Contractor Marketing That Works

How to Convert Every Service Call to a Maintenance Agreement

Quickly, Simply, Profitably 

A Maintenance Agreement program is a near-perfect system for any size contractor. You get loyal customers who pay you for that loyalty. Customers get a "higher level" of service at a lower price. (Who can resist that?) The cash-flow is predictable, giving you steady stream of business during the slow times. Everybody wins.

How much do customers win?

A Maintenance Agreement program is one of the greatest money-makers out there. Just think, each service customer gets an irresistible offer containing benefits that far outweigh the investment.

They save money, save time, gain convenience, elevate their service status with you, gain discounts on future replacements and are assured greater peace-of-mind and property value. It's as close to a no-brainer sale as exists in this industry. Of course it's how the offer is made and presented that "sells" it, (more on this later). But essentially,

It is sold in about 4 sentences, at the invoice presentation.

Timing is a big part of this. Offer too soon and you get the brush off. Offer it after the customer has "mentally written the check" and you lose.

As techs sign up customers, it gets easier to convert. Your Maintenance Agreement form is crucial and should read like a "sales script" instead of an invoice. About 95% of the ones we see have more technical features than customer benefits. Big mistake!

How much do you win?

This is up to you and your desire. For example, our marketing programs are at work in contracting firms across the country helping clients generate about $330,000,000 in sales last year. One contractor will do say, $60,000 in sales with one ad in one week, but another guy - a couple of towns away - won't try it because "things are slow"! (Yes, I know, that should make him more willing to run it.) I'm just saying that people's desires and motives are far different. But let's look at some specifics -

Agreements generally sell between $149 and $229. Pricing for profit is based on "low cost to you; high perceived value to customer". My advice: Don't be the cheapest, please. But let's say yours sell for $179. It's quite easy to get 1,000 customers per $1m in volume for sales. One of our top clients has 8,300 agreements at $179. Yes, that's

$1,485,700 in "booked" sales… during the "slow times"!

His total volume is just over $6m, so he's past this ratio but he focused heavily on Maintenance Agreements. So we're back to your desire level. No matter what that level is, you can definitely do the following...

Thanks to the Service and Maintenance Agreement PowerPack, this will be the most profitable Fall in the history of our company 
– T. Haslip, IL

Thank you for all your marketing help. Your ads have boosted our bottom line profits beyond our imagination. 
– A. Mitchell, CA

Within 30 minutes of getting your material, I knew that this would be the best marketing investment I’d ever made. Truly incredible. 
– J. Crowley, MN

If I paid you 10 times what you asked for the Maintenance Agreement PowerPack, it would still be a bargain. Your material is the best. 
– M. Deavers, OH

The 2 Top Ways to Add Maintenance Agreements

• The most awesome way we've found to market for Agreements is through an aggressive tune up campaign. You make an incredible tune-up offer to your most likely group about 21 days before your lowest call traffic days in the off-season. One in 24 will need an equipment quote, (which close at a 3 times the rate of Yellow Page leads!) so that's one money-maker.

But at the conclusion of the tune-up, you offer the Maintenance Agreement correctly and close the deal. (This is known as the "two-step" method and it outpulls "one-step" attempts by nearly 600%. We do not recommend one step at all.) Now you've got a "locked-in" customer who just paid you an additional $179 or so, got a ton of benefits, and they're on the books for an appointment. Done deal. You can do this on every tune-up.

• You'll add even more Maintenance Agreements during the busy season! That's because you're running more service calls, and every call gets your Maintenance Agreement offer. It reduces their bill that day - which they love - and you gain another job in the next slow season along with another $179 that renews each year. Multiply this by every service call you run; it adds up fast.

In a nutshell, the basics steps for a successful Maintenance Agreement program are:

1. Generate massive leads through advanced marketing - Use image and lead-generating ads strategically placed during the year aimed at high probability lists. 
2. Present and close the Maintenance Agreement - A quick conversion to the Agreement each time, with automatic renewal, generating a higher dollar rate per call. 
3. Retain customer for renewals and referrals - Simple recognition that builds referrals and piles on loyal, unswitchable customers. To be honest, this is the "golden goal". 

So far, it seems like everybody wins. Except for one thing...

How are you supposed to do all this? Do you have the time or skills to sit down and create an entire Maintenance Agreement program out of thin air? This is why "regular" contractors don't have an Agreement program.

Sure, you can get all the maintenance agreement forms you like. (Other contractors may even send you theirs.) You'll see what they include and how much they charge, but you still don't have the "system" to make it work.