A service company that began as a one-truck shop in the 1980s has grown into a company that generates more than $23 million in annual revenue.
Scott’s One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Tampa, Fla., serve a five-county area as one of the larger franchisees in the network. While the company grew rapidly, it has since refocused for future growth, says Melissa Fair, who works in the company’s human resources and risk management department.
The company has continued to hire aggressively, becoming more flexible and allowing many positions to work from home, according to Fair. She says the HVAC and plumbing company began positioning itself for real growth after implementing ServiceTitan software 3 years ago.
“We’ve grown,” Fair says. “We’re continuing to grow. Even though we dipped a little, we’re picking back up. Hopefully this year finishes out great, but we’re in a great position for next year.”
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How a multi-million dollar service company strategizes for growth:
Invest in training, technology
Prioritize customer satisfaction
Drive positive reviews
Utilize the best field-management software
The company invests in training, technical skills and marketing to actively grow the company. Three to four times a week, it provides the staff with sales, safety and technology training and focuses resources on technical training to increase revenue and customer satisfaction, Fair says. On the HVAC side, the company also developed a formal apprenticeship program.
In addition to training, customer satisfaction ranks as another top priority in the growing company’s strategy.
“We have two of the service managers who really focus on turning around those bad customer experiences that do happen, so we can continue to get those good reviews and build value for our price,” Fair says.
Scott’s One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating boasts more than 1,900 Google reviews with a 4.6-star rating, and the company aims to continue gaining positive reviews and social media presence.
Employees make it a practice to go above and beyond to drive those positive consumer reviews. As an example, Fair says she recently received a video of one of their plumbers mowing someone’s lawn.
“We do a lot of things like that just to try and make a difference, and connect with people,” Fair says.
The company also keeps an open-door policy for other franchisees that want to visit and see firsthand how the company’s operating system works.
“They can tour the building,” Fair says. “They can sit with the dispatch team. They can sit with the call center. They can sit with the accounting teams. So a lot of times, if another franchisee is getting ready to go on ServiceTitan, it is suggested for them to come see us.”
We asked Fair about the advantages of ServiceTitan’s software and how it helps the company operate more efficiently.
"It’s like the difference between looking through river water and then looking through that crystal-clear water off the beaches of Mexico. I can look straight down and see the bottom. I can see everything."
Q: What are the capabilities of ServiceTitan compared to your old software?
A: Clarity of data. It’s like the difference between looking through river water and then looking through that crystal-clear water off the beaches of Mexico. I can look straight down and see the bottom. I can see everything.
It’s being able to understand, “OK, here’s this dataset. Let me see where it’s all coming from and where it's all going. Now, let me see what each of these streams is comprised of.” With this software, we are actually able to do that.
In the old software, customization was fairly limited. I understand it was probably groundbreaking software when it came out, because a lot of technicians probably would still prefer to use paper and pencil. When I would go to look for reports, sometimes I wasn’t able to get the data.
The biggest challenge: Here are the datasets and we should be able to mine that data in any way we would want. Can we mine it by date? Can we mine it by item? Can we mine it by tech? Can we mine it by type of call? Can we mine it by geography? We should be able to mine, but within that, just be able to customize the reporting.
Software can be either something that just gets you by or something that really enables you to drill down, to be able to really pin down and say, “This line of revenue is actually extremely profitable,” versus, “We’re putting a lot of effort into this and we’re not really making that much money.”
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Q: Did you notice any change to your average ticket after switching to ServiceTitan?
A: I do believe our average tickets are going up. The one thing that’s interesting is I know we’re measuring our average ticket much more accurately. So, it’s hard to know what you don't know.
We’re able to drill down so much more. We’re able to see areas we need to focus in and implement sales training toward. We can, in real-time, get in there and see what we’re selling and what’s moving. Being able to see discounts or control discounts has been a really important piece for us.
Q: How does ServiceTitan give you the tools to analyze the average ticket and identify problems?
A: The software has allowed us to be more responsive. Sometimes that clarity helps you see you've got a mess somewhere. Then, you start pulling that thread and here comes the whole sweater. We discovered a new issue, but this whole time we didn't know there was a problem in this one piece.
We’ve been able to uncover different things, to be able to see something that was tied into a cost that maybe shouldn't have been.
Q: How does ServiceTitan software help you run your business operations?
A: We are just looking for the tools to help us run our business more efficiently and to better understand the results we’re actually getting. Everything from how a cost passes through the moment it’s received, until the moment it’s billed out, as part of the project and part of job costing for payroll.
I know we’ve made a ton of requests and suggestions for things, which is nice to be able to do that as well. So seeing the software be a living thing and the developers responsive to their client’s needs is to me a real bonus, and builds a lot of value in the software.
Q: What’s your advice to others considering the switch to ServiceTitan?
A: I just think it’s an opportunity to re-learn your business and start your business over, but knowing what you now know as a business owner.
It forces you to understand every aspect of your business, and that can be kind of crazy. It can be time-consuming. It’s worth it, but I think people just need to understand, don’t go in thinking this transition is going to be three days and bam, you’re ready to roll.
You have some ownership in your software, because you have to set it up to tell it what you want to do. It’s not just some software. It’s an investment in the business. That always requires commitment and a little bit of work. It’s not just stroking a check. It’s an investment in your business and your employees, and in the long term, it’s so worth it.
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive home and commercial services business software solution built specifically to help companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and achieve growth. Our award-winning, cloud-based platform is trusted by more than 100,000+ contractors across the country.
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ServiceTitan Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and substantially elevate the trajectory of their business. Our comprehensive, cloud-based platform is used by thousands of electrical, HVAC, plumbing, garage door, and chimney sweep shops across the country—and has increased their revenue by an average of 25% in just their first year with us.
