During the hotter summer months and colder winters months, HVAC field service technicians are generally at their busiest. Extreme temperature changes mean HVAC systems are running, and a slip in peak efficiency will lead to a call for an HVAC technician to come out for a repair.
That also means, months with not so drastic changes in weather, such as spring and fall, will be slow seasons for HVAC organizations, and just because customers aren’t calling in to get their equipment fixed, doesn’t mean the bills coming into your organization will stop, or that your technicians won’t expect to be paid.
However, just because it’s a slow season, doesn’t mean the cash flow has to suffer. And with an HVAC field service software, there are plenty of ways to keep your technicians busy and for the organization to come up with a solution for downtime seasons.
Scheduling Your Preventative Maintenance
Customers only call when they have an urgent problem that requires an immediate fix. That generally means, their HVAC equipment isn’t running at peak efficiency or isn’t running at all. So during those not so extreme weather months, it may be a good time to up-sell your customers on a preventative maintenance contract and sell the value of providing service to ensure their equipment stays running when the thermometer takes a plunge or scorches high.
In your HVAC field service software, automation will ensure you never miss an appointment, generating the work orders from the contract, which include a pre-built checklist to keep your preventative maintenance service calls to a high standard across every call.
By having preventative maintenance schedules during your slow months, it frees up time during your busy months to get to more urgent service calls.
Focus on the Internet of Things
Preventative maintenance is a good way to make sure things don’t break down, but predictive maintenance will alert HVAC technicians before any problem occurs. Utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) sensor technology with HVAC equipment, work orders can be generated in the field service maintenance software when things start to go wrong, or output isn’t at its peak efficiency. Install sensors, and let your customers know you’re monitoring them at all times to ensure they don’t have to make a frantic urgent call for maintenance.
The level of automation with IoT means you don’t need to have a staff worker waiting by the phone for someone to call with a problem, as the equipment will speak to the field service software and produce the work order when things start to take a turn for the worse. A dispatcher can quickly schedule a technician, avoiding any potential downtime that may occur. Problems can arise during any season, but during the slow time, it’s a good opportunity to utilizing the features in the field service software and gain confidence with your customers that you are always looking out for their best interests.
Take On Your Bigger Projects
Slow seasons mean you generally have more hands-free on deck, so scheduling your projects and larger installations during that time will mean the timeline you quoted can be met, as you’ll have plenty of hands to do the work. Either by installing new equipment or upgrading old, the process will need a quote, job costing, scheduling of technicians, and a simple way to keep the billing and invoicing altogether.
HVAC field service software can do all that for you in a project module. From start to finish, install new units and have in planned perfectly, and don’t clutter up the project with multiple work orders. Sell your customers on the season coming, or the season they just had, and get the work done before the HVAC unit should have been installed due to a drastic change in temperature.
The slow season doesn’t have to be that, and your HVAC field service software can offer solutions to keep your business still generating revenue through automation, while not having to keep your administrative staff sitting by the phone waiting for a call.