The real clean tech power players: Why specifier and installer marketing is the key to growth

While clean energy brands are focused on consumer campaigns, the professionals who actually drive uptake – the specifiers and installers – are still being left out of the conversation.

The UK needs to install 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028 to hit net zero targets. In 2023, we managed just 55,000.

And according to Ryan Willdig at Heatforce, in his ‘What are the UK’s blockers for achieving its 600,000 installation figure?’ article, it’s because “the current pace, policy, infrastructure and skills we have in the UK just aren’t aligned to deliver this new target.”

Of course, he’s absolutely right, but that doesn’t mean that the manufacturers are off the hook.

From our research, we believe there’s also a communication gap between manufacturers and the installers that we do have.

It’s not the tech or the government. It’s all about the story we’re telling and who we’re telling it to.

Because while clean energy brands are focused on consumer campaigns, the professionals who actually drive uptake – the specifiers and installers – are still being left out of the conversation.

If we want to unlock the level of growth needed in heat pumps, we need to win over the installers. Because if we don’t, we’re in danger of falling in limbo for a decade, taking another 20 years for the UK to switch over – like well-known heat pump expert and enthusiast Graham Hendra told me.

Here’s why winning over specifiers and installers isn’t just a good idea. It’s the best strategy.

1. The key decisions happen long before the customer is involved

Homeowners aren’t asking for heat pumps by name. They’re being offered them by the specifier who wrote it into the project, or the installer who priced it. And too often, the product they’re offered isn’t yours.

Specifiers, like architects, planners and project managers, make upstream decisions that shape what gets installed. And installers, who the customer often trusts most, either reinforce your value or quietly recommend something else.

And as Hendra put it:

“No one cares about carbon; all they care about is money and cost. No one has got any money. A heat pump installation is 3-4 times the price of a boiler swap. The installers make really good money swapping boilers so why bother with heat pumps?”

If that’s the story being told in the home, then your product doesn’t stand a chance.

We need to change the narrative being told by installers – give them the tools, the language, and the confidence to advocate for heat pumps, not avoid them.

Because if you’re not written into the spec, and backed by the installer, you’re not even in the room when the decision is made. That’s why B2B influence is key.

It’s what gets you into the tender.

It’s what keeps you in when costs get challenged.

And it’s what turns ‘maybe’ into ‘let’s go with that one.’

2. They carry the weight of your brand promise, but they need help

Heat pump brands are asking specifiers and installers to explain:

●      Complex systems

●      Performance claims

●      Price justifications

●      Planning regulations

●      Installation timelines

●      Disruption risks

All while protecting their own reputation.

And when your messaging is vague, your assets are hard to find, and your tools aren’t helpful, they’re the ones left to carry the load. You’re expecting them to be your champions. So champion them first.

They need:

●      Clear, trustworthy spec templates

●      Honest messaging around costs, noise, and compatibility

●      Installation guides that actually help

●      Data and case studies that prove the value

●      Easy access to planning rules and post-sale support details

This is what makes or breaks your chance of being chosen.

Some brands are doing better than others when it comes to aspects including quality installation training, aftercare and customer service – these are the reassuring necessities for end customers.

However, it’s still not enough to shift most installers from boilers to heat pumps. They’re being asked to sacrifice a week’s salary to retrain and for what? The possibility of higher earnings?

Although that could be true, so is the possibility of constant queries and complaints from customers they’ve already fitted. As one of Europe’s largest brands told me at UK Construction Week, installers still have a ‘fit and forget’ approach.

What’s more, installers are not builders. They’re not skilled at providing comprehensive advice on how a homeowner can maximise their investment by addressing insulation issues in 100-year-old properties. We need to tackle these real issues honestly and find solutions.

3. In a saturated market, their recommendation is your biggest differentiator

In 2023 alone, over 1,000 heat pump brands and sub-brands were active in the UK.

To the average consumer, they all sound the same.

This creates a choice paradox – too many options, too little clarity. That’s where trust comes in. Installers and specifiers simplify the decision for customers. They shortcut the noise. And that makes them your edge.

If they’ve used your product before and trust it? You’re in.

If your support’s been poor or your info lacking? You’re out.

In clean energy, awareness is easy but being recommended is everything. Brands that get this right don’t just get installed. They get remembered, re-used, and specified again.

So what’s stopping more brands from doing it?

Partly, habit. Most marketing is still stuck in B2C thinking. But partly, assumption. Some brands believe specifier and installer trust will come ‘because the market’s growing’. But growth doesn’t happen by default. It happens by design.

You need to build support. Proactively, strategically, and credibly.

The brands that grow will be the ones that help others do their job better. The ones that make it easier for the people around you to say yes to your product:

●      The planner under pressure to get fast approvals

●      The installer who needs a confident, quiet fit

●      The homeowner who just wants hot water and a warm home, without surprises

But the idea that change will happen, because it has too isn’t necessarily correct. Graham Hendra’s worst fear is that it could take 20 years to get to where we want to be in three years. And yet there’s so much invested in this shift happening from a business perspective that financially it cannot afford to fail. The market growth is too pedestrian for the number of brands in the market, so survival will depend on differentiating.

During the Installer Show I asked MP Bill Esterson about this. Bill is the Chair of the Committee on Energy Security and Net Zero:

“People are nervous about change but we’ve got to help. The industry has got to take a key role. Don’t leave it to the politicians.”

Scott McCubbin is Associate Director at Continuous, a brand agency that redefines possibilities so brands can realise them. Over twenty-five years, they have helped premium products get specified over cheaper rivals, trade-first brands become market leaders and manufacturers move from being in the market to owning their space within it.

For more info on the points raised in the article, you can access their ‘Guide to Specifiers’ here.