An HVAC service business is seasonal; your HVAC service technicians are all booked during the seasons and stay idle in the slow seasons. This up and down hampers a business’s sustenance and growth. Your HVAC service company needs consistent business every day or every month for the entire year.
As HVAC equipment needs regular servicing and maintenance for a longer lifetime, your HVAC service company must capitalize on this by selling HVAC service contracts to your customers. The HVAC maintenance contracts not only bring you consistent business but also ensures your customer’s equipment stays in good condition building your business reputation and customer loyalty.
Here are a few tips to help you increase your HVAC maintenance agreement sales.
What is HVAC Service Agreement?
An HVAC service agreement is nothing but an HVAC maintenance contract between a customer and an HVAC service provider for the maintenance of heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems and refrigeration systems. It includes the scope of the work and services to be provided to the customer over a predefined time period.
HVAC maintenance contracts are aimed towards the preventive maintenance of HVAC systems to enable the HVAC systems to perform well for a longer lifetime.
Why are HVAC Maintenance Agreements important for your HVAC service business?
HVAC service contracts are important because they give you a steady stream of income. It should offer a monthly fee that covers both labour and parts. By offering these things, you’re giving yourself a reliable source of revenue that doesn’t require much effort on your part. HVAC service contracts increase your HVAC sales and business revenue with recurring jobs from existing customers.
These maintenance contracts give you the opportunity to offer your clients a level of protection against unexpected repairs. By offering an HVAC service agreement, you can ensure that your clients’ HVAC systems are working properly and that they aren’t paying for unnecessary repairs.
Additionally, by offering HVAC maintenance contracts, you can establish yourself as a reliable provider of HVAC services. Clients will feel comfortable knowing that they can count on you for routine maintenance of HVAC equipment, and they’ll appreciate the peace of mind that comes with having an HVAC maintenance plan in place for unexpected problems. Plus, by offering maintenance contracts, you’re showing your clients that you care about their comfort and safety.
Repeat customers are worth about 10 times what new customers are worth, according to a study conducted by HubSpot. This makes sense because repeat customers tend to stick around longer and spend more money over time. They’re also much less likely to cancel their subscription.
HVAC service agreements are a great way for businesses to keep existing customers happy while building new ones. In fact, it turns out that customers who purchase multiple services are actually more loyal than those who only buy one.
A well-thought-out HVAC service agreement program can help you achieve predictable outcomes and reduce costs. In addition, it can help you manage risk and improve customer satisfaction.
Tips to Boost HVAC Service Contract Sales
It is not difficult to increase your HVAC service agreement sales if you have the right systems and marketing tactics in place. Here we have compiled a list of tips on how to sell HVAC maintenance contracts to increase HVAC sales.
i) Identify your target customers
You must understand what it takes to sell an HVAC service agreement before you start selling them. To know how to sell HVAC maintenance contracts, you must first need to know exactly what type of customer you want to attract and what benefits you offer them. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you won’t be able to provide the best service possible.
Understand who your target audience is and what are their needs and goals. Once you’ve identified those, you’ll be able to craft a contract that meets both parties’ expectations. Understanding your customer’s needs is always the first step in increasing HVAC sales.
ii) Make a Detailed HVAC Maintenance Plan
Before you write anything down, take some time to think about what you want out of your maintenance agreement. Do you want to cover HVAC preventive maintenance? Or do you want to offer extended warranties?
The best way to sell preventive maintenance contracts is to make sure you’re offering the customer exactly what he needs. This includes making sure you understand his current situation, how much money he makes, and what type of equipment he owns. Once you’ve got that information, it’s time to start thinking about how you want to structure your HVAC maintenance contract.
A good starting place is to think about the types of problems people are most likely to experience. For example, if you find out that 90% of your customers’ air conditioning units break down within three months of purchase, you might consider including a clause that covers replacement parts and labour for those units. If you notice that 80% of your customers’ refrigerators stop working within six months of purchase, you could offer to replace the refrigerator free of charge.
Once you’ve figured out what problems your customers face, you’ll need to decide whether you want to include a monthly fee or a one-time payment. You’ll also need to determine whether you want to cover specific repairs or just general upkeep. Finally, you’ll need to figure out how long you want to keep your customers covered.
You’ll also want to make sure that your contract clearly states what happens if your customer doesn’t pay on time. Some companies require payments within 30 days of the invoice date, while others allow 60 days. Either way, you’ll want to make sure that you’re able to take action if your customer misses the deadline.
Finally, you’ll want to include a warranty period. Most companies offer a standard one-year warranty, but you may want to go longer depending on the age of the unit.
iii) Clearly Communicate the benefits to the Customers
You are selling HVAC maintenance contracts that will bring you consistent business but what is in it for the customers? Why should someone buy your HVAC service agreements? Why should they pay an upfront cost for equipment that is running well?
In fact, some people think that service contracts are just another way to charge customers without actually providing value. Customers remain clueless about why they should buy a service agreement when they can simply schedule a repair job on encountering an issue with their HVAC equipment.
Explain to your customers what is the HVAC service agreement all about. Demonstrate to them the benefits of an HVAC maintenance contract. Show them how a certain repair job would cost them very less if they have a maintenance service contract in comparison to the regular repair costs.
Also, explain to them how their HVAC equipment could run for a long with its peak performance with regular maintenance. A poorly maintained HVAC system not only reduces its lifetime but also impacts energy bills. Communicate to the customers how they can save on electricity bills with regular maintenance of HVAC systems. If the marginal cost of your maintenance would be less than the marginal energy costs of poorly maintained equipment, that’s a strong pitch.
iv) Figure out why customers are hesitant to get a contract
Even after you communicate the benefits of HVAC service contracts if the customers still do not subscribe to maintenance service contracts, figure out what is stopping them. Figure out the friction between your pitch and their approval for the HVAC service contract.
Further, customization has become the key to marketing in recent times. Every target customer of yours might not be interested in your maintenance plan. For example, one customer might need a change of AC filters every three months while another person might need it only once in six months to reduce costs.
Using an HVAC maintenance contract template, make different tiered HVAC maintenance plans that fit every customer’s pocket based on their preferences. This enables your customers to subscribe to preventive maintenance contracts.
v) Keep Your Customers in Contact
Assume a customer bought your HVAC annual maintenance contract for a year and now, it’s time for renewal. If you fail to communicate with them and remind them about contract renewal, they will leave silently without even noticing. And you will lose a customer.
If it’s one or two, you might be able to track it. However, if there are many customers, it becomes difficult to manually keep track of the service due dates and contract renewal dates for each one. To make processes more efficient, you need automation.
Use an HVAC maintenance agreement software that manages every contract and also alerts you to follow up with customers and schedule services. It eases your work, frees your time and keeps all your customers in the pipeline.
vi) Offer Incentives to Customers
Customers love offers and deals. They like discounts. They like freebies. So why not use those things to encourage them to tell others about your company? You might give away a free equipment check every month. Or maybe you’d offer a discount on the next service. Whatever you choose, make sure you communicate clearly and consistently.
To boost your customer retention and HVAC service contract renewals, offer personalized deals and discounts. If you notice that a customer is not renewing his/her service contract even after reminding, try sending a reminder text with a special discount or offer.
Use Unoservice HVAC service software that not only manages all your service contracts but also sends personalized renewal reminder texts to customers with customized offers. Instead of buying a bulk SMS app, you can use Unoservice to send reminder texts with offers on customers’ birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
vii) Create a Referral Program
People trust their friends and family more than brands and businesses. Hence spread the word about your company via your existing service agreement customers. The best way to do it is to launch a referral program.
69% of companies with referral programs say that referrals take less time to close than other leads.
Incentivize your customers with a free service visit or any other deal on bringing in a new customer for an HVAC service agreement.
Leads from referrals have a 30% higher conversion rate than the leads generated from other marketing channels. (Ross)
Conclusion
Delivering good customer experiences will enhance your customer loyalty and they will get into a long-term relationship via HVAC service agreements with your business. To provide seamless customer services leveraging technology and automation, use HVAC field service management software. It helps you manage every aspect of your HVAC service business while also increasing your HVAC service contract sales. Try Unoservice HVAC service software for free.
Frequently Asked Questions about HVAC Service Agreements
What are HVAC maintenance contracts?
HVAC maintenance service contracts are agreements between a contractor and a homeowner or property manager. These agreements outline the scope of work required by the contractor, the payment schedule, and any additional fees associated with the project. A typical agreement includes everything from routine inspections and repairs to major system replacements.
Why invest valuable time and money into HVAC service contracts?
There are many benefits to having an HVAC service agreement in place, such as:•
>Guaranteeing that your client gets the highest quality service available
>Ensuring that your client knows exactly what to expect from you
>Providing proof of your commitment to excellence
>Creating a solid foundation for future projects
>Establishing a reputation for reliability and professionalism