A successful HVAC business owner must alter and expand their growth strategies in tandem with business growth. The same strategies that helped you get off the ground are not always going to be as beneficial in helping you grow your business to a place worthy of acquisition.

Additionally, as your company grows your business operations will naturally change. You may move out of the founder or HVAC technician roll and into a CEO role. This will enable you to focus on new growth strategies to ensure the long term success of your company.

These 5 tips will help you grow your HVAC business for long-term success.

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Growing Your HVAC Business

A lot of things go into running an HVAC business. While you may be concerned with your bottom line, trade shows, marketing strategies, or any of the other things that come with owning a small business; there are a few things that will make that journey easy if you take steps to refine the process early. 

1.  Invest in Continuing Education for HVAC Techs

Your employees are your number one asset and so it is important over time to make sure they are up to date on their training, and that you invest in their growth. This will only benefit you and your business in the long run. 

Technical Training 

Make sure your team is up to date on their technical training requirements. Offering continuing education will help increase retention and allow you to offer additional services to your customers. Cross-training in electrical or plumbing can expand your service offerings and revenue potential.

Additionally, the HVAC industry is continuously evolving. This makes it important to stay up to date on the latest technology and knowledge.

Sales Training 

As you step out of the field and focus on HVAC business management you will rely on your technicians to help with sales. In addition to technical training, investing is sales training for your employees can increase upsells, maintenance agreements, and referrals.

Management training is also an option if you plan to have them move up and continue to grow in their career while staying at your HVAC business.

2. Offer Referral Incentives 

Previously, we discussed how to improve HVAC customer service. You know that a great customer service experience can lead to more referrals. However, offering referral incentives can encourage continued word of mouth. Referral incentives typically include free maintenance checks, discounts, or gift cards.

3. Improve Efficiency and Capacity with Reporting

Comprehensive reporting can provide information on jobs per day, deal size, average invoice payment times, and much more. Utilizing HVAC field management software can help you easily identify where to place your focus.

• Do you need to focus on customer acquisition?
• Do you need to transition to flat rate pricing to encourage technician efficiency?
• Do you need to focus on HVAC technician hiring?
• Do you need help improving invoice collections?

Service software can help you answer all these questions and provide solutions for many of them.

4. Invest in an HVAC Marketing Strategy

When launching your business you probably relied on word of mouth before investing in HVAC marketing to acquire potential customers. However, in order to be a competitive and successful HVAC business it’s important to expand your reach.

What is your current marketing strategy? Are you investing in paid advertising and search engine optimization (SEO)? Do you have a social media presence? Do you provide a seamless user journey on your website so potential customers can easily book an appointment? These are all things that can help drive more business and grow your HVAC company.

Take some time to think about where your prospective customers look when they are searching for an HVAC service provider. Will they find you? If the answer is ‘no’, this might be something to invest in. You can do things on your own like creating content, but it can be helpful to find an expert to help you take it one step further. Even a one-time fee for an audit could help you generate hundreds of new leads per year.

5. Offer Service Agreements on Every Job

Setting up a service agreements program provides many benefits to your HVAC business, including creating  recurring revenue for your HVAC business and growing your sales with future installs.

Customers who enroll in a maintenance plan are more likely to continue using your services for years to come, resulting in long-term relationships and increased revenue. Maintenance plans include priority service, meaning customers receive priority scheduling for maintenance visits and repairs, particularly during peak seasons when HVAC companies are typically overwhelmed with service requests.

Maintenance plans also offer an excellent opportunity for HVAC contractors to upsell and cross-sell to their existing customers. During maintenance visits, contractors can identify potential upgrades or improvements to the customer’s HVAC system and offer additional services or products to improve home comfort and energy efficiency. This not only helps the customer but also leads to additional revenue streams for the business.