Guide
A maintenance plan sold in August pays out in the quiet weeks of September and October. Here's what to charge, how to structure it, and how far ahead to start selling it.
If you're in HVAC, plumbing, or a similar trade, you already feel it: spring and early fall are the two stretches where the phone goes quiet between the big seasonal pushes. Late August into September is exactly when that gap opens up, and it's also the window when a maintenance or service plan sold now starts paying you back before the next busy season even begins.
This isn't unique to HVAC. Landscapers have a fall cleanup lull before winter contracts start, cleaners see slowdowns after back-to-school, and handymen and painters both feel the dip once the peak home-improvement months pass. The pricing logic below applies to any trade that can turn a one-time job into a recurring visit.
Don't guess at a number — anchor it to what's typical in your trade, then adjust for your market:
Rule of thumb: price the plan so it covers your cost of the visits plus a margin, then treat the "convenience and priority scheduling" as the upsell — not the discount. A plan that's priced like a discount trains customers to wait for the next sale instead of subscribing.
Installation and one-off repair work typically runs a 35–50% gross margin once materials are factored in. Maintenance visits are mostly labor, so the margin is usually higher, and you're not re-quoting against two competitors every time — the customer already said yes once when they signed up. That's the real reason a maintenance plan is worth building even if the per-visit dollar amount looks small next to a big install.
Run the numbers before you finalize your price. Our job profitability calculator will show you the real margin on a maintenance visit once you account for drive time and materials, and the break-even calculator is useful for figuring out how many plan customers you need before the recurring revenue actually covers your slow-season overhead.
A single flat plan leaves money on the table. Two tiers — a basic and a premium — let price-sensitive customers opt in at all, while your best customers upgrade themselves:
Price the premium tier at roughly 1.5–2x the basic tier, not a small bump — a small gap doesn't make the upgrade feel worth it.
Buying decisions happen well before the work does. If you want a full schedule in the quiet weeks, start now: six to ten weeks ahead of the season you're trying to fill is the general window. For a September–October lull, that means your outreach should already be going out in August.
The highest-converting list isn't cold leads — it's your past customers. A short email or text to everyone you've serviced in the last 12–18 months, offering the plan with a modest early-signup incentive (waived enrollment fee, one free filter, a locked-in rate before a price increase), will outperform new advertising for this specific push.
This is also where a lot of shops lose the plan before it ever gets sold: the follow-up. A homeowner says "send me the details" on a call, and if nobody texts them back within a day, that plan signup is gone. If chasing renewal reminders, plan signups, and the who-said-they'd-call-back list is eating time you don't have this month, that's exactly the kind of repetitive follow-up work our done-for-you service is built to take off your plate.
Whatever you charge, put the plan terms in a simple one-page agreement — what's included, what's not, how renewal works, and how a customer cancels. It protects you as much as it protects them, and a clear agreement is part of what makes a plan feel professional instead of a verbal handshake. If you don't already have a template, our Operations Kit ($19) includes ready-to-use service agreement and quote templates you can adapt in an afternoon.
Check local rules before you finalize a written agreement or auto-renewal terms — contract and consumer-protection requirements vary by state, so run anything binding past your accountant or a local attorney.
For HVAC, typical residential plans run $150 to $300 a year, with $200 a year (about $17 a month) as a common anchor price. Plumbing maintenance agreements typically run $129 to $249 a year, or $14 to $29 a month. Multi-point or premium plans with more visits can run $300 to $900 a year. Adjust for your local labor rates and what's actually included.
Installation work typically runs a 35 to 50 percent gross margin because materials eat into it. Maintenance and service visits are mostly labor, so the margin usually runs higher, and you're not bidding against three competitors every time — the customer already said yes once.
Aim for six to ten weeks before the season you're trying to fill. Buying decisions happen well before the work does, so if you want a full fall or winter schedule, start reaching past customers and running seasonal offers in late summer, not once the phone goes quiet.