How to Run Air Conditioning Tune-up Calls

April 7, 2016
List the things that are absolutely mandatory, including the service agreement, at the top of the list with a subtotal. List the things they don’t necessarily have to do today, but will have to do some time in the future, and another subtotal.

It probably costs you over $200 to generate a pre-season tune-up, and even more to run it. If your techs are only collecting for the tune-ups and maybe upgrading them to service agreements, you’re losing money on them and would be better off financially by not having a pre-season tune-up offer.

Pre-season tune-ups are only profitable when you’ve got techs that take a real interest in what they do for a living, are thorough, are good communicators, and believe in the necessity of keeping equipment spotlessly clean and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) products.
The extra money in this business is in component cleaning and indoor air quality. The people who call up for a pre-season tune-up obviously are interested in keeping their equipment clean and running well, and know they have to spend money to do it. Additionally, people who are interested in keeping their air conditioner clean also tend to want to keep their indoor air clean, so they’re excellent prospects.

Pre-season tune-ups are only profitable when you’ve got techs that take a real interest in what they do for a living, are thorough, are good communicators, and believe in the necessity of keeping equipment spotlessly clean and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) products.

The presentation:
Arrive at the door, clipboard in hand, with the inspection form clearly visible. Introduce yourself and state where you’re there to do.
Say, “Hello. I’m here to do your precision tune-up. As a point of clarification, Mr(s). (customer name), for $ (price of inspection) , I’ll do a complete inspection of your air conditioning system. That means I’ll be going over it with a fine-tooth comb. When I’m done, I’ll provide you with a full written report.”

Before heading off to start your tune-up and inspection say, “Should I find any deficiencies in your system, and I’m not saying I will, would you like me to call them to your attention?”

Bedside manner:
After completing your inspection, make a list of deficiencies, and their prices, on a piece of paper. List the things that are absolutely mandatory, including the service agreement, at the top of the list, and strike a subtotal. List the things they don’t necessarily have to do today, but will have to do some time in the future, and another subtotal. Finally, list the IAQ, and strike a final total.

Two out of three new customers I saw required a blower pull & clean. Anything that’s on the blower is also on the indoor coil, so that usually requires cleaning as well. The best way to avoid these future expenses, and unnecessarily high utility bills is with proper filtration and a UV light.

Everyone has indoor air pollution, so they should at least be given the opportunity to get a PCO UV light mounted in the airstream.
More than likely, at least one capacitor is low on charge, and don’t forget to check the charge on their hard start kit. Those things don’t last forever.

The total dollar amount of this list is going to be in the thousands of dollars. Don’t go springing a number like that on people without doing a little price conditioning.

Approach the customer and ask, “Do you remember when I asked you if I find any deficiencies in your system, do you want me to call them to your attention?”  When you get a yes, say, “I did find some deficiencies. Do you want to know what they are?” Again, you’ll get a yes on that as well.

Say, “I’ve compiled a list for you. There are three categories on this list. There are some things on this list that are mandatory; you don’t really get a choice on them. There are some things that can be put off until later, and there are some system enhancements on it that would just be nice to have. I’ll tell you in advance that if you were to do every single little thing available, you could spend over $______, and then your system would be as close to its original factory-fresh condition as possible. It would smell good, you’d have a lower utility bill, you’ll move a lot more air, and it will last a lot longer. But no one is asking you to spend all this. It’s just a list of every deficiency in your system.”

Don’t pull the list out just yet. Take your customers to their equipment and go over your findings, in order of priority.

Next month, I’ll give you a dialogue you can use to sell all this cleaning. 

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Photo by John Vastyan
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