ServiceTitan Helps InTown Plumbing Save Time, Plan for Growth

Growth outpaces technology

Two years ago, Brittany quit her marketing job with Rheem Manufacturing Co., one of the largest water-heating products manufacturer in North America, to help Michael manage their residential and new construction plumbing service company, its employees, and subcontractors. 

Rheem managed about 50,000 contractors with ServiceTitan software, Brittany says, so she lobbied Michael to implement the all-in-one software at InTown Plumbing. They first tried a couple of other software providers, she says, but both platforms turned out to be ill-equipped for job tracking. 

Also to ease Michael’s workload, InTown Plumbing added two employees to help schedule and dispatch plumbers. But those updates still weren't enough for the plumbing company to stay on top of its growing list of customers, including residential custom-home builders, multifamily housing, hair salons, restaurants, and more.

ServiceTitan saves time

InTown Plumbing turned to ServiceTitan in August 2020, and immediately became more efficient. 

“The time savings has been massive,” Brittany says. “I have my husband back in the evenings now, because of the dispatching and scheduling piece of it. He used to get together with the guys at the end of the day, see what their status was, then use GoogleMaps to see what the best route was for them to take the next day on those jobs.

“He’d send out a text message to each guy, seven different trucks, and tell them what they were supposed to do and where they were supposed to go,” she explains.

“That would all be in the evening, and maybe by 9 or 10 o’clock, he was done,” she says. “Now I get him back at 6 o’clock, 5 o’clock sometimes.”

Now, the two office employees schedule plumbing services and dispatch plumbers, with ServiceTitan’s route optimization suggesting the best routes of travel. 

InTown Plumbing leverages time to plan growth

To set goals for future growth, a plumbing business needs to know its numbers and track key performance indicators through accurate reporting. That was something InTown Plumbing couldn’t do before switching software, Brittany says.

“ServiceTitan has allowed us the time to focus on setting goals,” Brittany says. “We do a lot of volume, but there’s only four of us in the office. We’ve always been behind and swamped and unable to think about setting goals or plan what’s next, or what comes in three years.

“Before this, to be honest, we were just kind of lucky. We never set targets, but now we’re able to, which I think will make us grow,” she adds.

After seeing ServiceTitan’s analytics reports, Michael and Brittany want to hire more staff to capture InTown’s untapped opportunities for new customers and revenue.

“He’s a plumber and a business owner, and he’s been doing it for a very long time, but he’s not an accountant,” Brittany says. “I come from a marketing background, so I’m not a very good human resources or IT, but I’m also doing those tasks.

“Now, we have a system in place that we can give someone a piece of the pie, ask them to figure it out, and get reports so we can start seeing monthly, quarterly and annual analytics,” Brittany says. “We want to hire the right people to help us in the right places, versus us trying to learn and do everything ourselves. ServiceTitan gives us the base to do that.”

And that’s good advice for anyone trying to grow a plumbing business.

“Don’t try to do everything yourself,” Brittany advises. “Hire someone and get them trained on whatever system you use.”

ServiceTitan excels at software training

With ServiceTitan software, Brittany describes the onboarding as “fabulous,” and says the support and training offered by the company proved key to InTown’s success.

“Anybody can put a product out, but getting people to use it, and make them feel comfortable using it, is what makes you succeed,” she says. “The discussion forum is amazing, and y’all have great training videos.”

She also feels like ServiceTitan appreciates her feedback.

“Everyone has been willing to listen,” Brittany says. “I feel included in a lot of the changes and enhancements y’all have been making. And to me, that says a ton about a company. You’re willing to listen to someone just coming on and build out features we need.”

Software built specifically for new construction plumbing

InTown provides some residential and light commercial plumbing services, but mainly works with residential custom builders on new homes that could take months to complete and require tracking specific punch lists along the way.

InTown switched its project tracking from Excel spreadsheets to ServiceTitan’s scheduling software, and can now track each time an employee or subcontractor visits a site. “It’s been a huge help for us,” Brittany says.

In new construction, plumbers mainly coordinate with other contractors, rather than dealing directly with a homeowner, so scheduling and completing jobs accordingly is key to keeping a big project on schedule.

“We’re really an advocate for the new construction side of things,” Brittany explains. “ServiceTitan is No. 1 as a service tool, not just in my opinion, but from across the industry. And we're really excited about the new construction piece of it y'all are building out because, for trades like us, we're kind of in the middle. 

“There's really not any software out there that supports trades that are in the middle,” Brittany says. “It's either like service guys or builders, general contractors. That's kind of where the software is.”

InTown Plumbing customers like the difference ServiceTitan makes

At InTown Plumbing, customer service remains a top priority. In fact, Michael still works with probably 50 percent of the builders and general contractors he started with in the beginning, Brittany explains, which says a lot about the company’s ability to foster long and healthy relationships.

The customer notifications in ServiceTitan improved communication 100 percent between InTown Plumbing and their clients, she says. And that keeps everyone better informed on the current status of their plumbing services.

“They want to know when we’re out there, so they can coordinate with the other trades they’ve got coming to the job site, or even tell the homeowners buying from them that the plumbing went in,” Brittany says. “It helps them out a ton.”

Before last year, InTown Plumbing communicated little with homeowners or contractors about upcoming appointments. But with ServiceTitan, customers receive automatic notifications, such as appointment reminders, plus a photo and brief biography of the plumber before they arrive. Plus, the software gives the plumber complete access to job notes and previous history for a property.

“Just that piece, alone, has helped us look more professional and like we know what we’re doing,” she says. “Of course, we know what we’re doing plumbing-wise, but as far as communications and how a homeowner perceives us, this is 100 percent better.”

Thinking about switching to ServiceTitan?

ServiceTitan’s all-in-one cloud-based customer relationship management solution—easily accessible from a smartphone or mobile tablet—helps skilled trades optimize their customer relationship management. Our end-to-end system can help with the following business needs, and more:

• Contact management 

• Scheduling support

• Client interaction tracking

• Scalability and customization

• Mobile access and support

• Database management

• Marketing and campaign management

• Workflow automation, employee management, and dispatch

• Seamless integration with direct mail, email marketing, project management, financial reporting (QuickBooks), payroll, invoicing, billing, and other tools

• Sales automation and lead management