ElectricalBossPro Blog — Running an Electrical Business

Growing Maintenance Plan Revenue in an Electrical Business

Service calls depend on something breaking. Installs depend on estimates getting approved. Maintenance plans depend on neither. A customer on a yearly plan is booked before they call, and their visit comes due whether the phone rings or not. For a small electrical business, plans are the closest thing to a steady paycheck.

Plans Smooth Out the Seasons

In Using the Slow Season in an Electrical Business: Inspections, Maintenance and Follow-Up, booking plan visits was one of the best ways to fill quiet weeks. Growing the number of customers on plans makes those quiet weeks smaller every year.

Plans also make the business easier to run. You know roughly how many visits are coming, when, and where. You can plan staffing around them.

There is a value to the business itself, too. A shop with a long list of customers who come back every year is worth more, and is less stressful to own, than one that starts every month from zero. Every plan customer is one less customer you have to find again. Over a few years, that list becomes the most reliable part of the company.

The Plans Electrical Shops Offer

Recurring work in ElectricalBossPro is set by minimum days between visits. The common plans for an electrical business:

• Yearly electrical safety inspection (365 days). The tech works through the safety inspection checklist and the homeowner gets a printed Electrical Safety Inspection report.
• Yearly generator maintenance (365 days). For every customer with a whole-house generator, whether you installed it or not.
• Commercial lighting maintenance or relamping (every 14 or 30 days). For stores, gyms, offices and property managers who want the lights handled without calling.

You set the price for each plan in your own service list, like a $149 safety inspection or a $189 generator maintenance visit.

Who to Offer Plans To

The best plan customers are people you've already worked for. Look for:

• Every generator install. Offer a maintenance plan as part of the install conversation, not months later.
• Houses with a generator on record but no plan, including ones another company installed.
• Older homes where a yearly inspection gives the owner peace of mind.
• Landlords and property managers who want inspections done across several addresses on one bill.
• Commercial customers who would rather not track lighting themselves.

Equipment saved on the house makes these easy to find. The generator customers list has its own article next: Yearly Generator Maintenance Plans as Steady Work for an Electrical Company.

Make Signing Up Easy

The fewer steps between “that sounds good” and being on the plan, the more customers sign up. ElectricalBossPro gives you several ways in:

• The customer app. Customers can sign up for services and pricing, like a yearly generator maintenance plan, right from their phone.
• A website sign-up form that captures the customer's card. Sign-ups land in Form Responses, and one click converts them into a client.
• The tech on site. A tech who just finished a generator repair can mention the plan and let the office set it up.
• The office. A follow-up text after an inspection or install.

Deliver the Visits on Time

Plan revenue only grows if customers renew, and customers renew when visits happen on time without them having to ask. When a visit comes due, it lands on the Waiting List map and list, with pins colored not due yet, due now, or overdue past a seven-day grace. The office books from it every week.

Customers get the same automatic alerts as any other job — night before, when they're next, and when the tech arrives. A card on file can be charged when the tech taps Complete, so the plan pays itself.

Show the Value Every Visit

A plan customer who can't see what they're paying for won't stay. Make each visit visible:

• The printed Electrical Safety Inspection report with the condition and written recommendations.
• Before and after photos from the tech app.
• A short note on what was checked and anything worth watching.

Recommendations from inspections also lead to new work. A condition of Needs attention or Repair recommended becomes an estimate, and the approved estimate becomes a scheduled job.

Watch the Plan Count Grow

Track one number: customers on a plan. Check it monthly. If it grows, the business is getting steadier. If it stalls, look at whether techs are offering plans, whether sign-up is easy, and whether visits are happening on time. For more on running the owner's side of an electrical shop, visit the electrical business software page.