Bye-Bye Tire Kickers: Marketing That Handles Price Objections Before the Call
Marketing Techniques to Finish Summer Strong
From The Yellow Chair Podcast — with your host Crystal Williams
Let’s be real — your phone’s ringing, your CSR is slammed, and half the people calling aren’t even your ideal customers. They’re price shoppers, discount hunters, and ghosters who disappear the moment you say the word “diagnostic fee.”
In this episode of From the Yellow Chair, Crystal calls out the tire kickers and dives into how you can use smart marketing to stop attracting them in the first place — and instead, start bringing in customers who see your value and are willing to pay for it.
Grab your lemonade. This one’s spicy.
Who Are the Tire Kickers?
They’re the folks asking:
“How much is it to come out?”
“What’s a pound of refrigerant cost?”
“Can I just get a quick quote?”
They’re shopping five different companies, asking for discounts, ghosting after you send the estimate. They’re not here for the long haul — and they’re not who you built your business to serve.
Crystal’s reminder: “We can’t build growing, successful companies being the cheapest guy on the block.”
Why Are Tire Kickers Landing in Your Funnel?
Crystal lays it out with love and honesty. If your brand is attracting low-quality leads, you’ve probably got one (or more) of these issues:
1. Your Messaging Is Too Generic
If you’re trying to appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one. Get specific. Speak directly to your ideal customer. The more focused your message, the better your leads.
2. You Lack Authority in the Market
Let’s put it this way — if your vans are unbranded, your techs look sloppy, and your ads are screaming $29 tune-ups, people are going to assume you’re cheap. And then they’ll be shocked when you’re not.
3. You’re Not Showing the Value
“Price is only an objection in the absence of value.”
If you’re not building value at every step — your ads, your website, your CSR scripts — then of course people are going to push back on your pricing.
Build a Brand That Attracts Better Leads
Let’s flip the script. Here’s how to make your brand scream “premium” and pre-qualify leads before they ever call:
Be Consistent and Look the Part
Consistency builds trust. Your branding should be polished and professional — same fonts, same colors, same tone — across your vans, social, website, and ads.
“You can’t charge Ruth’s Chris prices and look like Whataburger after yard work.”
Use Visual Proof: Case Studies + Before & Afters
People love a good transformation. Show off your premium work — new water heaters, cleaned-up installs, system replacements. And if you can get video testimonials? Chef’s kiss.
Educate Through Content
Start posting about:
Why cheap installs fail
What homeowners should ask before hiring a contractor
What it actually takes to install a system properly
Blogs, FAQs, videos — whatever your format, just keep showing up with answers.
Talk About Pricing — Strategically
Be transparent. Give ranges. List pricing on your site with tools like Contractor Commerce. Help people understand the why behind the investment, not just the cost.
Use Offers That Match Your Brand
Ditch the $19 tune-ups and start using offers that make sense for your premium position:
Free IAQ package with top-tier install
Complimentary Wi-Fi thermostat
Financing that makes premium options easier
Marketing Phrases That Attract the Right People
Start shifting your language. Try phrases like:
“Your peace of mind starts here.”
“We’re not the cheapest, we’re the most trusted.”
“Systems built to last.”
Avoid: “free,” “affordable,” “best deal.” That language screams “race to the bottom.”
Crystal’s tip: “At Air Max, we don’t race to the bottom. We raise the bar.”
CSR Power Move: Handle the Objection Like a Pro
When that price shopper calls? Give them the price — confidently.
“Yes sir, it’s $89 for us to come out. The good news is, our techs arrive in fully-stocked vans and can usually fix the issue right away. And if you move forward with the repair, that $89 goes toward the work.”
Let your CSRs offer a small incentive if needed, like a $25 coupon. But make sure they sound like they believe in what your company does.
Final Sip
Tire kickers aren’t the enemy — they’re just not your customer. And that’s okay.
When your marketing is dialed in:
Your leads are better.
Your close rate is higher.
Your team feels more confident.
Your brand starts competing on trust, not price.
Crystal’s final truth bomb:
“Marketing isn’t just about lead generation — it’s about lead qualification.”
Build a brand that attracts the kind of customers you want to serve — and unapologetically repel the rest.
Want help building a brand that filters out the tire kickers and brings in the high-value leads? That’s what we do.
Email us at hello@lemonseedmarketing.com — tell us you listened to the podcast and let’s get talking. Friends and family talk free.
From the Yellow Chair, we’ll leave you with this:
Charge what you’re worth, look like you’re worth it, and market like you believe it.
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Speaker 1: 0:01
What's up, lemonheads? Welcome to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I am Crystal and today we are calling out the tire kickers. We're calling out all those people that want to call your office. Just check, for how much is it for you to come out? How much is a pound of refrigerant? All of those people that are just not who we ideally want to be attracting and so we don't want. The ones that are getting five quotes, asking for discounts, ghosting you when you won't race to the bottom of the thing and how fast can you get here. All of those things we're diving in to. How you can use marketing to really eliminate price objections before they happen, start attracting customers who see your value and are willing to pay for it. Get ready, let's go. Let's sip some lemonade.
Speaker 1: 0:47
All right, listen, my goal here is to educate contractors on how strategic marketing can really eliminate, hopefully, the tire kicker mentality that happens when people call our office and they're chatting in or they're messaging our social media page. But I have a question for you how many of you contractors live life to where those little fancy neighborhood groups, when people start saying who is the cheapest, most affordable HVAC company near me? Does anybody know the most reasonably priced plumber and you're like secretly likeVAC company near me Does anybody know the most reasonably priced plumber? And you're like secretly, like please don't tag me, please don't tag me, please don't tag me. And then someone that thinks they're doing you a really good favor tags you and you're like mainly because you want to be a resource for your community. But your biggest problem is that you're not the cheapest guy on the block. And listen, guys, we can't build growing, successful, scalable companies being the cheapest guy on the block. We have to elevate. And so today we're going to talk about positioning your brand to attract the right customers when those people want to value service over price.
Speaker 1: 2:04
And listen, many of you listening you're guilty of being the tire kicker yourself. So there are some instances in my life where I'm just straight up looking for the cheapest price, right, straight up. Maybe it's what I'm looking for specifically, maybe it is a difficult financial time right then, or I know I have something big coming up. So there's all these obstacles out there right now already for contractors to overcome. But let's just talk about what we can do to control that. At the very end today I will talk about like what are some tactics that your CSRs can use to flip those calls around.
Speaker 1: 2:35
But let me verify for you guys a little bit. What is a tire kicker? Right? These are the people that are just looking right. Usually they're super price driven. They're not value driven Like hey, it's hot, I just need air, how much is it? Come fix it out. I'm sorry, come fix it up. And when that happens is they're just not here for the upselling and the joining of the memberships and the things that you are wanting to provide for them as options to really have a energy efficient home with a good partnership with you. They're just not here for it, right? So again, people are in different phases of their life and that is fine.
Speaker 1: 3:13
But we as contractors, we have to focus on that ideal target market and know that when we talk and when we push out messaging it absolutely must messaging it absolutely must M-U-S-T. It must be spoken into the market the way that we want to be received. So if these tire kickers keep landing in your sales funnel, somehow there's odds are there's a couple of things. Maybe our messaging is just too generic. We love everybody. Everybody can get a new system from Crystal Seating and Air Conditioning right, we want everybody. If I've had one contractor, tell me that I've had 10. So, yes, ideally, I'd love for every single person in Angelina County to buy from me.
Speaker 1: 3:54
Okay, as Crystal Seating and Air Conditioning. Odds are that ain't going to happen. I'm going to be lucky to maintain 60 to 70% market share. That'd be fantastic, right. That'd be gold numbers there, right. But I have to get very specific with my message.
Speaker 1: 4:08
Number two your brand just really lacks authority. So think about it. You know, going into the supermarket, that the store brand sometimes is going to be cheaper, or the, let's call it where I live, is called high top. So I know you're going to get it with me. You're going to get it. You're going to know you're going to put this into your market. We have there's high top crackers and then there's like Ritz. Right, there's like Ritz crackers. So my husband will be like hey, don't buy high top crackers. So odds are, when I look down there, I know that Ritz crackers are going to be more expensive than high top crackers.
Speaker 1: 4:41
So if you're not built any authority in the space of hey, these people know what they're talking about. They look the part, they have advertising going and then you run up there and they've never seen you before. Your vans look ratchet, your people look ratchet. Your social media is not posted on. These people are like, hey, I never hear about these people, I never see them. Look at these vans, look at this logo. They better be cheap. And then you bust out with one 99 or something that they're not expecting. That is where it's just confusion, um. And so you've got to build authority like man. These people really know what they're talking about. You have to look the part, and your ads just scream cheap, $29, um inspections and things like that. All the time. Um can make people feel like man. This is just a rat race, right?
Speaker 1: 5:28
Price is only an objection in the absence of value. Price is only an objection in the absence of value, right? So when people can't find the value, they won't pay the price. And so your team has to be on guard from moment number one. You have to look the part. Your CSRs have to talk the part, your dispatcher has to follow that same lead. Your technician has to park in the right spot, say the right things, present the right options. If you're selling an install or a later service work, everybody has to be on par. We've got to synchronize. We've got to win this game because we are building.
Speaker 1: 6:05
The value is in our service, it's in our attention to detail, it's in our product quality, it's in your overall customer journey with us, not in the value, not in that actual dollar amount. And so we have an objection here of people are just calling for price. So first of all, you have to be okay that it's not your peeps. You have to be okay that it's not your customer. So that's when you can say, okay, I know who I'm going after. I'm going to get very specific with my messaging. I'm going to elevate what we look like, feel like and talk like and I'm going to elevate my ads and my marketing for sure, so that everything just feels a little bit more expensive, so that when they see the price they don't have sticker shock.
Speaker 1: 6:49
We want to price, condition people just through our overall appearance, condition the market to understand that not only do you look the part but you're priced appropriately. I say this rarely ever do you walk into Burger King and you see a couple going to prom, right, because they're not dressed for that part, right. You know, when I go to Burger King, like when I've got kids and we're after practices. And we're running through there, right? You just don't look the part right. So you can't have, you can't charge Ruth Chris Steakhouse prices, but look like you are running through Whataburger on a Saturday afternoon after you mowed the yard. So everything has to go in tandem to really have success there. So that's that rule number one. Or the first thing we were talking about there is what is a tire kicker? Why did they land in your funnel? And that quote of price is only an objection.
Speaker 1: 7:42
In the absence of value, we must build value. Dig your well before you're thirsty. So you have to dig a good well, right? So we're not trying to be janky. Build a good well that is solid and you make plans for it. It's built to last. That is why branding is so important. So let's talk about marketing strategies that can pre-qualify your leads, right? So building a premium brand presence.
Speaker 1: 8:04
Consistency in the look and tone builds trust with your market. Consistency, like they should not guess. Is that a? Is that a Nick Williams band? Is that a Crystal City Interconditioning band? Why is it black?
Speaker 1: 8:18
Like those of you that love to do like oh, I love, I just wanted to change it up. I'm like okay, we hear our own sales pitches all the time. The average person does not. So when you, you just can't lose. You can't lose the fact that consistency is what's going to build brands. So be consistent, put out content, put out advertising that really is consistent. It's on brand, it's going to build trust. And then make sure that you've got quality photos, logos and professional branding. It just screams like hey, we're not here for price, we're here for quality. Right, when you look good, you feel good, you do better work right.
Speaker 1: 8:55
So all of that has to build up and so consistency and looking good is so important. And you're going to look up six months from now and be like dang, I wish I would have started then. I wish I would have known now. I wish I would have known then what I know now. And y'all almost every single person that rebrands with Lemon Seed ends up telling us I wish I would have done this three years ago, two years ago, six months ago, when I talked to y'all the first time. You're just so scared to get out there and do what you need to do and I'm like listen, it's not hard, the hardest part is convincing yourself and time that's the hardest part.
Speaker 1: 9:32
So the other way that we can build out some strategies to pre-qualify leads is use case studies, testimonies and before and afters. Before and afters are the most engaging pieces of content that you can put out there, especially when there's a major transformation. So this old, rusted, crusted looking thing that somebody hit with a lawnmower, bent over, looking all crazy on the outside of your house, replaced with this nice, beautiful shout out to pro tip of my private label peeps, private labeled equipment outside. Or a water heater that was rusty and crusty, it was stuck in there and it was all rusted and there was stuff all around it spider webs and you go in and you de-web and you put that new water heater there and it has this beautiful label on it and it is looking fresh. People love to see that transformation from man. This looks great. Listen, we're not going to run out and buy a new water heater because you made it look good. But it's again. We're all about just engaging content, getting testimonials. But it's again, we're all about just engaging content, getting testimonials, video testimonies. Chef's kiss, perfection, right, wonderful, perfection, love. A good testimonial. That's a video testimonial, let me see. We love to call them zestimonials, but a video telling about their environment, of working with you, their customer journey.
Speaker 1: 10:46
Hey, I called Crystal's Heating and Air Conditioning last Sunday afternoon. My family was headed in this week and they showed up on Monday morning, were able to get me a new water heater installed, carried my old one away. It was the best experience. Thank you, crystal's. Heating, air Conditioning and Plumbing Right. So boom, that is powerful. And even a Google review or even a go as deep as like a case study kind of thing. Like write it out, kind of narrate their story. Guys, game changer, game changer on social media Right, customer would say things like I chose crystals heating and air conditioning and plumbing because I trusted them.
Speaker 1: 11:22
I've used them in the past. My parents use them. How do we build up some authority? Right. Also, to help pre-qualify those leads, let's educate through content, blogs, faqs. If you have not gone to your Google business profile and asked and answered some questions, easy, easy, easy. But make a video about why cheap HVAC installs fail. Right, don't use the term HVAC. But why does cheap equipment fail me? Or why can't I install my own system? Why should I trust a professional to install my system? Why can't I install my own garbage disposal? All these different things.
Speaker 1: 11:57
You definitely can put things out there that you know people are searching for and tell them why they shouldn't be doing that. Right, just get out content. Your content is king and guys, I don't know what else to tell you Content freaking king. You got to get it out there. But you also have to teach the difference between oh my gosh, that water heater cost me X amount of dollars, that new, complete new system cost me this amount of dollars, and how big of an investment it is in your home, like you're heating an air conditioning system and your water systems are the one of the most, if not the most, important piece of your home, especially those of y'all that live in the South. Listen, y'all are crazy trying to live without eating and air conditioning, and the state won't even let you live without running water. So, come on, now it's an investment. But when you walk up and your guys like smell like cigarette and he's chomping on a piece of gum and his shirt's all untucked and he goes, yeah, this is going to cost you a pretty penny, but, sir, absolutely not.
Speaker 1: 12:54
So educating through content, elevating the experience with your team and then letting your team understand like, hey, especially those of y'all that are on incentive pay man. You should be coaching them on how you talk through like why you need this investment right. Also, avoid wasting time and set expectations. They ask, you answer is a really great book I'm in the middle of reading right now. They ask and you answer.
Speaker 1: 13:19
So you know why are we afraid to give pricing out? You know why? Because we don't really know and we we think somebody might get mad or what if my competitor calls who freaking cares? Do you think that homeowners don't tell the other guy what you charge them? Do you think that they don't go to a summer barbecue with some friends from church and they're sitting there and be like, oh, you own that other air conditioning company. Yeah, I just paid that air conditioning company $15,000. Do you know that's going on? So you got to like grab a pair and just be like this is what happens, right, so you can our system install started $8,500 with financing available. But all of that's very loose information, because we'd really like to come out and make sure that your system's sized correctly, make sure that we can get it in the home correctly, make sure that you actually need a new system. We just like to come out. It takes about an hour and a half, but we just try to make sure the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right, so you gave them the answer they ask. You gave them the answer and now you're just not wasting any time.
Speaker 1: 14:18
So, if people are asking you for how much is the cost of a new system, they have some sort of concern. Right? A lot of y'all have heard. If you've got to ask, you can't afford it, right? No one walks around being like I wonder how much that yacht is, other than people that can't afford it. Right, it's just reality, right? So if money's not an issue, they're not as concerned about the actual cost of the item as much as they're concerned about the process. How fast can you get it installed? What does it look like? All those different things, right? So, again, educate through content and start pricing and giving pricing ranges the best you can. Those of you. This is a shameless plug there is.
Speaker 1: 14:54
I have no vested interest in Contractor Commerce. I just think they're a great company. Contractor Commerce will allow you to sell your equipment, your IAQ, your memberships and all kinds of things online, and then you need to utilize those links to drive traffic to your online page. And, again, what you're doing is showing solutions to people's problems. Homeowners have issues they're trying to figure out. Even those of us that have money we are trying to figure out like what kind of price am I looking for here? So it's not my first question, but it's definitely in the ballpark of me, trying to understand it. So Contractor Commerce is a great plugin that allows you to like, list equipment online and all those things. Definitely check them out, but also use strategic offers. Ideally, if we're really trying to sell $12,000, $15,000, $20,000 systems, it's really hard to do that with a $19 tune-up.
Speaker 1: 15:45
You have to really be intentional about that marketing strategy. Why are you doing it? You're trying to get into homes. Well, odds are you're going to get into homes that have a lower value in the service itself. So again, you just have to be careful there because if you get too low, you really are attracting the people that have an issue, that know they have an issue. They just can't afford to fix it. So they're going to nickel and dime you. But using offers that position you as premium, like get a free indoor air quality package when you install a new system, one of our top tier systems, a free Wi-Fi thermostat right, some things that are cool that really elevate that right. So tons of options there. So, as far as marketing strategies that pre-qualify leads, build a premium brand, tell stories that show value, educate through content, start at least giving ranges and price structure and then using strategic offers that are not designed to grab a tire kicker but a more invested person that maybe it's like, uh, why not, I should go ahead and try it when they see it at that. So, and then what to say in your marketing, right? So use phrases like systems that are built to last.
Speaker 1: 16:54
Your peace of mind starts here. You get what you pay for and we make sure you're worth it. We're not the cheapest, but we are the most trusted company around. You'll hear Crystal. My whole entire Lemonside team knows I hate the word free. Free is like it cheapens everything, right? Complimentary is even a better word than free, right? So, and I even avoid things like affordable, lowest price, best deal in town. I kind of start feeling a little and like no hate here, because these guys have supreme hustle. A little used car salesy like come on down, best rates only today. Like I get the sense of urgency that we're trying to create but at the end of the day, like it's not.
Speaker 1: 17:37
We want to make sure that we are establishing our messaging as a brand, that we are affordable, but not to everybody, okay, that we have a good price, not the lowest price, and we're definitely not the best deal in town. You can go somewhere else and get something cheaper that will work Right. So at the end of the day, it will keep your house cool. Now, is it energy efficient? Are you guaranteed that company is going to be a business when you have an issue? Do they offer the extended warranties? Do they do all the cool things that you do? No, but will it cool their house? Yes. So that's why those people cannot be our jam. Y'all are better than that. We're going to elevate better than that, especially those of you that are limited clients. We are better than that.
Speaker 1: 18:19
We are seeking people that care quality over quantity, right. So an example would be like at Air Max we don't race to the bottom, we raise the bar. Our customers are looking for peace of mind, not just a cheap fix. So boom, like you just straight up said hey, we're not for the broke people and that sounds so terrible. I hope some of y'all don't think I'm being like too facetious here. I'm really just trying to drive my point home here that it's not that we don't care. And, at the end of the day, if you want to go help low income families get heating and air conditioning, please go, do it as a part of a ministry. Go do it as a part of a service that you just want to provide. But but when we are marketing to our ideal avatar, we are seeking people with expendable income. We are seeking people that can afford to place quality over quantity. It's just a matter of who we are. So again, help who you want to help.
Speaker 1: 19:07
But what we're talking about here is getting leads and new customers that fit our profile, that aren't sticker shocked every time we show them a price right. And what happens when we start marketing correctly? You have fewer unqualified leads, you have higher close rates and you have a sales team that's more confident in what their decisions are, and you stop competing with price and chasing everybody to the bottom of a pile and you start competing on trust right. So I just want you guys to remember a couple of things. Marketing is not just lead generation, it's lead qualification. If your branding and messaging do not match your pricing, you're always going to get people that think you're too expensive.
Speaker 1: 19:40
Get clear, get bold, build a brand that attracts customers that value what you do, and don't be afraid to polarize that's a little bit of a rough word polarized me, and I want people to know that I'm after those Lexus driving people, I'm after those Yukon driving mamas, because I know who my target market is and that's how I curate all of my messaging, all of my graphics, all of my community support. You see, if you're marketing to everybody, you're marketing to nobody. So when you speak directly to that ideal client, you naturally repel the ones that aren't a super great fit. Again, repel is a strong word, but what I'm trying to drive home with you here, guys, is speak to your ideal target market and speak well enough where they understand that you're not the cheapest guy around, and when those tire kickers kick back up, what happens is you're able to be like okay, hey, yeah, absolutely, and speak with confidence because you know what you provide for people is a good service. So here's my little pro tip, my little extended version right here, my little sip of lemonade, for those CSRs and contractors are like man, I just keep getting a bunch of them. What do I do with them on the phone.
Speaker 1: 20:52
In my opinion, when people are calling the office asking for pricing, I would give it to them. So we are $89 to come out and you have to remind them. The good news is we have a fully stocked van. We can actually make most repairs on site. You're not going to be waiting on a part. Odds are you're not going to be waiting on a part or waiting on me to come back. We can pretty much service everything right then and there. But listen, we do completely understand that $89 is a diagnostic fee. That is just our fee to come out and let you know what's going on. If you make our recommended repairs, we actually waive that $89 or we apply that $89 to the service work itself.
Speaker 1: 21:27
You need to be prepared. So step off my soapbox. Your CSRs need to be prepared that they don't lose a step when someone says oh my gosh, that's crazy. I can't believe y'all charge $89. Yes, I completely understand you being surprised, but at McWilliams we're always striving to provide high-end service, which would mean that we come with a completely stocked band with our technicians who have been background checked and drug screened to make sure that we're keeping you safe, and also we've been in business over 50 years, so we are going to be here if and when should anything go wrong. We are here to support you and walk you through any warranty work. Can I go ahead and get you on our schedule for this afternoon between three and five? Right, don't miss a beat.
Speaker 1: 22:08
It's when your CSR start fumbling around. Well, yes, sir, I mean, I know we're expensive. I don't really know why we charge everything Like don't shoot the messenger. I'm really not that when they start that, you've lost all credibility with that homeowner. So get your CSRs to feel solid and feel true about what you offer. Spin it around If you want to give them a little discount code. You know what, sir? I could tell that you were really surprised by that $89 dispatch fee. Right now, just for some new clients, my boss has given us a $25 coupon. I'd love to apply that to your account, so it will be taken off of any service or repair that you make today, whatever it takes right.
Speaker 1: 22:42
Get the job booked. What is your CSR's role? To get the job booked. That's what their role is, right. So you know, I think, at the end of the day, when you really start caring about new customer acquisition and building a brand and doing all the things that you need to do, you start naturally tire kickers, start knowing that they're not your ideal person. So then they start saying I love to support local man me too. I love for you to go support Chuck in the truck. I hope he makes it. It's rough out here in these streets, I hope he makes it. You're just, we've grown past the tire kickers. We're looking for people that value quality and options. So again, guys, I just encourage you to be authentically yourself.
Speaker 1: 23:26
This podcast is hosted by Live and See Marketing. We're your full service coaches for marketing, for advertising, for branding, all of those things. Remember, we're not the traditional marketing company, because who would want to be that? We're definitely something unique and fun. If you want more information, email us at hello at lemonseedmarketingcom. Tell them you heard us on the podcast and let's get talking, because friends and family talk free. We hope you've enjoyed this episode. We will see you next week. Look forward to sipping lemonade with you guys. Again, talk soon. Bye.
