A full board has a cost that never shows up on a report: the calls you said no to. The customer asked for Thursday, you had nothing until the following Tuesday, and they booked someone else. That revenue left, and so did the customer's next five years of maintenance.
Sharing overflow work with another company is the way to keep some of it. You keep the customer relationship, a partner does the visit, and you both earn something on a job neither of you would have had alone. It works well when three things are settled before the first job goes out: whether the partner can really reach the job, what they get paid and when, and whose name the customer sees.
This guide covers each one, with the arithmetic to decide whether a given call is worth sending at all.
When a call is overflow, and when it isn't
A call is overflow when you want the work but cannot do it inside the time the customer will accept. That is narrower than "the board looks full."
Before you send a call out, check two things:
- Is there reachable open time you haven't used? A tech with a two-hour gap at 2 p.m. is no help if they are 50 minutes away at 1:45. A gap that is reachable from the previous job is real capacity. A gap that isn't is just white space on the calendar. The difference is explained in travel-feasible scheduling.
- Will the customer wait? A maintenance visit can often move a week. A no-cool call in July cannot. Overflow is mostly about time-sensitive work.
If the answer to both is no, you have a real overflow call. If you see that every week, the question changes from "who can take this one" to "should I add capacity," and subcontract vs hire has the break-even arithmetic for that.
The math: is a shared job worth it to you?
When you send a job to a partner, you usually keep a share of the price and pay the rest to the partner. The question is whether that share beats the alternative, which is usually zero.
Use these letters:
P= the price the customer payss= the share you keep (for example 15% of the price)A= your admin cost per sent job (the office time to book, confirm and close it out)L= the lifetime value of keeping the customer, if you would otherwise lose them
Your gain from sending the job is roughly P × s − A, plus some share of L if keeping the customer means you get the next job too.
These numbers are invented. The point is that the job itself is a small win, and the larger win is the customer who still has your name on their fridge when the next repair comes. If the partner does poor work, that same customer is a loss, which is why the next sections matter more than the percentage.
Settle these before the first job
1. Open time at the address, not a phone call
The usual way to share overflow is a group text: "anyone free Thursday in the north end?" Somebody says yes, and then you find out they meant Thursday afternoon, after a job 40 minutes away. The call gets moved twice and the customer cancels.
What you actually need to know is narrower: can a qualified person from the partner company be at this address at this time, given where they will be before it. That is a scheduling question, not a relationship question, and it is best answered by the partner's own schedule rather than their memory.
2. Pay terms in writing
Two models cover most arrangements:
- Percent of list. The partner is paid a percent of their own list price for the job. This scales with job size and suits repair work where the ticket varies.
- Flat amount. A fixed fee per visit. This suits standard work (a tune-up, an inspection, a swap) where the scope is predictable.
Add a due date: how many days after the job is done the partner gets paid. Net 0 to net 30 is common between small companies; longer terms push the cost of waiting onto the partner. Whatever you choose, write it down per partner and track what is owed. How to pay subcontractors compares the two models in more depth. A shared job that ends in a payment dispute costs more than the margin it earned. The 1099 subcontractor definition covers the classification side, which is a question for a CPA or employment attorney in your state, not a scheduling choice.
3. Credentials before the job date
If your customers expect a licensed and insured tech, the partner's credentials are part of your promise. Collect the license number, a certificate of insurance and any certification your work needs, and check the expiry dates against the job date, not today's date. An insurance policy that lapses on the 14th does not cover a job on the 20th.
4. Whose name the customer sees
This is a branding choice with real tradeoffs:
| Option | When it fits | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Your name on texts and the truck arrives as your partner | You own the customer and want them to call you next time | The partner must understand they represent you on site |
| The partner's own name | One-off overflow, or the partner will own the follow-up work | You are handing over the customer relationship |
Pick one per job and tell the partner which it is. The worst case is a customer who was told "ABC Heating" and opens the door to a stranger with a different logo and no explanation.
5. Who may pass the job on
If your partner is also full, can they hand the job to someone you have never met? Decide this up front. For most companies the default should be no, with exceptions per job.
Making it a habit, not a scramble
Overflow sharing works when it is set up before peak season, not invented in the middle of it. A short checklist:
- Pick two or three partner companies whose work you would put your name on.
- Agree pay terms and due days with each, in writing.
- Collect credentials and their expiry dates.
- Decide the branding default per partner.
- Agree what happens on a callback: who goes back, and who pays for the return visit.
- Keep a running ledger of what you owe each partner and what each owes you.
The callback point is the one people forget. If a partner's repair fails a week later, the customer calls you. Decide in advance whether the partner returns at no charge, and how quickly.
Where software fits
CrewConnect is CrewLink's way of doing this between companies and 1099 contractors, live in early access. The sender sees a partner's open times only, at the address in question, never their other jobs, customers or prices. Work goes straight into the partner's schedule with pay terms both owners agreed (a percent of the partner's list price or a flat amount, due 0 to 90 days after the job), credentials can be required before a partner is offered, and the sender chooses whose name the homeowner sees. Payouts are recorded in a ledger; the companies settle them directly. The contractor network page walks through it, and subcontractor scheduling covers the scheduling side.
What to take away
- A call is overflow only when no reachable open time exists and the customer won't wait.
- Your gain on a shared job is about
P × s − A. The bigger value is keeping the customer. - Agree pay model, due days, credentials, branding and pass-on rules before the first job, not during it.
- Plan callbacks in advance. The customer will call you, not the partner.
Common questions
How do I find a company to share overflow work with?
Start with companies you already respect: suppliers know who does clean work, and so do the techs you've hired from competitors. Look for a partner whose busy periods differ from yours, or who covers an area you reach poorly. Agree terms on one or two trial jobs before you rely on them in peak season.
What percentage should I keep on a shared job?
There is no standard. It depends on who found the customer, who carries the warranty risk and how much admin you do. Run P × s − A on a typical job: if your share barely covers the office time to book and close the job, the main benefit is keeping the customer, and that may be enough.
Should the customer know another company did the work?
That is your choice, but make it deliberately. If you keep your name on the job, brief the partner on how to introduce themselves. If you use the partner's name, accept that the customer may call them next time.
Is a partner company a subcontractor?
Usually yes, if you sell the job and pay them to perform it. Classification rules vary by state and by the details of the arrangement, so check with a CPA or employment attorney rather than relying on a label.