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What HVAC and Landscaping Companies Sell in Their Off Season
The weather sets the busy months for heating, cooling and outdoor work, and federal safety, energy and extension guidance points to the jobs that belong in the quiet ones.
At a glance
- An off-season menu is a short list of services a weather-driven trade sells and schedules for its quiet months, chosen because the guidance or the season makes them timely.
- Landscaping employment swings with the weather; in Bureau of Labor Statistics data it rose 47.1% from January to July in 2014, from about 531,000 jobs to about 780,000.
- ENERGY STAR advises homeowners to book cooling checkups in spring and heating checkups in fall because contractors get busy once summer and winter arrive, so the guidance doubles as the pitch for a spring or fall visit.
- The work is to fix a menu of three or four off-season services, sell them during the busy season's last visits and keep a call list for the first quiet week.
Part 1 | The quiet months arrive on the same dates every year
Weather-driven trades have an advantage most businesses lack, which is that the slow season comes on a schedule. A Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis of landscaping services showed employment climbing quickly each spring and peaking in summer, and the size of the swing is large enough to reshape a company's crew and cash every year.
| Year | January jobs | July jobs | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 499,200 | 759,500 | +52.1% |
| 2014 | 530,500 | 780,200 | +47.1% |
Heating and cooling companies feel the same pull from the thermostat, since the Energy Information Administration found that 88% of U.S. households used air conditioning in its 2020 housing survey, a reminder of how many customers share the same calendar of heat and cold. Cash cushions are short next to a gap that long; in a JPMorgan Chase Institute study of 597,000 small businesses, the median repair and maintenance firm held 18 days of cash and the median construction firm held 20. The owner's instinct between rushes is usually to wait: Nothing much to do until the first hot week.
Part 2 | HVAC companies can sell the checkup the government already recommends
The most useful sentence for an HVAC company's spring and fall comes from ENERGY STAR, which tells homeowners to check the cooling system in the spring and the heating system in the fall because contractors get busy once summer and winter arrive. A company that sells those pre-season visits, ideally as part of a maintenance agreement signed during a summer or winter repair, turns the shoulder months into booked weeks.
The fall heating visit carries a safety reason as well. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that a professional inspect all fuel-burning heating systems, including furnaces and water heaters, every year, and it reports that more than 150 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with fuel-burning consumer products.
Winter also brings smaller sales that fit a quiet schedule. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally between 30% and 50%, which gives a technician a reason to check humidity on a winter visit and quote a humidifier where the house runs dry; the Department of Energy says a clean filter in place of a clogged one can lower an air conditioner's energy use by 5% to 15%, which supports a filter delivery or replacement plan sold in winter for the cooling months.
Part 3 | Landscaping companies can sell the work that winter suits best
Dormant-season pruning is the clearest off-season service for a landscaper, because extension horticulturists recommend it. University of Illinois Extension notes that bare branches let the pruner see the tree's structure and that cuts made in the dormant season have time to close before spring growth, with exceptions such as oaks, which should not be pruned from March through October to limit the spread of oak wilt.
The rest of the off-season menu is selling ahead. Winter is when a homeowner has time to plan a patio or a planting plan, so design consultations, signed spring cleanups and full-season maintenance agreements can all be closed in January for work in April, and companies in snow regions can add plowing and salting contracts for existing customers.
| Service | Sell it | Do it | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooling checkup | Winter | Spring | ENERGY STAR pre-season guidance |
| Heating checkup and CO safety inspection | Summer | Fall | ENERGY STAR; CPSC annual inspection advice |
| Humidity check and humidifier quote | Fall | Winter | EPA indoor humidity range |
| Filter replacement plan | Winter | Monthly in cooling season | Department of Energy filter guidance |
| Dormant pruning | Fall | Winter | University extension guidance |
| Spring design and cleanup agreements | Winter | Spring | Planning time in the off season |
A last-visit script books the off season during the busy one
Use this at the end of every visit during the final weeks of the busy season, by the technician or crew lead, in their own words:
- "Before I go, your system is due for its [heating/cooling] checkup in [season]; we book those now, before the rush, so you get the time you want."
- "Would a weekday morning or afternoon work better for you?" Offer two specific slots.
- If the answer is not yet: "I'll have the office text you in [month] with open times." Add the customer to the off-season call list with the month.
- For landscaping: "Winter is a good time to prune these [trees/shrubs], and it's when we plan spring designs; can I put you on the list for a visit in [month]?"
How you compare
- Your seasonal swing: compare your revenue in your best and worst months last year with the BLS landscaping swing of about half, and note how much of the gap was booked in advance.
- Your cash cushion: the median repair and maintenance firm in the JPMorgan Chase Institute study held 18 days of cash; divide your balance by your average daily spending to find your number.
- Your own baseline: count the off-season jobs you sold last year and how many came from customers you served during the busy months.
Questions to ask this week
Which three off-season services fit your customers? Start with the ones the guidance above already supports.
Who on your crew asks for the next visit? A script works only when one person owns it.
Where does the off-season call list live? A shared spreadsheet or a tag in your field software is enough, as long as the office checks it.
Choose three services from Exhibit 2, write the last-visit script in your crew's words and start using it on this week's jobs.
About this research: This article draws on Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data, the Energy Information Administration's Residential Energy Consumption Survey, ENERGY STAR and Department of Energy maintenance guidance, Consumer Product Safety Commission and Environmental Protection Agency safety guidance, University of Illinois Extension pruning guidance and a JPMorgan Chase Institute study of small business cash balances. The BLS figures are from 2013 and 2014, the years covered in that published analysis; current monthly figures for landscaping services are available in the BLS Current Employment Statistics program.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics. Industries with Spring Employment Peaks. The Economics Daily, 2015.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration. EIA Releases State-Level Household Energy Characteristics Data from the Residential Energy Consumption Survey. 2022.
- ENERGY STAR. Maintenance Checklist.
- U.S. Department of Energy. Maintaining Your Air Conditioner.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Carbon Monoxide Safety.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home.
- University of Illinois Extension. Trim Trees, Shrubs in the Dormant Season for Stronger, Healthier Plants. 2022.
- JPMorgan Chase Institute. Cash Is King: Flows, Balances, and Buffer Days. 2016. 597,000 small businesses.
Related reading: How to Stay Booked in the Slow Season Without Discounting · Maintenance Plans: How to Set One Up for a Service Business · What to Leave Behind After a Service Call So Customers Call You Back · The Real Cost of a Missed Call for Plumbers, Electricians and HVAC Shops
Work with osNOVA on your off season
We help HVAC, landscaping and other weather-driven companies build an off-season menu, train crews to book the next visit before they leave and set up the call lists that fill the quiet months, starting from what you want more of, whether that is fuller shoulder seasons, more maintenance agreements or steadier cash between rushes.
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