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Turn one-time customers into repeat clients with automated email campaigns that drive bookings and revenue.
For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return is $42. Yet most home service businesses barely use email beyond sending invoices. Your past customer list is the single most valuable marketing asset you own. These are people who already trust you, already know your work, and are 5x cheaper to retain than acquiring a new customer. Email marketing turns that dormant list into a predictable revenue engine.
Start with your existing customer database. Every completed job is an email address waiting to be captured. Add email capture to your website with a simple opt-in: a seasonal maintenance checklist, an HVAC efficiency guide, or a plumbing emergency checklist. Train your technicians to collect email addresses at every job. Use your social media to drive opt-ins. Even a list of 500 past customers is a goldmine when 35% of them open your emails.
Build these five automated sequences: (1) Post-service follow-up that requests a review and offers a maintenance plan 48 hours after a job. (2) Lead nurture sequence for people who inquired but didn't book, following up at 1, 3, and 7 days. (3) Seasonal maintenance reminders sent 30 days before peak seasons. (4) Annual service anniversary emails reminding customers when their last service was. (5) Re-engagement campaigns targeting customers who haven't booked in 12+ months with a special offer.
Subject lines make or break your campaign. Keep them under 50 characters. Use specificity: 'Your AC is due for a tune-up' outperforms 'Monthly Newsletter.' Personalize with first names. Send from a person's name, not just the company. The preview text (first line of the email) matters almost as much as the subject line. Write conversationally. One idea per email. Include one clear call to action. Every email should answer the reader's question: 'What do you want me to do right now?'
January: Furnace safety check promotions. February: Pipe insulation and winterization reminders. March: Spring AC tune-up early bird pricing. April: Air quality and duct cleaning campaigns. May: AC pre-season checkup final push. June: Emergency AC repair awareness. July: Energy efficiency tips and smart thermostat promotions. August: Back-to-school HVAC prep. September: Fall maintenance plan enrollment. October: Furnace tune-up campaigns. November: Winterization urgency. December: Holiday emergency service awareness and gift card promotions.
Maintenance plans are the holy grail of recurring revenue for home service businesses. Email is the best channel to sell them. After every one-time repair, send a sequence explaining the value of a maintenance plan: fewer breakdowns, priority scheduling, discounted repairs, extended equipment life. Include the math: 'Your emergency repair cost $650. Our annual maintenance plan costs $199 and prevents 80% of breakdowns.' Send the plan pitch three times over 30 days with different angles.
Track these metrics monthly: open rate (target 30%+), click-through rate (target 3%+), unsubscribe rate (keep under 0.5%), and most importantly, revenue attributed to email. Use UTM parameters on every link to track email-driven website visits and conversions. Compare the cost per booking from email versus paid ads. For most home service businesses, email delivers leads at 80-90% less cost than paid channels. That ROI compounds as your list grows.
Our team specializes in executing these strategies for home service businesses. Get a free marketing audit and see how we can help.
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