactive in nature and depend on the efforts of partners and manufacturers. Installers that feel they fit this profile would probably benefit from increasing their efforts in all marketing activities and from improving their customer satisfaction levels to get more referrals.

“We’d like to see the adoption rate of heat pumps soar. The results show that with determination and effort most heat pump installers can improve their performance. Heat pump sales are not a zero-sum game – everyone can grow their business whilst establishing heat pumps as a solution to reduced energy consumption and a cleaner environment,' explains Jure Šacer, chief executive of TermoPlus heat pumps.

“These findings should hopefully prove actionable, particularly for underperforming installers that want to turn things around and grow their business further. There’s a lot installers can do to improve and with the right help and support improvement can be achieved where it matters the most,' said Nicolas Virtsonis, managing director of Texentric Marketing.