In Today’s Newsletter

• The Most Important System in Your Business That Nobody Sees

• Things you should do…

• The marketing playbook everyone forgot

• ServiceTitan’s investment in Technology & Product Leadership: Abhi Mathur

• From Chasing Maintenance to Automating It with Netic

• The Difference Between a “Yes” and a “No”

• Favorite Tweets from the past week

Technology Corner with ServiceTitan

Welcome to the Trades

Last week, ServiceTitan announced that Abhishek Mathur (“Abhi”) joined as their new Chief Technology & Product Officer.

In his first week on the job, I ran into a major phone disruption issue—the kind that can’t wait. Abhi spent over 5 hours that weekend working through it directly. Not delegating. Not observing. In it.

That told me everything I needed to know.

It’s easy to talk about being customer-obsessed. It’s harder to show it—especially on your first weekend in a new role. That willingness to roll up your sleeves and support customers is what builds trust in this industry.

Abhi shared in his announcement that the trades represent one of the most important and underserved sectors for technology—and that we’re entering a new era where software doesn’t just track work, but helps run the business. I couldn’t agree more.

Welcome to ServiceTitan, and welcome to the trades.

Excited to see the impact you’ll have on the thousands of contractors who look to ServiceTitan for technology leadership in our industry.

#grateful to have ServiceTitan sponsoring this section of TPLT

CEO: Growth Mindset

If you ask most home service business owners how they generate leads today, you’ll hear the same answers:

• Google Ads

• Local Services Ads

• Meta (Facebook/Instagram)

• SEO

And to be clear—those channels matter. We invest heavily in them.

But there’s a problem.

Too many businesses develop tunnel vision around paid ads… and ignore the highest ROI opportunities sitting right in front of them.

The result?

They spend more and more money to get the phone to ring… while overlooking low-cost, high-impact strategies that have worked for decades—and still work today.

In our business, we’ve learned a simple truth:

Here are three “old-school” (and often overlooked) methods that continue to drive real results for us.

1. Stickering Equipment: Be There When It Breaks

Let’s start with the simplest one.

When something breaks in a home, what does the customer do?

They go straight to the equipment.

• Water heater not working? → They walk to the water heater

• Furnace making noise? → They’re standing in front of it

• AC not cooling? → They’re outside staring at the unit

That moment matters.

Because in that moment, the customer is asking:

“Who do I call?”

If your sticker is on that piece of equipment—with your name and phone number—you’ve already won.

This is why stickering equipment remains one of the highest ROI marketing tactics in our industry:

• It’s low cost

• It’s high intent (the system is already broken)

• It’s perfectly timed (decision moment)

• It removes friction (number is right there)

And yet… many companies are inconsistent with it.

Every service call, install, or maintenance visit is an opportunity to place a “future lead generator” directly inside the home.

No algorithm required.

2. Cross-Department Leads: Take the Blinders Off

This is where most companies leave serious revenue on the table.

In a multi-trade business, your field professionals are walking through homes every day…

And seeing problems.

The issue?

They’re often trained to focus only on their trade.

HVAC tech fixes the furnace → leaves
Meanwhile:

• Water heater is leaking

• Electrical panel is unsafe

• Drain line is backing up

Nobody says anything.

That’s a miss—for both the customer and the business.

We train our team to take off the blinders.

Not to sell aggressively.
Not to step outside their expertise.

But to simply identify and communicate issues that matter.

Examples:

• HVAC tech flags a leaking water heater

• Plumber notices a charred breaker

• Electrician sees a 20-year-old AC system with an air filter that looks like a dead cat is caught in it

When done the right way, this creates a win-win:

For the customer:

• They become aware of issues before they become emergencies

• They have a trusted company to help solve them

For the business:

• You generate high-quality, warm leads

• You increase revenue per home

• You deepen the customer relationship

This isn’t “selling more.”

It’s seeing more—and helping more.

And as our own strategic planning emphasizes, improving cross-department collaboration and expanding customer touchpoints is a major opportunity for growth in a multi-trade business.

3. Every Trade Sells the Membership

Here’s one that surprises a lot of people.

Roughly half of our new Home Protection Plan members are sold by non-HVAC trades.

Let that sink in.

Not HVAC.

Plumbing. Electrical. Sewer.

Why does this work?

Because we’ve made it simple.

Instead of positioning our membership as “an HVAC maintenance plan,” we’ve built it as a whole-home value proposition:

• Priority service

• Discounts across all trades

• Ongoing maintenance (including HVAC)

Now any field professional—regardless of trade—can confidently explain the value.

This does two things:

1. It increases customer lifetime value

2. It strengthens retention and loyalty across all service lines

And from a marketing standpoint, it’s incredibly powerful:

You’re not just generating one call.

You’re building a long-term relationship with the homeowner.

The Bigger Point

Digital marketing is getting more expensive.

More competition.
Higher cost per lead.
More noise.

And while everyone is fighting over the same keywords…

There are still massive opportunities in the fundamentals.

• A sticker on a furnace

• A technician who notices more

• A simple conversation about membership

These aren’t flashy.

They don’t show up in your Google Analytics dashboard.

But they work.

And in many cases—they work better than the things we spend the most money on.

Final Thought

If you’re a home service business owner, ask yourself:

Are you maximizing the opportunities that already exist inside your customers’ homes?

Because the companies that win aren’t just better at buying leads.

They’re better at creating them.

CyberNetic Labs - bringing powerful Agentic AI tools to the trades

From Chasing Maintenance to Automating It

For years, scheduling maintenance visits was one of the most manual, time-consuming processes in our business.

In St. Louis alone, we have nearly 23,000 Home Protection Plan (HPP) members.

Each of those members is entitled to:

• 1 furnace tune-up

• 1 AC tune-up

That’s ~46,000 maintenance visits per year… just in one market.

The Old Way

Before Netic, getting those visits scheduled looked like this:

• Our Customer Experience team would call

• Then text

• Then follow up again… and again

It often took 5+ outreach attempts per customer just to get a single visit on the calendar.

Multiply that across tens of thousands of customers, and you get:

• Thousands of manual calls

• Endless follow-ups

• Countless hours spent “chasing” maintenance visits

It worked.

But it wasn’t scalable.

The Shift

Today, that entire process looks different.

We’ve enrolled our HPP members into autonomous text campaigns powered by Netic.

Instead of our team chasing customers…

Netic proactively reaches out to them.

• It engages customers via text

• It schedules visits based on our defined capacity

• It follows up automatically until the job is booked

No manual dialing.
No repeated outreach from our team.

Just a system that runs—consistently and at scale.

The Impact

In 2026, we expect:

~85% of all maintenance visits to be scheduled autonomously by Netic.

Let that sink in.

That represents:

• Tens of thousands of fewer manual calls

• Thousands of hours returned to our team

• A dramatically more efficient scheduling engine

And perhaps most importantly—

Our team is no longer stuck doing repetitive outreach.

They can focus on higher-value interactions that actually improve the customer experience.

What This Really Means

This isn’t just about saving time.

It’s about changing how the business operates.

Maintenance is one of the most predictable, recurring parts of a home services business.

And yet for years, we managed it in a reactive, labor-intensive way.

Now?

It’s proactive.
It’s automated.
It’s aligned with our capacity.

The Bigger Picture

We talk a lot about AI and automation in abstract terms.

This is what it actually looks like in practice:

• Systems that don’t just track work

• But actively help run the business

Not replacing people.

But removing the lowest-value work from their day—and allowing them to focus where they matter most.

Final Thought

If you’re still relying on manual outreach to schedule recurring work, it’s worth asking:

How much of your team’s time is being spent on something that could be automated?

Because once you solve that…

You don’t just get efficiency.

You get scale.

#grateful to have Cybernetic Labs sponsor this section of TPLT

Consumer Financing¹

The Difference Between a “Yes” and a “No”

In the trades, we like to think that customers buy based on need.

Furnace is broken.
AC isn’t cooling.
Water heater fails.

But that’s only part of the story.

Because more often than not, the real question isn’t:

“Does the customer need this?”

It’s:

“Can the customer afford this—right now?”

The Hidden Constraint

Every day, field professionals walk into homes and present solutions that make sense:

• Replace the system

• Upgrade the equipment

• Fix the root issue—not just the symptom

And then the deal stalls.

Not because the customer disagrees.

But because of cash flow.

This is where financing changes everything.

Expanding Buying Power

One of the biggest unlocks we’ve seen is what happens when you shift the conversation from:

“What does this cost?”

to

“What does this cost per month?”

Platforms like GreenSky are built around this exact idea—increasing customer buying power by offering flexible payment options.

Instead of forcing an all-cash decision, you give customers options:

• Fixed monthly payments

• Promotional “no interest if paid in full” plans

• Multiple structures that fit different budgets

And something interesting happens…

Customers stop asking, “Can I afford this?”
And start asking, “What’s the best option for my home?”

Avoiding “Sticker Shock”

One of the most practical takeaways from the GreenSky model is this:

Present the solution with the payment.

Not after.

When customers see a $12,000 system, they hesitate.

When they see:

• $199/month

• $249/month

• $299/month

They start comparing options.

They start thinking in terms of value, not just price.

That shift alone can dramatically change close rates, because it removes the emotional friction of a large upfront cost.

Shortening the Sales Cycle

There’s another benefit that often gets overlooked.

Speed.

Traditional financing (or no financing at all) creates delays:

• “Let me think about it”

• “I need to check my finances”

• “We’ll get back to you”

With tools like GreenSky:

• Applications are fast

• Decisions often come back in seconds

• The process is paperless and simple

That means you can go from:
Diagnosis → Solution → Approval → Scheduled job

All in one visit.

Bigger Jobs, Better Outcomes

Financing doesn’t just help you close more deals.

It helps customers choose better solutions.

Instead of:

• Patchwork repairs

• Minimum viable fixes

They can choose:

• Full replacements

• Higher efficiency systems

• Add-ons that improve comfort and longevity

GreenSky even highlights this directly—financing can increase average ticket size and turn a “nice project” into a “we love it” outcome.

And when customers feel great about the outcome?

You get:

• Better reviews

• More referrals

• More repeat business

The Bigger Point

Financing isn’t just a payment tool.

It’s a sales enablement tool.

It allows your team to:

• Present better solutions

• Remove friction from decision-making

• Align the customer’s budget with the right outcome

And in today’s environment—where large home expenses are harder for many households to absorb upfront—that matters more than ever.

Final Thought

If you’re not consistently offering financing, you’re not just missing deals.

You’re limiting your customers’ ability to say yes.

Because in many cases, the difference between a “no” and a “yes” isn’t the solution.

It’s the structure of the payment.

#grateful to have GreenSky® Home Improvement sponsor this section of TPLT

¹ The views and opinions expressed here are owned by The Path Less Traveled and its author and may not reflect the views of GreenSky®

Friends of The Path Less Traveled

Who are the VENDORS that fuel our success?

ACCOUNTING & TAX SERVICES

I met Patrick on X (formerly Twitter), which continues to be one of the best communities for thoughtful operators sharing real insights. I’ve followed his work closely and have been consistently impressed by the quality of content he puts out around building strong finance and accounting foundations in small businesses. He brings both clarity and practicality to a topic that is often overlooked but critically important. If you’re a business doing anywhere from startup to ~$15M in revenue, Appletree is an excellent partner to have in your corner.

PAYROLL & HR

Inova Payroll & HR has been a partner to our companies for over 10 years. They have provided us with a payroll technology platform that has been able to keep pace with the demands of our fast-growing organization (now serving team members across 4 states). Inova’s platform works seamlessly with our CRM, ServiceTitan, and with our accounting back-end, Sage Intacct.

COACHING & TRAINING

If there is one organization - perhaps more than any other - that has fueled our growth over the last 10 years… that organization would be Nexstar Network. I like to say that Nexstar Network has built & refined a “process playbook” that touches on so many facets of our business. Don’t try and re-create the wheel… come and learn from the best. Reach out to my friend Kara Schuster at [email protected] and tell her that I sent you.

#grateful for the “Friends of TPLT” sponsors in this section

Hey…I could use your help connecting with like-minded business leaders:

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Chris Hoffmann

on X at @stlChrisH

on LinkedIn @stlChrisHoffmann

on Instagram @Christopher.m.hoffmann

Our Companies:

www.hoffmannbros.com

www.fergusonroofing.com 

www.blueskyplumbing.com

www.hbsolutionsgroup.com 

If you have feedback, questions or comments - please don’t hesitate to reply to this email. I personally monitor all replies.

-Chris