Choosing how to pay for marketing is one of the bigger decisions an HVAC owner makes, and it's rarely explained well. These three guides are written for owners who want to understand the options before talking to anyone. Each one stands alone, and each is useful whether or not you ever join the Growth Partner Program.
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Measuring HVAC marketing results so nobody argues later
A fair measure of HVAC marketing separates what the marketing caused from what the weather and rebate programs caused. This guide shows how to build a baseline, choose a measure and keep the record clean.
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Partnership readiness: a checklist for HVAC owners
A growth partnership works when results can be measured, the business can handle more work, the market has room, and the owner stays involved. This checklist helps you see where you stand before the first conversation.
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Performance-based or fixed-fee marketing: which suits your HVAC company?
Neither model is better in every case. A fixed fee gives you certainty of cost; a performance arrangement shares risk and aligns incentives, but only works when results can be measured fairly.
Performance-based vs fixed-fee marketing
This guide compares the two ways of paying for HVAC marketing on risk, cost and incentives. It explains how a fixed fee works, how a performance arrangement works, and where each goes wrong.
The centrepiece is a worked example: one company's replacement numbers modelled through a flat season, a modest one and a strong one, under both payment models. It shows why a fixed fee looks cheapest in a strong year and most expensive in a weak one, and why a performance arrangement does the opposite.
Read it if you're deciding between the Growth Partner Program and a fixed plan. Read the guide: performance-based vs fixed-fee marketing.
Measuring HVAC marketing results fairly
This guide shows how to measure marketing results so that nobody argues about them later. It covers:
- which measures sit closest to profit, and which are easiest to inflate;
- splitting your work into urgent, planned and program-led streams;
- building a dated baseline from one or two years of records;
- handling cold snaps, mild winters and rebate program changes;
- choosing one record system both sides trust.
It's the most technical of the three, and the most useful if you already work with an agency and want to hold it to account. Read the guide: measuring results.
Partnership readiness checklist
This guide is a scored checklist that tells you whether a growth partnership makes sense for your company now. It works through five areas: whether results can be measured, whether you can handle more work, whether your market has room, whether the owner will stay involved, and whether your accounts are in your name.
It ends with a list of red flags to watch for in any performance-based offer, and a simple scoring guide. Read the guide: partnership readiness.
How to use these guides
Read them in the order that matches your situation.
- Not sure which payment model you want? Start with performance versus fixed fee.
- Already leaning towards a partnership? Start with the readiness checklist.
- Unhappy with your current marketing? Start with measuring results; it will show you what to ask for.
Each guide links to the relevant service pages, such as baseline and tracking, and to the region pages where provincial programs and climate affect the numbers.
What these guides won't do
They won't promise results, and they won't give legal, accounting or compliance advice. The worked numbers are examples, not forecasts, and the partnership descriptions reflect what's published about the program: performance-based, time invested upfront, paid on measurable results, custom terms in writing, limited availability.
Who writes these guides, and why
Ali Sedighi, MBA, writes from 17+ years in digital marketing and 150+ HVAC websites built. The guides draw on what that work shows again and again: heating companies rarely fail for lack of effort, but they often can't see which of their efforts pay. A replacement quote that nobody chased, a cold-snap Saturday when half the calls rang out, a marketing report full of clicks and short on booked jobs. Those are the problems these guides try to help you spot.
They're also written from a particular position. We market and advise HVAC companies; we are not an HVAC contractor and never install, repair or service equipment. So the guides stick to marketing, measurement and how you pay for growth, and they point you to regulators and program administrators for anything else.
For the specifics of your company, the next step is a conversation. See pricing for both payment routes, or contact us to talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to read these before getting in touch?
No. They're there to help you think it through, and plenty of owners call first. If you do read one, the readiness checklist is the quickest way to see where you stand.
Are these guides specific to your program?
They explain how our Growth Partner Program works, but the measurement methods and red flags apply to any performance-based marketing offer, from anyone.
How often are the guides updated?
Each guide shows its last updated date. Program details change often, so anything about rebates is dated, and you should confirm current rules with the program administrator.