Most furnace companies know their busy season by feel. Season planning puts it on paper, with dates, budgets and triggers, and job tracking tells you afterwards what actually worked. It is the least glamorous service we offer and often the one that changes the most.
What this service is
Two linked pieces of work.
The season plan is a calendar from late summer to spring. For each month it shows what we run, what it should cost, and what would make us change course: a forecast deep freeze, a full install calendar, a crew shortage. It also covers the tune-up and maintenance push in early fall, which fills the schedule and surfaces old furnaces worth replacing.
Job tracking connects each installed furnace to the first contact that started it: a call from a replacement ad, a map listing call, a referral, a repair visit that became a replacement. With that, every channel gets a cost per installed furnace.
Who it's for
Owners who:
- spend on marketing every winter but can't say which part paid
- make budget decisions in a panic when the first cold snap hits
- run several towns or branches and want to compare them fairly
- plan to grow, sell or bring in a partner, and need clean numbers
What's included
- Last-season review. We rebuild what happened last winter from whatever records exist: invoices, call logs, ad accounts.
- Season calendar. August to April, with campaigns, budgets and owners for each task.
- Cold-weather triggers. Agreed rules for raising or cutting spend based on forecast temperatures and your schedule.
- Tracking setup. Call tracking numbers per source, plus a job log with a "first contact" field your office fills in.
- Weekly peak-season check-ins. Short calls to adjust budgets as weather and capacity change.
- Spring report. Installed furnaces by source, cost per installed furnace, and recommendations for next season.
A sample furnace-season calendar
Every company's calendar differs by region and capacity, but the outline below is a common starting point:
| Month | Main focus |
|---|---|
| August | Pages, financing wording, map cleanup, review requests |
| September | Tune-up campaign; tracking checked end to end |
| October | Replacement campaigns at moderate budget; emergency ads tested |
| November–January | Full replacement and emergency budgets, adjusted weekly |
| February | Repair-to-replace follow-up on winter repair calls |
| March–April | Wind down, spring report, off-season plan |
In milder parts of coastal BC the peak is flatter and longer; on the Prairies it can arrive in a single week. The areas hub explains the regional differences.
Timeline
- Weeks 1–2: last-season review and tracking setup.
- Week 3: draft season calendar and triggers agreed with you.
- Through the season: weekly adjustments.
- Spring: full report and next-season draft.
The ideal start is late summer. A mid-winter start still works; the first report will simply cover a shorter period.
How results are measured
Here is the core calculation, with illustrative numbers:
| Channel | Spend (fees and ads) | Installed furnaces | Cost per installed furnace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Replacement ads | $9,000 | 12 | $750 |
| Map listing and SEO | $3,000 | 8 | $375 |
| Emergency ads | $4,000 | 5 | $800 |
Compare each figure with your gross margin per replacement. If the margin is $2,500, all three channels above pay; if it is $1,200, the emergency ads need a closer look. The guide to budgeting the heating season works through the full method.
Mistakes to avoid
- Judging by leads instead of installs. A cheap lead that never becomes a furnace isn't cheap.
- Leaving the source field blank. If the office doesn't record how each job started, tracking falls apart.
- One budget for the whole year. Furnace demand swings too much for a flat monthly spend to make sense.
- Skipping the spring review. It is the cheapest planning time you will get.
Season planning shapes every other service, from no-heat call capture to heating-season SEO. For off-season cash-flow planning beyond marketing, our sister site Furnace.Business goes deeper. Compare plan levels on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need special software for job tracking?
No. Many companies start with call tracking plus a shared spreadsheet that records the source of each job. If you already use a field-service or CRM tool, we work with its fields instead.
What does a season plan look like?
A one-page calendar from August to April, with the campaigns for each month, the budget range, the cold-weather triggers for raising spend and the targets we will report against.
How often is the plan reviewed?
Weekly during peak season, monthly otherwise, and in full each spring when the year's installed furnaces are counted by source.
Can this help in the off-season too?
Yes. The same tracking shows which summer work, such as air conditioning or heat-pump installs, produced profitable jobs, which helps you plan crews and cash for the following winter.