Spring's here, and your phone's about to ring off the hook with AC tune-up requests. Good problem to have — unless you're still charging $89 a pop and calling it a day.
Here's the math most HVAC owners never run.
The Maintenance Agreement Gap
The average residential AC tune-up takes your tech 45-60 minutes on site. At $89, you're looking at maybe $35-40 in gross profit after labor, truck roll, and materials. Fine for a one-off. Terrible as a business model.
Now look at what a maintenance agreement does to that same customer:
$189/year for two visits (spring AC + fall furnace)
Priority scheduling — they call you first, not the guy on Google
10-15% discount on repairs — sounds generous, costs you nothing on markup
Auto-renewal — 75-80% renew year over year once they're in
One agreement customer is worth $189/year x 5 years average retention = $945 in guaranteed revenue. Your $89 tune-up customer? They call whoever's cheapest next spring.
The Numbers That Matter
Let's say you run 400 tune-ups this spring season. Right now, maybe 10% convert to agreements. That's 40 agreements x $189 = $7,560/year recurring.
Bump that conversion to 30% — which is totally doable with a simple pitch at the end of every tune-up — and you're at 120 agreements x $189 = $22,680/year recurring.
Over 3 years, that gap is $45,360 in revenue you left on the table. And agreement customers buy more repairs, more upgrades, and refer more neighbors.
How to Get There This Month
1. Price the tune-up at $129, not $89. You're not Walmart. If a customer balks at $129, they were never going to buy a $6,000 system from you anyway.
2. Make the agreement the obvious choice. "The tune-up today is $129. Or for $189, I can put you on our Priority Comfort Plan — that covers today's visit plus your furnace check this fall, and you jump to the front of the line when your AC goes down in July." Most people take it.
3. Train your techs to pitch it. Not as salespeople — as advisors. "Mrs. Johnson, your system is 8 years old. A maintenance plan keeps it running another 7-10 years instead of 5. It's $189 a year versus $6,500 for a new unit."
4. Set up auto-billing. Collect credit cards. Bill annually or monthly ($16.99/mo sounds like nothing). Reduce your spring scheduling chaos by pre-booking agreement customers in February.
Quick Hits
R-410A prices are climbing again — stock up before summer if you have storage capacity
ServiceTitan just dropped their spring promo — 3 months free for new shops, worth a look if you're still on paper
Reminder: Most states require 30 days notice for any rate increases on existing agreements. If you're raising prices for next year, send those letters now
Hiring tip: HVAC trade school graduates hit the market in May. Post your apprentice ads this month, not in June when everyone's desperate
That's it for this week. If you're running maintenance agreements, hit reply and tell me your conversion rate — I'm curious what's working out there. If you're not running them yet, forward this to your service manager and have a conversation this week.
— HVAC Operator
