ServiceTitan is helping Tim Leonard run Streamline Electric more like a CEO, and less like an electrician

Tim Leonard had no desire to go to college. He just wanted to work.

After high school, he earned his electrician journeyman’s and master’s licenses, then worked at a small mom-and-pop shop. Years later, in 2012, Leonard started his own Detroit business:  Streamline Electric.

At first, it was just him and a van, driving around Detroit as the “friendly neighborhood electrician,” he said. Fast-forward more than 10 years, Leonard’s business grew to 10 vans and decades of industry knowledge.

But during the lulls of the pandemic, Leonard took a class. It was a small-business course through Goldman Sachs, and it made him realize that he was running his business incorrectly. 

“I was running (it) like an electrician. And that course helped me look at my business from a CEO perspective,” Leonard said.

“It sounds funny, but this class opened my eyes to this term called ‘metrics.’ I started to understand what those are, not just from a job standpoint, but from a reporting standpoint, and how you can really drill down on different things.”

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The class also introduced him to a book co-authored by Ken Goodrich of Goettl Air Conditioning and Plumbing Las Vegas, “The E Myth: HVAC Contractor.”

“And as I researched what (Goodrich) was doing and what the home services industry was doing, I just kept hearing ‘ServiceTitan, ServiceTitan, ServiceTitan,’” Leonard said.

Of course, it wasn’t the first time. Just by being in the trades, he’d heard of the all-in-one software that could easily provide the reporting metrics Streamline needed. But transitioning Streamline’s residential and light construction business to ServiceTitan was a daunting thought.

“I was so afraid to switch,” Leonard said. “It felt like it was going to be a 400-pound lift.”

‘Only got to do it once’

Leonard knew he had outgrown his previous software. If he was going to run his business like a CEO, he needed the KPIs and reporting metrics that ServiceTitan provided, like call volume, booking rates, daily revenue and technician scorecards.

He also wanted his electricians to have the ability to invoice in the field. Under Leonard’s previous software, that wasn’t an option.

“That was a pain,” he said. “I had a service coordinator that would be in the office, but when the service electricians had to do a change order, or they would upsell or anything like that, they couldn't do it in the field and they would have to call in. If (the service coordinator) wasn't available, they would have to leave (the job). And once you leave, it changes everything.”

Leonard knew ServiceTitan would solve all of these problems and then some. Even his service manager, who had used ServiceTitan before, nudged Leonard to seriously consider making the switch.

But Leonard was concerned. Streamline was moving fast, and he was fearful that he didn’t have the personnel to acclimate to such a big shift. What pushed him over the edge? The Goldman Sachs course.

Streamline went live with ServiceTitan in November 2022. “And I'm not going to say we didn't miss a beat, but in my mind when I look back at it, it wasn't as painful as I thought it could be,” Leonard said. “We just had to do it, and it's been really good.”

It also helped that throughout the transition, Leonard repeated the same mantra to himself.

“We only got to do it once.”

Bird’s-eye view

With ServiceTitan, Leonard now has access to the metrics he once sought, giving him a bird’s-eye view of call volume, booking rates and daily revenue. He especially loves the ability to track KPIs for each employee, which allows him and everyone else to set clear guidelines as to where they’re succeeding and falling behind.

“They can (use those metrics to) make those adjustments on their own,” Leonard said. “Some people need to be pushed, but at the end of the day, the numbers don't lie.”

Here are some of his other favorite features:

• Schedule Engine: Schedule Engine's live services and online booking solutions make it easy for Streamline to deliver a convenient, reliable customer experience and book more qualified jobs—anytime, night or day. “We just implemented that awesome 'Book Now' button on our website. We'll show up on Monday morning, and we've got people just sitting and ready to be placed with an electrician." 

• Pricebook: ServiceTitan allows Streamline to easily build, access and maintain a comprehensive pricebook that links equipment, materials, and costs so Leonard has full insight into his business while empowering his technicians to give customers a professional shopping experience. 

• Phones Pro: Leonard has never run a call center before, but that doesn’t matter. He has Phones Pro. The modern, cloud-based phone offering is fully integrated with ServiceTitan and designed to improve Streamline’s customer-facing team’s performance, drive higher booking rates, grow revenue and improve efficiency. He just hired a CSR manager to listen to the phone calls.

• Marketing Pro: Marketing Pro allows Streamline to leverage customer data and supercharge its business with more calls, booked jobs and higher customer spend. "One thing I love about Marketing Pro is that you can see what the campaigns are doing. That's fantastic,” Leonard said. “These are all things that we thought about doing before and just couldn't do because we just didn't have the capabilities that ServiceTitan (has)."

Serious about success

Just six months after joining ServiceTitan, Leonard feels like he’s doing exactly what his Goldman Sachs class taught him: Run his business more like a CEO, and less like an electrician.

“As a business owner, I've learned that every dollar you spend, you should know what it's doing,” Leonard said. “And I think that ServiceTitan gives us that."

In 2022, between construction and residential, Streamline did $3.6 million in revenue. This year, Leonard is projecting $4 million to $4.5 million, and next year, he thinks he can do $6 million in revenue.

“I'm trying to get to $10 million in revenue,” Leonard said. “That's my one- to three-year goal for now. (Also), I want to stretch our footprint across Southern Michigan.”

Leonard knows he can accomplish these goals with the help of ServiceTitan, and is taking full advantage of the software’s far-reaching network of contractors, webinars and events like Pantheon.

“I'm just really, really excited to be in the ServiceTitan network. (It) seems to be the hub of the serious home service provider,” Leonard said.

“The fact that you sign up with ServiceTitan, you're serious about what you're doing.”