Your phone lights up. Another customer has scheduled an air conditioning service with your company. You go to confirm, but the platform’s connection lapses. You reboot, but it lapses again. You work with customer service to fix the glitch and end up wasting an hour that could’ve gone toward serving your customers.
In this digital age, it’s never been more important to effectively leverage software and technology for your HVAC business. Finding and correctly implementing the right solutions can make a huge difference in the level of care and service you’re able to provide and how many customers you can attract and convert.
Speed to lead is critical in today’s fast-paced market, and Podium offers an unparalleled advantage by ensuring businesses engage with leads within a couple of minutes—guaranteed. Podium’s AI CSR is “always on,” so you and your team don’t have to be, offering 24/7 customer support & sales.
In this article, we’ll cover our list of the best software solutions available for local HVAC businesses in 2023. We’ll discuss what makes great HVAC software, how to choose the right solution for your business, and answers to a few frequently asked questions from businesses just like yours.
As part of our software solution summary, we’ll discuss an all-in-one software solution, Podium, that’s tailored to HVAC businesses. It helps drive HVAC business growth by improving workflows to save you time and create a better customer experience. You’ll learn how to get the most out of your software solution and how to use it to raise your bottom line.
What Makes a Great HVAC Software
What makes great HVAC software? Good question.
From in-app communication to employee scheduling software, job costing, accounting software, cloud-based features, task management, diagnostics, and invoicing, there are many characteristics to look for when choosing the right platform for your business. These characteristics have to be balanced with factors like your particular business’s needs, budget, and tech-savviness.
However, there are a few characteristics that are particularly important when it comes to finding the right fit. Here are five aspects business owners should look for when choosing an HVAC software:
1. Comprehensive Features
If you’re going to spend the time and money finding and employing the right platform, you want to make sure it’s comprehensive. Ensure that your platform can do it all. For example, Podium manages reviews, chat, invoicing, scheduling, online booking, and more.
It should also be highly customizable, allowing you to shape it to fit the exact needs of your customers and your business at any given time. Customization goes a long way in making a platform really work for you and allowing you to provide a personalized customer experience every time.
2. Ease of Use and Integration
As a small business, you wear many hats. And you don’t have time to ride a steep learning curve to integrate complicated software with your other systems. When looking for HVAC software, be sure to look for software that’s easy for your employees to use and that integrates well with what you’re already using (like Quickbooks, for example). Your HVAC service software should integrate with your messaging, mobile devices, business operations, and other software options you might be considering.
3. Mobile Accessibility
If you can’t serve your customers and connect on the go, you’re limited in terms of what you can do and the demographics you can serve. You’re also limited in terms of who can find you, as many customers now find their HVAC providers online via reviews and local search. This is why your mobile accessibility is so important.
Your business must be easily accessible via mobile or desktop search and should be callable, textable, and more. Customers should be able to view pictures of your services that load quickly and show up well in a mobile format. The very best HVAC management software has in-app chat, text, and social media presence and communications.
4. Customer Support and Training
The right platform won’t leave you to learn it all on your own. A quality platform ensures success by providing tutorials and materials to train your employees so they can get the most they possibly can out of a platform and its attendant materials. Make sure the platform you choose offers high-level customer support and customer service that’s available 24/7 so that you’re not left high and dry when you find yourself in a bind. You should be able to create and upload your own personalized training materials and courses as well.
Additionally, customer management is a huge plus. Your platform should offer intuitive CRM features, in-depth customer information storage, customer relationship management, field service management software, and job management to ensure profitability and excellent support for your HVAC technicians.
5. Payment Processing
Lastly, look for software that has excellent payment processing capabilities. Work orders should be the last stressor on the minds of HVAC companies. You should be able to invoice quickly and digitally via text, and your customers should be able to pay anywhere they like with whatever payment method they prefer. When it comes to effective payment processing, your customers’ preferences should always come first. Easy tracking and auditing also decreases your workload and stress, allowing you to focus on doing what you do best.
Top 7 Best HVAC Software for Management and Growth
So, which platform should you choose? Do you want the best payment processing? The best CRM? Each platform has a different set of strengths, and carefully analyzing each one is key to determining which will best serve your business in the long run.
With that in mind, here are seven of our favorite software for your business’s management and growth as well as a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of each. While every single solution will have weaknesses, it’s important to choose which ones will work best with your business model and give you an advantage.
1. Best Overall, All-in-One HVAC Software: Podium
Our top all-around pick? Podium. Podium’s platform is specially built for small businesses. Its CRM platform allows you to manage customer data while also gathering reviews, payments, and feedback at the same time. The invoicing feature is top-of-line, allowing you to bill and invoice your clients via text.
In fact, Podium Payments helps you gather reviews, generate higher quality leads, and communicate with your customers while taking care of your invoicing. You can offer financing, subscriptions, Buy Now Pay Later, and estimates to make the payment experience a breeze for both you and your customers. Advanced fraud protection and automatic reconciliation keep your transactions safe and secure. Easy sales tracking and follow up technology save you valuable time on auditing, and mobile readers allow your field agents to take your customers’ preferred payment options while out in the field. While running a slightly higher price, Podium gives you exactly what you pay for and allows you to deliver a personalized customer experience.
Aditionally, Podium now has a new AI Employee that can help your business! Podium’s conversational AI is outcome-driven – it doesn’t just respond to inbound leads it guides conversations toward a specific goal, such as a sale or booking. Unlike other AI systems that focus on providing correct responses, Podium aims to drive specific customer actions to grow your business.
Podium’s AI CSR provides personalized conversations at scale, designed to not just respond to inbounds but to guide conversations towards a specific goal, such as a sale or booking. Book more jobs with Podium’s AI CSR for HVAC businesses. Watch a demo today.
2. Service Fusion
Service Fusion is easy to use and offers excellent customer support, value for money, and functionality. It provides a modern, accessible interface and many customizable features, allowing you to shape it to the needs of your customers and your business. You’re able to create a detailed entry for each job that you perform and add photos, contracts, documents, notes, and more.
A few cons to watch out for: Service Fusion’s reporting leaves a bit to be desired, and its invoicing features also have some glitches to be worked out on the day-to-day. However, Service Fusion offers amazing customer service and support, ensuring that you can get the help you need when you need it.
3. FieldEdge
FieldEdge crushes in terms of invoicing, job scheduling, GPS tracking, and dispatching for your HVAC contractors. It has organization down to a “T,” offering a highly analytical platform that can easily bring your operations under control. It’s easy to use, affordable (especially compared to the options on this list), and integrates well with Quickbooks, making it a standout option.
However, it doesn’t offer GPS or route optimization and the mobile app can run a bit slow, according to users. Some users experience connectivity issues, and the online customer booking feature leaves some to be desired. If you like this option, make sure to first view the free demo and ensure that FieldEdge will meet your and your customers’ needs.
4. Jobber
Jobber nails invoicing as well as mobile app offerings, making it a respectable, convenient option for any small business. Great scheduling and dispatching options increase its appeal, as well the varying and affordable pricing plans it offers to meet the different needs of different businesses: Lite, Core, Connect, and Grow. Lite only costs around $20 a month and includes a 14-day free trial. Jobber has excellent automation, saves you time, and rules the phone arena.
However, its customer support leaves a bit to be desired, as does its online booking features. The QuickBooks integration is not as smooth as it could be, and your agents aren’t able to communicate well while out and about. With limited backup options, Jobber requires a bit more thinking and strategizing on the part of any small business that uses it.
5. ServSuite by FieldRoutes
ServSuite, by FieldRoutes, offers outstanding invoicing features, making receipts and billing a breeze for both you and your customers. It provides some of the best customer support out of all the software on this list with well-timed operational hours (24/6), helpful tutorial videos, and more.
ServSuite does an amazing job listening to its customers and updating its offerings accordingly. ServSuite also offers a fantastic mobile app, allowing your field technicians to schedule appointments, offer prompt service, and sell to new customers while out and about. Highly accessible and analytically savvy, ServSuite can make a big difference for your business. Some cons to watch out for include the necessity of add-ons to access full functionality, slightly complex analytic reports (you can work to make these more simple), and a slightly higher-than-average cost.
6. WorkWave
Like FieldEdge, WorkWave offers great invoicing, scheduling, and dispatching tools. It helps you support your customers well with the ability to chat via phone, live chat, or email. WorkWave also offers a plethora of helpful tutorial videos, making it a learning haven for your customers. It’s easy to use, offers an array of helpful mobile options, and includes many helpful marketing features as well, helping you bring in new clients with ease.
However, like FieldEdge, WorkWave’s online customer booking features leave some to be desired in terms of general functionality. Your customers can’t upload images, book via Google, or book in real time. The payment processing features are complicated to use, you must have an annual contract, and there is no inventory management available. However, WorkWave offers a great price compared to other options on this list, making it appealing especially to smaller businesses.
7. GorillaDesk
GorillaDesk offers excellent invoicing, scheduling, data entry, time tracking, and dispatching. Its mobile app is not excessive but perfectly accessible, and it offers some of the most affordable pricing on this list. A basic $49 package and two week free trial sweeten the deal. It’s very easy to use, offers plenty of learning modules, and boasts an overtly responsive customer support team, making the learning curve very easy for your team.
However, it doesn’t provide real-time booking and Book via Google, which could give you problems in the short run. It has limited customizability, a slightly outdated interface, and fewer notifications via its mobile app.
Increase HVAC Deals With Podium
Want to skyrocket your HVAC deals? Ready to rule the arena of commercial HVAC and finally nail down your onboarding? We’ve got the inside scoop: Podium.
Podium has become a top choice for HVAC business owners looking to grow and improve their workflows. Thousands of local service businesses use Podium as their top HVAC management software to improve their operations, convert more leads, make more money, and fix communication gaps with their customers with ease.
With Podium Reviews, Webchat, and Payments, you can ensure seamless communication with your employees and customers, making sure no service or customer contact falls through the cracks. Want real stories? We’ve got a few.
Joshua Jones, operations manager of Mountaineer Heating and Cooling, noticed a gap in communication with Mountaineer customers who weren’t always available to communicate from eight to five. Various software systems were overly complicated to use and expensive, making the process of answering calls and serving customers even more convoluted. After implementing Podium, Mountaineer Heating and Cooling was able to recapture most of its online and phone traffic with ease.
“Before Podium Phones we missed 20% of our sales calls. We were missing 2 out of every 10 calls. That’s $24,000 we were missing out on every week.” Joshua Jones, Mountaineer Heating and Cooling
Charley Boyce of Paschal Air, Plumbing, and Electric knew that he needed to find a way to make sure his employees had the right technology and processes they needed to be effective. “What worked for us five years ago doesn’t work for us today. Stuff is changing and you’ve got to change with it.” Charley knew his team was missing opportunities due to several obstacles in communication. He knew they needed to refine their communication processes with better tech.
As the business grew, several software systems failed to meet the business’s growing needs. “There was a lot of walking around trying to track people down. We tried out a couple of other apps, but they weren’t supportive of our needs.”
After trying Podium, Charley knew they’d made the right call. “It’s a heck of a lot easier when we’re dealing with thousands of maintenance customers. We can push out thousands of texts. We can carry on many more conversations, as opposed to calling.”
“You’ve got to change. Your customers are doing it, and either you’re going to do it or your competition is–you might as well beat them to it.”
Learn more about customer success stories with Podium and growing your business and your bottom line here.
Best HVAC Software FAQs
Have more questions about software for HVAC? HVAC CRM software? HVAC business software, HVAC dispatch software, HVAC invoicing software? Don’t worry. We’ve got answers.
Q: Which software is best for HVAC design?
A: The best software for HVAC design can vary significantly depending on your specific needs and preferences as well as those of your clients. You should look for software that is highly customizable, powerful, and able to scale with your growing business. Here are a few of our favorites:
- AutoCAD MEP is widely used for creating detailed system layouts, schematics, and diagrams.
- Revit MEP is a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software that allows for 3D modeling of HVAC systems and provides tools for analyzing system performance.
- DesignBuilder is a simulation software that enables energy modeling and system design. It’s known for its user-friendly interface and ability to perform energy simulations and optimization.
- Carrier HAP is a specialized software for load calculations, system design, and equipment selection.
- Tran TRACE 3D Plus is often used by engineers and consultants for commercial and industrial projects.
Q: Which software is used for HVAC drafting?
A: Drafting software is used to create detailed drawings, schematics, and plans for installations. Here are a few of our favorites:
- DraftSight is used for drawings, offers a familiar AutoCAD-like interface, and is available in both free and paid versions.
- BricsCAD provides 2D and 3D drafting capabilities.
- CADISON HVAC includes tools for creating diagrams, layouts, and schematics.
- SolidWorks is used by many professionals for drafting 3D system designs and components.
- Bluebeam Revu is a PDF markup and collaboration tool often used in the construction industry that allows for easy annotation and markup.
Q: What is HVAC software?
A: HVAC software refers to a category of computer programs and tools designed specifically for the HVAC industry. These software applications are regularly used by HVAC professionals, engineers, contractors, designers, and small business owners to assist them in various aspects of HVAC system design, analysis, simulation, and management. This software serves as a valuable tool to streamline tasks, ensure effective design and operation of systems, and improve efficiencies.
Get more leads, book more calls, and sell more maintenance agreements faster than ever with Podium’s best-in-class AI CSR for HVAC businesses. Watch a demo today.
