Service Agreements, Part 3: The Advantages of a Service Agreement for Your Customers

"Should Your Company Offer Irrigation Service Agreements?" was the question posed by the first installment of this three-part series. Some of the reasons to make such agreements a regular part of your operation include: improved cash flow, increase in the value of your business, providing a source of steady income during slow periods, and helping you schedule workloads during busy seasons.

Our second installment, "How to Structure a Good Service Agreement," focused on items to include in your agreements: spring start-ups, winterizations, built-in discounts for non-covered services, priority scheduling and options to add monitoring capability and/or rain sensors.

We conclude our series with a look at the customer benefits that these services can provide.

Third in a Three Part Series

When your customers maintain a service agreement with you, they won’t need to write a check every time that you pay them a visit. One check will take care of all servicing for the entire season. This "one payment covers all" method makes it easy for them to participate in your program and easy for them to renew the agreement every year.

Regular annual services, such as winterizations and spring start-ups, can be handled without the need of the customer calling to schedule. Instead, you will be able to call them automatically when the time is right.

Having a service agreement will also give your customers peace of mind. They’ll rest easy knowing that you – their service contractor – will be available in-season, at a time when they most likely will need you. Without a service agreement, a needed visit might well be competing for time against numerous other customers, both old and new. With a service agreement, you have given the customers your word that you will attend to their needs ahead of new and potential new customers, so they can be confident that you will be there to take care of them.

Because you are either providing regular service or, at the very least, are giving them preferred scheduling over your customers who do not have a service agreement, the customer’s system will be properly maintained and thus will operate at peak performance. Their system’s component parts will not wear out as quickly – and, if they do, you will be able to repair and/or replace the parts in a timely manner.

In the event that service is needed, you will be providing the work to your customer at a more economical price than if they were to contact you on an "as needed" or "per job" basis outside of a contract. The reduced total cost of their system’s maintenance, combined with the lower rates you will be offering if service is needed, makes a service agreement an appealing option for customers.

The Best Ways to Sell Your Program

The ideal method for promoting a service agreement is the personal way. Have your technicians (or yourself, for that matter) present the idea of an agreement to your customers at the time that service is being performed at their property. The one-on-one interaction allows you to carefully explain all the details and the benefits of a contract and also allows the customer to ask any questions about such an option.

As an incentive to get your customers on board with your service agreement program, consider offering your service technicians a small commission for each agreement they sell.

Another, albeit less personal, way to sell service agreements is through the mail. Develop a flyer or a brochure and send that information to all the customers on your service list. You can carefully spell out the benefits of your program in even more detail than you might in a one-on-one meeting, but you do lose the direct contact with the customer and the opportunity to let your bubbly personality and charm help win the sale.

Don’t forget one more good way to promote a service agreement program. Offer the plan as part of a new system sale. You’ll be dealing with a customer at the moment of extreme joy (remember they just got their new, time-saving irrigation system and they are "totally stoked"), so selling to them may never be easier. If you can get a customer on board with your program now, it will get them accustomed to an annual plan and will set the wheels in motion for them to renew the agreement each year, just like clockwork. As long as you do a good job for them, you’ll have a regular customer for life.