Inside Pantheon
ServiceTitan hosted its annual Pantheon event in Orlando this week
ServiceTitan hosted its annual Pantheon event this week and was friendly enough to invite me. Beyond the typical schmoozing — “Contractors, this new feature is gonna be huge for you” — it was fun and well put together.
And, in a good way, it had everything you’d expect when you cram 4,000 people into a Marriott: Product announcements, educational sessions, and a hint of drama.
Some quick hits from my notebook:
💻 Products: ServiceTitan launched two new Pro products: Contact Center Pro and SalesPro.
-
Contact Center Pro unifies email, phone, web, and social media messages into a universal inbox, managed by virtual assistants.
-
SalesPro, built in partnership with Siro, a competitor of Rilla, the event’s main sponsor, records and analyzes in-home sales conversations, allowing managers to perform virtual ride-alongs with field professionals.
-
I talked to Rilla’s CEO to get a pulse check after the announcement, and I thought his viewpoint made sense: Siro aside, by launching SalesPro, ServiceTitan, in a way, validated the product category.
👌 Incentives: Rainforest Plumbing & Air’s co-owners delivered a simple yet insightful talk on structuring reward programs and incentivizing employees.
-
The company uses the “CATS” framework for designing incentives: Clear, Attainable, Trackable, and Scaleable.
-
For example, it rewards technicians for every 5-star review. The program is clear because it’s specific — 5 stars or nothing. It’s attainable since it’s ongoing, trackable in ServiceTitan and Awardco, their reward software, and scaleable because, in their case, it’s low-cost.
👨💼 Operations: A panel featuring the CEOs of ARS, Flint Group, and TurnPoint Services covered industry changes, day-to-day operations, and more.
-
ARS: “I’m thinking about comfort advisor pay right now because of price increases. If you’re paying a percentage of the sale and the average ticket shoots up, that’s a big raise you have to give them.”
-
Flint: “From 2020 to 2022, it was like fish in a barrel. It was easy to sell. But I don’t think the industry’s changed much. You block and tackle, present options, answer the phones, and collect money. Do the normal stuff really well.”
-
TurnPoint: “I would hire for competencies. I don’t think there’s a right place to find people; they come from all over — car dealerships, bars. The competencies you’re looking for… write them down. And then have the discipline to onboard those people.”
The bottom line: I wish I could have attended more panels, but all in all, I got a good vibe from my conversations. Everyone seemed to be on the same page — among the announcements, panels, and coffee breaks — thinking simply about how to grow, serve customers, and do the right thing.
📬 Get our stories in your inbox
Keep reading
HVAC Deals: January 2024
Recent investment activity from around the industry
“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer,” says contractor about private equity
Welcome to Post Close, a monthly series anonymously exploring the thoughts of HVAC contractors who have sold their businesses to a private-equity-backed platform
HVAC startups get hot, drawing new investments
September 25, 2023