We already know field service management solutions can really make a difference in the HVAC business and take you over your competitors in no time. They help you manage schedules, optimize field routes, keep inventory under control and generally make happier customers. But, can field service management solutions also help you with your company when it’s low season for the HVAC industry?
As many other business fields out there, HVAC companies are also affected by seasonality. During the hot months of summer and cold months of winter, field service technicians are at their busiest. These days of extreme temperatures mean HVAC systems are at the top of their operation, and any glitch in their performance results in an immediate call for a technician.
However, mild temperature months such as spring and fall tend to have a slower pace in terms of business. These are low workload seasons for HVAC companies, but just because there are not so many customer calls coming through, it doesn’t mean bills will stop coming into your firm.
Surely there are slow seasons in the HVAC business, but this shouldn’t necessarily affect the cash flow. What’s more, field service management solutions can help you keep a steady rhythm both in terms of workload for technicians, and income for the company.
Prioritize maintenance over fixing
Customers have a tendency to call only when their HVAC has a problem that requires immediate intervention. That usually means that their installation is not capable of running at top efficiency (or is not running at all) during summer or winter, when it’s most needed.
So during those months off-season, it would be a good idea to focus on preventive maintenance, rather than on last-minute repairments. Develop a special maintenance service and offer it to your customers, making them realize the value of having their HVAC installations in perfect shape – always ready for the hottest or coldest conditions.
Field service management solutions can help you with this new product, thanks to their automation and scheduling tools. You won’t skip a single appointment to revise a customer’s installation, and will be able to keep a checklist with all the key points to look at, so that your preventive labor is as high-standard as expected.
These maintenance jobs not only keep your technicians busy during low season (together with a healthy cash flow) but can also help reduce the amount of urgent service calls during high season.
Let technology help you
In order to make these preventive maintenance tasks even more useful, field service management solutions can also be used to create alerts that will let your technicians know when it’s time for a check-up.
Installing the proper sensors in any HVAC equipment, for example, you’ll be able to receive an alert message the moment something starts to go wrong, or the performance isn’t at its top efficiency. The alert can then be turned into a work order that immediately sets your team in motion in order to address the customer’s needs.
The level of automation provided by the Internet of Things and field service management solutions bring plenty of benefits to your HVAC company. Staff at the office don’t have to wait by the telephone for someone to call with an urgent problem, and technicians can be quickly dispatched, avoiding any downtime. And all of this ends up in a satisfactory experience for your customer.
Turn to side projects
Slow seasons like spring and fall mean you usually have more free technicians in the company. This is why this time of the year could also be the perfect moment to address side projects, especially those that are too large or too complex to be taken care of during peak seasons.
With field service management solutions you can easily organize work in these side projects, from start to finish. Calculate quotes, schedule technicians’ work, plan inventory costs… either for a new installation or just to upgrade an old one, the slow season may be the perfect time to get involved in bigger projects for which you don’t have that much time during the rest of the year. It could also be a service to offer to customers, as a way to get their HVAC installations fixed, revised or renewed for the upcoming hot or cold temperatures.
So as you can see, field service management solutions bring you plenty of opportunities to keep your field technicians busy and make sure the cash flows for your HVAC business at a proper pace, even in the slower seasons.
