💰 How to Turn Seasonal HVAC Work Into Year-Round Revenue

The question for the tradepreneur isn't how do I survive the busy season? It's how do I use every season to prepare for the next one? Welcome back to another episode of the Tradepreneur Show. Listen, for a lot of HVAC contractors, the seasons don't just change the weather. They change the business. Summer, we got air conditioning running nonstop. That brings emergency no -cool calls, overloaded schedules, technicians moving from job to job, putting out fire, so to speak.

Then winter comes, also the holidays. And with that, furnaces, heat pumps, boilers, depending on the market, no heat calls, preventative maintenance. Today, we're going to be talking about turning seasonal HVAC demand into a year -round business strategy. How do you prepare your customers? How do you prepare your technicians? And how do you prepare your inventory? Yes, I said that evil word, inventory.

How do you prepare your marketing? And you know, most importantly, how to keep the business moving when weather changes. The tradepreneur at the general, I will tell you, it's a little different. And we're going to be similar to some parts of the country. And that is, it's pretty nice year round. In fact, for us, this is the nice weather. We're getting into the time of year where the nice weather hits.

And so our cooler weather usually comes a little bit later into the season as opposed to other parts of the country, the Midwest, the Northeast. They have to get into the cold, into the demand a little bit quicker. They each present unique challenges. What do I mean by that? Think about us. Think about the South. Think about the milder climates. We can literally have technicians go to their first call in the morning, and it's a no -heat call.

The furnace isn't working. The heat pump isn't working. And they get done that call. And their next call they get dispatched to is a no -cool call. Literally going from somebody doesn't have any heat to somebody doesn't have any air conditioning. Why? Because people turn their air on to take the chill out of the air in the morning. But then, in our climate, it warms up. And now they've got the air conditioning on.

And then the rest of the times of the year, they don't need air conditioning. It's so unpredictable. Because we might have hot days, we might have cold days. We might have cold spells and hot spells when the rest of the country is getting dumped with snow. So what does that present if you're in a southern market like that? If you're in Florida, if you're in Texas? Well, it means your inventory has to be able to handle no cool calls, no heat calls.

So you've got to change up your inventory a little bit, right? So you've got to stock a truck to handle both. But you may not have to stock it. With as much that you need for cooling, you're going to stock heavier for heating. But now if you're in another part of the country where you are dealing with the weather, freezing. I'm from Pennsylvania. So, you know, fall comes. September, it starts cooling down.

I remember the football games, cold nights at football games. And October rolled around. And November, December. And you're in the cold, right? And you're not going to be running. any no -cool calls, your inventory on those trucks has to shift so you can be prepared and have what you need on the truck to run those calls. For us, it's really about being proactive and not reactive to the season changes.

You know, I've seen too many times, and I'm guilty of this, and I've talked to too many contractors that are guilty of it. Next thing you know, you're running from cooling maintenances to heating maintenances. You're running from no -cool calls to no -heat calls, and it just kind of shows up out of nowhere. It's because we haven't been proactive. I start thinking about the heating season in August, and I start talking a little bit to some of the leadership about some of the things we have to do.

And now we're in September. Now, for us, we've got a little bit more time. Other parts of the country, if you're in September, you should have already done this. The truck stock's the one thing. The other thing, training your technicians. Now, what do you mean training your technicians? Why do I have to train my technicians? You have to refresh them, right? They've just come through running nothing but air conditioning type calls, whether it's a service call or a maintenance call.

And I don't care how long you've been in the trades. I don't care how long you've been doing it. We get rusty. When we don't use a skill every day, we get rusty. We have to kind of refresh what gas pressure should be, how to check carbon monoxide, how to do the proper maintenance, how to clean the burners, pull the burners, you know, all that stuff. We're so used to doing. certain things for so long now the fundamental practices don't change right the steps and how you diagnose is standard but it does change we're going through the sequence of operations the sequence of operations for a furnace coming on is different from than an ac coming on right so we have to refresh everyone's minds in that and we have to kind of walk through what we're going to see the most of and you also have technicians that this is their first heating season if you've hired some guys especially in the spring or the summer, they're getting out there and this is their first heating season.

They haven't run the calls. So they're going to need a little bit more hand -holding and prep and training than your more seasoned guys, right? The seasons guys, it's kind of like, let me give you an analogy. You could be in the major leagues for years and you're a pitcher. You still go out and warm up your pitching arm before the game. And you go to spring training before the season. Right? It's no different.

It's no different. Why go to spring training? I've been playing ball for 10 years on the pro level. Why do I need spring training? Because you're rusty. You're out of practice. That's why. Same thing with our guys. And we sometimes underestimate that. And before we know it, we're sending them on heating maintenances and we're sending them on no heat calls. And lo and behold, we wonder why we're getting callbacks.

We wonder why we're getting so many calls from the technician on things that we think they should. understand because it's elementary because they're rusty. Listen, don't let your technicians practice on your customers. Don't let them use your customers for spring training. Do it in -house. Start talking about it. Watch the videos. Plenty of training videos out there. Let them use their tools in a controlled environment.

Hopefully you got a training room or you can pull in some equipment into a warehouse and let them run through the equipment and practice on that. No duh type thing, like I know, but too many times the change of season sneaks up on us. And before we know it, we're in the middle of it. The other important element, probably the most important element that you should not forget about, and that is the office. Remember, you have a whole inside team taking care of the outside team.

You have a whole team of CSRs. Sales lead coordinators, dispatchers, accounting, you name it. They also have to be prepared for the change in season. They have to understand that the pace may change. For us, it slows down a little bit. It softens a little bit for a period of time, for a longer period of time than some parts of the country that might get the colder weather soon. Your representatives, what they need to know, your CSRs, what services you're promoting. how maintenance plans work, how to identify emergency situations, what information technicians need before arriving, how to communicate realistic arrival windows, your customer experience, your entire company, not just your technician.

Now, you may say, well, they need to know that for the cooling season as well. But it's different a little bit, right? How old is a old condenser AC system? Versus how old is a furnace? What are the issues that are going to be different than the cooling season? How is it going to be different? What is the urgency? Your team needs to know. They need to know what questions they ask that could be different, that could be more specific to heating season.

And keep in mind, just like you may have some technicians that this is their first heating season. You may have some dispatchers, some CSRs, people on your team that this is their first heating season. And if they just came out of that heat, hot, rush demand that we get here in the desert, they need to know that the tempo is going to shift a little bit, right? They got to be prepared for that. They got to be trained on it.

And here's the big thing. Regardless of where you are, regardless of if you're milder winters or... Challenging winners. This is an opportunity to turn seasonal service into year -round customers. The missed opportunity is when a homeowner calls because their AC isn't cooling. Contractor fixes it. Invoice gets paid. Everyone moves on. This is the opportunity for the tradepreneur. That customer may also need the seasonal maintenance, the filter reminders, the heating service, the indoor air quality solutions. thermostat upgrades, energy efficient improvements, equipment replacement plan.

Listen, don't sell. Educate. You've heard me say that many, many times. We are supposed to inform and educate. The goal isn't to turn every service call into a sales pitch. The goal is to identify legitimate needs, communicate them, communicate them clearly in a way that the customer understands and could even repeat it back to you. Listen, let's say a technician discovers an aging system. Instead of, you need a new AC, explain the age, the condition, the repair history, the potential for future repairs, and the additional costs that could be.

The efficiency considerations and the savings from improved efficiency, potential future repair exposures, what I just spoke about, but it's one of the things that is so forgotten about because people say, Oh, this is your issue today. This is what it's going to take to fix it. These are your issues with the efficiency and the money you could save on your utilities by upgrading your system. But sometimes we miss out on what the cost is of keeping the system because of future repairs. And there's a whole process how you can walk a homeowner through that and include those costs and show them what the real cost of ownership. and retaining ownership of their existing system is versus investing in a new system.

But listen, maybe it's not time for them to do that. Maybe that you're just giving them the information. Maybe you're creating the mind awareness that they've got a plan for it, but you retain them as a customer. You continue to take care of their needs. You continue to be there when they need you. You continue to deliver phenomenal service, and you continue meaningful touch points with them. And then that seasonal reminder becomes a relationship.

A relationship can become a maintenance agreement. A maintenance agreement can create a predictable reoccurring revenue and repeat service opportunities. There's a difference between selling a job and building a customer for life, creating that customer. In fact, what I tell everyone is when they become a Service Plus member or a club member, they go from being a customer to a client. We now maintain their service history.

We know them as people. We know their likes and dislikes. And if you're really good, you even know the dog's name. You have to build a business, regardless if you're in heating season or cooling season, that is a year -round playbook. You need to be able to transition into the next season while you're still in the current season because it starts with planning. even before you actually take action with training your techs.

And when you do that, that playbook, when you plan and look ahead 90 days, know what's coming, prepare the people, the parts, the vehicle, the tools, the marketing. When you deliver excellent service, excellent technical work, you communicate clearly and document everything, and you follow up. You don't let the relationship end when the invoice is paid. meaningful touch points. You improve. Use the slower periods to strengthen the company and strengthen the relationship with your customer base.

Don't build a seasonal business just because your customers have seasonal problems. Ask yourself these five questions. What season are we in right now? Maybe a simple question, but that brings you to intentionality. What season is coming next? And what will my customers' needs be? What will my technicians' needs be? What can I do today that makes the next season easier and more profitable? Here's a challenge for you.

Pick one thing from each of these categories. Customer, technician, inventory, marketing, finance. Put those actions on the calendar. Be prepared. Be intentional. Don't let this season just happen. Be intentional about it. Intentionality is when the magic happens. HVAC is seasonal. Your business strategy shouldn't be. Every season creates opportunity. Summer creates demand. Fall creates preparation.

Winter creates heating opportunities. Spring creates the next cooling cycle. The tradepreneur's job is to connect all four. I'm going to give you three final takeaways. Here they are. Before the rush, turn service calls into long -term customer relationships. Use every season to build a stronger business for the next one. The weather is going to change whether you're ready or not. The question is whether our business changes with it or stays ahead of it.

Until next time, I'm Patrick Somers. This is The Tradepreneur Show. Like us, subscribe, appreciate the support. And as I always say, until next time, win the day and be great. The Tradepreneur Show is brought to you by Patrick Somers. Executive production by David Field Producer. Producing and editing by David Field and Kristen George. Original theme song. blue -collar working man written by Patrick Somers, created using Suno AI.

To be a guest on The Tradepreneur Show or for sponsorship and partnership opportunities, contact Patrick Somers, Patrick at thetradepreneurshow .com.