A few weeks ago, a potential customer phoned Call Dad, a residential HVAC company serving the Carolinas. But all of the customer sales representatives (CSR) were busy.
The caller was placed on hold via an automated voice message. But instead of waiting to speak to someone, the caller hung up.
Were they calling another HVAC company? Call Dad’s team didn’t waste time wondering. They quickly called the potential customer back, and asked why they had hung up.
“(It said that) we could book online,” the caller said, referring to the automated voice message. “So we were just booking online.”
This is one of Call Dad’s newest ServiceTitan features. And it’s a favorite of Derik Wolfe’s. It’s called Scheduling Pro.
Scheduling Pro allows customers to book directly through Call Dad’s website at any time of day.
“People just go online, book the call, it goes on the schedule. You never even have to do anything,” said Wolfe, Call Dad’s head of operations.
“I think (this is) the future. What I've seen in the last five to 10 years, people are getting more and more introverted and don't want to have open conversations. (They’re) looking for ease of booking.”
Do more — without lifting a finger
When Wolfe first started his career, the only technology he had access to in his truck were paper maps and a huge yellow Nextel.
“It literally took me 30 minutes to figure out where I was going after I finished one call,” Wolfe chuckled.
It’s no wonder he has been quick to embrace new technology. When Call Dad was updating its website last fall, it was important to him that the company lean into advancements like online booking through Scheduling Pro.
In addition to Scheduling Pro, Call Dad also uses ServiceTitan’s Live Chat services.
Live Chat is where industry-trained representatives are available 24/7 to answer customer calls and help schedule appointments. It ensures every customer is fully taken care of—even if Call Dad hasn’t actually spoken to them yet.
“They get all the information they need, even what the (tech) looks like,” Wolfe said. “Then when we show up, they have their first conversation with Call Dad.”
Dispatching made easy — really easy
As seamless as the online booking is for customers, it’s even more efficient for Call Dad’s team.
When a customer books online, the appointment is automatically put on the dispatch board and assigned to a tech, through another ServiceTitan feature, Dispatch Pro.
Dispatch Pro uses machine learning to assign the right tech to every job—according to skill level, sales background and proximity to a booking.
“Dispatch Pro with Scheduling Pro has been really great for us,” Wolfe said. “If (customers) book an appointment online, Dispatch Pro picks that appointment up, puts it on the board for us and nobody ever touches it.”
Right tech, right job: When setting up Dispatch Pro, Wolfe said there was a lot of room to customize how the software assigned techs, “and then it follows those rules that you set,” he explained. Now he knows the right tech is going to every job, “compared to before, (when) you hoped your dispatcher was doing what they were supposed to.”
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Get used to busy “slow seasons”
When Call Dad started using Dispatch Pro, it had three dispatchers overseeing 30 trucks. But by the time winter rolled around, the company dropped down to one dispatcher.
The team is planning on bringing on more dispatchers this spring, but they wanted to get through the winter season first.
“Even with it being a slower time, we grew 81% from last (January), and still only had one dispatcher,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe is optimistic Call Dad will continue to grow in the coming months. The company is on track to grow revenue by 120% in 2024, and is looking to acquire other HVAC companies in the Carolinas.
These are lofty goals, and it’s hard to believe that something as simple as, say, online booking could aid in the business’s success. But “if 30% of our (bookings) start coming in that way,” Wolfe explained, “that takes pressure off of our CSR team, and lets them do outbound (sales) more.”
So taking advantage of these efficiencies is vital for Wolfe.
“Features like (Dispatch Pro and Scheduling Pro) help us become a better business, better company and do what we ultimately want to do: Serve like family and be there for our customers.”
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.
