Running a small HVAC service team in Business Genie
A small HVAC service team, a few techs and someone taking calls, has its hardest weeks when the first heat wave or cold snap arrives and every call is urgent. This walkthrough shows how that team can route the day, fit in emergencies, book maintenance visits and quote replacements in Business Genie.
A sample day board for three HVAC techs, Marco, Dee and Luis, from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with the outdoor temperature across the top. The heat passes 95° at 9:14; no-cool calls come in at 9:40, 10:15 and 11:05, one routed to each tech, and the jobs they bump move later inside their arrival windows.
Thursday, the first 110° day
The day as booked: nine tune-ups, two repairs and a system install, across three techs.
- Booked job
- Arrival window
- Route
Sample day for a three-tech team in Mesa, Arizona. Names, jobs, times and temperatures are illustrative.
What a busy HVAC day looks like
A busy HVAC day is one where the schedule set at 7 a.m. is out of date by 10. In peak season, no-cool and no-heat calls arrive all day, on top of the tune-ups and installs already booked. The team needs a way to fit new calls in without sending a tech back across town, and without breaking the time windows promised to customers already waiting.
Routing the day, and re-routing it
With the day’s jobs on the schedule, Business Genie’s route optimization puts each tech’s stops in order automatically, keeping every customer’s time window and each job’s duration. When a no-cool call comes in at 11, add it and the day re-routes around it. The jobs can be split across techs, and each tech gets turn-by-turn directions to the next stop.
Quoting replacements
When a repair call turns into a replacement, send an estimate with a deposit from the job. The customer approves the system and pays the deposit, which covers the equipment before you order it. See estimates and proposals.
Invoicing, payment and the books
The tech invoices from the job before leaving. The customer can pay by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App, and automated follow-ups remind anyone who hasn’t paid. With QuickBooks Online connected, invoices and payments sync to your books, and GPS time tracking records the techs’ hours on the busiest days.
Maintenance visits
Tune-up agreements are the work that fills the shoulder seasons. Book each plan visit on the schedule when the customer signs up, so spring and fall visits are on the calendar before the rush. The recurring maintenance plan guide covers how to structure and price the plan.
A sample day in April for three HVAC techs, Marco, Dee and Luis: every job on the board is a plan tune-up, booked when the customer signed up, with the route between them.
The same team, in spring
The same three techs: every stop a plan tune-up, booked when the customer signed up.
- Route
- Plan tune-up, booked at sign-up
Sample day for a three-tech team in Mesa, Arizona. Names, jobs, times and temperatures are illustrative.
Setting up
Setting up is the same for every trade: a one-month free trial with no credit card, free setup with your customer list moved in by the Business Genie team, the iOS or Android app on each tech’s phone, and QuickBooks Online connected if your accounts are kept there. Plans start at $50 a month, and route optimization is on every plan.