Sun, Sea and Servicing: Are You Summer Ready?

As you’ll be well aware, boiler servicing is meant to take place every 12 months, yet a large number of homeowners put this off until the autumn or winter – if they even remember to book it at all. We get it; boilers remain largely hidden away for most of the year, only thought about when they’re needed in the colder months.

By encouraging homeowners to book their boiler in for a service earlier in the year, you’ll have a more consistent flow of business throughout the summer. Your customers will also find they aren’t waiting as long as they might be in winter. And better still, they will go into the coldest months of the year safe in the knowledge that their boiler is in the best possible shape to perform.

This way, your customers are kept happy and you can feel assured that business will continue to thrive in the summer months. Let’s take a look at some of the other benefits of an earlier service.

Time to prepare

We know that all too often customers phone to book a service when they encounter a problem turning their heating on in September or October. At this point, it is no longer preventative maintenance but a repair job at a time they need their heating most. By encouraging them to invest in these essential boiler checks earlier in the year, any issues can be resolved in plenty of time before the temperature drops.

Though it may seem obvious to you, it’s also a good idea to remind homeowners of the importance of servicing. Rather than being viewed as a mere reminder on the calendar, talking to homeowners about why servicing should be seen as the key to prolonging their boiler’s lifespan can be helpful. This includes taking your customers through a checklist of what you have looked over and ensuring that automatic reminders are set up in good time for a summer service next year.

Earlier servicing reduces the risk of emergency call-outs, giving you time and flexibility to offer speedy responses to other queries. This is almost guaranteed to build customer loyalty as homeowners know they can rely on you whatever their heating dilemma.

Why not use this extra contact with your customer to add value beyond the service itself? Discussing whether their heating settings align with their comfort preferences and daily routine could result in an opportunity to alter these settings with them. Not only will this improve comfort, but the optimal temperature and flow rate can also save homeowners money.

Upsell your services
 

A summer servicing appointment provides you with the perfect opportunity to talk to your customer about potential upgrades to their heating system. These could be major, such as an air source heat pump installation with underfloor heating, or relatively small, such as new radiator valves and load compensation.

Arguably one of the most accessible upgrades to a heating system is an investment in new controls. In this case, making the switch in the summer gives your customer time to adjust to the changes before they come to rely on them through the colder months. Why not talk about these boiler control options and benefits during your next summer service?

• Weather compensation — automatically adjusts boiler output based on weather conditions, optimising energy use without manual thermostat changes. The benefits of this include reduced cycling, less stress on the boiler, slower corrosion rates and higher comfort levels.
• Load compensation — prevents energy waste by reducing heating output as the target temperature is approached. Integrated into OpenTherm thermostats, it ensures efficient energy use and enhanced comfort.
• Dynamic range rating — allows boilers to precisely modulate heat output to match the required heating load, reducing energy consumption and heating bills.
• Smart controls — enable homeowners to customise and remotely control their heating systems, monitor energy consumption and schedule heating efficiently. Baxi’s uSense 2 offers year-round optimisation and convenience through the My Baxi app.

Get started

While we can’t rely on the sunshine to tell us when the summer is officially here, you can get a head start on early servicing by reminding your customers of its benefits.

And if you’re not already using Baxi’s Toolbelt app, be sure to sign up. The platform allows you to register newly installed systems and set up annual service reminders to make sure you never miss a trick.

Find out more about the Baxi Toolbelt app.