Margin mapping answers one question for every job type you sell: how much can you pay in marketing to book this job and still be glad you did? Without that number, budgets are set by habit, by what a vendor recommends or by what a competitor seems to spend. With it, every campaign has a clear pass or fail line.
What margin mapping is
It is a structured look at your last twelve months of work, organised by job type, that ends in a maximum cost per booked job for each type. The maths is simple; the value is in splitting the work properly and agreeing on the inputs.
A blended average hides the story. A company might average $1,900 per invoice, but that figure mixes $8,000 heat pump installs with $139 tune-ups. Marketing aimed at the average buys the wrong things. We break the work into categories such as:
- full system replacements (furnace, heat pump, boiler, air conditioner)
- water heater replacements, including tankless
- diagnostic and repair calls, split into emergency and scheduled
- maintenance visits, both plan members and one-off
- add-ons sold on site, such as humidifiers, filtration and thermostats
- light-commercial service, where you do it
For each one we record the average invoice, the gross margin you report, and how often the job leads to a second job. A repair that turns into a replacement quote one time in eight is worth more than its invoice suggests.
Who it is for
It suits owners who sense that marketing is working but cannot prove it, and owners who suspect it is not working but cannot say where. It is especially useful before you sign a new agency contract, raise a budget for winter or add a new service such as heat pumps.
It is less useful if your field-service software has no job categories at all. In that case the first step is cleaning up how jobs are coded, and we will say so before charging for analysis.
What is included
- A data request written for your software, so your office knows exactly what to export
- Job categories agreed with you, so the numbers reflect how you actually sell
- A one-page ceiling table: average invoice, gross profit, follow-on value and maximum cost per booked job
- A short note on which job types are being over-bought or under-bought today
- A walkthrough call to agree the targets before any campaign changes
A worked example
Take a hypothetical company whose heat pump installs average $9,200 at 32% gross margin. That leaves $2,944 per job. The owner decides marketing may take up to 18% of gross profit on new installs, so the ceiling per sold install is about $530. Their in-home close rate is 45%, so the ceiling per booked quote visit is about $238. If paid search is booking quote visits at $310, it is over the line, and the owner now knows by how much.
Timeline
- Week 1: data request, export and first review
- Week 2: categories agreed, margins confirmed with you
- Week 3: ceiling table delivered and walked through
After that, the table is refreshed each quarter, or sooner if your prices or equipment costs change.
How results are measured
The deliverable is the table, but the result is a budget that follows it. Three months after mapping, we compare cost per booked job by type against the ceilings, and how much spend has moved toward job types that were under-bought. If nothing moved, the mapping was an exercise, and we will say so. Ongoing measurement is covered by cost-per-booked-job tracking.
Mistakes to avoid
- Using revenue instead of gross profit. A $12,000 commercial job at 15% margin can be worth less than a $6,000 residential job at 40%.
- Ignoring follow-on value. Repairs and tune-ups often feed replacements. Leave that out and you will under-fund them.
- Setting one ceiling for the whole company. All it does is give some campaigns too much and others too little.
- Treating the ceiling as a target. It is a maximum. The aim is to book well under it.
Margin mapping is marketing and business coaching only. We are not an HVAC contractor, and the margins in your table remain your figures, not our accounting opinion. See plans and pricing for costs, or read our cost-per-booked-job guide to try the maths yourself first.
Frequently asked questions
What do you need from me to start?
Twelve months of invoices exported from your field-service or accounting software, grouped by job type if possible, plus your best estimate of gross margin on each type. If your accountant has a margin figure, we use theirs.
Are you checking my books?
No. We are not an accounting firm and we do not audit, restate or advise on your financial statements. We use the figures you give us to set marketing limits, and anything about tax or costing belongs with your accountant.
How long does the mapping take?
Usually two to three weeks from receiving your export, depending on how clean the job categories are. Messy data takes longer, and we tell you early if that is the case.
What if my margins are lower than I thought?
That is useful to know before you raise a marketing budget. The ceiling simply drops, and the plan shifts toward cheaper channels, better booking rates and more maintenance members.