HVAC / Home Services Rollup Playbook

Why: The old system is usually a patchwork of QuickBooks, Google Sheets, paper dispatch, and a billing tool. ServiceTitan (or Housecall Pro / FieldEdge) is how you scale. How: Inventory: customer list, equipment history, open jobs, AR, technician roster, pricing book. Get export from each. Done: source-of-truth data map. Pitfall: assuming the data is clean. It never is. Budget 3-4 weeks of cleanup.

Why: ServiceTitan lives or dies on dispatcher adoption. How: 2-week onboarding with a dedicated ServiceTitan implementation specialist. Dispatcher-led training (not tech-led). Go live on a Monday. Done: all call-center calls flowing through ST; all techs using the mobile app. Pitfall: parallel-running the old system 'just in case.' Kill it on go-live. Parallel-running guarantees neither system is source-of-truth.

Why: A standardized pricing book is the single biggest ticket-size lever in home services. Flat-rate pricing (vs time-and-materials) typically lifts ticket size 15-25%. How: Use the Profit Rhino catalog or build your own. Every repair, installation, and maintenance item priced with good/better/best options. Done: tech presents 3 options on every quote. Pitfall: leaving pricing discretion to technicians. They discount to close.

Why: Top technicians are the single scarcest resource in home services. Losing one costs $75-150k to replace + ramp. How: Pull 24 months of termination data by technician. Compute: retention rate by tenure bucket (0-1yr, 1-3yr, 3+yr), average W2, top-performer vs median-performer comp delta. Done: baseline spreadsheet. Pitfall: assuming retention is industry-driven. Most of it is comp structure and culture — both fixable.

Why: Hourly pay creates no incentive to sell or upsell. Commission structures tied to revenue + membership sales double the output of a motivated technician. How: Flat hourly floor + percent commission on revenue above a threshold + per-membership bonus + spiffs on specific SKUs. Done: new comp plan rolled out. Pitfall: changing comp without a transition plan. Grandfather current earners for 90 days with a floor at their prior earnings.

Why: Technicians quit for bad managers, not bad jobs. Weekly 1:1s + quarterly ride-alongs (manager rides with tech for a day) build the relationship that drives retention. How: 20-min weekly 1:1 with each tech. Quarterly full-day ride-along. Document every 1:1 in a shared log. Done: cadence running. Pitfall: skipping 1:1s when 'busy.' This is the first thing that slides and the canary for retention.

Why: In home services, the day is won or lost by 8am. A 15-minute huddle reviews overnight calls, today's priority jobs, open issues, and safety. How: Everyone stands. 15 min max. Agenda: safety moment (30 sec), yesterday's results, today's priority jobs, open issues, anything else. Done: daily huddle running with all dispatchers + field leads. Pitfall: letting the huddle run long. Keep it under 15 min or people stop coming.

Why: What gets measured gets managed. A visible scorecard everyone sees before the huddle drives performance. How: Daily dashboard, printed or on a wall monitor. Yesterday's numbers vs rolling 30-day average. Color-coded (green/yellow/red). Done: scorecard visible every morning. Pitfall: tracking too many metrics. 5-6 is max.

Why: Memberships (2 tune-ups/year + discounts) are the closest thing HVAC has to SaaS. Top operators have 30%+ of customers on memberships, which drives recurring revenue and repeat visits. How: Three tiers (silver, gold, platinum). Price at $10-20/month or $150-240/year. Include: 2 tune-ups/year, 15% discount on repairs, priority scheduling, no overtime charges. Done: tier card ready. Pitfall: too many tiers. Three max, ideally.

Why: Techs are the sales channel. Scripts + training push attachment rate from 5% to 30%+. How: Script: 'You're halfway through the life of this unit. Our membership includes two tune-ups a year plus 15% off any repairs — would that work for you at $18/month?' Role-play weekly for 4 weeks. Done: attachment rate >20%. Pitfall: training and forgetting. This requires reinforcement in every weekly huddle.

Why: Manual renewals churn at 30%+. Auto-renew + credit card on file churns at 5-10%. How: Require card on file at signup. Auto-bill annually 30 days before expiration. Send a 60-day and 30-day reminder email. Done: renewal rate >85%. Pitfall: not auditing failed payments weekly. Expired cards are the #1 source of involuntary churn.