How to Generate Heat Pump Leads for Your Heating Business
February 26, 2025 | Read: 9 minutes
The demand for domestic heat pump installations in the UK is growing; but how can heating businesses seize the opportunity to win heat pump leads?
Below, we’ll explore recent market insights and share actionable strategies that will help you to generate, manage, and turn heat pump leads into sales.
But why heat pumps?
Many governments, including the UK, have been pushing for energy-efficient solutions to help reduce their reliance on gas and oil. On the other side of the coin, consumers are looking for long-term savings amidst rising energy bills.
Heat pumps, then, are seen as a huge part of the solution to achieving a more sustainable, cheaper, and environmentally friendly method of heating homes and places of business.
This has led to an increase in heat pump popularity and, alongside financial incentives to help bring upfront costs down, it means there are great opportunities for plumbing, heating, and electrical businesses who are looking to transition into renewables.
Understanding the UK’s Heat Pump Market
Did you know there are approximately 20 million heat pumps installed across Europe? As of April 2023 that’s approximately 3023 heat pumps per 100,000 people.
By comparison, the UK has only 412 heat pumps installed per 100,000 people.
While there’s been a comparative lag in their uptake, the UK government is still aiming to have 600,000 units installed per year by 2028.
However, with a 63% rise in UK sales from 2023 to 2024, there’s good reason to expect the trend to continue. And this means there’s a huge opportunity for businesses who are looking to expand their offerings.
The UK’s Push for Heat Pumps
To help meet their ambitious goals, the UK government introduced the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in 2022, and in February 2024, the scheme led to over 4,000 heat pump installations.
This was a 26% monthly increase compared to 2023’s monthly average. There’s every indication (according to OFGEM) that these numbers were higher and coincides with increasing demand, year on year.
This gives plumbing and heating businesses like yours an opportunity to act and win new business.
But why exactly should you go about winning heat pump leads?
Well, it’s all about moving with the market and taking steps to future-proof your business.
Eventually, the promise is that gas boilers will be phased out, and with heat pumps set to replace the vast majority of these assets, your business will be in a better position if it acts now.
Besides, heat pumps can last nearly twice as long as a typical boiler, which also means there’s greater potential to develop a large, sustainable pool of customers investing in green energy.
Think long-term maintenance contracts, not to mention more lucrative heat pump installations themselves.
What’s the Benefit of Generating Heat Pump Leads?
For businesses transitioning to renewables, generating heat pump sales leads can bring numerous benefits:
- High Return on Investment (ROI): Given the high cost of heat pump installations (averaging £14,000), even a modest conversion rate can significantly impact profitability.
- Customer Education Opportunity: Many homeowners are unaware of heat pump grants or are confused about installation costs. But by capturing leads, you can educate them, build trust, and help them to make well-informed decisions.
- Competitive Edge: Small businesses can differentiate themselves through expertise and customer-centric services, especially as heat pump technology improves and adoption increases. You can showcase your speciality and secure a profitable niche.
How Do You Generate More Heat Pump Leads?
Here are some proven strategies for generating leads that you can apply to your business:
1. Build Trust as a Heat Pump Specialist
To stand out, your customers need to see you as an authority in heat pump installations. And trust is everything when it comes to earning new business. To succeed, we recommend focusing on these steps to establish your expertise:
- Educational Content: Teach and guide. Use your website and social media channels to show prospects you know what you’re talking about. For example, create blogs, videos, and guides about the benefits of air source heat pumps. Explain the heat pump installation processes or demonstrate how to apply for heat pump grants. Content will help you appeal to a prospect’s wallet and their conscience, first by highlighting how much they can save (up to £7500 with a BUS grant), but also help cut CO2 emissions (up to 70% lower versus a gas boiler).
- Certifications and Experience: Be the best. Practically speaking, you need to show you’re as legitimate as you claim to be. Ensure your business is certified as an MCS registered installer—or part of a recognised umbrella scheme—to show you’re a trusted partner with a legitimate stamp of authority.
- Showcase Real Results: Seeing is believing. Share customer success stories, completed projects, and before-and-after results. These can be part of your educational content, but don’t forget about review websites where customers may go looking for advice.
2. Leverage Local SEO and Your Online Presence
It’s worth diving in to explain a little more about how you can get in front of your customers.
That’s where your website and local SEO (search engine optimisation) will help. When homeowners search Google for “air source heat pump installers” or “heat pump installers near me,” you want to be among the first businesses that pop up.
A strong online presence can really help your business generate leads in today’s digital-focused market.
We mentioned content above, that means creating blogs and website pages optimised for specific topics.
- Optimise for Local Search: Use keywords like “heat pump lead installation” and “installing air source heat pumps in [your area]” on your website. Location-specific landing pages will help you to target local audiences e.g. “Heat Pump Installations in Rugby and Coventry”.
- Google Business Profile: Make sure your Google Business Profile is up-to-date with your services, certifications, and photos. Encourage customers to leave reviews, too. This profile will increase your visibility for local search.
- Run Digital Ads: You could invest in targeted ads on platforms like Google and Facebook, which can be a big help for local search. Flyers and print media can still be useful, too, but a digital presence is best. Focus on the area you serve and reach out to existing customers, including those you may have installed boilers for, too.
3. Capitalise on Government Incentives
Government schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme are pivotal in driving interest in heat pumps. Alongside educating customers about the benefits of a heat pump, clarifying how much they stand to save (especially on upfront costs) could make a huge difference:
- Highlight Available Grants: Promote the BUS grant for installing air source heat pumps. Include this in your advertising and outreach messages.
- Talk Finance (if it’s an option): If you’re able to offer financing as a contractor to help customers spread the cost of an installation, make it clear there are ways for customers to manage long-term payments, too.
- Showcase Long-Term Savings: Explain how heat pumps work, helping reduce energy bills by hundreds, or even over a thousand pounds, depending on their household. Help customers understand the long-term benefits of moving away from gas.
- Create Grant Resources: A clear proposal is one of the best ways to provide clarity to head pump leads. Building a proposal, with costs and other details broken down can be a great way to convert a lead into a sale. Commusoft’s proposal management software can help you do that, and more.
Ultimately, using financial incentives as part of your lead-generation strategy can help move prospects further down the buying funnel.
4. Streamline Customer Interaction with CRM Tools
Installing heat pumps can be a time consuming process, and so it will be a big help if you can streamline communication and scheduling with an organisational tool.
That’s where job management software, like Commusoft, comes in handy. It can help simplify both job and lead management so that your customer data and sales management is easier than ever to follow.
With a wide variety of tools (see below) you can improve communication and rest assured that your customers and staff are always in the know.
Key Tools to Maximise Lead Management:
- Customer Records: Keep complete job and customer data in one place, ensuring personalised service and efficient follow-ups. Invoicing and payments are made easy, too, thanks to the all-in-one nature of the software.
- Automated Quote Follow-Ups: Commusoft offers automated service reminders and detailed quoting tools to help make lead management and communication seamless.
- Booking Portals: Create a frictionless experience by enabling customers to book online via a self-service portal.
When your communications are smooth, prospects feel valued, and that’s critical for converting leads.
5. Bolster Sales Management with Software
Success in heat pump lead generation lies in consistently improving your approach. No two leads will be the same, and if you’re cold calling or waiting for customers to come to you, then you need to take a different tact.
Upgrading to a professional sales management platform can be transformative. You’ll gain access to a lot of data that can be analysed and put to use, helping your whole team to take action on leads:
Don’t simply send a quote and cross your fingers, use software to track the sales process from start to finish. Use Commusoft’s Sales platform to:
- Monitor Lead Sources: Track leads through the entire sales process.
- Streamline Scheduling: Optimise engineer schedules to ensure you’re converting inquiries into completed surveys, and completing every stage of a detailed job.
- Access Key Insights: Gain deeper understanding of your sales pipeline with reporting tools.
For more on organising your sales funnel, check out The Ultimate Guide to Sales Strategy.
This guide offers trades businesses a comprehensive methodology of sales best practices to follow. Use it to help everyone in your business develop the mindset, structure, and skills needed to implement a winning sales strategy.
Take Action to Boost Your Heat Pump Leads
The heat pump revolution is here, and businesses that act now will lead the charge. By focusing on generating high-quality leads, qualifying them effectively, and converting them into long-term customers, you can position your business at the forefront of this thriving market.
With the right strategies and tools in place, your business will not only grow but also contribute to a cleaner, greener future.
Need help getting started? Contact us today to learn how Commusoft can streamline your sales process and help you generate more heat pump leads!
