The HVAC CRM blueprint: fields, job types and pipeline stages

Start with four record types

An HVAC CRM needs four kinds of record, linked together: customers, sites, equipment and jobs. Getting the links right matters more than any individual field.

• Customer: the person or company who pays and who you talk to. Name, phones, email, contact preference, language preference, consent status, lead source.
• Site: the physical address where work happens. A customer can have several sites; a site can have a current and a former owner.
• Equipment: each piece of equipment at a site. It belongs to the site, so when a house is sold, the furnace history stays with the house.
• Job: each visit, estimate or project, linked to a site, its equipment and the customer who requested it.

The most expensive design mistake is merging customer and site. It seems simpler until a property manager calls about one of twelve buildings, or a homeowner sells and the new owner calls about "the furnace you put in."

Design the intake screen for a busy phone

The intake screen is what a CSR fills in while a customer talks, often during a cold snap with three lines ringing. Keep required fields to what is needed to book the right visit.

A workable required list:

1. phone number (search first, to find returning customers);
2. customer name;
3. service address, selected or created as a site;
4. job type;
5. urgency (no heat or no cool, soon, flexible);
6. equipment involved, picked from the site's equipment list or "unknown";
7. lead source, filled automatically by call tracking where possible;
8. preferred contact method.

Everything else, such as the model number or the age of the equipment, can be optional at intake and completed by the technician on site. If a CSR has to guess, the data is worse than blank.

Define job types by who owns them and how long they take

Job types are how the CRM knows who does what and how long to book. Each type should differ in at least one of: owner, duration, priority or follow-up.

If two job types have the same owner, duration and follow-up, merge them. Every extra type is one more choice a CSR can get wrong.

Write estimate stages with exit rules

A stage is only useful if everyone agrees when a job enters and leaves it. Write each one as a sentence.

• Requested: a customer has asked for a quote. Exit when a visit or virtual assessment is booked.
• Assessment booked: the date is set. Exit when the advisor completes the visit.
• Quote sent: the customer has a written price. Exit when the customer replies or the first follow-up call is logged.
• Follow-up in progress: the sequence is running. Exit on a decision, or after the final touch.
• Won: signed or deposit received. This creates the installation job.
• Lost: with a reason from the list. A long-term reminder is set where it makes sense.

Give each stage a time limit. A quote that sits in "Quote sent" for ten days without a logged call is a task for someone, today.

Choose lost reasons you can act on

Lost reasons are a pick list, not free text. Five or six is enough:

• price;
• timing, not ready yet;
• chose another company;
• repaired instead of replacing;
• no response after the full sequence;
• other, with a note.

After a few months, the mix tells you something. Many "price" losses may point to how options are presented. Many "no response" losses point to follow-up. Many "repaired instead" losses are next year's replacement list.

Equipment fields that pay for themselves

Equipment records drive replacement marketing, maintenance reminders and faster repairs. The fields worth standardising:

• equipment type (pick list: furnace, boiler, combi boiler, heat pump, air conditioner, water heater, HRV or ERV, other);
• fuel or energy source (natural gas, propane, oil, electric, dual fuel, wood or pellet);
• brand and model;
• serial number;
• install year, with an "estimated" tick box;
• location in the building;
• covered by maintenance agreement, yes or no.

With those in place, a list such as "gas furnaces installed before 2012 at sites with no agreement" takes seconds. Our data import guide shows how to fill them from old notes.

Fields Canadian shops often forget

A few fields matter more in Canada than in templates built elsewhere:

• Language preference, especially for customers in Quebec, New Brunswick and parts of Ontario, so reminders go out in the right language;
• Consent type and date, because Canada's anti-spam law ties implied consent to time limits after a purchase or inquiry;
• Rebate or program notes, such as which provincial or utility program a customer is applying to, and any deadline, because some programs require paperwork within a set number of days after installation;
• Service area or territory, for companies that cover several towns or both sides of a provincial border.

The region pages under areas list what tends to change by province.

Ownership and time limits

Every stage needs a role responsible for the next action and a time limit for taking it. Write them into a simple table and configure tasks so the CRM assigns them automatically. The owner or service manager should see an "overdue" view every morning.

Testing the blueprint before launch

Before you go live, run ten realistic scenarios through the system with the people who will use it: a no-heat call from a new customer, a returning customer with two properties, a quote that's won, a quote that's lost, a maintenance visit, a warranty callback. Each one should feel quick. Anything awkward gets fixed now, not after launch.

If you'd like help building this, see the CRM blueprint service. The next step after design is training your team, and the pricing page explains how projects are scoped.