How 5 Star HVAC Contractors used Yelp to achieve 30% year-over-year growth
With help from Yelp, we were able to grow our business significantly—over 30% year over year. I have time to spend with my family as well as travel with them anytime we want. I don’t think that would have been possible without Yelp.
— Jose Vargas, Owner, 5 Star HVAC Contractors, and Yelp advertiser, Rowlett, TX
Jose recommends: Yelp Ads | Request a Quote | Upgrade Package
Summary
Jose Vargas founded 5 Star HVAC Contractors in 2006 to repair AC units for his neighbors in the sweltering Dallas-Fort Worth area. After struggling to scale the business as a solopreneur, Jose invested in Yelp Ads with Yelp, which fueled his business with an influx of high-intent leads, allowing him to hire more employees and expand to a second location. With Yelp, 5 Star HVAC has achieved:
- 30% year-over-year growth
- $645 in revenue per call from Yelp
- 45% conversion rate
- 444% increase in total monthly leads
Background
Jose Vargas, an HVAC technician with over a decade of experience in the industry, founded 5 Star HVAC in 2006 to provide emergency AC repair and installation services out of his home in Rowlett, Texas. Committed to treating every customer with respect, Jose is proud to own a family business and dreams of one day passing it along to his sons.
Challenge
When 5 Star HVAC was founded, Jose managed every aspect of the business, from taking calls and scheduling repairs to completing jobs. It left little time for marketing and advertising—or a personal life. Jose worked from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. nearly every night, frequently taking jobs in the middle of dinner. To ease the pressure on himself, he needed to boost revenue to be able to hire more employees and build a more sustainable business.
I had four kids and knew I wanted to spend more time with them, so I had to make some changes. I slowly started to get away from doing all the work with my hands and learning how to grow a business. I needed a partner like Yelp to help me get the phone ringing and to get the type of customers we wanted.
— Jose Vargas, owner of 5 Star HVAC Contractors and Yelp advertiser
Solution
To scale the business and protect his work-life balance, Jose invested in Yelp Ads, which displays the business in key places across Yelp, including above and below organic search results and on competitors’ Yelp Pages. Over the last three years, Jose has achieved 30% growth each year. Yelp Ads also brought in 444% more leads a month with less time and effort, allowing Jose to hire more staff and offload tasks to spend more time with his family.
Yelp Ads also gives Jose peace of mind, knowing that Yelp is getting his business in front of the right customers and maximizing his advertising budget. Today, 5 Star HVAC gets more than 1,500 leads a year from Yelp, the majority of which are primed to buy and are looking for same-day repairs.
To increase lead conversion, Jose uses Request a Quote to field questions and engage potential customers one-on-one, resulting in a close rate of 45%. He also leverages the Upgrade Package features, including using the Call to Action tool to set a customized offer for first-time customers, which differentiates him from his competitors and helps convert leads into clients.
Once we found Yelp, that made getting leads a lot easier. We were able to respond straight from our home. And when people do send a request for a quote, they’re pretty much ready to move forward. People on Yelp are not just shopping around or asking questions—they’re ready to get that repair done.
— Jose Vargas
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