Dealer Wins • Managing Price Volatility
How Hart Home Comfort kept customers calm and loyal through the toughest heating season in 45 years.
Proactive customer communication, a 65% email open rate, and a flood of thank-you notes from customers who felt looked after when it mattered most.
INDUSTRY
Heating Oil • HVAC • HVAC Service
LOCATION
Long Island, NY
SERVICES
Email · Communication · Digital Strategy
THE SITUATION
The issue at hand
Ray Hart has been running Hart Home Comfort on Long Island for decades. He knows this industry. But the 2025/2026 heating season brought pressure nobody could control. Conflict in the Middle East was sending oil prices swinging, and customers were starting to feel it.
Ray saw it coming before his phone started ringing. That's the point. He knew that when prices move like this, silence doesn't protect anyone. It just lets anxiety fill the gap. His instinct was clear: get ahead of it. Talk to customers openly, honestly, and often. Even before he had all the answers.
He came to Navara to help him do exactly that.
WHAT WE DID
The Navara approach
We started by sitting down with Ray and listening. He had deep knowledge of the market — the pricing pressures, the supply concerns, the uncertainty his customers were feeling. What he needed was someone to turn that expertise into clear, calm communication his customers could understand.
We met with Ray regularly throughout the season. He'd talk through what was happening. We'd craft messages that were honest and reassuring — keeping his voice, his name, and crucially the fact that we didn't have all the answers, but we were monitoring the situation daily.
The cadence: a personal note every two weeks. Not a promotional push. Just Ray, talking to his customers like the trusted local business he is.
THE RESULTS
The difference it made
65%
email open rate
2 wks
consistent send cadence
90 day
fewer inbound panic calls
A 65% open rate during one of the most volatile oil pricing periods in recent memory isn't a marketing win. It's a trust win. Customers opened those emails because Ray had earned the right to be in their inbox.
The phones got quieter. Not because the market calmed down — it didn't. But because customers already knew what was happening before they had a reason to panic. And then the replies started coming in.
IN THEIR CUSTOMERS WORDS
What Hart's customers said back
CUSTOMER REPLY · MARCH 2026
"It's things like this that keep me with Hart. I appreciate the heads up and as someone who's in the trucking business I am acutely aware of the volatility in the oil markets and the cost of diesel. Thanks for taking the time to keep your customers up to speed."
CUSTOMER REPLY · MARCH 2026
"Just wanted to let you know that we are appreciating your service and your good wisdom. We have been receiving first class service from all your staff levels. Always there to answer any call. Thank you and the Hart Home Comfort company for being a great service provider."
IN THEIR WORDS
Jacqueline Hart — Hart Home Comfort
”Their deep understanding of the fuel and HVAC industry sets them apart. Navara transformed our business. They don’t just promise results – they deliver. From rebuilding our website to optimizing our Google Ads and running highly targeted email campaigns, their strategies significantly boosted our online presence and customer engagement.”
Jacqueline Hart — Hart Home Comfort
CLIENT PARTNER NOTE
What made this work
Bryce Harrisberger - Lead Client Partner
“Great results come from great partnerships. Ray had the knowledge, the credibility, and the instinct to communicate, we just helped him do it in a way his customers could receive. We gave Ray's expertise a voice. And his customers heard it loud and clear.”
THE TAKEAWAY
The lesson
Your customers don't expect you to have all the answers during a volatile market. They expect you to show up. A consistent, honest communication rhythm — even when the news is uncertain — builds more loyalty than silence ever will.
The dealers who communicated most during the toughest season in 45 years retained the most customers when it was over.
Want results like this?
Talk to a Client Partner — no pitch, no pressure. Just a real conversation about your business.
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