Over the course of 2009, this space will identify opportunities within customers’ homes that you may not have observed in the past. The opportunities are based on a recent homeowner survey conducted by Decision Analyst, Inc.
Q: Do you know what your maintenance calls are worth?
A:The average price for a residential HVAC service call in the U.S. is around $125.00. The value of an average HVAC service call is $210.00. Which one is correct? They both are.
Half (49%) of all residential HVAC maintenance service calls last year cost the homeowner $100 or less. Another quarter (27%) cost the homeowner between $101 and $200. Therefore, three fourths (76%) of all homeowners who had a maintenance service call last year paid $200 or less for that call.
The price of the service call may be $125, but its value is $210. At least one-and-one-half of every 10 calls finds something small that the homeowner agrees to fix. Those calls range between $201 and $499. It was money you would not have had, and it kept the homeowner safe from an emergency breakdown in-season. Next, though, is the larger and more important transaction. Nine in 100 calls (on average) find an expensive fix or replacement that your company was able to sell because you were there.
If you priced your calls at $210 each, you'd be over-priced. If you discontinued your service calls because at $125.00 you don't make enough money, you'd miss out on an average $85 per call.
Ed. Note: The "Service Call" study referenced in this article was conducted July 2010 among a national probability sample of 500 homeowners. Each homeowner qualified to take the study because each had an HVAC service call in the past 12 months.
Garry Upton, of Decision Analyst, Inc., Arlington, TX, shares his interpretations of Decision Analyst’'s American Home Comfort Study of homeowners, and explores what customers look for in HVAC contractors. To learn more about this study, or to purchase it, contact Garry, at [email protected].