Maintenance plan
Also known as: service plan, maintenance agreement, PM contract
A recurring service contract bundling preventive visits at a flat monthly or annual price, typically with priority scheduling and a discount versus per-visit pricing.
A maintenance plan converts a customer from one-off transactions into a recurring contract. The customer pays a flat monthly or annual fee; in exchange they receive a defined set of preventive visits (e.g., HVAC: spring AC + fall heating tune-up; pool: monthly service; lawn: weekly mow + seasonal applications), priority scheduling during peak demand, and typically a 10–20% discount on per-visit pricing.
Maintenance plans are the most reliable way to grow recurring revenue in residential trade businesses. They work because customers value the predictability and the priority — "I won't be the last person on the schedule when the AC fails in July" is worth real money. Operationally, they also smooth seasonal demand and improve cash-flow predictability. Most FSM platforms model maintenance plans as a contract entity that auto-generates work orders on cadence and bills automatically. Plan-attach rate (% of customers on a maintenance plan) is one of the strongest single predictors of business value at sale.
Related terms
Recurring service
Work that repeats on a schedule — weekly, monthly, quarterly — for the same customer at the same site.
Service-level agreement
A contractual promise about how fast you'll respond, how often you'll visit, or how quickly you'll resolve issues.
Field service management
Software for coordinating work that happens at customer sites — scheduling, dispatch, quotes, invoicing, and crew tracking.