HVAC work is seasonal, service-agreement driven, equipment heavy, and local reputation sensitive. Strkr ships a CRM shaped around the HVAC motion with equipment tracking, service plan management, mobile tech workflow, and the SMS review capture that drives local search ranking.
A generic CRM assumes a linear sales funnel. HVAC runs a seasonal demand curve, a maintenance plan recurring revenue motion, and an install-sales project cycle. The pain points below are what Strkr onboarding hears on every intake call with an HVAC contractor.
HVAC demand triples in the summer months. A 14-technician operation that handles 60 service calls per week in April handles 180 in July. The CRM that cannot flip the dispatch board to a triage mode (emergency vs same-day vs scheduled) during the spike loses customers. Strkr's dispatch board flips to triage mode automatically based on volume and surfaces the emergency calls on top.
A mature HVAC operation runs on recurring revenue from maintenance plans (spring tune-up, fall tune-up, filter changes, priority service). The CRM that cannot track plan start, visit cadence, renewal date, and renewal risk kills the recurring revenue motion. Strkr's service agreement object carries plan type, scheduled visits, renewal date, and renewal risk flag at day 60 before expiration.
A technician arriving at a service call needs to know the unit model, year of install, prior service history, warranty status, and current refrigerant type. Most HVAC CRMs capture install data but lose it on subsequent service calls. Strkr's property record carries equipment with model, serial, install date, warranty status, and complete service history. The tech sees the context on the truck tablet before arrival.
An HVAC install (new system, replacement, retrofit) runs a 2 to 6 week sales cycle with multiple quotes, financing coordination, permit filing, and crew scheduling. The CRM that treats the install the same as a service call fails the install sales motion. Strkr models install as a separate pipeline with quote workflow, financing integration, and crew-day scheduling.
Local HVAC lead flow runs through Google local search and Yelp. Google review count and review freshness drive the local pack ranking. Most HVAC operations capture 2 to 4 percent of jobs as reviews. Strkr's SMS review request fires on service completion with a direct Google review link, which typically lifts the capture rate to 18 to 22 percent in the first quarter.
An HVAC technician on site needs the service call context, the equipment history, the mobile estimate workflow, the signature capture, the photo attachment, and the invoice generation on a tablet. Most CRM mobile apps are cut-down UIs. Strkr's mobile UX ships the technician workflow natively with offline support for the first 30 minutes when connectivity drops in a basement crawl space.
Strkr ships a tunable HVAC schema with Customer, Property, Equipment, Service Call, Service Agreement, Install Project, and Technician as first-class objects. The owner can rename or extend anything. The default removes the first weeks of schema modeling.
A customer in Strkr is a household (one or more contacts at a property) with service history, agreement status, lifetime revenue, and payment preference. The schema drives the service call creation and the agreement renewal cadence.
A property ties to the customer and carries address, equipment on site (HVAC units with model, serial, install date), electrical service, and access notes (gate code, pet, parking, basement access). The technician sees the context on arrival.
Equipment carries manufacturer (Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Rheem, Goodman), model, serial, install date, warranty status, refrigerant type, and complete service history. The equipment object drives warranty claim workflow and replacement planning.
A service call captures problem description (no cooling, no heat, strange noise, leak, no power), priority (emergency, same-day, next-day, scheduled), technician assignment, truck inventory match, and outcome notes.
A service agreement defines plan type (basic tune-up, premium with priority service, platinum with parts coverage), scheduled visit cadence, renewal date, and payment status. The agreement drives recurring revenue reporting and renewal risk flag.
An install project captures scope (new system, replacement, retrofit, add-on), quote line items (equipment, labor, permits, extras), financing option, permit filing status, and crew-day schedule.
A technician carries skill set (service, install, boiler, geothermal), certification (EPA 608, NATE, state HVAC license), current truck inventory (common parts), and current location. The dispatch matches on skill, certification, and location.
HVAC operations run a seasonal demand curve. Strkr's cockpit flips view by season. The cards below show what each quarter looks like in the Strkr operations view.
March, April, May are the spring tune-up push. The service agreement roster surfaces every maintenance plan customer with a tune-up due. The outreach cadence schedules tune-ups ahead of the summer breakdown spike. A well-run spring push lifts summer system failure rates measurably and drives agreement renewal.
Summer demand triples. The dispatch board flips to triage mode. Emergency calls (no cooling, high heat day) surface on top. Same-day calls fill the technician schedule. Scheduled maintenance deprioritizes. Install projects pause for emergency capacity. The owner runs the business from the triage view with 15-minute decision latency.
September, October, November are the fall tune-up push. Furnace, heat pump, and boiler tune-ups schedule ahead of winter demand. The service agreement roster surfaces every heating customer with a tune-up due. The outreach cadence runs in parallel to the install push.
December, January, February are the install sales season (and the winter emergency season for the fail-forward units). Install projects surface in the pipeline with quote workflow, financing coordination, and crew-day scheduling. Install revenue typically represents 40 to 60 percent of annual revenue for a mature HVAC operation.
Service agreement renewals run year-round with a 60-day pre-renewal cadence. Strkr AI drafts the renewal proposal with year-over-year value delivered (visits completed, parts covered, priority service used), and the owner approves. Agreement renewal rate for Strkr operations lands at 82 to 88 percent typical.
The SMS review request fires on service completion year-round. Review capture rate lifts from 2 to 4 percent at baseline to 18 to 22 percent typical in the first quarter. The review freshness drives local search ranking in a measurable way.
Every Friday Strkr AI drafts a one-page operations summary for the owner: calls completed, estimates accepted, revenue booked, agreements sold or renewed, reviews captured, overdue invoices, and seasonal trend. The owner scans in 3 minutes and acts on the exceptions.
HVAC AI drafts in a work-order, direct tone. Strkr AI drafts in the voice the dispatcher and the owner actually use. The buyer never picks a model, never configures a provider.
When the dispatcher assigns a call to a technician Strkr AI drafts a summary with problem description, equipment context (model, year, warranty, service history), property access notes, and recommended tools or parts. The technician reads on the truck tablet before arrival.
When the technician diagnoses the issue Strkr AI recommends line items from the problem description and equipment context. The technician reviews, adds or removes items, and confirms. Recommendation accuracy on common service types lands at 70 to 80 percent after the first 30 estimates.
For install projects Strkr AI drafts the proposal with equipment specification, labor estimate, permit fees, and financing options. The sales rep tunes two sentences on average before sending. The proposal lands with a signature link and the financing-partner integration.
Day after a service call or install Strkr AI drafts an SMS check-in referencing the service and asking about any post-visit concerns. The customer gets a human-feeling touch. SMS at 2 cents per message through Strkr Messaging.
For service agreements approaching renewal Strkr AI drafts the renewal proposal with current-year service summary (visits completed, parts covered, priority service used), year-over-year value delivered, and the renewal pricing. The owner approves and sends.
When a Google review posts Strkr AI drafts a response referencing the service context and the technician work. The office owner approves and posts. Review response rate on Google lifts from 20 percent to 80 percent typical, which supports local SEO.
For equipment approaching end-of-life (typically 15 to 20 years for central air) Strkr AI flags the replacement opportunity based on service history, service call frequency, and refrigerant type (R-22 phaseout). The install sales rep reaches out proactively with a replacement conversation.
Most HVAC contractors evaluate ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, FieldEdge, or Jobber. The comparison below is the Strkr posture versus the HVAC-specific tool category.
| Feature | Strkr | Typical HVAC field service tool |
|---|---|---|
| CRM-first vs FSM-first posture | CRM with HVAC workflow. | FSM with light CRM capability. |
| Per-seat pricing | $29 to $119 per seat flat. | $79 to $400 per seat typical. |
| AI drafting bundled | Yes, with $49 enhancement add-on. | Separate add-on or not available. |
| Mobile estimate workflow | Native with offline support. | Native typical. |
| SMS review capture | Built in through Strkr Messaging. | Add-on or separate tool. |
| Equipment tracking with service history | First-class object. | First-class typical. |
| Install project pipeline | First-class with quote workflow. | First-class typical. |
| Seasonal demand triage mode | Dispatch board flips automatically. | Static dispatch view typical. |
| Custom-object schema flexibility | Self-service deep flexibility. | Rigid, professional services typical. |
The playbooks below are patterns Strkr onboarding sees across HVAC contractor deployments.
An 11-technician HVAC company in Phoenix ran service calls on a paper dispatch board and Excel for the service agreement tracking. The owner spent 14 hours per week on manual admin. Strkr onboarding ran a 14-business-day migration. The dispatch board, mobile estimate workflow, equipment tracking, and SMS review capture landed on day one. Review capture rate went from 3 percent to 21 percent in the first quarter. The owner reclaimed 10 hours per week.
A 32-technician multi-trade service company in Dallas (HVAC plus plumbing plus electrical) ran ServiceTitan at $350 per seat per month ($11,200 per month) with the AI add-on. The owner wanted a lower-cost alternative. Strkr onboarding ran a 24-business-day migration. The invoice dropped to $3,808 per month on Pro with AI Enhancement included. Service agreement renewal rate lifted 7 points because the AI-drafted renewal proposals ran on schedule.
A 48-technician regional HVAC contractor in the Midwest ran a legacy FSM tool that had drifted over 14 years. The install sales motion was manual (paper quotes, email signatures, phone-tag financing). Strkr onboarding ran a 28-business-day migration. The install project pipeline, mobile estimate workflow, and financing-partner integration landed. Install sales cycle time dropped from 11 days to 7 days.
An 18-technician boiler specialist in Boston ran a mix of Jobber for dispatch and QuickBooks for accounting. The seasonal demand curve (October through March drives 70 percent of annual revenue) made the dispatch triage critical. Strkr onboarding ran a 20-business-day migration. The dispatch board triage mode flipped on day one of the winter season. Emergency response time dropped 42 percent on the coldest week of the year.
A 60-technician commercial HVAC specialist in Houston ran FieldEdge for dispatch and Salesforce for the commercial sales motion. The two tools did not integrate. Strkr onboarding ran a 32-business-day migration consolidating onto Strkr Pro at $3,540 per month. The dispatch board and the commercial sales pipeline landed in one system. Monthly admin spend dropped $14,000 and the commercial renewal visibility improved materially.
Book a 30 minute call. We will walk through the HVAC schema, the seasonal dispatch triage, the service agreement workflow, and the install project pipeline with your actual technician count and service mix.
Strkr integrates with QuickBooks Online and Desktop through the standard webhook spec with HMAC signing. The typical setup pulls customer and invoice data bi-directionally with QuickBooks as the source of truth for financials and Strkr as the source of truth for operations. For QuickBooks Online the integration lands in a few hours. For QuickBooks Desktop the integration lands in a few days with a lightweight middleware component.
Yes. The schema supports both residential and commercial HVAC with per-segment configuration. Commercial sites can have multiple pieces of equipment (rooftop units, chillers, boilers, VAV boxes) with equipment-level service history and preventive maintenance scheduling. Commercial contracts can run multi-year with per-visit billing or fixed-fee annual agreements. The reporting rolls up residential and commercial separately for the owner-level view.
The equipment object captures refrigerant type and quantity. For technicians working under EPA 608 the service call workflow logs refrigerant added, recovered, or vented with the required documentation. The audit log captures the refrigerant records for EPA reporting requirements. For contractors needing deeper refrigerant management (bulk inventory tracking, cylinder reconciliation) the Strkr webhook spec integrates with specialized refrigerant tracking tools.
Strkr runs flat per seat at $29 on Starter, $59 on Pro, and $119 on Scale per user per month. ServiceTitan typically runs $300 to $400 per seat per month plus professional services. Housecall Pro Max runs around $349 for the first user plus $35 per additional. FieldEdge runs around $200 per user per month. Jobber Grow runs $119 base plus per-user. For a 20-technician operation Strkr Pro at $1,180 per month is 60 to 80 percent lower than the comparable FSM-tool subscription.
The service agreement object carries plan type, scheduled visit cadence, renewal date, and payment status. The system schedules recurring visits automatically and surfaces upcoming visits on the dispatch board. Renewal risk flags on day 60 before renewal with an AI-drafted renewal proposal from the owner. For maintenance plans with multiple visit types (spring tune-up, fall tune-up, filter change) the schedule tracks each visit type independently.
Strkr integrates with the common HVAC financing partners (GreenSky, Synchrony, Service Finance, Wells Fargo Home Projects) through the standard webhook spec. The install proposal workflow includes financing option selection, and the submission runs to the financing partner API with status tracking back to the Strkr install project. For partners not on the common integration list the webhook spec covers the custom pattern.
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