It wasn’t until Hanson’s Plumbing & Heating started using ServiceTitan in 2021 that they realized how much time they were spending on the “back-end office stuff.”
Most of Hanson’s business is in residential HVAC and plumbing construction, which means the team’s projects span weeks, months or years. Pre-ServiceTitan, it was overwhelming to organize all of their estimates, purchase orders and vendor invoices for each project.
This was a big problem for Jason Hanson, president of the family business.
That’s because, even as the company celebrates its 90th anniversary, Hanson has big plans for the future. He’s looking to hit $20 million in revenue in the next 10 years and to broaden the company’s reach beyond its hub in Vergas, Minnesota.
That’s why he turned to ServiceTitan, the software built for the trades.
“The way to (grow) is not to bring on more overhead and more staff,” Hanson said. “The way to do that is to bring on a few managers (...), but let ServiceTitan handle the back-end office stuff.”
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Track projects—not paperwork
Just how difficult was it to manage projects via paper? It was challenging, Hanson said.
Before joining ServiceTitan, Hanson’s techs would fill out daily “yellow sheets,” which outlined their hours worked, materials used and equipment installed. These yellow sheets were stored in project folders that were six-inches thick and stuffed full with paper.
“We tried to simplify it a little bit, by having spreadsheets for each job and putting in daily what each person did,” Hanson said. “But keeping up with that—it's a never-ending job for one person.”
Thankfully, nobody from Hanson’s has to keep up with that never-ending job anymore.
Now, the team uses ServiceTitan’s project-tracking software to create and track everything from purchase orders to invoices to labor hours, all of which are automatically uploaded to the cloud and organized by file name.
“ServiceTitan just lays it right out there,” Hanson said. “You can get a quick glimpse of what you're looking for (in the dashboard) and go right into it.”
A closer look at ServiceTitan’s project dashboard
ServiceTitan’s project tracking software allows you to keep everything you need for every project—all in one place:
Financials: Easily generate estimates, vendor invoices, technician timesheets and progressive billings in ServiceTitan to streamline accounting, and monitor job costs at a glance.
Purchase orders: ServiceTitan makes it easy to see if an order has been fully or partially received, and highlights what equipment is still in transit. It’s been a game-changer for Hanson. “The whole tracking side of things, it's just crazy how much better it is with ServiceTitan than it was in the past,” he said.
Documentation from the field: From the field, techs can upload photos, videos, notes and forms to specific project files. This gives front office teams a clear record of when important events happen on a job site.
Tech that bridges generations
These days, after every appointment, Hanson’s techs upload all their job notes to ServiceTitan, where they are immediately available for the front-office team and other techs to reference.
Of course, there are a few techs who have been slow to warm up to the new software. These techs, who are nearing retirement, weren’t keen on learning new tools—especially since they don’t plan on using them for long. So they’ve kept using those old-school yellow sheets.
But that doesn’t mean those sheets are still stored in overstuffed folders.
“We can scan those documents right into the project folder now, and we can look at it there (in ServiceTitan),” Hanson said. “It’s a time-saver for the office.”
And with that extra time, Hanson and his team have more room in their day to focus on growing the business—and setting it up for another 90 years of success.
