Maintenance Agreements: Easy Tips for Selling More

Does your service business sell maintenance agreements? These are vital to the health of your HVAC business and keep the cash flowing all year long.

These agreements ensure regular upkeep of HVAC systems, providing peace of mind to homeowners and consistent revenue for HVAC businesses.

Unfortunately, selling is not as easy as simply explaining your maintenance agreement plans once the work is complete. It takes strategy!

Here are eleven easy, yet strategic steps to increase maintenance agreement sales at a minimal expense:

1. Educate your team

The first step in boosting maintenance agreement sales is to educate your sales and service teams. They should fully understand the benefits of maintenance agreements and be able to explain these advantages to potential customers.

Here are a few ideas for training:

Share ideas for effectively selling in all hands meetings
Have techs role play with each other
Come up with a script around selling with common objectives
Share the details with others when you sell an agreement

Providing comprehensive training will empower your staff to confidently discuss the value of these agreements with homeowners.

2. Call It an “Agreement,” Not a “Contract”

Wording is important! The word “agreement” implies a harmonious, mutual arrangement, which is undoubtedly more appealing to your customers than “contract,” which is a word that is loaded with negative connotations.

3. Provide Excellent Customer Service

Stellar customer service is key to retaining and attracting maintenance agreement customers. Be responsive, punctual and reliable. Delivering exceptional service will increase the likelihood of customers renewing their agreements and referring your services to others.

This is especially important if you have a returning customer who is hesitant about agreements. If you’re providing great customer service in each interaction, broaching the topic of maintenance agreements will be easy. Plus, you can also use savings in your script to repeat customers who often have issues with their HVAC.

Ask for reviews from satisfied customers who have maintenance agreements, Leverage these reviews on social and in sales conversations.

4. Leverage Customer Testimonials

Word of mouth is a powerful tool. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and testimonials about their experience with your maintenance agreements. Display these testimonials on your website and in your marketing materials to build trust with potential clients.

5. Charge Monthly for Maintenance Agreements

Some customers strongly prefer to pay monthly for an ongoing maintenance agreement because it is easier for many to pay a small amount monthly as opposed to a large lump sum up-front.

Set up automatic recurring billing through your credit card processing company to make this possible.

6. Use Pricing Tools

Most flat rate books, offer multiple price options, including the option for a maintenance agreement discount on larger services. This takes the burden off your staff to be sales pros and allows them to simply show the savings that are available.

Also coach technicians on how to verbally walk through a quote and explain how a maintenance agreement can save money on a service. A pricing tool is important, but your techs also have to know how to close the sale!

7. Incentivize Your Staff

Little can motivate a staff like cold, hard cash. With that in mind, paying a commission or spiff for each maintenance agreement sold is a great way to encourage your staff.

There are many ways to award your top sellers. Here are a few ideas:

Reward gift cards to the top sellers
Keep track of sales with a leaderboard in the office to foster competition
Recognize the seller of the month

8. Create Compelling Marketing Materials

Your marketing materials play a crucial role in selling maintenance agreements. Develop visually appealing brochures, flyers, and online content that clearly explain the benefits of regular HVAC maintenance and the savings of agreements.

Highlight the savings, improved efficiency, and extended equipment lifespan that customers can enjoy by signing up for an agreement.

9. Utilize Technology

As mentioned before, it’s best to invest in HVAC software that streamlines the sales process. These tools can help you track customer information, schedule maintenance appointments and send automated reminders.

Additionally, they can generate reports that highlight the cost savings and benefits of maintenance agreements over time.

With software like FieldEdge, selling and getting paid for maintenance agreements can be automated so you never forget another renewal:

Know when service agreements are due for renewal, billing and scheduling
Never forget a follow up again by automating communications for upselling service agreements and service reminders
Spend less time searching through service agreement files for information and more time signing up new customers
Dashboards show you how many agreements are set to expire so you know which customers need a follow up
Increase your renewals by setting your service agreements to automatically renew with recurring payments

10. Offer Seasonal Promotions

Consider running seasonal promotions or discounts for maintenance agreements during slower HVAC service months.

This can incentivize customers to commit to a maintenance plan when they’re thinking about preparing their HVAC systems for the upcoming season.

Here are a few examples of promotions you can run:

10% off maintenance agreements when you purchase a new unit
Holiday special during December
Exclusive promo shared on your social media platforms

11. Deliver On Your Promises

To maintain or even improve your reputation, always be sure to show up when scheduled. This goes double for maintenance agreements, as nothing will upset a customer more than paying for a service and their expectations not being met.

If you hold up your end of a maintenance agreement with amazing service and proactive solutions, your customers will more than likely resign each year – which means recurring annual revenue for your business!