HVAC Automation for Business Processes: 7 Things to Automate

1. Technician Timesheets

Timesheet automation allows techs to record and sign off on time using software. That information feeds back into your system, so you have a real-time record of how many hours your team has put into each project.

There are various types of timesheet software that you can use to help techs clock in faster from their mobile phones, but not all of that software will connect to the rest of your business data.

ServiceTitan’s all-in-one software includes time-tracking features such as real-time tracking, customizable performance pay, flexible start times and overtime, and more. It’s also connected to your payroll, reporting, and field service tools, so the information is available whenever needed.

Techs can clock in, out, and sign off from their mobile devices. If they forget to clock out, ServiceTitan will automatically adjust the time to match their last activity.

The software categorizes drive time, vendor runs, and wrench time so you can optimize projects and make sure all billable time is captured on your invoices.

With ServiceTitan’s Fleet Pro, you can also track vehicles with GPS and access historical fleet data. You can sync timesheet data to vehicle GPS tracking, and use AI-enabled cameras to prevent unsafe driving.

Riley Plumbing and Heating used Fleet Pro to uncover the truth about a rollover accident involving a technician who claimed to have hit a deer. 

When he reviewed the footage, shop owner Lawrence Riley said, “You could watch the guy picking his nose and wiping it on his shirt as the truck rolled over,” Riley said. “There was no deer on the video. The GPS and the video don't freakin’ lie.”

With the truth one click away, Riley can also process insurance claims faster and see precisely how long techs spend on the job for better job costing. Riley says, “[With that data], we know how to price ourselves. We know what stuff really [costs]. And it just eliminates the human error of clocking in and out.”

2. Job Forms

Automating job forms gives techs digital templates for agreements such as proposals, contracts, and warranties that they can fill out and have customers sign from their phones or tablets.

With ServiceTitan’s Field Service app, you can trigger forms to pop up at relevant points in the job cycle automatically. Techs won’t have to drive back to the office in the middle of a visit if they forget forms that need signing.

Instead, they can fill out forms and get customers to sign them on the job site, and the forms will be automatically attached to all the other relevant info for that job.

3. Automatic Alerts

Automated alerts are pop-up notifications on mobile devices and via email that distribute information to the right employees at the right time. Most HVAC apps have notifications and alerts for various business processes.

For example, Lee’s Air in Fresno, California uses ServiceTitan notifications to stay on top of a lot of business processes, from customer service to tracking parts from suppliers.

You can set up various alerts in ServiceTitan to keep the ball rolling on these and other important processes, like tracking customer engagement or getting management approval for discounts.

Here are a few examples:

• Abandoned call alerts notify call center managers when customers hang up. This helps them investigate what happened and ensure there’s enough CSR staff to field calls.

• Canceled job alerts pop up when a job is canceled and they can be customized to go to different people depending on the type of job. This helps the call center act fast to try to save the customer.

• Alerts for viewed estimates notify staff when customers have taken a look at your estimate so they know when to follow up.

• Alerts for reviews notify staff whenever a customer has left a positive or negative review so the staff can follow up.

Josue Solis of Lee’s Air finds the notifications for reviews helpful. He says, “Anytime you get a five-star review, I get a ping. Anytime I get a one-star, I get a ping. And my job is to reach out to that customer right away.”

You can also set up reminder notifications and emails for customers to help reduce no-shows. The software will automatically send an alert 24 hours before a job and then a dispatch notification when the tech is on their way.

Solis says that these reminders are the source of a lot of Lee Air’s 5-star reviews: “[Customers] like it when we send pictures and GPS notifications on where the person's at. So they know exactly when to expect that individual in their home.”

You can also send customers reminders about maintenance agreements. 

Solis says, “I know the customers like [it] when we send them automated reminders like, "Hey, it's been six months since your last maintenance, you are part of the maintenance agreement… Don't forget to use your maintenance agreement that you purchased to help you stay up-to-date with your system."

With alerts across your business, you can keep it running smoothly by reminding everyone exactly what they need to do next.

4. HVAC Marketing Automation

Marketing automation helps streamline manual marketing tasks and connects marketing activity to customer and revenue information so you can track campaign performance.

For example, ServiceTitan’s Marketing Pro includes automation for email and direct mail, which makes sending them much easier.

Althoff Industries is a plumbing, HVAC, and electrical company that uses Marketing Pro to build hyper-targeted audiences based on customer information, such as unsold estimates, aging equipment, and expiring memberships.

That feature has helped the firm boost customer memberships across its customer base.

Blake Wiltshire, director of residential services at Althoff, says: “We get really good responses to that because we send an email out to [...] members and then a slightly different [...] one to nonmembers.”

You can use drag-and-drop templates to create professional emails in minutes and then set the software to send them to key audiences at the right time.

With direct mail automation, you can avoid the hassle of printing, mailing, and tracking campaigns. Choose audience segments, upload images, then print and send flyers directly from ServiceTitan and save a trip to the post office.

Wiltshire says, “We've got some cross-promotions. We got all kinds of things set up in Marketing Pro. The best part is it's dynamic. It updates on its own. You set it and forget it.”

All campaigns are tied back to your revenue metrics in ServiceTitan—so you’ll be able to see which campaigns attract preferred customers and generate high-ticket jobs.

5. Automated Reports

Automated reports give you vital information on field services in real time for faster business decisions.

ServiceTitan’s Field Service app provides customizable, real-time reporting on what’s happening in the field, including revenue, customer satisfaction, tech conversion rate, and more.

Your technician scorecard updates you on each tech's success in the field, with revenue and customer satisfaction data.

You can also view scorecards for your CSRs, track leads, and listen to recordings of each call.

You can schedule reports to get sent out regularly to anyone in your organization who might need them. For example, you could periodically send performance reports to techs so they know how they’re doing.

6. Dispatching

Dispatching automation helps dispatchers assign techs to jobs and adjust schedules much faster.

Bonfe’s call center director, Jessy Karolevitz, found that rather than replacing dispatchers, automation helps them do their jobs more effectively: “It’s allowed our dispatchers to focus on what's important: right tech, right call. They have the ability (and time) to dig into the calls to make sure that they're set up correctly and that [the technician] has the right skill set.”

ServiceTitan’s Dispatch Pro uses AI and historical data to identify the best tech for each job. Then, the software automatically assigns techs to jobs, making your dispatchers much more efficient.

Dispatchers can also manually search for techs by skill set, schedule, and zone to instantly see who’s available for jobs, and view technician appointments by location. 

At Althoff, ServiceTitan’s GPS tools are helping techs navigate to appointments much more easily. Blake Wiltshire says, “I tell our dispatchers, ‘You guys have so many tools now. I had to look at paper maps and try to figure things out.’”

He says these features have helped their company stand out as a premium brand: “That was one of my sales pitches to Althoff’s owners: ‘We're a premium brand in our market, we present ourselves that way. Our processes and our software and the things that we're doing need to be a premium brand, too.’”

7. Billing

Billing automation helps you create invoices and let customers pay them from a secure portal. From there, you can view invoices and revenue information that is automatically updated across your business.

In ServiceTitan, you can automate HVAC billing to get paid faster, store customer information, and create customizable templates that techs can use in the field.

ServiceTitan’s billing features let customers pay online by credit, debit, or check. You can also set up automatic recurring payments for maintenance agreements and effortlessly send invoices and statements.

With all your customer billing and payments in one place, you’ll be able to spot outstanding payments and customer lifetime value at a glance. 

What Are The Benefits of Automating HVAC Business Processes?

Using HVAC business software to automate processes lets you work on your core business rather than the peripheral stuff. Finally, you can shift your focus from day-to-day admin tasks to more strategic decision-making.

Here are some of the key benefits of automation:

• Efficiency: Automation makes your CSRs and techs much more efficient since they have all the information they need at their fingertips.

• Higher profit margins: When your teams are more efficient, you can book more jobs per day, resulting in higher profits.

• Standardized processes: Automation creates standard processes that make replicating your business model in new locations easier, making your business much more scalable.

• More informed decisions: Automation ensures data feeds into your reporting tools, enabling you to make data-driven decisions about your growth strategy.

• Better communication: Notifications and reminders ensure that your team and customers have the right information at the right time.

Automation also helps you meet the demands of tech-savvy customers who expect to be able to book your services from their phones, track techs en route, and pay you online.

Over to You

There are lots of HVAC management apps to choose from, but ServiceTitan is a more comprehensive and powerful option than many others on the market.

That’s because it’s designed by tradespeople for tradespeople to address the specific challenges home service businesses face in the office and in the field. 

With streamlined automation from marketing to your final invoice, you’ll unlock your team's potential to provide the best service and your own potential to grow your business.

ServiceTitan is a comprehensive HVAC business software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and achieve growth. Our award-winning, cloud-based platform is trusted by more than 100,000+ contractors across the country.