FieldEdge is one of the most trusted field service management platforms in the HVAC and plumbing industries. If you run a serious service operation — multiple techs, maintenance agreements, flat-rate pricing, dispatch boards — FieldEdge is built for you.
But here's the gap that even well-run FieldEdge shops run into: FieldEdge is incredible at managing jobs once they're booked. It does very little for capturing and converting leads before they become a job.
That's where FollowFire comes in. The two tools operate in completely different parts of your customer lifecycle — and for HVAC and plumbing companies doing serious volume, running both together closes the single biggest revenue leak in the business.
What FieldEdge Is Built For
FieldEdge is a comprehensive field service management (FSM) platform designed specifically for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors. Its core capabilities include:
- Dispatch and scheduling — drag-and-drop dispatch board, technician assignment, real-time job updates
- Flat-rate pricing — pre-built pricebooks for HVAC/plumbing with upsell presentation tools for technicians in the field
- Customer history — full service records, equipment info, maintenance agreements, call history per customer
- Invoicing and payments — field-generated invoices, on-site credit card processing, QuickBooks sync
- Maintenance agreements — membership program management, automated renewal tracking
- Reporting — revenue per tech, job margins, close rates, membership metrics
FieldEdge is not cheap — pricing starts around $100–$200/user/month, with most shops paying $500–$2,000+/month depending on team size and feature tier. It's a serious investment that pays off when you're running 5+ technicians with real operational complexity.
What FieldEdge Doesn't Do
FieldEdge assumes the lead is already converted. By the time a job enters FieldEdge — dispatched, assigned, scheduled — the sales process is over. FieldEdge helps you execute the job and collect the money.
What happens between "someone contacts your business" and "a job appears in FieldEdge"? That process is almost entirely manual for most shops:
- Someone submits a contact form on your website → someone has to see it and call back
- A call comes in while all CSRs are on other calls → goes to voicemail → maybe a callback later today, maybe tomorrow
- A Google Business Profile message → sits unread for hours in an inbox someone checks occasionally
- A Facebook inquiry → who even checks that?
During that gap, the lead is cooling. Research shows 78% of service jobs go to the first company that responds. If your response window is 2–4 hours instead of 60 seconds, you're losing a significant percentage of your inbound leads before they ever get a chance to become jobs in FieldEdge.
What FollowFire Does
FollowFire plugs directly into the pre-booking gap. When someone contacts your business — through any channel — FollowFire sends a personalized SMS response within 60 seconds, automatically.
If they don't reply, it follows up at 20 minutes with a second message. Then a Day-3 check-in. Then an optional Day-7 SMS for persistent non-responders. The entire sequence runs without CSR involvement — and only stops when the lead replies, books, or opts out.
FollowFire is $49/month. No per-user pricing. No annual contract. 30-day free trial.
How They're Different
| Feature | FollowFire | FieldEdge |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Convert inbound leads before booking | Manage jobs after booking |
| When it activates | Contact form, missed call, social message | Job creation by CSR or tech |
| Pricing | $49/month flat | $100–$200/user/month |
| Setup time | 5 minutes | Weeks (onboarding + training) |
| Target user | 1–10 truck operations | 5+ tech professional shops |
| Lead follow-up | ✅ Core feature | ❌ Not included |
| Automated text-back | ✅ 60-second response | ❌ Manual CSR process |
| Dispatch + scheduling | ❌ Not included | ✅ Core feature |
| Flat-rate pricing | ❌ Not included | ✅ Built-in pricebook |
| Maintenance agreements | ❌ Not included | ✅ Full membership management |
| QuickBooks sync | ❌ Not included | ✅ Native integration |
| Field invoicing | ❌ Not included | ✅ Core feature |
The Real Competition Isn't FieldEdge vs FollowFire
The real competition is: are you losing jobs before they ever get into FieldEdge?
Even the best-run FieldEdge shop can have a serious lead conversion problem. Your dispatch board might be optimized. Your flat-rate close rates might be excellent. Your maintenance agreements might be growing. And you might still be losing 20–30% of your inbound leads because no one replies fast enough.
Here's a rough calculation for a mid-sized HVAC shop on FieldEdge:
- 100 inbound inquiries per month (forms, missed calls, messages)
- Average response time: 2–4 hours (realistic for most shops during busy season)
- At 2–4h response time: ~55–65% conversion rate (vs. ~85% at under 60 seconds)
- Lost jobs per month: roughly 20–30 jobs
- Average HVAC job value: $350–$600
- Monthly revenue leak: $7,000–$18,000
FollowFire costs $49/month. It recovers those jobs. The ROI isn't even close.
Who Should Use FieldEdge
FieldEdge is built for established HVAC, plumbing, and electrical shops with real operational complexity. If you have 5+ technicians, a dedicated CSR or dispatcher, maintenance agreements, and you're running $2M+ in annual revenue, FieldEdge is probably the right FSM platform. The investment is significant but it pays off in operational efficiency, tech performance, and revenue per job.
If you're running 1–3 trucks and still on spreadsheets or a simpler tool, FieldEdge is probably overkill right now. Look at Housecall Pro or Jobber as lighter alternatives.
Who Should Use FollowFire
FollowFire is built for any local service business — whether you're on FieldEdge, Jobber, Housecall Pro, or a legal pad — that is getting inbound inquiries and not converting all of them. That's essentially every service business in America.
If you have a contact form on your website, a phone number that can miss calls, or a Google Business Profile that gets messages, FollowFire captures value that's currently slipping through.
The Right Stack for an HVAC or Plumbing Shop
For a serious HVAC or plumbing operation, the optimal stack looks like this:
- FollowFire ($49/mo) — captures and converts inbound leads before they cool
- FieldEdge ($500–$2,000/mo) — manages jobs, dispatch, flat-rate sales, maintenance agreements
- Total: $550–$2,050/month for a complete pre-sale to post-sale operation
FollowFire handles the "turn a stranger into a booked job" step. FieldEdge handles the "turn a booked job into a satisfied recurring customer" step. Together, they cover the full revenue cycle.
Getting Started
If you're on FieldEdge and not running an automated lead follow-up system, you're leaving money on the table every day — not because of anything FieldEdge is doing wrong, but because lead conversion happens before FieldEdge is even in the picture.
FollowFire takes 5 minutes to set up. Connect your contact form or get a FollowFire number for missed call capture, customize the message sequence, and start recovering leads that are currently going to your competitors.
30-day free trial. No credit card required to start.