Membership capacity math: how many members your crew can actually serve

Step 1: Decide your visit windows

Member visits need windows that avoid peak no-heat weeks. Most furnace companies use two:

• Fall window: from late summer until just before the first sustained cold. In much of Canada that is roughly September and October, but it starts earlier on the Prairies and in the North and later on the coast.
• Spring window: after the heating season eases, often April and May, when furnace calls drop and techs need booked work.

Write down the exact weeks for your region. The areas pages describe the heating season province by province.

Step 2: Count protected tech hours in each window

Not every hour in the window is available for members. Repairs, replacements and installs still happen. Decide what share of each tech's week you will protect for member visits.

Formula:

Protected hours = number of techs × weeks in window × hours per week × share protected for members

Example for the fall window: 4 techs × 8 weeks × 45 hours × 35% = 504 protected hours.

Be honest about the share. If your fall is already busy with replacements, 35% may be optimistic. If you have a dedicated maintenance tech, use their hours instead.

Step 3: Measure the real length of a member visit

The visit is longer than the tune-up. Include everything that uses the tech's time:

• time on site, including talking to the homeowner and writing up notes
• average drive time between member homes
• a share of the time lost to no-shows and reschedules

Example:

About 1.57 hours per member visit. Use your own data: pull a month of tune-up jobs from your job software and average them.

Step 4: Calculate capacity

Visits possible in window = protected hours ÷ hours per visit

504 ÷ 1.57 ≈ 321 visits in the fall window.

If your plan includes one fall visit per member, the fall window caps you at about 321 members. Add a spring window with similar numbers and a two-visit plan still caps around 321, while a one-visit plan split across both windows could carry roughly twice that.

This is the most useful number in the whole exercise. It tells your advisors and techs how many plans to sell this year, and it tells you when you need more capacity before selling more.

Step 5: Tighten routes to lift capacity

Drive time is usually the cheapest place to gain capacity. Three ways to cut it:

1. Cluster by area. Book member visits by neighbourhood or postal-code area on set days.
2. Book the next visit before leaving. A tech who books the next tune-up at the door sets up a cleaner route next season.
3. Offer two or three slot choices, not open booking. That keeps routes tight.

In the example, cutting drive time from 25 to 15 minutes drops the visit to about 1.4 hours and raises fall capacity to roughly 360 visits, about 39 more members with no extra techs.

Step 6: Plan the selling pace

Once you know capacity, set a monthly selling target. Example for a shop with 180 members and a fall capacity of 321:

• room for about 141 new members before next fall
• across 12 months, about 12 new members a month
• if techs run 120 eligible service calls a month, that is a 10% attach rate

A 10% attach rate is a concrete target for the tech close-out conversation. The membership plan systems service covers where and how the plan is offered.

Step 7: Keep renewals flowing

A full calendar means nothing if members do not renew. Build a simple monthly routine:

• Due list: every member whose renewal falls next month.
• Reminder: a text or email before renewal, stating the date, price and what is included. Message only members who agreed to hear from you, identify your company and include a way to opt out. The ISED guidance on getting consent explains the CASL rules.
• Overdue list: members with no visit in the last 12 months, contacted first, by phone.
• Lapsed list: members who did not renew, with a reason recorded where possible.

Track the renewal rate monthly on your scoreboard; the weekly owner scoreboard guide includes a membership line.

A worksheet you can copy

Repeat for the spring window if you use one.

Common mistakes

• Planning from the customer list. Two thousand past customers do not mean two thousand possible members your crew can visit.
• Ignoring drive time. It often adds a third or more to each visit.
• Promising priority service without a plan. Member priority in a cold snap must be built into dispatch.
• Pushing visits into peak weeks. Member tune-ups in the first cold week crowd out no-heat calls and estimates.
• No renewal routine. Without monthly lists, renewals depend on members remembering.

When the numbers say you are full

If the worksheet shows the calendar is full, you have four choices: add a spring window, add a dedicated maintenance tech, tighten routes, or raise the plan price and slow selling. Each one has costs, and the right answer depends on your margins and hiring market. Your scoreboard will show which choice is working within a season.

For help designing the plan and calendar around these numbers, see the membership plan systems service, or call, text or email.