Marketing Techniques to Finish Summer Strong
Marketing Techniques to Finish Summer Strong
From The Yellow Chair Podcast — with your host Crystal Williams
Let’s set the scene: It’s sweltering outside, your team is sweating it out in the field, and you’re just trying to keep the phone ringing without burning out your people (or your ad budget). But here’s the truth — how you market right now will determine whether you fizzle out or finish the summer strong.
In this episode of From the Yellow Chair, Crystal dives into real, actionable strategies to ride the summer wave into a high-converting Q4. From tightening up offers to planting seeds for fall, this episode is a lemonade-fueled power hour for contractors who want to maximize every ounce of momentum.
Grab that ice-cold glass and get ready — we’re getting tactical.
Review, Refocus, and Reframe
Summer is chaos. Between HVAC system shortages, high-maintenance hires, and heat waves that feel like a Texas-sized oven, it’s easy to get stuck in survival mode.
Crystal’s first step? Review and refocus. What’s working? What’s not? Be honest, make your list, and adjust. Start with capacity: Can your team actually take on more leads? If not, stop spending on low-dollar offers and focus on high-conversion, high-margin services.
🔁 Pro Tip: Shift your messaging from “deals” to “value.” You don’t need more leads — you need better leads.
Refine Your Offers (They’re Probably Outdated)
Still pushing “Get Ready for Summer” tune-ups? It’s time to pivot. Crystal suggests moving into fall-prep messaging now — well before the slow season creeps in.
Think:
”Is your system ready for fall?”
“Get hurricane-ready now.”
“Check your heater before the first cold snap.”
Crystal’s takeaway: “Great marketing isn’t reactive — it’s predictive.”
Push That CTA Bucket
Now’s the time to ramp up urgency with late-summer offers:
Last-chance-for-summer-savings promos
Hurricane prep campaigns (hello, generator sales)
“Before school starts” offers that speak directly to busy moms
Crystal’s reminder: “We market to the female homeowner. Period. Speak her language — school stress, time crunches, and peace of mind.”
Optimize Channels That Move Fast
Want fast results? Focus on fast-moving channels:
Google Local Services Ads — high intent, high ROI
YouTube Ads — Crystal swears they’re outperforming Facebook right now
Text & email — Rehash old leads, follow up on unconverted quotes, and get creative
Think: “You had a repair last year. Ready to upgrade?” or “Let’s apply that repair toward a new system.”
Start Planting Q4 Seeds (Now!)
Don’t wait until September. Start planning your fall campaign today:
Partner with a lawn company for a gutter-cleaning bundle
Launch an insulation upgrade offer with system replacements
Pre-holiday plumbing checks for your Thanksgiving hosts
Bonus idea: Book now for September/October and get a seasonal freebie — lemonade, honey, local gift cards. Make it fun, make it on-brand.
Crystal’s mantra: “Be ahead. Be bold. Be branded.”
Boost That Database Cultivation
Time to show some love to your current customers:
Thank-you emails with referral pitches
Upgrade promos during tune-ups
Monthly e-newsletters (or even printed ones — yes, really)
End-of-summer home checklists
“Refer a neighbor before school starts” incentives
Golden Nugget: Every CSR call is a branding opportunity. Make sure they’re prepped to pitch memberships, upgrades, and add-ons confidently.
Final Sip
Marketing isn’t just a summer hustle — it’s a year-round flywheel. Push now and you’ll coast into fall with confidence, not panic. Crystal leaves us with a powerful mindset shift:
“Don’t just coast into fall. Convert the summer hustle into Q4 momentum.”
From the Yellow Chair, we’ll leave you with this final cheer:
Push hard, market smart, and finish the season strong.
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Speaker 1: 0:00
What's up, lemonheads? Welcome to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I'm Crystal and today I'm gonna talk to you about riding that summer wave to keep all of your marketing, keep all of the momentum moving right into the shoulder season. Get ready, get set, let's go, let's sip some lemonade, all right? So right now, I know that we're all desperate, for how do we keep things going, crystal? How do we keep moving? How do we finish summer strong? How do we maximize the momentum and set up for a killer Q4?
Speaker 1: 0:42
I think there's just a couple of things that we have to do. Number one like, right off the bat, let's get down to business, let's review and refocus. Right? So right now, I'm in the mind of a contractor, back to live in the days of when I was working in the McWilliams office. Summertime has a whole nother level of drama, right, so we've got people getting hot. So we're worried about like actual, like heat index in Texas, like it's a whole thing. Right, so it feels like the Lord is warning us. What hell is going to feel like every single day that we walk outside. Right, so we feel like, basically, when we walk outside, the heat just like hits us in the face at 630 am. So we're always thinking about, oh my gosh, our poor technicians, our install installers, everybody that's out in the field. So that's one thing that all of a sudden, is a layered like thing that we as contractors have to focus on right now. We've got refrigerant issues, we've got equipment shortages, we've got pieces of equipment shortages. We can't seem to find good people, and when we do find good people, they might be a little tiny bit high maintenance. So we've just got all the things right.
Speaker 1: 1:42
So today, my goal is to just help you review and refocus so that we can look back at what has been already working for us so far this summer. What isn't working, we can be honest with ourselves and we can for sure make some notes and start pivoting now so that we're not just dead in the water come September, right? So let's start with checking our capacity. Do you really have room to take on more leads? Are you just pushing and pushing and pushing? I need more leads, I need more leads or do you just need to adjust your messaging to match your availability?
Speaker 1: 2:13
And so summertime is a cray, cray time to try to hire Right. It's a difficult time. It's like literally throwing them in a fire. Hey, I want you. And a lot of times we get so desperate, willing to take mediocre team members that really don't fit our culture, really don't fit our expectations of the customer experience. But you're so desperate that you're like let me take them and I can fix them. And really you can fix them when you're probably in a slower shoulder season of time. And same thing for plumbers, roofers, pest control people.
Speaker 1: 2:43
Right now, anytime you're in your busy season, is a hard time to hire and so we need to start preparing. You know when we need to be preparing for hiring for summer in September of the year. So in September we need to start hiring for next year's summer. Right, but we have to start right now. Like, check your capacity. Why are we spending money on low barriers of entry offers like, hey, $39 tune-ups or $59 water heater flushes? Well, we don't have enough capacity to even run our actual demand calls that are coming in Correct, right, following with me here. So, if anything, go in and adjust all of your messaging to reflect high-end offers. So are you ready to replace? We have financing things that'll just get you the higher-end clients so that you're not filling your schedule up. Yes, but it's with that low barrier of entry.
Speaker 1: 3:35
Remember summertime for HVAC people specifically, definitely in the mid-country, down to the south, we don't necessarily need any help because the weather drives everything. So just check your capacity there. Just take a break, step back and look and see is my marketing matching my capacity and my needs right now? And then let's, like I said, refocus those offers. Are your promos still relevant for late summer?
Speaker 1: 4:00
Is it now time for us to start thinking right now, in June, if you're listening to this in early summer, which that's all relative to who lives in that life, but you know, ideally we're thinking tune-ups and clean-outs and fall prep right, so we need to be ready to adjust that messaging. Start now so that doesn't catch you off guard. I don't want you to look up in September and be like, oh my gosh, I'm still saying get your system ready for the summer. We're already through summer. Right, we've got to get ahead. Right, we need to get ahead of the game, not stuck in the back where we're like, oh crap, I need to do this Again. Where Lemon Seed excels is helping you think forward, right, okay, step number two After we focus, after we review everything, we know what's working, what's not working we made our slight pivots, we update our messaging.
Speaker 1: 4:46
Now let's push that CTA bucket right, cta call to action. So we have got to ramp up urgency based on that last chance for summer savings before back to school hits. Don't get caught, you know, with no air when the temp drops. So this is all about thinking through your, your where you are in your seasonality as a company, right, so any of you can do last chance for summer savings. So again we're we're trying to make people that are on the edge of doing something for their home services like do it, like jump on over, make the decision sir, like come on, let's go. And so before, before back to school.
Speaker 1: 5:29
So you know what, as a mom which, side note, pro tip most of you should be talking to women in all of your messaging. The majority of you should be focused on women, for sure. So guess what happens when back to school hits? So whether I'm worried about a kid going off to college, my kindergartner starting, whatever it is, you know what goes through my mind is like oh Lord, drop off, pick up practice. Do I have everything? I got to spend a bunch of money school clothes, school supplies, what all do my kids need Lunch accounts and, for me personally, dorms. I got like my child has to live in his own apartment, like all of a sudden my kid needs to be an adult, right, but those are all the things that are going through my head. So that really resonates with busy moms Like, hey, before school hits, let's get you all ready for the fall.
Speaker 1: 6:14
And those of you that are blessed to have like actual four seasons you have a true summer, spring, winter, fall Congratulations, you live in. The best parts of those of you that have four seasons. It's so nice because you actually can utilize that seasonal speak and your actual demographic lives in that as well. So for Texas, it's like do you want to be hot as hell or mildly hot? So Christmas Day, we never know if it's going to be raining. Are we going to be in flip flops? Do we need a parka? Anything under 60 makes us have to wear a parka and gloves. We don't know how to survive.
Speaker 1: 6:52
But when you are talking through all of the verbiage that you're going to use, utilize what works for your market. That's why, let me see, I can't just say say this, right, you need to think through a female homeowner in your market that experiences, your weather patterns, what matters to them, right? So urgency-based things, things that have something that make people at least kind of look at it and go do I have time to do that, right? Second thing there is create a limited time offer that ties back. So those of you that live in hurricane season and sell generators, guess what we should be promoting right Now.
Speaker 1: 7:30
Also, I'm scared. So, like I live about two and a half hours from the coast um of the gulf of mexico, america, whatever you want to call it, I don't care, but, um, wherever you live, I live about two and a half hours from there, and so we don't necessarily get the hurricane itself. We get the winds and the rains, but we get the evacuees, but but we also will lose power. We will lose things like that because of the winds and things that come through, and so if you live anywhere near the coast, you should have a whole campaign running all year long just around hurricane preparedness and all of the verbiage that matches that. So if it's now like, hey, get your system installed now, before the hurricane season enters, hey, we are in hurricane season, don't wait for the tornado alarms, right, like, whatever? Those of you that live in Tornado Alley. What are we doing? We should be selling generators hand over fist, but we should be promoting them all year long, changing the messaging to speak to the homeowner in what they're feeling and experiencing. Right then right. And then also the third thing to push your call to action bucket. So you know, limit Seed has three bucket approach branding, call to action and cultivating your existing database. That call to action bucket is what we need to be focused on at this particular moment in this episode. But optimize channels that move fast. So, in layman's terms, stuff that's working fast, go do that, go push into that.
Speaker 1: 8:56
Google local service ads Friend, if you are not Google local verified right now, it's literally leaving money on the table. It is, I call it, like you got the good angel on one side and you got the devil angel on the other side of your shoulder. Right, the good angel is GLSA. They only charge you when you actually use their services. For the most part, they're fairly easy to work and you can actually have pretty decent attribution between. I spent $70, $100 for the lead and I got a lead from it.
Speaker 1: 9:25
Ppc over here. That's the devil on my shoulder. That devil goes down to Georgia every single day. Okay, because all he's doing, it's got a whole personality. Ppc is a whole little devil demon, because what happens is he just running around, right, it's the wild, wild west. Out there, people are clickety, clacking. You got it out there, you know you need it. It's expensive. And listen, some people are killing it with PPC and if that's you don't change a thing. Don't rock a boat that don't need to be rocked. But those of you that are like I got to keep throwing money into PPC. Number one are you on board with searchlights so you can see if it's actually working? Number two do you have tracking set up inside of whatever CRM you're on? Sorry, my East Texas came out with whatever CRM that you are on so that you can see is it actually working? Are you just paying for clicks or you're now paying seven, eight, $900, a thousand dollars for a lead? So let's get serious about things that move quickly Google, local service ads, social media ads, youtube ads Right now, youtube ads are outperforming social media ads and you're like well, youtube friends.
Speaker 1: 10:31
There used to be a lady that works at Lemon Seed. She now works for my sister at the pest control company a spot on pest control, but she tells me the other day we went to something together and she's telling me she says you know what I do? I love these. This Chinese couple that cooks and I'm like, oh, are you watching them on TikTok or where she goes? No, youtube, I was like you're on YouTube and she's like, oh, yes, and so she follows all of these DIYs because she's kind of a DIY. She lives alone, so she does some cool stuff and she's kind of artsy anyway, so she loves like crafting and DIY projects and all that. But God's like, hello, she's the decision maker for her home and she's on GLSA watching cooking shows and all these different things. So, hello, we need to be where the people are. We have to aerial Disney's aerial. I want to be where the people are. I say it all the time. We've got to get there.
Speaker 1: 11:21
So YouTube ads and social media ads they need time to work. So I'm talking on both sides of my mouth here a little bit, but it's definitely something that you could plug in something and get good response from. It's definitely something that you could plug in something and get good response from. And then, hello, texting your existing database for anyone that has not had a tune-up, that you did a replace a quote for last year. Did you have to add refrigerant last year? Can you add refrigerant this year? Do you now offer financing Did they make a repair last year that you can give them 50% of that towards the purchase of a new system? Let's think outside the box on these texting campaigns and these email campaigns. So optimize channels that move quickly, right, all right?
Speaker 1: 12:04
Step number three we are going to plant seeds for Q4. All the puns intended, plant seeds for Q4. So start talking about fall prep in your mind and on paper. And if you're a lemon seed client, we are already working on your fall plans. But start thinking through those with your strategist from the lemon seed team and your marketing coordinator from the lemon seed team.
Speaker 1: 12:23
Let's start talking about how we're getting ready for the fall. What are we going to do? New things? So this is when we can start thinking about can we partner with a lawn care company to do gutter cleaning as a combo offer? Can we offer some insulation specials Like, don't wait for the winter, add insulation right now? What about an insulation upgrade with a system replacement, heater tune-ups like hey, it's hot outside right now, let's check your heater. Like you could do something kind of playing off of that, especially those of you that are going to have a true fall and a true winter. So again, those of you that are living the life that I live, go ahead and check out their heater right now, because you know what we probably didn't do. So our contractors are going to laugh. When we installed their new system, we probably didn't turn their heater. We probably didn't turn their heater. We probably didn't make it where their heater works. So a lot of our callbacks sometimes that I see from our clients in the south is that we just didn't even connect the heater side. So we go back out because those two weeks of the year that you need your heater we want to make sure that it works. But insulation is a good one.
Speaker 1: 13:24
Gutter cleaning and then pre-holiday plumbing checks. So listen up, my plumbers that are listening. Right now is a great time to do a whole home plumbing inspection where you go check for leaky faucets, leaky toilets, broken um wax or wax seals no, broken seals around things. Is the water shut off valve fixed? Have you gone over, um things to do with the garbage disposal? Are you looking for problems that could indicate there's a problem at the main line like what can we do to get our homes ready for the holidays, right? So Christmas in July kind of special, like hey, we're already thinking about Christmas right now because we're thinking about how you need to be prepared for the holidays that are coming up. In the fall we're doing a pre-holiday turkey time special, right. All kinds of cool things that you could be doing now to get ready for Q4. And then you can even launch some things around a get ahead campaign like book now for September and October and receive some sort of freebie, right, like a free indoor air quality test or free water test.
Speaker 1: 14:27
Go ahead and book your tune up for September and October now, and when we come out there, we're going to bring you a $25. I live in Texas. What a burger gift card, in and out gift card. Maybe there's a salad place, maybe there's something that's on brand for you. So maybe you have a bear and you want to do honey, or you have lemons and you want to do lemonade. What is something cool that you can take with you? No-transcript, right? No one goes. Check that off my list for today because it didn't want happening. So we've got to add some fun and some flair and some brand to it, right?
Speaker 1: 15:10
So let's get ahead of the game and be like hey, book now for September and October and receive this bonus or freebie or priority scheduling or whatever we want it to be, and then making sure that you are building a list throughout this summer of people that you are going to rehash. Are your CSRs tagging every opportunity? Are you monitoring? Basically guys I'm going to whisper because it's kind of a secret Basically, you're building a file that we are going to nurture Let me use the word nurture because nagging is not nice. Nurture throughout the fall. Hey, we were out there during the summer. We offered this during the summer. We had to come out and service this. We need to service that. We offer financing. Right, we want to nurture all of your summer business that didn't convert. So make sure that your CSRs are tagging things and entering information correctly. That CSR man is so important off the jump. So make sure that you're there.
Speaker 1: 16:13
Number four let's move on to boost your database cultivation, that third bucket that's Lemon Seeds' strategic plan of how we set things up. Hit your existing customers with those thank you emails, review request and upgrade promos right, are you thanking everyone for the service that you've done and asking for a referral? Are you reviewing requests and are you asking for upgrade promos? Hey, miss williams, I see that we're coming out there today to do the tune-up checkout. Whatever. Um, you know what? One thing we're offering right now is an indoor air quality um upgrade. If it is something that you would like to invest in now or consider now, we're actually offering a discount if you do it at the same time we do your tune-up.
Speaker 1: 16:53
Hey, did you know that we now offer plumbing? If you let us do a plumbing visual plumbing inspection for you, it's absolutely free and it's a part of us being there to do your tune-up. So, again, even though you have an HVAC technician, they might not can do a true plumbing service, but they can visually inspect for leaks and things like that. Again, guys, you've got to think outside the box for your team and how you can make these things happen. But really, what you want out of your CSR mentioning that upgrade promo is conversation. Oh my gosh, I didn't know. You guys offered plumbing. Yes, actually, I see that you're not a part of our membership club. I mean, it leads into so much good conversation.
Speaker 1: 17:31
Oh hi, ms Williams, thank you for calling us today. Are you a Sailor Max savings member? I have no caller. I have no idea what that means. Oh well, that's actually our membership program where you get blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right, guys, we're missing the boat because we're too scared to ask our CSRs to make options. We're too scared to push our technicians to provide options. Well, they don't want to be salesy. Well, do you not want to make payroll? That's the way I look at it. Like, do you don't want to make payroll? You don't want to hit your sales goals? Get our people providing options. It it is so important.
Speaker 1: 18:03
Next thing is, if you're not dropping email newsletters, drop a big newsletter If it's e-newsletter or one in the mail. Listen, I love a good newsletter in the mail. Killer Love it. Definitely one of my favorite things End of summer home checklist. Right, it's an email from you, branded for you, written editorially for your brand. Be authentic, be raw. Send that email out or get it typed up and get it from one of your mailing companies. So if you're a limited client, we're happy to connect you with any of our direct mail vendors, but getting it set up to where you can mail out this end of summer home checklist.
Speaker 1: 18:42
Feature articles. Feature a customer of the month, feature something cool that you have going on some awards. You've done community work. You've done it is literally branding perfection, right. And then start that referral pitch. Refer a neighbor before school starts and we're sending you a gift card. Refer a friend, refer a family member. Friends and family, talk free like what can you do, right?
Speaker 1: 19:05
And then, last but not least, let me throw this little tidbit in there Be seen at local events. School is about to be back in session or you need to be preparing for school to be back in session. So there's back to school events, there's tailgating, there's farmers markets and events. Just get intentional about showing up. Hire somebody part-time to show up for you right. Post behind the scenes content as your content is wrapping up, you know. Go out to your installs and video them sweaty and installing and the tape looking perfect. Or this old, ratty water heater sitting in the back of your trucks, but this new, pretty one with your custom sticker put on it in the home. Get behind there and then start teasing about what's coming this fall and really all you're talking about is you're going to provide the same great service. You're going to provide great financing offers. Just start talking about it, right?
Speaker 1: 19:59
And then here's my little bonus thing I need y'all to have a mind shift, focus, a mindset shift, maybe. Let me say so don't just coast into fall man. Don't waste all this momentum. Convert that summer hustle into some momentum for Q4. So, hey, you're hot, you're tired, you're working, but you know what the phone is ringing for most of you. You're getting good money. This is where you make the majority of your money all year long.
Speaker 1: 20:26
Push, guys, push, we can do it. And then marketing is a flywheel. So keep spinning. Keep spinning it now and it'll serve you when that slow season hits right. Guys, thank you so much for listening to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. This one was fast and furious, but it's just to give you energy and help you push through the summer knowing what you can do to really take marketing and drive your business forward. You can hit your goals. You will hit your goals. It's going to be a great rest of the year for 2025. So let's do it. It was great talking to you. If you like what you've heard today, please leave us a review. If not, I'll see you on the next side.
