How to Price a Maintenance Agreement (So It's Profitable on Its Own)
The plan must earn its keep on the price, not on the hope of upsell. Build the price from visit costs, see what a member is worth across three years, and bill monthly.
A maintenance agreement is the only flat line in a seasonal business — and the only product you sell that's priced once and delivered all year. That combination is why plans get priced badly in both directions: cheap enough to sign nobody questions them, and expensive enough to deliver nobody profits from them.
Price from delivery cost, not from the market
The cost side is unforgiving arithmetic: a two-visit plan with 1.5 tech hours per visit at a $38 burdened rate, $15 of travel and $10 of consumables costs $82 a visit — $214 a year with $50 of admin. Dividing by (1 − 0.30) prices the plan at $305.71 a year, $25.48 a month, leaving $91.71 of contribution per member.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per visit | 1.5 × $38 + $15 + $10 | $82.00 |
| Annual fulfillment | 2 × $82 + $50 admin | $214.00 |
| Annual price at 30% | $214 ÷ 0.70 | $305.71 |
| Monthly equivalent | $305.71 ÷ 12 | $25.48 |
| Contribution per member | $305.71 − $214 | $91.71 |
The upsell discipline
The repair work found during visits is real money — but it's a probability, not a promise. At a 40% finding rate and $180 of average work with a members' discount, the expected upsell is $64.80 per member per year. That's meaningful, and it must not be in the price. Plans justified by upsell become loss-makers the first season techs don't sell, and the customer can feel a plan that's cheap because it's designed to sell repairs.
What a member is worth over three years
Year-one value is the plan plus expected upsell: $370.51. The renewal rate compounds it — at 80%, the member is worth 80% again in year two and 64% in year three: $370.51 × 2.44 = $904 over three years. That multiplier is why retention levers (punctuality, thorough inspections, clear findings) beat discount levers every time.
- Bill monthly — annual billing recreates the seasonal cash lump the plan exists to flatten.
- Schedule visits in your slow months — the plan is a utilization tool as much as a revenue one.
- Reprice annually — a plan set three years ago is priced for a business that no longer exists.
Price your plan with the maintenance agreement calculator →
Frequently asked questions
How do I price a maintenance agreement?
Total the cost of delivering it — visits × (burdened tech hours + travel + materials) plus annual admin — then divide by (1 − target margin). A two-visit plan costing $214 a year prices at $305.71 with a 30% margin, or $25.48 a month.
Should upsell revenue justify a cheaper plan price?
No. The upsell is an expectation — 40% of visits finding $180 of work is $64.80 expected, not received. Plans priced thin and justified by upsell collapse the first season the finding rate drops. Price the plan to carry itself; treat upsell as upside.
What renewal rate should a maintenance program target?
Well-run programs commonly retain 75–85% of members a year. The three-year value of a member scales steeply with it: at 80% renewal, a member is worth 2.44× their first year — which is why showing up on time beats discounting.
Tools for this
Ready to run the numbers?
Open the Maintenance Agreement Calculator and apply this guide with your own figures.
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