HVAC Contractor Gets 24/7 Coverage

The Challenge

Mike ran a successful HVAC company with 10 employees, serving residential and commercial clients across the St. Louis metro area. Business was good—maybe too good.

The problem? Emergency calls don’t respect business hours.

When a customer’s AC dies at 9 PM in August, they need help now. But Mike couldn’t be glued to his phone 24/7. He had a family. He needed sleep. And his office staff went home at 5 PM.

The result: missed calls. Lots of them.

Mike estimated he was missing 3-4 after-hours calls per week. At an average emergency service call value of $350, that’s roughly $5,000/month walking out the door—straight to his competitors who did answer.

Worse, those weren’t just one-time losses. Emergency calls often convert to loyal customers. Every missed call was a relationship that never started.

What We Did

We started with an Operations Audit to map Mike’s entire call handling process—from first ring to job completion.

What we found:

• Calls went to the office during business hours (good)
• After-hours calls went to Mike’s cell (unsustainable)
• Missed calls got a voicemail that rarely got returned promptly
• No system for capturing caller information automatically
• No way to route calls based on urgency

We designed and implemented a complete call capture system:

Intelligent Call Routing

• Business hours: Office first, then overflow to a backup
• After hours: AI-powered answering that captures details, qualifies urgency, and either schedules callbacks or pages the on-call tech for true emergencies

Automated Follow-Up

• Every missed call triggers an immediate text: “Thanks for calling Midwest Comfort! We’ll call you back within 15 minutes.”
• Caller info automatically logged in their CRM
• Morning report shows all after-hours activity

On-Call Rotation

• Documented process for tech rotation
• Clear escalation criteria (what’s a “real” emergency vs. what can wait)
• Fair compensation structure for on-call time

The Results

Within the first month:

• After-hours call capture went from ~40% to 98%
• $4,200 in additional revenue from previously missed calls
• Mike stopped sleeping with his phone on the nightstand

After three months:

• The system runs itself—Mike reviews weekly reports but doesn’t manage daily
• Two techs now handle on-call rotation, properly compensated
• Customer reviews mention “always available” and “quick response”

The math:

• System cost: ~$400/month
• Additional captured revenue: ~$4,000/month
• ROI: 10x

Key Takeaway

Mike didn’t need to work more hours. He needed a system that worked when he didn’t.

The technology wasn’t complicated—it was the combination of documented processes, clear routing rules, and reliable automation that made the difference.

This case study represents a composite of typical client engagements. Specific details have been adjusted to protect client confidentiality while accurately representing the types of challenges we solve and results we achieve.