How do HVAC companies sell more maintenance agreements?
A maintenance agreement sells best to a customer who has just had a good experience with you, so the ask belongs right after a job that went well. That customer has just watched your tech solve a problem in their home and has a reason to trust you. An offer made in that moment sounds like a sensible next step, while the same offer in a mailer six months later sounds like one more sales pitch.
Why does a maintenance agreement sell best right after a good job?
On the hottest afternoon of July, a homeowner's air conditioner quit. Your tech found the problem, got the house cooling again before dinner, and walked her through what had gone wrong. Standing in the kitchen with the air finally running, she asks the question plenty of homeowners ask in that moment: what can I do so this does not happen again?
A maintenance agreement is an answer to that question, and she is asking it right then. She trusts your company because she has just seen your work, and the trouble of a broken system is still fresh in her mind. A month later the house is cool, the repair is a memory, and the same offer has to work much harder to get her attention.
Which HVAC customers are most likely to say yes to an agreement?
The customers who have just been through a breakdown are the obvious ones, because they know what it feels like when the system fails at the worst time. Homeowners who just paid for a new system are another good group, since they have a large investment they want to protect and they often ask how to keep it running well.
Customers who already call you every spring or fall for a tune-up are worth a look too. They already believe in regular maintenance and are paying for it one visit at a time, so an agreement may simply be an easier way to do what they already do. None of these customers is a sure thing, and each of them has a better reason to listen than a stranger who got a flyer in the mail.
Why do HVAC companies stop offering agreements when things get busy?
In most HVAC companies the offer depends on the tech remembering to make it, and the weeks when the most customers could hear it are the weeks when the techs are the most tired. After the fifth call of a heat wave day, the tech fixes the problem, collects the payment, and heads to the next address. The offer gets made on slow days and skipped on busy ones, which is backward, because the busy weeks are full of homeowners who just had a breakdown.
There is a second gap as well. A customer who says "maybe after the summer" has given you a reasonable answer, and in many companies nobody writes it down, so nobody asks again when the summer is over.
What keeps an agreement customer renewing year after year?
A customer renews when they get what they paid for, which means the visits in the agreement actually happen on time. If the spring tune-up slips because nobody called to schedule it, the customer starts to wonder what the agreement is for, and that doubt is still there when the renewal comes due.
That makes the agreement part of your repeat business, and it is one of the most useful groups of customers an HVAC company can have. They are already on your schedule in the quiet months, they call you first when something goes wrong, and they are the people most likely to pass your name to a neighbor who is shopping for a new system.
What a fix looks like
By the time the truck pulls away from a July repair, the customer's answer to the agreement offer is on her record, whether it was yes, no, or ask me in the fall. In September the office pulls up the short list of customers who said to ask again and calls them while they still remember the heat wave. Agreement customers hear from you when a spring or fall tune-up is due, and they get every visit they paid for before the renewal comes around. The owner can see on any given day how many agreements are active and which customers are due next.
For HVAC companies, the Home Service Guild Marketing Operations System sends the service reminders and keeps you in touch with past customers, including the ones who said no this summer.
Questions owners also ask
Should the tech offer the agreement, or should the office?
The tech should mention it, because the tech is the person the customer just watched fix the problem. The office should follow up, so the offer still reaches the customer on the days a tired tech forgets. When both play a part, the offer no longer depends on one person having a good day.
Is it worth offering an agreement to a customer who only called once?
Yes, because a one-time emergency customer is often the person who most wants to avoid a second emergency. They have no habit of calling you yet, and an agreement gives them one. Even a customer who says no has now heard that you offer it.
What should I do with customers who say no to an agreement?
Keep them on the list of past customers you stay in touch with. Their system will still need service, and a homeowner who said no in July may say yes after a cold night in January. Hearing from you a few times a year keeps your name in front of them when that happens.
How do I know how many of my customers have an agreement?
You should be able to pull that number from one list in a minute. If agreement customers are spread across a spreadsheet, a notebook, and your job history, it is hard to tell who is due for a visit or up for renewal.
