In-Home Sales & Options

Top performers close 60–70% at $14,800 average ticket. Industry average: 25–35% at $11,200. The difference is process, not talent.

The 8-Step In-Home Call

A full replacement consultation takes 75–120 minutes. Every step matters — skipping discovery alone drops close rate from 50%+ to 22%.

1. Greet (3-5 min)

Park on street, not driveway. Carry iPad and clipboard, not a toolbag. Apply shoe covers before entering. The first 90 seconds determine whether the homeowner trusts you for a $14K decision.

2. Build trust (5-10 min)

Sit at the kitchen table — not the couch. iPad face-down. Ask about the house, what they love about it, what frustrates them about the current system. Every minute spent here is two minutes saved overcoming objections at the close.

3. Discover needs (15-20 min)

Ask 12–15 questions: which rooms run hot or cold, who's home during the day, allergies, summer electric bill, noise, what's most important — comfort, efficiency, or budget. This step determines whether the close happens.

4. Measure and inspect (20-30 min)

Walk every room. Check window seals, attic insulation, duct condition, returns. Run Manual J load calculation. Photograph: equipment, electrical panel, ductwork, thermostat.

5. Recommend (5-10 min)

Return to the kitchen table. Present findings connected to the specific problems from Step 3. Establish the "why" before showing prices.

"Your kids' bedrooms run hot because the 3-ton single-stage is oversized and short-cycles. A two-stage 2.5-ton will run longer cycles, solve the hot bedrooms, and cut summer kWh by 18–22%."

6. Present Good/Better/Best (10-15 min)

Always show monthly payment next to cash price on every tier:

Selection pattern: ~60% choose Better, ~20% Best, ~15% Good, ~5% want to think about it. Average ticket lifts $1,800–$3,200 over single-option quoting.

Three options kills negotiation. The conversation shifts from "can you do $12,500?" to "which tier is right for our house?"

7. Close (10-20 min)

"Which of these three feels right for your house?" Then stop talking. Let silence work. Learning to be silent after the close improves close rates by 40%.

Same-call close beats two-call close by 18–24 percentage points.

8. Follow-up

If they signed: Schedule install before leaving the home.

If they didn't: Send recap email from the driveway with PDF attached. Provide one specific next step: "I'll call you Thursday at 5pm." Execute the promised call — most shops never follow up, leaving 30–40% of deals dead.

Financing Presentation

How you frame it doubles the financed share:

"The system is $13,800" → homeowner compares against $13,800 they don't have. "The system is $182/month" → homeowner compares against the $185 electric bill they're already paying.

Close Rate by Lead Source

Allocation strategy: Route top closers to referrals and repeats. Route junior advisors to LSA volume.

Objection Handling

"Let me think about it" — "Help me understand — what specifically do you need to think through?" The first objection is often a smokescreen; the second reveals the real concern. Follow-up workflows recover 20–35% of these.

"It's too expensive" — Re-anchor on discovery findings: "You mentioned the $350 electric bills and the hot bedrooms. The Better option solves both." Frame as monthly, not lump sum. Do NOT drop price — dropping signals the original was inflated.

"My spouse needs to agree" — This is why discovery asks about all occupants. "Would it help if I scheduled a 15-minute call with both of you?"

The Rehash: Dedicated Follow-Up for Unsold Estimates

48% of salespeople never follow up on an unsold estimate. 80% of sales happen between the 5th and 12th contact. The gap between those two numbers is where most HVAC shops leave the most money.

The rehash is a dedicated follow-up process for unsold estimates, run by a single person — not the tech who ran the call, not the CSR, not the dispatcher. A separate Follow-Up Coordinator who owns every unsold estimate older than 48 hours.

How it works

1. Every unsold estimate enters a follow-up queue after 48 hours.
2. The Follow-Up Coordinator reviews the estimate, the tech's notes, and the customer's objection.
3. They call with a specific reason to re-engage — not "just checking in" but "I noticed the estimate included a 14-SEER option. We now have a rebate that brings the 16-SEER within $400 of that price."
4. They manage the full follow-up sequence: Day 3, Day 7, Day 14, Day 30.
5. Every contact is logged. Every objection is documented. The estimate stays active until the customer explicitly declines or the system ages out.

Source: ServiceTitan Contractor Playbook, Chapter 11 — rehash and follow-up methodology

Comfort Advisor Economics

For shops under 35 leads/month: train a senior tech as part-time comfort advisor. Run the proposal discipline without adding headcount (PipelineOn).

Florida Rebates (2026)

Know these numbers cold during the presentation. Heat pump rebates are significantly higher — if the home has electric strip heat, the upgrade generates $200–$800 in rebates alone.

Source: Duke Energy, Pronto Service Pros. Federal 25C tax credits: verify current status — may have been extended, modified, or expired in 2026.