By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
How much does a business coach cost for an air conditioning business?
A coach's fee for an HVAC business can range widely, and comparing fees first is the wrong starting point. The number that should worry an owner more is the gap between what a split system install or ducted job looks like it earns on the quote, and what actually lands in the bank once refrigerant, van time, overhead and slow paying commercial clients are accounted for. A coach who finds that gap is worth more than one who simply costs less.
If you are pricing a split system install or a ducted job the same way every summer peak, a quoted gross profit figure can look healthy on paper and still leave you short once the real cost of running the business is included. Before you compare coaching fees, it is worth knowing whether that gap exists in your own numbers at all.
What's the real cost most HVAC owners are carrying without knowing it?
The real cost most HVAC owners carry is not a coaching fee. It is months of unpaid invoices and quiet cash pressure that builds up until it becomes unmanageable. Commercial maintenance contracts and service agreements with builders and body corporates often run on long payment terms, so the cash sits outstanding while refrigerant, fuel and wages go out every week regardless.
Many HVAC technicians stay the same size for years because they assume the cost of growing, hiring another technician, paying for coaching, building systems, will outweigh the return, without ever checking their actual margin to see if that is true. The assumption feels safe. It is usually untested.
Why does a quoted gross profit on a split system or ducted job not match what lands in the bank?
A quoted gross profit figure on a split system install or a ducted system often does not survive contact with the real cost of running an HVAC business. Overhead on refrigerant, van time, compressor and condenser stock, and warranty callbacks is rarely allocated properly across each job, so the number on the quote and the number in the bank drift apart.
During a summer peak, a full install schedule can hide the problem completely. The winter lull is when it shows up, because breakdown callouts and filter clean work slow down and there is nothing left to cover the gap that was never priced in. A business can look busy and profitable all year and still be carrying a margin it never actually had.
What should you ask a coach before paying for one?
A good coach for an HVAC business has run a trade business, starts from your own job and finance data rather than a generic framework, and fixes root causes with systems instead of handing you another worksheet. Before you sign up, ask whether they will look at your actual margin on install jobs and service agreements, or just your revenue.
Warning signs are easy to spot once you know what to look for: a salesperson first and a coach second, someone who has never run a trade business themselves, and advice that would read the same for a plumber, an electrician or an HVAC technician. Greg Allan, who built his own trade business before coaching others, starts every conversation from the owner's own numbers rather than asking the owner to explain the business from memory.
How do AI agents change what a coach can see in your business?
AI agents are software that does a job the way you would do it yourself, with your prices, your wording and your rules. For an HVAC technician, that means the quoting, invoicing and job tracking work that usually happens after hours can run the way you already run it, without you doing it by hand every night.
Pricing every element of a job clearly, labour, materials, callout, rather than one bundled figure, is what lets you actually see and protect your margin instead of guessing at it. Picture an HVAC business that had priced every split system install and ducted job on the fly, one rate for a builder, another for a homeowner, depending on the job and the mood of the quote. It moved to fixed pricing across every customer type, including builders, with a solid increase in the rate, and now sits down every quarter to look at what it actually costs to run the business before the next summer peak hits. That is a data first way of working: the decision comes from the numbers, not from memory of how last year felt.
How does Data First Coaching approach this?
Data First Coaching looks at an HVAC business's own numbers first, through the Trade Business Intelligence, before any conversation about hiring, coaching fees or growth. It starts with the gap between quoted and actual gross profit margin on install jobs and service agreements, because that is usually where the real problem lives, not in the coaching fee the owner is weighing up. Greg Allan has said, “a pretty big bill that was overdue for about seven months from a builder” is the kind of thing that sits quietly behind a business that looks fine on paper. The how, including which agents to build and how to price each job element, is worked through inside the Academy, with members, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member who is open minded, innovative and willing to share.
Looking for a business coach who starts from your numbers? HVAC Business Coach or every answer for HVAC technicians.
