HVAC leads: how to fill a changeout schedule

Service calls and changeouts are two different businesses

A no-cool call in July and a planned system replacement in October are not the same lead, and buying them at the same price is how HVAC companies lose money quietly. The repair lead pays for the truck; the replacement lead pays for the year.

Track them separately. Most companies find their repair leads close at a high rate and low margin, while replacement leads close slower but carry the profit. Once you can see both numbers, you know exactly how much you can pay per lead in each bucket.

• Tag every lead repair vs. replacement at intake
• Track cost per booked job in each bucket, not blended cost per lead
• Measure your repair-to-replacement conversion rate — it is your real margin lever
• Price lead spend against gross profit per job, never against revenue

The only number that matters: cost per booked job

Lead price on its own tells you nothing. What tells you everything is cost per booked job — lead price divided by your close rate — measured against your average ticket.

Run it honestly for one month. Count every lead you paid for, every one you actually reached, every estimate you gave, and every contract you signed. Most contractors are shocked by the reach rate, not the close rate: leads you never get on the phone are the real leak.

• Cost per booked job = what you spent on the channel ÷ jobs signed
• At $5 a month per county with leads included, one booked job pays for years of coverage
• A $15 shared lead at a 1-in-20 close rate costs $300 per job — and eats four times the phone time
• Compare that number to your gross profit per job, not to your revenue

Peak season is won on speed, not price

In a heat wave, the homeowner calls three companies and books whoever answers. Nothing else in your marketing matters as much as that. Crews that route after-hours calls to a live person during peak weeks book work their competitors never hear about.

Off-season is the opposite: those homeowners are planning, comparing, and reading. That is when a written estimate with the equipment model, tonnage, sizing calculation, permit, and warranty terms wins against a one-line price.

• Answer live during peak weeks — voicemail loses the job
• Text a confirmation with a real arrival window
• Off-season, lead with a written, itemized replacement estimate
• Show the sizing work; homeowners can tell who guessed

Speed to lead beats everything else you could change

The single highest-return change most contractors can make is calling faster. A homeowner who fills out a form is in buying mode for a window measured in minutes, not days. If you call back the next morning, you are quoting against someone who already walked the roof.

Build the habit into the crew's day: whoever is nearest a phone calls within five minutes, texts if there's no answer, and calls again that evening. Three touches in the first 24 hours, then weekly for a month. Most jobs that look dead are simply un-followed-up.

• Call within 5 minutes, text immediately if there's no answer
• Three contact attempts in the first 24 hours, at different times of day
• Every lead gets a written estimate or an explicit no — never silence
• Log the outcome of every lead so you can price your channels next quarter

What to demand from any lead seller

Before you spend another dollar, get straight answers to these. A seller who dodges them is selling you a list, not a lead.

• How many companies receive this same lead?
• Is the phone number verified before the lead is sold?
• What is the credit policy for wrong numbers and out-of-area leads?
• Where did the homeowner come from — your own content, or a purchased list?

How Homeowner Henry does it differently

Henry is a homeowner-facing site: people arrive from local HVAC cost guides and city pages, describe the job, and verify their phone number by text before the request is released. There is no auction and no resale to directories.

Every job goes to a maximum of three HVAC contractors, and only 3 contractors per county hold the trade at all. When three are in, the county closes. Coverage is $5 a month per county and every lead in your counties is included — no charge per lead, no contract, cancel any time.

What HVAC leads cost per booked job

Ranges vary by metro and season. Measure your own cost per booked job before scaling any channel.

Questions contractors ask

What should an HVAC contractor pay for a lead?

Judge it against gross profit per job. On a $12,000 system replacement at 35% gross margin, a $25 lead that closes one in five costs $125 per booked job — a rounding error against the profit, and that ignores the service agreement that follows.

Are repair leads worth buying at all?

Yes, if you convert them. A repair call on a 15-year-old system is a replacement conversation with a technician already standing in the house. Companies that track that conversion buy repair leads confidently; companies that do not, should not.

What does a HVAC lead cost on Homeowner Henry?

Leads are included. You pay $5 a month for each county you cover, and every phone-verified homeowner in those counties comes to you at no extra charge. No contract, cancel any time.

Are the leads exclusive?

A job goes to no more than three HVAC contractors, and only 3 HVAC contractors hold a county at once. They are not resold to directories or bidding sites.

What if a lead is bad?

Wrong number, out of area, or not a real project gets a replacement credit. You tell us, we credit it — no dispute forms.