Cool Metrics, Hot Results: How Data Transparency and Gamification are Supercharging HVAC Businesses
We live in the digital era. Today, there is more data and information accessible at our fingertips than ever before. HVAC contracting business owners are able to make smarter decisions based on data instead of just intuition. Some innovative contractors are even using data transparency with their teams to implement gamification, creating friendly competition and unity by working toward shared goals.
The application of game design elements in a nongame setting has existed since the early 2000s; however, it has started gaining serious attention within the last five years, according to Andrew Chow, senior partnership manager at Plecto — a company-wide solution tracking KPIs that lays the foundation for a performance-driven work culture.
“I can see during my demos with trades guys that the gamification features I’m presenting are not foreign to them,” Chow says. “They are already running spiff programs and such manually. So a platform like Plecto is making it more accessible and more actionable in a digital format. It’s becoming more popular because Gen X and Gen Z expect engagement and feedback loops. Basically, our attention span is also a lot lower today. So having these gamification features for the younger generations really helps because the days of loyalty, ‘I'm going to die and fight for this company,’ are gone. It's not our parents' generation. There are so many opportunities today that you jump ship at the first sight of something that you feel interested in. So having something like gamification lightens up the mood within the office and makes things feel a lot more fun. Obviously, labor shortages require businesses to focus more on retention and motivation.”
Gamification strategies can be used to motivate employees using leaderboard displays ranking technicians, CSR and dispatch teams based on KPIs, such as sales, jobs completed, and Google reviews.
“You can have achievement and badges automating recognition for milestones such as most jobs completed in a week, highest revenue of the day, employee of the month, etc.,” Chow explains. “You can have challenges, contests, and weekly competitions for highest upsell conversions or fewest callbacks — it could be anything. “
A multi-location HVAC contracting company in the Southeast uses Plecto to track revenue per technician, maintenance plans sold, and customer feedback scores. The results were a 31% increase in maintenance plan sales and a 20% increase in positive customer reviews, Chow notes.
The data and leaderboard displays are more of a stick, so where is the carrot for employees? Contracting business owners can create an in-app economy using Plecto coin. Every time an employee achieves something, they get rewarded an amount of Plecto coins of the owners' choosing, depending on the achievement. Once an employee has gathered enough coins, he or she can use them to claim a prize from the reward store. Chow says some contractors have placed Amazon gift cards, gift certificates to local restaurants, or
Incorporating gamification and data transparency into HVAC operations isn’t just a tech trend — it’s a strategic advantage. By turning performance metrics into clear, engaging goals, contractors can boost team motivation, improve accountability, and drive consistent results.
“Every department used to work in silos, but having data transparency across all departments allows everyone in the company to be aligned with the same mission and goal,” Chow says.
About the Author
Nicole Krawcke
Nicole Krawcke is the Editor-in-Chief of Contracting Business magazine. With over 10 years of B2B media experience across HVAC, plumbing, and mechanical markets, she has expertise in content creation, digital strategies, and project management. Nicole has more than 15 years of writing and editing experience and holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Michigan State University.