How Recurring Revenue Helps Grow Your Home Service Business

If there’s one thing that’s holding back many home service businesses, it’s uncertainty.  Fluctuations in revenue and cash flow can make it difficult to make investments in equipment, create a marketing strategy,

hire new team members

, or just plan for the future. There are often many question marks about what’s to come and how to handle it.

Home service leaders are looking for new strategies to deal with uncertainty and build a more stable and predictable business. One of those strategies is to structure the business to take advantage of recurring revenue.

What if the majority of your work wasn’t dependent upon timing and one-off projects?

What if you could build your business on a schedule of regular customers who paid for recurring services on a regular basis?

That’s the dream, right?

Recurring revenue

can help you not just get a grip on your current workload, but it can give you the space, freedom, and confidence that you need to plan for the future.

Here are some of the ways that these kind of deals can help you manage and grow your business:

Let’s take a look at how this approach works in practice and how you can implement

Competition for most home service businesses can be cut throat.

If often seems like there are new competitors coming and going every single day. And, it’s no secret that it can difficult to compete--it might feel impossible to stand out in such a crowded market. In hypercompetitive industries like HVAC, garage doors, and appliance repair, this problem can be especially pronounced.

But you’re not alone.

In fact, some studies have ranked 

achieving customer loyalty as the #1 challenge

 for small businesses. Many customers simply don’t have a strong attachment to a particular company or vendor. When they have a problem, they do a quick Google search, compare some options, and decide who to call.

But this also means that most contractors are losing out on a huge opportunity to turn a one-time call into a loyal, lifelong customer.

Even if you provide incredible service to a new customer, there’s a strong chance they could start their search from scratch next time they have a problem--and they may end up on your competitor’s website rather than yours.

So how do you convert these opportunities and create lifelong customer loyalty?

Offering packages that include multiple services can make it simple for you--and seamless for the customer.

With

Housecall Pro, you can easily offer recurring services

like maintenance or inspection with customers and schedule out work--and revenue--in advance.

Best of all, it provides a seamless and modern experience for your customer, too.

Rather than having to remember to call and schedule regular service calls or worry about major, unforeseen problems, your customers can rest easy. They’ll know that they have a professional who will keep an eye on their home or appliances, perform essential maintenance, and identify any needed repairs before they become major problems.

With Housecall Pro, you can even save customer payment information and completely

automate the process of scheduling

recurring service appointments.

But let’s not forget that service agreements aren’t just about the customer--they’re also about growing your business.

Most service businesses generate about 

70% of their revenue in just a few months

 out of the year.

A big part of that, of course, is inevitable. It’s just the nature of the industry. You’ll always have peak season for services like HVAC and painting.

But that doesn’t mean you’re helpless when it comes to cash flow.

While we can’t change the seasons, recurring packages do help companies make their revenue more predictable and can also provide a bump in

earnings and profit

.

For one, maintenance and service contracts can be an untapped opportunity.

It’s estimated that 90% of customers only call home service professionals when there’s an emergency. This means that most one-time customers could be converted in ongoing customers if they’re offered a package deal that would give them some peace of mind.

If most of your revenue is coming from emergency service calls, then you could see a huge increase in revenue by using service contracts that will also stabilize your workload.

The truth is that while service pros know all too well how important regular maintenance and preventative repairs can be, customers often just need to be told about the benefits and cost savings.

Secondly, having a stream of recurring revenue allows you to plan for that future cash flow.

You can predict much more accurately what your revenue will be in the future and then make smarter decisions about how to grow your business, make strategic investments, and plan operations.

Here’s the thing about providing ongoing services: While they’re great in theory, they can be a huge burden to manage without the right tools.

Keeping track of agreements, scheduling, and

collecting payments

manually can quickly end up being an overhead nightmare. So, even if they may be a lucrative opportunity, many companies simply don’t have the time or capacity to put them into practice.

That’s what makes Housecall Pro your secret weapon.

With our new service agreements features, we make it simple to start generating more recurring revenue and locking in loyal customers today.

Simply schedule a recurring service agreement monthly, seasonally, or yearly and let Housecall Pro do the rest.

All you have to do is sign up the customer and collect their information once. When it's time to send a tech out on recurring calls, Housecall Pro takes care of the logistics, schedules the job, and even handles payment from the customer’s credit card on file.

Using these new features, service pros can build a hassle-free recurring revenue program.

Or, if you’re already a Housecall Pro customer, 

read all about recurring service plans here

.