Electrical, Operations, Business Tips, Success Story

Why Kraun Electric’s CFO bet on software built specifically for the trades

November 21st, 2024
4 Min Read

Kraun Electric, a residential and commercial shop in Ontario, Canada, isn’t a company that runs on pen and paper.

“There's always been that leaning toward technology, what's new, what's going to help us really do what we do best,” Andrew Epp, Kraun’s CFO, said. 

The problem was Kraun used a field service software that didn’t allow anyone to work efficiently. In fact, Epp said it was so complicated to use, they had to hire a consultant “just to change the database fields.”

“When you have software that (...) nobody really understands, and isn’t really built for (the trades), we were abandoning it,” Epp said. “We weren’t following best practices.”

Epp wanted software that was tailored to Kraun’s workflows, not the other way around. So, in February 2024, Kraun chose ServiceTitan to power the company’s commercial and residential service division. Because ServiceTitan was built for the trades, its features are designed for companies like Kraun to increase revenue and efficiency. 

“You don't often get alignment between software and your business model,” Epp said. “It's like you're often doing tweaks in the software to (achieve) that.” 

Instead of fighting with technology, Kraun’s service team now embraces it—and has reaped the benefits.

Spoil your customers

Kraun cares about its customers, but the company’s old software wasn’t helping the team deliver a seamless customer experience. Epp recalled how techs would stand awkwardly in front of customers, logging in and out of various software just to generate a proposal.

“Then, as soon as (the ticket) got into accounting and accounts receivable, it was like, ‘Let me send you an email of a PDF,’” Epp said. “It just looked different. Different software, different look, different feel.”

To Epp, ServiceTitan aligns more closely with Kraun’s aim to impress customers. In a few moments, techs can quickly pull up a customer-facing pricebook or generate a professional-looking estimate “on the tablet in front of people—it looks good (and) the customer experience is really good,” Epp said.

It’s easier for the front office to delight customers, too, with features like appointment reminders sent via text message, along with the technician’s picture and bio.

In terms of customer experience, “nobody else was really touching that on the level (ServiceTitan was),” Epp said.

The #1 newsletter for the trades.

Equip your team

Although Kraun has been using ServiceTitan for less than a year, the software has already made an impact. Epp shared a few of the team’s favorite features:

  • Market like a pro: With ServiceTitan’s Marketing Pro, Kraun’s team can pinpoint how well their Google Ads are performing. Epp said the marketing team loves “how easy it is to see the return on investment of (the) marketing budget.” 

  • Tech-approved tech: Kraun’s technicians were wary of ServiceTitan, but that didn’t last long. “They are all loving the software now,” Epp said, highlighting the “ease of use” for those in the field

  • The features you want, fast: Kraun had tried to set up an online booking system for three years—even hiring consultants to help. Finally, Kraun turned to ServiceTitan’s Scheduling Pro. Within a few weeks, the shop’s online booking feature was live. “It was just plug and play,” Epp said.

Patch up profit leaks

As Kraun’s CFO, Epp is no stranger to digging into profit margins. ServiceTitan’s reporting features make it easier to gain a clear picture of how the business is performing, and where it could improve. 

With ServiceTitan, Kraun has gained data around unsold estimates for the first time. And it turned out those estimates were adding up. To get those jobs booked, Kraun used Marketing Pro to automatically send follow-up reminders to customers. 

“As soon as we threw all those open estimates into ServiceTitan, it was like we started selling them,” Epp said. 

The results were dramatic: Epp said the team sold 40% of those abandoned estimates.

“To have that data at our fingertips now, we’re constantly looking at unbooked jobs,” Epp said. “I think our win rate overall has gone up 10%.” 

Looking ahead, Kraun plans to grow the commercial and residential service side of the business. One day, Epp hopes the division will make up half the company’s revenue.

“But right now, our short-term plan is (figuring out) how we invest in that,” Epp said. “That’s why (we need) a software like ServiceTitan to come alongside.”

Related posts