Australians understand the extremes, and now more than ever, we want ways to beat or keep the heat. This demand is great for HVAC businesses, especially if you decide to start your own.
This demand means competition, and finding new clients can be challenging! The nature of HVAC means that projects can be complex and challenging for a layperson to wrap their head around. When you’re trying to sell your services, you need potential customers to understand the scale of the project without overwhelming them.
This is where HVAC proposals come in. An HVAC proposal summarises, explains and breaks down a potential job for your customers. It’s a selling tool for your company to gain jobs and grow your customer base.
Why a Detailed HVAC Proposal Matters for Your Business
That first contact with a customer can determine your future with them, so an effective HVAC proposal is your best foot forward. It’s a document that demonstrates your professionalism and quality service and provides a customer with a point of reference. That’s a lot of detail and information, and it’s no secret that preparing a proposal takes time!
Utilising an HVAC proposal template is the first step to streamlining your proposals and project management. Templates provide consistency and a clear path for a project, and preparing a proposal requires covering all the necessary parts. It clarifies costs and services for potential customers, increasing trust and retention.
Have a crew? With an HVAC proposals template, everyone on the team works in the same format. This can reduce entry mistakes or missing information from a proposal and ensures everyone is on the same page.
Download our HVAC Proposal Template Now!
To get started, download our free HVAC proposal template here.
This template is a great way to familiarise yourself with the components of an effective HVAC proposal and streamline your preparation.
How To Use Our HVAC Proposal Template
Now that you’ve got your free HVAC proposal template, let’s break down the features and how to use and personalise your template for your business effectively!
Creating An Eye-Catching Cover Page
As much as we’re told not to judge a book by its cover, marketing tells us differently. A practical HVAC proposals template has a standout cover page.
When you use your HVAC proposals template, update the cover with your logo and business name to personalise it. A proposal summary on the cover gives customers a quick rundown of your business's services and acts as an easy reference.
Customizable Introduction For Your Business
Standing out doesn’t stop at the cover: our HVAC proposal template includes an About section for your business to introduce itself.
As you can see in our example, we’ve used the history of our example HVAC company. In this section, you can list your HVAC business’ values and quality service and any specialisations/niches your business services.
Project Showcase/Testimonials
Another great feature of our HVAC proposal template is a section that showcases successful projects and customer testimonials. This can come in the form of recent reviews from satisfied customers or a case study/story from a customer.
We’ve shown two examples in our HVAC proposals template, describing positive reviews for our HVAC example business and the customer story of ‘Gabby’ to highlight how your services can benefit your clients in the long-term.
You can also feature quotes from reviews or feedback from customers to boost this section. This gives your HVAC proposal a personal touch and displays that your business is a good choice.
Proposed Service Plan
In this section of your HVAC proposal template, you can flesh out the specifics of the job you’re proposing to your potential customer.
This includes the specifications of the system, the timeline from accepting the job to how long it will take to complete, details about equipment and supplies required, labour hours and the benefits of the proposed job.
Include a follow-up maintenance timeline to make your proposal breakdown more effective. This displays forward thinking and a commitment to quality service from your HVAC business.
Detailed Cost Breakdown
Once a customer has seen the summary and job proposal, the next question will invariably be, ‘How much will this cost me?’
It’s essential to include a cost breakdown on each proposal, covering each of the points in your proposed service/project plan. Transparency and clarity on pricing means customers know what they’re getting and what they’re paying for.
Of course, your pricing should reflect both the direct and indirect costs of a project to cover your expenses as a contractor.
Secure Client Payment Options
Another important feature of our HVAC proposals template is the payment options section. Getting paid can seem entirely on the customer, but there are ways to speed up the process and get paid faster.
Including payment information provides your potential customer a point of reference and providing multiple payment options offers flexibility that can help customers pay sooner.
Ready-To-Use Section For The Contract
In our free HVAC proposals template, we’ve included a contract agreement and signature section for potential customers to sign once they’re satisfied with the information provided. This means your proposals can come back ready to go, and you can get the ball rolling on the job!
This provides a section for the name, signature and date on the agreement.
Terms and Conditions
We’ve included the service terms and conditions section as the last section of the document to set unlimited space for your terms and conditions. All you need to do is copy and paste your terms and conditions from another document onto the HVAC proposals template and save it as part of the master copy.
If your conditions change/update, you can easily edit the HVAC proposals template with the new terms.
Elements your HVAC proposal template should NOT include
We’ve covered how to get the most out of your free HVAC proposal template so far, but there are also things to avoid to ensure you don’t hinder the effectiveness of your proposals. Template or not, it takes time to prepare an HVAC proposal, so it’s better to know what to avoid from the start.H3 Overly Complex Design Elements
You’ve probably noticed our free HVAC proposals template is quite simple, with basic colours and formatting. It’s good to include logos and a bit of flash, but this is an agreement document, and the focus should be on the content. Include a pleasant design and easy-to-follow layout, but there’s no need to overdo it with HVAC proposal templates.
If you’re printing out these templates to fill in and sign, the last thing you need is formatting issues and difficulty transferring the document to a printable page!
Generic Content
Generic and unrelated content in an HVAC proposal isn’t helpful to anyone: it takes time for your business to prepare and time for a customer to read. Save everyone time and stick to the relevant information and proposition of your services.
Our HVAC proposal template is designed to be adjusted for whatever job you’re planning so you can focus on the important stuff.
Hidden Costs And Fees
Our HVAC proposals template includes a section for a detailed cost breakdown: make sure it includes all the costs! A proposal must have all relevant information for a customer to give them a clear picture of what your company can do for them and how they’ll benefit.
An undisclosed cost or fee tacked onto the end of a project results in unhappy customers. Even a small addition will become a negative experience for that client and make it harder to retain them. Remember: acquiring new customers is 5-6 times more expensive than retaining a previous customer!
Unverified Case Studies Or Testimonials
This can be especially tempting when it comes to brand-new systems and the latest developments in HVAC technology if a customer is upgrading. Still, a proposal is about trust in your trade business and your work. If you don’t have a specifically relevant case study for your HVAC proposals template, use a different case study/testimonial. Testimonials demonstrate your previous quality work and service, even if you’re in a new specialisation.
Extra Tips To Customise Your Template
Add Your Company’s Branding And Logo
If you want to personalise your HVAC proposal template, an effortless way is to add your company’s branding and logo is effortless! We’ve included a spot for your logo on our free HVAC proposal template, and you can include branding throughout the sections and descriptions.Don’t have a logo yet? It’s one of the easiest ways to market your business effectively: with a unique logo, your company becomes recognisable and memorable.
Include Scheduling And Tracking Integrations
Is a project plan locked in? With scheduling and tracking integrations, like those included in AroFlo’s job management software, you can easily plan and monitor the progress of your jobs. This kind of data means you can efficiently plan new proposals with accurate timelines and projected labour hours.
CRM For Enhanced Client Personalization
CRM, or customer relationship management, can organise your customer base, including potential customers. With AroFlo’s job management system, you can keep track of customers who have recently received proposals, emails, or communications and touch base with customers due for a maintenance call.
Utilising Accounting Integrations
Even the best HVAC proposals template is still just a template. A consistent template will provide accuracy and transparency of pricing to streamline producing proposals. Keep track of the details with integrated accounting and job management software, which tracks cash flow and provides streamlined payment options to organise your project finances.
Encourage Consistent Use Of HVAC Templates For Your Team
Now that you’re ready to use HVAC proposal templates to attract new customers, make sure the whole team knows how to use them. Your team represents your HVAC business through professionalism and quality work; now, they can increase their efficiency with HVAC proposal templates.Ready to do more with your templates, estimates, integrations, scheduling and accounting? See what AroFlo can do for your HVAC business with our industry software.
