Working in the trades offers incredible opportunities, especially if you know how to meet and exceed the modern customer’s expectations. Two key insights from ServiceTitan's 2025 Consumer Trends Report point to the need to provide seamless web and mobile experiences and flexible payment options that resonate with multiple generations of homeowners.
And even more importantly, houses are getting older and people want to upgrade them. Consider the following:
ServiceTitan's internal analysis of industry data estimates that customers from homes and businesses in both the U.S. and Canada, alone, spend approximately $1.5 trillion annually on trade services.
Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies finds significant aging in the U.S. housing stock, with half of owner-occupied homes in the U.S. built before 1980 and the median age of homes reaching 41 years in 2023.
ServiceTitan user data shows contractors have recorded a total of 65 million pieces of equipment in our software, and of that equipment, 43% was installed 10+ years ago and 16% was installed over 20 years ago.
In 2024 alone, ServiceTitan users installed 2.5 million pieces of equipment.
The bottom line? Older homes are going to require more repairs, maintenance, and upgrades to remain safe, functional, and efficient. And when systems fail, your business must be ready to step in and save the day.
“That is what the 2025 Consumer Trends Report is all about—to give you, the contractor, the data you need to deliver an exceptional customer experience” says Jackie Aubel, ServiceTitan Sr. Content Marketing Manager. “Because when you deliver an exceptional customer experience, you win more business.”
>>Download the 2025 Consumer Trends in the Trades Report to get a jump on your sales and service strategy for 2026!
The ServiceTitan survey, developed in collaboration with Synchrony and Visa, also shows a powerful shift in consumer spending with regard to home improvement planning. Of the homeowners with mortgages under 3%, the following demographics are planning major home improvements or upgrades to their home in the next two years:
53% of Gen Z (ages 18 to 29) and Millennials (ages 30 to 45)
43% of Gen Xers (ages 46 to 59)
34% of Baby Boomers (ages 60 to 80)
“This means that savvy contractors looking to capitalize on the incredible opportunities within the trades must develop strategies that target and satisfy consumers in multiple generations,” Aubel says. “We're not just looking at older folks who may have homes. We're looking at people all across the spectrum who have very different expectations for their service provider.”
In a recent webinar, Aubel, ServiceTitan Principal Industry Advisor Angie Snow, and ServiceTitan Senior Program Facilitator Tim Sjobeck discuss two top-level strategies to help you deliver a world-class experience to a diverse range of customers:
Providing a flexible booking experience on web and mobile to satisfy the communication needs of multiple generations.
Offering financing as well as multiple payment options to allow consumers the ability to pay the way they want to.
>>New to ServiceTitan? Watch the full webinar on-demand to see how we’re meeting consumer demand to reshape the service journey.
Here are some highlights.
Consumers expect seamless, flexible experiences
According to the survey, consumers expect a seamless, flexible experience, and they want that experience delivered through features that allow digital booking, personalized communication, and multiple ways to pay.
The survey also found:
80% of home improvement shoppers begin research online
53% use mobile devices throughout that journey
34% of Gen Z and 38% of Millennials are comfortable using AI bots for customer service
So, how do home service providers leverage digital channels to empower consumers?
Snow, who has over 15 years of experience building her own successful HVAC business, Western Heating, Air & Plumbing in Utah, says it’s about making it easy for customers to do business with you, much like ordering products on Amazon or scheduling a dentist appointment.
“I remember almost 20 years ago, all I had to do was be in a phone book. That's not the story anymore,” Snow says. “Everything is digital. We’re moving to this digital world, and we're moving to a very instantaneous way of getting everything we need.”
To master the digital landscape, home service providers must be active on social media with a fully developed Google Business Profile and a strong website that promotes brand recognition and trust.
“Our brand has to stand out so that people want to do business with us,” Snow says.
Taking it a step further, Aubel says consumers may find your website online but if there’s no way to easily schedule service or chat with someone online, they’ll still look for a more modern service provider. Snow agrees, and says it’s also about being responsive.
Western Heating, Air & Plumbing uses ServiceTitan scheduling and marketing features to allow customers to book online and track campaign ROI.
“They can find us, and they can quickly schedule or contact us, but if we're not responsive, you've got two to five minutes, maybe, to be responsive and then they're on to the next company,” Snow says.
To be more responsive, Snow hired a full-time employee to manage social media and monitor the traction to the company’s website from its social media accounts.
“Do you know how they're getting there? Is it SEO? Is it PPC? Is it Maps? What are they doing?” Snow asks. “You need to be able to have a way to track the traffic that's coming to your website.”
Provide a flexible booking experience on web and mobile
Modern home service providers use ServiceTitan to catch more customers with multiple booking options either through the core web appointment scheduler or with the add-on Scheduling Pro.
The web appointment scheduler allows your customers to instantly request appointments online via a widget you add to your company website. You can copy and paste the widget’s code, customize it, and embed it in multiple areas throughout the website, Sjobeck says.
Scheduling Pro works similarly, but with deeper integrations and added customizations to your online booking capabilities, such as:
Branded experiences (logos, colors)
Lead capture for abandoned bookings
Routing across multiple accounts
Advanced capacity management
Powerful marketing attribution with Marketing Pro for tracking lead sources like Google/Yelp
>>Need to set up the web appointment scheduler? See a live demo.
Giving your customers access to ServiceTitan’s customer portal provides another way to unlock a better customer experience.
Whether customers want to book their own appointments, pay invoices, approve proposals, track tasks, or manage equipment, the new customer portal offers key self-service features to help you reduce manual tasks and unlock more revenue for your business.
“We lower overhead costs by decreasing the calls to the office, where [customers] can manage things like their equipment, maybe their memberships, things of that nature,” Sjobeck says. “A lot of backend stuff can be done for the customer directly.
“Having this customization makes you stand out with your competitors,” he adds.
You can also add the web appointment scheduler directly to your customer portal. And Sjobeck’s pro tip is to create a Loom video as part of your company’s welcome packet to help customers know how to use the customer portal and understand its value. You can also add Alerts to track each customer’s activity in the portal.
“What I love about the customer portal is, it personalizes it,” Snow says. “I have a special place just for you to log in, where you can check your equipment, you can check our past services, you can go look at any estimates that we've given you before. We can track anything you want there so they have access to that.”
>>Did you know setting up Alerts in your ServiceTitan account adds automation and efficiency to your business? Watch the live webinar to learn why.
“That is probably my biggest pro tip: Utilize alerts throughout your business,” Sjobeck says.
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Offering financing and multiple payment options
The second strategy to focus on in 2026 involves making it easier for customers to pay for their home improvement services.
“Contractors must—not should—offer the flexibility of financing and multiple ways to pay,” says Aubel, who hosts ServiceTitan’s podcast, Toolbox for the Trades. “I cannot tell you how many conversations I've had this year about the importance of financing.”
For instance, the Consumer Trends Report shows today’s customers are more cost conscious and expect financing and flexible, easy digital payment options. And offering that flexibility directly impacts close rates and ticket size. Here are some data points from the report:
94% of home service customers own a credit card
90% use a credit card regularly, showing demand for digital and flexible payment options
41% of major purchase shoppers always seek financing
ServiceTitan contractors who offer financing see 12% higher close rates and 13% higher ticket sizes.
“If you're not offering financing, you're leaving a lot of money on the table,” Snow says.
Two common pitfalls that contractors fall into when it comes to offering financing include:
Not offering it because they think the dealer fees are too high.
Technicians don’t know how to offer financing to every customer.
To solve the first issue, Snow suggests bundling the fee into your pricing. For the second, just train techs to offer financing on every job, no matter the income level of the customer.
“Just because you’re assuming people won't want financing doesn't mean you shouldn't offer it. I know a lot of very wealthy people who still choose financing because of whatever reason they may have, they may want to stretch their dollar further,” Snow says. “So, offering it to every single person, I think, is a must.”
With ServiceTitan’s Integrated Financing, techs can easily present financing offers and multiple payment options to customers in one single app.
“We make it easy for the technicians, easy for the consumers, and it's a seamless process that will not only help your technicians, but offer a great solution for your customers,” Snow says.
Working with multiple financing partners, such as GoodLeap, Wells Fargo, GreenSky, Financeit, and others, ServiceTitan’s Integrated Financing allows techs to automatically seek a second look at financing when the primary provider rejects a customer’s application. And when you add Integrated Financing to your customer portal, customers can see, sign, and approve your offer.
“It simplifies it for the technicians and it creates a great customer experience by speeding this process up and getting them the financing they need,” Sjobeck says.
>>Learn more about setting up ServiceTitan’s Integrated Financing by watching the full webinar.
