Hiring an HVAC Google Ads Agency? Audit the Cost of a Booked Job First

Before hiring an HVAC Google Ads agency, ask it to show how a paid inquiry becomes a booked job on your dispatch calendar. A report with a low cost per lead can still hide out-of-area inquiries, existing customers calling about past work and new customers who never got a callback. Give each prospective agency the same 30-day sample and ask it to explain the difference.

Two campaigns with the same ad spend

Suppose a repair campaign spends $1,200 and generates 30 inquiries. Twelve book, so ad spend is $40 per inquiry and $100 per booked job. An installation campaign spends the same $1,200 for ten inquiries and three booked estimate appointments. Its figures are $120 per inquiry and $400 per booked estimate. Those three estimates still need to turn into signed installations. Ask the agency to report appointments, sales and completed work separately.

Now suppose eight of the 12 repair bookings actually complete and each contributes $170 after parts and direct labor. That is $1,360 against $1,200 in ad spend, leaving $160 before agency fees, overhead and other costs. A campaign can fill the schedule and still leave little room in the budget. Use your actual job margins and completion rates in the HVAC cost-per-lead and break-even calculator.

What to ask an HVAC PPC agency to audit

Which calls can you tie to dispatch? Pick five recent paid inquiries. Trace each to a booked job, a lost opportunity or a documented reason it was outside scope. If the front desk cannot trace a call, record that uncertainty. Counting every long call as a sale gives an agency the wrong target.

Which searches bought the wrong audience? Review the search terms behind the clicks. Compare an emergency repair search, a job-seeker search and a parts-only search against the work your business actually sells. Check the service area against your dispatch boundary and your ad hours against the hours someone can reliably answer.

Who owns the measurement? You should be able to see the ad account, conversion action names and the report tying ads to business outcomes. Ask what happens to access and reporting if you change agencies. Google also describes offline conversion measurement for outcomes recorded after the original inquiry. An audit should first establish which outcomes your team can capture reliably.

Ask for a first-month plan in writing

A useful proposal identifies who reviews search terms, who checks call quality, who follows up on missed calls and who verifies completed jobs. Agree on a baseline for repairs and installations separately. Review the unknown outcomes every week. They often show whether the next investment should go into advertising, call coverage or dispatcher follow-up.

LiveFixPro lists Google Ads management at $899/month, with ad spend separate and scope confirmed on consultation. If your office is losing leads once they call, use the contractor follow-up workflow. To evaluate the account, start with the Google Ads audit and bring a recent spend report plus anonymized booking totals.