Service agreements are one of the most powerful tools available to an HVAC contractor. A well-designed service agreement program can increase revenue, improve customer retention, create year-round work, reduce the severity of seasonal slowdowns, and make the company more valuable. It can also make life better for technicians by replacing some of the stressful, unpredictable demand-service work with planned maintenance.

But simply offering a service agreement is not enough. The program has to be priced correctly, explained properly, supported by the entire company, and designed so that the benefits are shared by the customer, the technician, and the business.

During this class, James R. Leichter will take a detailed look at what makes a service agreement program successful. We will discuss pricing, discounts, technician incentives, company-wide incentive programs, renewals, customer benefits, capacity planning, shoulder seasons, and the financial impact of service agreement customers.

We will also examine some of the mistakes contractors make with these programs. For example, what happens when you give a service agreement customer a 15% repair discount but your service department only produces a 10% net profit? We will discuss the proper use of loss leaders, why some discounts are more expensive than they appear, and how an otherwise successful service agreement program can actually hurt profitability when the numbers are not understood.

Key Takeaways:

• Why service agreements are often called the lifeblood of the HVAC industry.
• How service agreements benefit the company, the customer, and the technician.
• How agreements can increase revenue, customer satisfaction, retention, and company value.
• How planned maintenance can replace some stressful demand-service work.
• How service agreements help fill otherwise unproductive time during shoulder seasons.
• How to price agreements and determine appropriate discounts.
• The financial impact of repair discounts and other agreement benefits.
• How to use the loss-leader concept without allowing it to damage profitability.
• Simple ways to get technicians to enthusiastically offer agreements throughout the year.
• How to create technician incentives and company-wide incentive programs.
• How to make service agreements part of the company’s culture rather than simply another product technicians are expected to sell.
• How to build a service agreement program that produces long-term customers instead of inexpensive maintenance calls.

Who Should Attend:

Anyone who is involved in pricing, marketing, and selling service agreements. That may include the service manager and service technicians.