Service agreements have been described as “the food” of your business. I think a better description would be that service agreements are like “the storehouse” of your business.
A “storehouse” is a place where valuables are stored for the future. Farmers have used Storehouse for years. They put away grain and seeds for the future needs of their family, farm animals, and future crops.
Here are the reasons why “storehouse” is a better description for service agreements:
- Stores future service calls: Companies that complain about low call volume will also have low service agreement numbers.
- Stores future income: With my clients, service agreements have proven to produce over 50% more income per call. See this study from Steve’s Plumbing.
- Stores future growth: A 1 to 3 ratio seems to be the magic number for future growth of a company. What I have found is that if a company has 1/3rd of the yearly calls needed stored in service agreements, than growth becomes easier. As a matter of fact, growth is almost forced upon the company to meet current demands.
- BONUS: It is easier to sell the farm when the storehouse is full.
The storehouse of service agreements is critical for any plumbing, HVAC, or electrical company. Building the service agreements in your air conditioning business should not be hard. A tech should have a clear and easy path to service agreements, which is what you shall find below:
Here are 4 Easy Steps that Boost Service Agreements
- Introduce the service agreement to your client on the phone: This will set your techs up for success. The CSR should include the service agreement introduction in her call reminder script. “Mrs Smith, when John gets to your home, he is going to review with you our Service Agreement. There are 6 Key Benefits that every home owner should have. One of those benefits includes savings on today’s service call.”
- Stimulates interest before the diagnostic: Before the tech starts his diagnostic, he should plant a simple seed about the service agreement. “Samantha, this is the service agreement that Ashley told you about on the phone. I’m going to leave it here for your review. Take a moment and look over the 6 Key Benefits that every home owner should have. When I’m done, we can review the agreement together.”
- Tie the service agreement benefits into the diagnostic findings: Most items in a home would last longer and perform better if they were well maintained. This would equate to a substantial savings for your client. Use this as you explain your diagnostic findings.
- Perform a professional presentation of the service agreement at the close: Richard Saxton of Steve’s Plumbing may be the best at tie-ing in the service agreement when it comes to asking for the order. I’m going to give you a few of the points he uses on every call:
- Communicate how today’s total would have been less if the system were being maintained.
- Communicate each benefit one at a time. Fully explain the benefits, not just the features.
- Undersell the discount: “The discount isn’t why you should get a service agreement today. You should get the service agreement because of the money it will save in future breakdowns.”
Show the side by side differences in the totals for a person with a service agreement versus someone with a service agreement. (This should be done even with clients that are on a service agreement. You will want to remind them of the value of their agreement.)