HVACBossPro Blog — Quotes & Estimates

Quoting HVAC Maintenance Plan Sign-Ups So the Tune-Ups Come Due on Their Own

A maintenance plan is the quote that keeps paying. One yes turns into two visits a year, every year, at a house that already knows your company. Plan customers call you first when something breaks, and the tune-up visits give your techs a regular look at the equipment. The quote itself is simple. What matters is how you present it and what happens after the customer says yes.

After the Replacement, and Everywhere Else

Quoting an HVAC System Replacement: What a Clear Replacement Estimate Includes ended with a suggestion: quote a maintenance plan with every new system. That is one of the best moments to offer it, but not the only one. Every repair estimate, every one-time tune-up and every diagnostic call is a chance to mention the plan.

Set Up the Plan as a Service List Item

In HVACBossPro a maintenance plan is a service list item like any other, with a name, a price and a description. A typical plan line might be “Maintenance plan: spring AC tune-up and fall furnace tune-up” at a yearly price, such as $179 a year. Some shops offer a second level for homes with two systems.

The description is where the plan sells itself. Spell out what members get:

• Two tune-ups a year, spring and fall.
• What each tune-up includes (thermostat check, capacitor and contactor check, coil rinse, drain line flush, filter check, and so on).
• Any member perks you actually offer, such as a reduced diagnostic fee or priority scheduling during heat waves.
• How the plan is billed and how it renews.

Only list perks you will deliver every time. A plan that promises priority service and then leaves members waiting three days in July does more harm than no plan.

Offering the Plan on Other Estimates

The easiest way to sell a plan is to put it on an estimate the customer is already reading. On a repair quote, add it as an option line, as described in Good, Better, Best HVAC Quotes: Writing Options as Separate Estimate Lines. On a one-time tune-up quote, show the single tune-up and the plan side by side, so the customer can see that two visits on the plan cost less than two visits paid one at a time, if that is how you price it.

Keep the pitch short. “Most of today's problem would have been caught at a spring tune-up” is a reason, if it is true. A paragraph of sales copy is not.

Sign-Ups Without an Estimate

Not every plan needs a quote. Customers can also sign up on their own:

• From your website. The sign-up form lets a new customer choose the plan and leave a card. It lands in Form Responses, and one click converts it into a client.
• From the customer app. Existing customers can sign up for services and pricing you offer, including a maintenance plan, without calling.

Both routes use the same plan and price from your service list, so the customer who signs up online gets exactly what the customer who approved an estimate gets.

After the Yes: Tune-Ups That Come Due on Their Own

This is the part that makes plans work at scale. In HVACBossPro a maintenance plan on a client is set by minimum days between visits. Set it to 180 days for a spring and fall tune-up, or 365 for a yearly visit. When a visit comes due, it appears on the Waiting List, a live map and list of every tune-up that is due.

Pins on the Waiting List are colored by status: not due yet, due now, or overdue past a 7-day grace period. The office can see at a glance which plan customers need to be booked this week and group them by area. Nobody has to keep a spreadsheet of renewal dates or remember to call Mrs. Jones in October.

Tag plan customers with a Maintenance Plan tag so the office and the techs know who gets the member price on any repair found during a visit.

Equipment Details Make Every Plan Visit Faster

If the equipment details were filled in on the estimate or on the first visit, every plan visit after shows them under the address on the tech's phone: system type, brand, model, tonnage, year installed, filter size and unit location. The tech knows to bring a 20x25x1 filter and that the furnace is in the garage closet before leaving the shop. That detail is covered next in Equipment Details on the HVAC Estimate: Fill In the System Once and It Carries Onto the Job.

Plan customers can also choose their own alerts in the customer app: a text the night before, when they are next on the route, and when the tech arrives. That helps get the gate open and the dog inside before the van pulls up.

For the overview of quoting, sign-ups, approval and scheduling, head back to the HVACBossPro HVAC estimate software page.