As the summertime heat approaches, the demand for AC repair services skyrockets.
With this increase in demand, it makes the summer the HVAC industry's busiest time of the year.
For HVAC companies and HVAC business owners, this summertime surge in demand presents a golden opportunity to capitalize and grow HVAC profits.
However, the biggest mistake that a lot of HVAC business owners make is not training their HVAC technicians and HVAC CSR team to maximize their success.
The truth is that most HVAC technicians and HVAC businesses are not prepared to handle the surge in demand that happens in Summer.
With proper HVAC team training and coaching, you can stand out from the competition, and set your HVAC business up for higher profits.
In this guide, we'll delve deep into strategies and tactics aimed at helping HVAC businesses not only navigate but thrive during the busy season, ensuring optimal performance, customer satisfaction, and sustainable growth.
The HVAC busy season is a prime opportunity to grow your profits and team success.
The Challenge of the HVAC Busy Season
Even though summertime brings more demand for HVAC services, it also brings forth many challenges in managing your business.
Meeting your customer’s needs promptly, and maintaining service quality amidst the rush can be exhausting.
Many technicians and HVAC professionals are burned out by the middle of summer, due to having to work 12 or more hours each day, and often weekends as well.
Worse than this, very few HVAC business owners invest in HVAC sales training or HVAC CSR training ahead of the peak season.
This causes most HVAC businesses to waste a lot of opportunities to grow and boost profits year round.
Four Benefits of HVAC Team Training During Summer
Here are four ways to benefit from HVAC team training during the summer:
Higher Efficiency
HVAC Team Training ensures that employees are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to provide excellent service. For any HVAC business to thrive, it must deliver customer satisfaction, gain positive online reviews, and ultimately retain more HVAC maintenance agreement customers over the long term.
Training technicians on the latest HVAC technologies and increasing their HVAC education through HVAC training apps like Skillcat can help them complete jobs more efficiently and allow them to take on more HVAC repairs during the summer months
Increased Team Morale
HVAC business coaching and HVAC team training increase team morale and motivation. When HVAC employees feel valued by the business owner, they are more likely to work harder and perform better. Motivation and commitment are especially important during busy seasons when employees may feel overwhelmed or stressed.
Providing your HVAC technicians with the tools and support they need can help them have a more fulfilling HVAC career
Higher Employee Retention
HVAC team training can improve employee retention rates. When HVAC employees feel they have opportunities for growth and development within a company, they stay with the business.
This employee loyalty is especially important in the HVAC industry where experienced technicians are in extremely high demand. By investing in an HVAC training program, you will retain skilled employees and attract new ones looking for growth opportunities.
Increased Workplace Safety
HVAC training ensures your HVAC team is working in a safe, and compliant workplace. New and updated OSHA regulations and safety equipment rules come into effect each year.
Compliance with HVAC industry safety regulations is also essential to avoid legal consequences, which can be costly and damaging to your business's reputation.
5 Ways to Get Prepared for the Summer Rush
Anticipation and preparation are the keys to running a successful HVAC business.
If you begin preparing for the HVAC busy season well in advance you will dramatically boost your success.
By investing time to train your technicians, stock up your inventory, service equipment, and review workforce requirements you are putting yourself ahead of the curve.
Stocking up on essential supplies and equipment, maintaining your HVAC equipment, and educating your HVAC team will also help your business handle the increased workload.
Offering HVAC tune-ups to customers helps them avoid potential HVAC issues before the summertime peak demand hits. And it also reduces the amount of excessive demand calls during the summer months.
Prepare Your HVAC CSR and Dispatch Team
In every HVAC business, efficient appointment scheduling is a must-have. Customers are more impatient and disloyal than ever and need to be scheduled quickly if you want to win their business. Investing in training for HVAC scheduling software will make sure you capture all relevant information, and also keep the team organized.
Your CSR team must prioritize emergency service calls while also grouping calls by geographic location to minimize travel time and optimize HVAC technician efficiency.
Test out a dispatch debrief system that allows for your HVAC Dispatchers to talk with the technicians after each call, so they can make real-time adjustments based on customer needs. The dispatchers can also ensure your technicians are completing their financial numbers in the SBE App for revenue reporting.
Expand Your HVAC Service Offerings
Most customers will call for AC repair or AC system breakdowns during the summertime. But that is not all the services you can offer them. If you want to maximize your profit, you must offer a range of HVAC add-ons to customers during the busy summer season.
Consider offering additional HVAC services such as air quality assessments, energy efficiency audits, or HVAC system upgrades and installations. Items like IAQ, Hard Start Kits, Surge Protectors, and Wi-Fi thermostats are also worth suggesting whenever you complete an HVAC repair.
With proper HVAC sales training for technicians, they can explain the benefits of these additional services and increase the revenue earned on each average ticket.
Embrace HVAC Technology Tools
When it comes to running an HVAC business in summer, then technology is your friend. Along with HVAC marketing, technology can help you optimize many parts of your business. There are tons of HVAC software tools and apps available today that save time and money for your business.
HVAC software tools that can help you improve your efficiency can include:
Skillcat offers HVAC technical training for both residential systems and commercial systems and helps them achieve certification within the HVAC industry.
Thermogrid helps with scheduling, dispatch, inventory management, and KPI reporting.
Conduit Tech for load calculation, customized 3D models, 2D floor plans, and advanced HVAC install visualizations.
Workiz takes the pain out of selling service maintenance agreements, generating invoices, tracking customer payments, and managing HVAC billing details.
Keep Up Your Team Meetings
When the summertime demand increases, good team communication is crucial.
The worst thing that can happen during the HVAC busy season is that the team stops talking with and supporting each other.
To ensure effective team communication, regular team meetings are a must.
Make sure your team is attending daily huddles and weekly or bi-weekly team meetings, and you are still conducting one-to-one meetings during the summer months.
You can also use automated communication tools like appointment reminders, service updates, and satisfaction surveys via email or text messages to help customers.
Increase HVAC Maintenance Contracts
Perhaps the most overlooked opportunity of the HVAC summer rush is the chance to grow your maintenance agreement contracts.
Most homeowners who require an AC repair or a system inspection will also require ongoing maintenance once the work is complete.
For air conditioning systems that are over ten years old, the summertime is usually the prime season for breakdowns and problems. Encouraging homeowners to purchase a maintenance agreement during the summertime means you can keep their unit running longer and lower the costs over the long term.
As an HVAC business owner, more maintenance contracts mean a busier HVAC slow season, and a chance to revisit homeowners at least twice a year.
Rather than just repair broken-down HVAC systems, take the time to offer maintenance agreements during the summer to set your company up for year-round success.
Use the busy season as an opportunity to evaluate your business's growth potential and scalability. Assess staffing needs, equipment requirements, and operational efficiencies to accommodate increasing demand.
Deliver Exceptional Customer Service
When a customer's HVAC system fails in the summertime, they have a higher sense of urgency and annoyance. But that doesn’t mean we need to rush or offer a lower level of customer service.
In fact, one of the best ways to stand out from the competition and win new HVAC customers is to ensure you follow a clear HVAC sales process even during the summer rush.
The better your service, the more people will want to continue working with you, buying add-ons from you, and referring new customers to you.
Encourage customer feedback through Google reviews, happy calls, and gathering customer testimonials. All these types of feedback can help to identify areas for improvement and drive continuous service excellence.
Customer satisfaction is the cornerstone of success in the HVAC industry. All services your company offers are also available from thousands of other HVAC contractors. For this reason, your team stands out when you go above and beyond in delivering exceptional HVAC customer service.
HVAC Business Profits Are Made in Summer
The busy season presents both challenges and opportunities for HVAC businesses.
By adopting a proactive approach, leveraging technology, and prioritizing customer service, HVAC companies will thrive during periods of peak summer HVAC demand.
By implementing these HVAC business plans before the summer rush, you will pave the way for sustained HVAC business growth all year round.
Don't wait until the summer rush to start HVAC team training. Begin now to ensure a successful and prosperous HVAC busy season.