How to get HVAC companies as clients: who decides, when to call, what to pitch

To get HVAC companies as clients, build a list of every heating and air contractor in the area you serve, sort them by size (review count is a fair proxy for trucks) and by type (residential, commercial, duct cleaning), and reach the owner or general manager in spring or fall, when they aren't running emergency calls. Lead with one result their kind of shop cares about: more maintenance agreements, fewer missed calls, or faster installs. HVAC companies are easy to find on Google Maps and hard to reach in July, so timing does more of the work than volume.

What do HVAC companies buy, and who decides?#

HVAC contractors buy marketing, software, equipment, financing and services, and the decision maker depends on the size of the shop. Most are small: the owner is also the lead tech or the estimator, and decides alone.

Three kinds of HVAC company sit in any metro. Owner-operators run one or two trucks, answer their own phone and decide fast. Established independents have a dispatcher, a few techs and an office manager; they're the core market for software and marketing. Franchise locations and multi-location groups are fewer and often have brand-approved vendors for some things. The franchisee may still choose local marketing or services, so ask before you rule them out.

Certification is a useful filter for some sellers. The EPA requires technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release ozone-depleting refrigerants to be certified under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act. Training providers and refrigerant suppliers can reach every company that employs those techs.

How do I build a list of HVAC companies?#

Search Google Maps with several HVAC terms across your whole area, piece by piece, then segment the export by category, reviews and website.

1. Use several search terms. HVAC companies list themselves under different categories. Search "HVAC contractor", "air conditioning contractor", "air conditioning repair service", "heating contractor", "furnace repair service", "air duct cleaning service", "heat pump installer" and "boiler service". Add "commercial hvac contractor" and "refrigeration contractor" if you sell to commercial shops.
2. Search in pieces. One Maps search returns only about 120 results, and a metro has many more HVAC companies than that. Split by ZIP code, suburb or a grid. See why Google Maps stops at 120 results.
3. Remove duplicates. The same company shows up under "HVAC contractor" and "Plumber". Dedupe on the Maps place ID or the phone number.
4. Drop the ones outside your territory. Search results drift past city lines. A distributor branch or a territory-based franchise seller only wants the ones inside the line.
5. Segment. Sort by the columns that predict fit:
   • category: residential HVAC vs duct cleaning vs commercial refrigeration vs combined plumbing and HVAC shops.
   • reviews: a rough size signal. A company with 900 reviews runs more trucks than one with 30.
   • rating: a 4.9 company wants to protect it; a 3.8 company may want help with it.
   • website: no website is a web-design lead; an old builder template is a rebuild lead.
   • hours: 24-hour companies buy answering services and after-hours dispatch.
6. Write to the right inbox. Mid-size HVAC companies list service@, sales@, office@ and careers@ addresses. Use the email's role and the page it came from to write to the office or sales inbox, not recruiting.

For a ready-made view of the fields and search terms, see the HVAC contractor lead list page. Many HVAC companies also do plumbing; if you sell to both, run the plumber list in the same area and dedupe.

What should I pitch to an HVAC company?#

Pitch one result in the owner's language: booked jobs, signed maintenance agreements, calls answered, techs kept. HVAC owners hear from a lot of vendors, and the generic "grow your business" email gets deleted.

Angles that fit each seller:

• Marketing agencies: show where they appear for "ac repair" in their own ZIP next to the competitor with the most reviews, and offer a pre-season tune-up campaign. The rating and review columns give you the comparison without opening Maps.
• Software: maintenance agreements are the steady revenue in HVAC. Pitch selling and renewing plans, faster dispatch and fewer callbacks. Target companies with 100 or more reviews, which tend to run several trucks.
• Distributors and manufacturers: segment by distance from each branch. Lead with stock, delivery and help with rebate and tax-credit paperwork.
• Financing: a system replacement is a large ticket. Offer financing that helps the comfort advisor close, and only quote approval numbers you can document.
• Answering services: target the 24-hour companies from the hours column and quote a price per answered call.

When is the best time to reach HVAC contractors?#

Reach them in spring and fall, between the cooling and heating peaks, and mid-morning on weekdays after the trucks have left. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that HVAC technicians work overtime or irregular schedules during peak heating and cooling seasons, and the office phones are just as full.

These are common patterns, not measured results, and they shift by climate. In the Sun Belt the cooling season runs long and the quiet window is shorter.

Gatekeepers. At a mid-size shop the phone is answered by a customer service rep or dispatcher whose job is to book service calls. Be clear and quick: "I'm not a customer. Who handles your software and vendors, and when is a good time to reach them?" Then email that person. At a small shop the number is often the owner's cell, which matters for texting rules (below).

What should my email to an HVAC company say?#

Keep it short, name something true about their company, and ask for a small next step. The fields in double braces are columns from the export.

Subject: {{business}} before the summer rush

Hi there,

I saw {{business}} has {{reviews}} reviews at {{rating}} stars,
which is strong for {{city}}. I help HVAC companies turn those
customers into maintenance agreements before the cooling season,
so the slow months still have booked work.

Can I send a one-page plan for {{business}}? No call needed
unless it looks useful.

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address]
Not interested? Reply "no" and I won't write again.

For a distributor:

Subject: parts delivery for {{business}}

Hi there,

We run the [brand] branch on [road], about [distance] from you,
and deliver to job sites around {{city}} the same day. We also
handle the rebate paperwork on high-efficiency units.

Would a price sheet and our delivery schedule be useful?

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address] · Reply "no" to opt out.

More templates for local businesses are in cold email templates for local businesses.

How many times should I follow up?#

Send the first email and three short follow-ups over about three weeks, then stop until next season. HVAC owners often read email at night or on rainy days, so a well-timed follow-up gets read when the first one didn't.

1. Day 1: the first email.
2. Day 4: one line: "Did this reach the right person, or is someone else in charge of [topic]?"
3. Day 10: something useful: a short teardown of their Google listing, a price sheet, a rebate summary.
4. Day 21: a polite close: "I'll leave it here. If [topic] comes up before the season, reply and I'll send the plan."

Honor every opt-out right away, and keep a do-not-contact list so they don't get the next campaign.

What rules apply to cold outreach to HVAC companies?#

In the US, commercial email falls under CAN-SPAM: accurate sender and subject lines, a physical postal address, and a working opt-out honored within 10 business days. Calls to businesses are mostly exempt from the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule and the National Do Not Call Registry, but the ban on misrepresentations covers business-to-business calls. Many small HVAC shops list the owner's cell phone, and under the TCPA autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones need consent. Google's Maps Platform terms restrict scraping and building lists from Maps content, a contract issue separate from these laws. See cold email laws and get legal advice for your situation.

Worked example: every HVAC company in Texas#

Texas has 8,966 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor establishments with paid employees (Census County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 238220). HVAC and plumbing share that code, and owner-operators with no employees aren't counted, so your Google Maps list will be a different size. Use it to plan.

The Starter plan at $19 a month covers 25,000 businesses but only 1,000 checked emails, so for a whole-state list Growth is the plan that covers both in one month. For one metro of about 1,500 companies with about 750 checked emails, Starter covers it. Businesses outside your area or in the wrong trade are shown free, each business is charged once ever, and unused credits roll over while your plan is active. See pricing.

If you'd rather not build the list by hand, Leadraft finds every HVAC company inside the area you choose, finds emails on each company's own site and checks them against the live mailbox. Try it on your territory on the free plan, or see the fields on the HVAC contractor list page.

FAQ#

How do I get HVAC companies as clients?#

List every HVAC contractor in the area you serve, split them by size using review count and by type using their Google Maps category, and contact the owner or general manager in spring or fall, when they aren't buried in emergency calls. Lead with one concrete result for their kind of shop: more maintenance agreements, fewer missed calls, faster installs.

Who makes buying decisions at an HVAC company?#

At a small shop, the owner decides on everything that costs real money. At a company with several trucks, the general manager or operations manager usually owns software, dispatch and vendors, the service manager has a say on parts and tools, and the owner still signs off on marketing and anything long term. Franchise locations follow some brand rules, so ask what the franchise lets them choose.

When is the best time to sell to HVAC contractors?#

Spring and fall, between the heating and cooling peaks. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that HVAC technicians work overtime or irregular schedules during peak heating and cooling seasons, and the office is just as busy. Pitch summer marketing in late winter and early spring, and software in the fall.

How do I find a list of HVAC companies in my area?#

Search Google Maps for terms such as HVAC contractor, air conditioning repair service, heating contractor, furnace repair service and air duct cleaning service in each part of your area, because one search shows only about 120 results. Export to a spreadsheet with phone, website, rating, reviews, hours and emails from each company's own website.

How many HVAC companies are there in the US?#

The Census Bureau counts HVAC companies together with plumbers under NAICS 238220. County Business Patterns 2023 lists 111,207 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor establishments with paid employees, led by California, Florida and Texas. Owner-operators with no employees are not in that count.

Sources#

1. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 238220 establishments by state).
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (overtime and irregular schedules in peak seasons).
3. U.S. EPA, Section 608 Technician Certification.
4. Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business and Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
5. Federal Communications Commission, Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts.
6. Google, Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.