How to Sell Maintenance Agreements After a One-Time Job

The repair is done, but the equipment or property may need attention again. If your crew can provide that care on a schedule, a maintenance agreement may help the customer plan for it.

Use five steps: choose a suitable job, write the scope, check the price, make a relevant offer, and book the first visit.

1. Choose work you can repeat

Before offering an agreement, ask:

• What condition, system, or area needs periodic attention?
• What tasks could the crew repeat at each visit?
• Can you fit those visits into the calendar?
• Why would this customer value planned care?

A seasonal HVAC check may fit after a service call. A drain inspection or roof inspection may fit when the property’s condition and history warrant it. Each depends on what your crew found and can deliver.

For commercial HVAC work, ServiceTitan identifies previously serviced facilities as potential leads for larger agreements. Use your knowledge of the site to explain the offer.

2. Write the scope before you sell it

Put these terms in writing:

• The equipment or property area covered
• The tasks included at each visit
• The number of visits and when they are due
• Any included services or supplies
• Exclusions and how additional work is approved
• How to request help between visits and what response to expect
• The price, payment dates, agreement period, renewal, and cancellation terms

Name the specific maintenance tasks. A plan can also limit appointments and specify covered services. State whether repairs, replacement parts, and emergency calls are separate. If they are, get the customer’s approval before doing that work.

3. Check whether the price covers delivery

Estimate the cost of every promised visit using your own completed jobs. Add the time needed to schedule, remind, and communicate with the customer. Then set a price that meets your margin target.

As a calculation example, if your estimated total delivery cost is $300 and your target gross margin is 25%, the price is $400: $300 divided by 0.75. Use your own costs and target for the actual agreement.

Check when the customer pays against when you will do the work. After the first visits, compare actual costs with your estimate. Adjust the next offer’s scope or price if the work took more than planned.

4. Offer it while the job is fresh

Refer to a need your crew actually observed. Here is sample wording:

We finished the repair. Based on what we found today, regular checks may make sense for this system. We can offer two planned visits a year. I can send you the tasks, price, and what’s separate. Would you like to see the details?

Send the written terms by the customer’s preferred method. For a commercial property, find out who can approve the agreement. Give that person room to review the coverage and ask questions.

5. Book the first visit when they accept

Record the accepted scope, price, exclusions, visit dates, and customer contact. Book the first visit, assign the reminder, and tell the customer what to expect.

ServiceTitan says to schedule service calls to fulfill HVAC maintenance agreements. Put every promised visit on your calendar, then review what delivery cost before renewing the agreement or offering the same version again.

Checklist for the next suitable job

• I found a real need for repeat visits.
• My crew can deliver the listed tasks on schedule.
• The written terms name visits, coverage, exclusions, price, and payment dates.
• The price meets our target using our own cost estimate.
• The offer relates to what we found on this job.
• The customer has the written terms before accepting.
• The first visit is booked and assigned.