In Today’s Newsletter

• Leading with calm amidst the chaos

• What gets measured, Grows: Inside our ServiceTitan playbook 

• Full Breakdown: 20,000+ monthly “Home Protection Plan” members (TPLT Full Access Subscriber Only)

• A tornado… and AI call center agents

• Acquiring Blue Sky Plumbing & HVAC

• Financing + Roof Insurance Claims + Your Customer = ??

• Favorite Tweets from the past week

Technology Corner

What gets measured, GROWS: Inside our ServiceTitan playbook.

Perhaps the thing I value most about ServiceTitan is the real-time visibility into our performance metrics. Let me explain.

ServiceTitan empowers our leaders to act decisively, coach effectively, and maintain a high level of accountability across every department.

One of the high-impact capabilities of ServiceTitan is its robust custom reporting functionality. More specifically, ServiceTitan enables us to

• Create highly tailored reports that zero in on mission-critical metrics specific to our business needs.

• Equip our managers with precise, actionable information—enabling them to make informed, timely decisions that enhance our operational efficiency and service quality.

• Enable us to have a high-accountability environment by providing real-time visibility into what is happening every day. Every hour.

Check out our top 6 HVAC performers at HB Saint Louis, sorted by revenue (left hand column with "Employee Name” is intentionally omitted).

With ServiceTitan’s real-time data access, our managers have a constant pulse on key performance indicators (KPIs) like

Response times

Billable hour efficiency

Lead turnover rates

Customer satisfaction

Revenue generation

This level of visibility ensures nothing falls through the cracks and that every team member stays aligned with our operational goals.

Check out our top 6 HVAC performers at HB Saint Louis sorted by total sales:

Beyond visibility, ServiceTitan supports our commitment to coaching and continuous improvement:

• Managers can identify skill gaps quickly and provide targeted coaching, training, and support.

• When our teams know exactly where they stand—and exactly what's expected—performance naturally rises.

• This clear, data-driven approach fosters an environment of accountability where everyone is empowered to take ownership of their results and contributions.

ServiceTitan’s capabilities have fundamentally shifted how we manage performance and drive accountability.

Rather than waiting for monthly or quarterly reports, our teams receive daily or even hourly feedback. This immediacy keeps our teams agile and responsive, ensuring that minor issues are addressed swiftly before they escalate.

In essence, ServiceTitan provides our leaders with the insights and tools needed to cultivate a culture of proactive management and continuous improvement.

It is central to our strategy of maintaining high standards, supporting team development, and ensuring our operational excellence is not just a goal but a daily reality.

#grateful to have ServiceTitan sponsoring this section of TPLT

Private Equity activity is only intensifying.

Why independence is a non-negotiable

Staying independent isn’t just a philosophical choice—it’s foundational to who we are and how we operate.

At HB Solutions Group, independence provides the freedom to prioritize people and purpose over short-term financial pressures.

Unlike private equity firms that typically focus on quick financial returns, our independent status allows us to make decisions that benefit our employees, customers, and community over the long haul.

Independence lets us do things differently:

• Invest deeply in employee training and well-being, ensuring our teams are empowered, supported, and inspired.

• It means we can foster a culture built on long-term growth, trust, and stability rather than quick wins.

• We’re able to innovate patiently, knowing the investments we make today will yield sustained excellence tomorrow.

Moreover, independence is about preserving our values—integrity, commitment, and a relentless focus on quality.

By not answering to external investors with different priorities, we retain the flexibility to align every decision we make with our Purpose of improving life in every home.

Ultimately, independence ensures we control our destiny. It safeguards our ability to consistently deliver on our promises and to build something enduring, meaningful, and uniquely ours.

CyberNetic Labs - bringing powerful Agentic AI tools to the trades

A devastating tornado + Artificial Intelligence voice agents

On May 16th, Saint Louis had an EF3 Tornado rip through densely populated residential neighborhoods causing over $1B of damage. My brother Joe and I discuss the tornado’s impact and the role that resilience plays in allowing our community to rebuild.

So what does this have to do with artificial intelligence?

The tornado hit on a calm Friday afternoon, during an otherwise ordinary + slow day.

In the 90 minute period following the tornado’s impact, our call center experienced an unprecedented surge in call volume. People asking for help - desperate to connect with a service provider.

Roofs destroyed - and some ripped off entirely. Air conditioners that were thrown across yards or flung off the edge of rooftops.

Prior to partnering with CyberNetic Labs (or “Netic) - we would have experienced an abandoned call rate (i.e., the percentage of customers who hang up before we can get an agent on the phone) of 30%-40% during a call surge like this.

With Netic now deployed throughout our business, we have the ability to infinitely scale our capacity to book inbound calls.

Today, Netic provides “overflow” coverage during normal business hours, and provides “after-hours” support outside of our normal business hours.

In effect, this has eliminated:

• Long hold times

• Voicemails

• Low quality third-party answering services (a source of customer frustration)

While an event like a tornado is devastating and disruptive to the lives of many, I am proud of the way our company was prepared to respond and be of service to those who were effected.

Netic has improved our customer experience while concurrently driving improvements in KPIs inside of our call center.

Oh - and in case you missed it - CyberNetic labs was featured in the WSJ this month when they publicly launched their company - check it out HERE.

#grateful to have Cybernetic Labs sponsor this section of TPLT

Structuring our partnerships: win-win… win

Our second acquisition in Denver, CO

In October of 2024, HB Solutions Group acquired 75% of an incredible family business, Blue Sky, from 4th generation owner, Jesse Lanyon.

We welcomed nearly 130 team members to the HB Solutions Group team, and have charted a new course to transform Blue Sky into the market leader in Denver, Colorado.

HB Solutions Group continues to look for partners who want to build their business the right way, and do it with people they like.

If you own an HVAC, plumbing, electrical or roofing service & retrofit business, please reply to this email if you want to explore what a partnership with HB Solutions Group could look like.

*We are looking for the following types of companies to partner with:

• HVAC, plumbing, electrical or roofing industries

• An owner who values the longevity + stewardship of their people & company

• Over 50% of revenue from residential service & retrofit

• Not too heavy into new construction (none is preferred)

• Willing to embrace positive change to drive “wins” for shareholders, employees, and customers

Consumer Financing¹

Financing + Insurance + Your Roofing Customer = ??

Historically, contractors and homeowners could rely on homeowners’ insurance to cover most or all the expense resulting from weather, fire and other disaster-related damages.

Today, however, factors such as climate change, severe weather, and rising material and labor costs have prompted insurance companies to increase premiums and reduce payouts.

In some cases, insurance carriers are now increasing roof deductibles, making the deductible an amount equal to some percentage of home value (which often translates to a deductible that is higher than the cost of a roof replacement).

If you own a roofing business, and do not yet offer financing to your customers, you are unprepared for this sea change in the roofing industry.

One of our early priorities after acquiring Ferguson Roofing was to integrate GreenSky’s financing programs into our sales process.

Why is this increasingly important?

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) released a report on homeowners’ insurance “showing that it is becoming more costly and harder to procure for millions of Americans as the costs of climate-related events pose growing challenges to insurers and their customers alike.”

Among the report’s key findings:  

• Average homeowners’ insurance premiums per policy increased 8.7 percent faster than the rate of inflation in 2018-2022, according to the data analyzed.

• From 2018 to 2022, consumers living in the 20 percent of ZIP Codes with the highest expected annual losses to buildings from climate-related perils paid $2,321 in premiums on average, 82 percent more than those in the 20 percent lowest climate-risk ZIP Codes. 

• Policy nonrenewal rates also are higher in areas with the highest expected losses from climate-related perils, which indicates that consumers faced decreasing availability.

Where does financing come in?

• Provides a supplement to what insurance doesn’t cover

• Helps homeowners pay their increasingly large deductibles,

• Enables homeowners to pay for additional repairs or upgrades beyond what insurance may cover.

#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?

MARKETING

Choosing a marketing agency that is both (1) competent and (2) CARES about your specific business is hard. Over the last 5 years, I have become great friends with the founder of Ryno Strategic Solutions, Chris Yano, and can say with confidence that his agency is among the few that I would trust with my own brands. If you are searching for a partner, put them on your list to evaluate. Send a note to Jeff Bowab at [email protected] and tell him that I sent you.

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. From dispatching, to call taking, to in-home customer service, to pricing methodologies and more. Don’t try and re-create the wheel… come and learn from the best. Becoming a member is a life changing opportunity.

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

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

If you know someone who should read The Path Less Traveled - please forward this email them: https://thepathlesstraveled.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Follow along on social…

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