Acquisition Pro Relies on ServiceTitan to Replicate Systems, Accelerate Growth

Customer service training and ASP’s first acquisition leads to ServiceTitan

When Wistad took over running ASP’s operations in 2015, he immediately began offering customer service training for employees, as a way to build on the qualities needed to run a successful business.

“We really focused on customer service,” Wistad explains. “We certainly focused on doing good work, but we were really focused on training people, getting them better at communication, and all the things that come with service you need.”

In the meantime, ASP learned about Summit Mechanical, a company owned by two brothers in the area that was doing a large amount of HVAC work, and wanted to do more plumbing work. Since ASP wanted to add HVAC services to its lineup, it just made sense to merge the two companies.

“Summit actually was the one on ServiceTitan. So ASP merged with Summit, and we all started using ServiceTitan as ASP Mechanical at that point,” Wistad says. “That's how our first merger happened. It was two equally sized companies coming together as one, and we jumped on their ServiceTitan.”

Wistad took over as the ServiceTitan expert for the merged company and built out a customized pricebook, then continued to focus on training and hiring new techs. 

“We knew that was going to be the key to growth, especially in this market,” he says.

Growth by acquisition takes a different turn

ASP also expanded its operations by buying out a couple of small, one-man plumbing operations nearby once the owners decided to sell, Wistad says.

ASP simply used the ServiceTitan software to capture customer calls made to the previous companies and added them into the mix. Then, in 2020, ASP started its own brand from scratch in Chanhassen, Minn. 

“That's been a bit more of a challenge,” Wistad says. “There's a lot more to get going when you don't have anything to work with. We’re getting to the point where we’ve got a client base started there.”

This year, ASP bought out a large HVAC-plumbing shop in Barron, Wisc., and is in the process of onboarding the team there. “They're an established company with a good reputation, which makes it a lot easier,” Wistad says.

With every acquisition, Wistad says, ServiceTitan’s Pricebook Pro makes it easy to onboard different teams and locations from a central hub.

“We can watch everything on Pricebook Pro, and if they need a price to be a little bit different there, we can adjust it for their location,” he says. “We know our prices are good. We don't have to worry about whether they're too low or too high. We know we're going to make what we need to make on those to keep our profit where it needs to be.”

How to identify potential acquisition targets

“Every acquisition has been a little bit different,” Wistad says. “It’s just an opportunity you happen to see sometimes.”

For instance, ASP managed to acquire some of the smaller plumbing companies because those businesses were already sending their overflow work to ASP when they couldn’t stay on top of customer calls. ASP decided it was better to just take over, rather than keep working as a subcontractor.

“If you do a high level of service, you just can't provide the same service when somebody else is in the middle. Sometimes they miss calls, and it just isn't the same as when you have full control of it,” Wistad says. “To get those customers into our fold, where we can actually control what goes on, it’s best to just buy that company out and move them into our clientele.”

Just keep in mind that following a growth-by-acquisition strategy requires leaders who are good at building rapport with other owners, customers, and service personnel, Wistad says. Sometimes it’s just a matter of having the right person with the right connections, and a talent for making a deal.

“We weren't waiting for people to knock on our door, trying to sell us their company,” Wistad says. “We were out there actually looking for companies that lined up with our strategy, and knocking on their door.”

Other expert tips for pursuing growth by acquisition

What’s the most challenging thing about integrating an existing company into your operation?

“Certainly aligning the culture is probably the trickiest, because we found that you don't have to change the entire culture of the company to make it work for you,” Wistad says. “You just have to change the elements that are critical.”

As long as you provide incentives and reward good customer service and experience, every branch can be a little different, he says.

What timetable do you follow for integrating a new company?

“We're growing extremely fast. We're just trying to focus on our main hub, and perfect things here as best we can before we push them out to the other ones,” Wistad says. “When you're growing this fast, you just don't have the resources or the time to do everything perfectly, so to speak. So we don't have a 60- or 90-day plan. 

“We just have a ‘let's do this tomorrow, let's get this done, and this week, let's get this much figured out, so we can nail this down and get it out there to the other branches’ kind of plan,” he adds.

How do you avoid the risk of inheriting an acquired company’s past service problems?

Research their reputation before you agree to buy, Wistad says. You can usually tell if a company is going to leave you with a mess, just by reading their reviews.

“If they've got a bunch of bad reviews and you hear through the grapevine, ‘Aw, that company, they screwed me over,’ or whatever from multiple sources, you might want to watch it a little more,” he says. “But if they've got a good reputation, and you check a few different sources and it all sounds good, you probably don't need to worry too much about that.”

What advice would you offer to other companies interested in trying ServiceTitan Pro Products?

“Do it, if you're trying to scale. Because systems are critical when you're trying to scale, and that’s basically what the Pro products are. They are systems,” Wistad says. “Systems are your friend, so the more systems you can get in place so you don't have to babysit things, the better. Especially, as you scale and get bigger.

“ServiceTitan Pricebook Pro is a system used to scale, and it definitely will make your life a lot easier in the long run,” he adds. “For our techs, it gives them the confidence to know they are charging the right price for the work they’re doing.”