Author: Brett Knox
February 4, 2025 - 5 MIN. READ
As a contractor, your revenues likely fluctuate from one season to another. What if there was a way to supplement your cash flow with recurring revenues?
Even more, what if this solution also supported higher customer satisfaction and could lead to more work?
You’ve guessed it: We’re talking about maintenance plans.
Think contractor maintenance plans are just glorified inspection schedules? Think again. This subscription-based model is key to building a resilient business that works for you year-round.
What’s a Maintenance Plan?
Before going any further, it’s important to understand what maintenance plans include.
Contractor maintenance plans are a valuable service to offer clients. For them, it provides regular upkeep and inspections that prevent costly repairs and ensure their systems run smoothly. It also builds trust and long-term relationships for you, ensuring recurring income.
Here are some of the perks your VIP customers get to enjoy:
- Regular checkups where a tech inspects, cleans, and tunes up an HVAC or electrical system.
- Discounts on parts and labor when a repair or upgrade is needed.
- Waived emergency visit fees.
- Reduced wait times with priority service.
Remember that you’re not locked into a one-size-fits-all approach. You can easily tailor your maintenance plans and offer different service tiers for a true value-added service. The key is developing plans that make the monthly subscription fee feel justified.
What Do Contractor Maintenance Plans Mean for Your Revenues?
Forget seasonal ups and downs. Maintenance plans mean recurring revenues that come in each month.
These revenues can quickly add up. With HVAC maintenance plans costing $290 a year on average, getting just 20 customers signed up translates into $5,800 in guaranteed annual revenues!
Maintenance plans are good for your cash flow. As a business owner in the trades, you know that revenues can fluctuate based on the current workload. With subscriptions (and automated payments), a portion of your revenues becomes predictable.
What’s more, you can collect maintenance plan fees all year round. If you have a slow season, a subscription model will continue bringing in revenues during that time. Plus, you can take advantage of your slow season to schedule maintenance calls and keep your techs busy.
With this steady stream of revenues in place, you can cover operational costs without worrying about seasonal fluctuations or slow workloads due to economic conditions. Borrowing money with a business loan becomes easier now that you have the peace of mind of a steady cash flow, and you can also reinvest these recurring revenues to grow your business or lower prices for your customers.
Maintenance Plans Improve Customer Satisfaction
As a contractor, you know that HVAC and electrical maintenance aren’t top priorities for most customers—at least not until something breaks down.
Contractor maintenance plans give you an in for scheduling regular checkups, even when customers aren’t thinking about them. You’re the one being proactive, and your customers get all the benefits of regular maintenance without even having to think about it.
The result? HVAC and electrical systems get checked regularly, and customer satisfaction improves:
- You’re catching issues early and performing small repairs before anything major is needed.
- You’re actively monitoring systems, sharing your findings with customers, and recommending upgrades when needed.
- You’re keeping HVAC and electrical systems in optimal shape, increasing their efficiency and potentially reducing energy bills. These savings can be a powerful argument for selling your maintenance plans!
- You’re ultimately prolonging the life of these systems, helping customers get more out of their initial investment.
Besides, perks like savings on repairs and upgrades combined with priority service help create a much better experience when one of your VIP customers needs something beyond a basic checkup.
Building Long-Term Relationships
Visiting a customer’s home twice a year or more has another benefit: Your business is the first thing that comes to mind for all their HVAC or electrical needs.
Every visit is more than just a checkup – it's a prime opportunity for connection. Your techs can answer any questions the customer might have and present HVAC or electrical solutions to reflect changing needs. It’s also an occasion to educate customers and share a few tips for simple things they can do to keep their HVAC or electrical systems in good shape.
And when a repair or major upgrade is needed, discounts built into your maintenance plan will make you the top choice – on top of the relationship based on trust and expertise that your techs have built.
Electrification and Bigger Jobs
Electrification is happening on multiple levels as businesses and homeowners ditch systems powered by fossil fuels and invest in electric solutions instead.
Because of the scope and price of these alternatives, electrification is typically something that takes a while to research. Maintenance checkups are an opportunity to bring up these exciting possibilities, and discuss what kind of upgrades are needed. A good starting point is to offer a load calculation during a basic electrical checkup, and discuss by how much different electrification solution would increase the household's energy consumption.
Your techs can bring up the following electrification solutions to generate interest:
- Electric HVAC, especially heat pumps.
- Electric stoves and dryers.
- Renewables integration and battery storage.
- At-home EV charging.
- Building electrification solutions for business customers.
With an estimated 48 million U.S. homes in need of panel upgrades to access electrification solutions, electrical maintenance plans can help you stay in touch with the customers who have an interest in electrification and guiding them through this transition.
Because electrification projects often require electrical upgrades and have a certain level of complexity, focusing on this niche can unlock bigger jobs. Plus, you can continue growing by offering a maintenance tier tailored to the unique needs of customers operating electrification solutions.
Offer a Better Maintenance Experience With Raiven
Maintenance plans are proving to be an interesting business model for recurring revenues and a predictable cash flow. They also improve customer experience and can potentially lead to more jobs as you become the top choice for repairs and upgrades.
Don't make your VIP customers wait! To deliver an optimal customer experience, make sure you always have access to the right parts and materials to offer fast upgrades and repairs. Raiven can help.
Unlock unparalleled savings and streamline your procurement process with Raiven. We allow contractors to consolidate their purchasing power to negotiate exclusive discounts, favorable service terms, and priority access to supply chains. Say goodbye to the hassle of negotiating with multiple suppliers and enjoy significant cost savings on wire, panels, conduit, EV charging stations, lighting, load shedding, tools, and more.
Gain access to pre-negotiated discounts of 7%-30% from industry-leading manufacturers and distributors, including Alpscontrols, ChargePoint, EnelX/Juicebox, Ferguson, Grainger, Graybar, HD Supply, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Office Depot, Sunbelt Rentals, Schneider Electric, and more!
Raiven is committed to supporting electrical contractors by providing unbeatable prices on equipment, parts, and maintenance supplies. Experience the convenience of our streamlined purchasing platform for quick and efficient procurement. Other key benefits:
Summary: Are maintenance plans the secret to boosting profits in 2025? We discuss the many benefits of offering maintenance plans, including improved customer satisfaction, more work, and a steady stream of predictable revenues.
