If your leads live in texts and your jobs live on a whiteboard, you’re leaking profit. A good CRM pays for itself in 30 days—if you pick the right one and deploy it right.
What actually matters in a contractor CRM Ignore shiny dashboards. You need tools that book, dispatch, invoice, and follow up without drama.
Must‑haves:
- **Fast scheduling/dispatch:** Drag‑and‑drop board, capacity view, technician skills, real‑time GPS.
- **Estimates and price book:** Good/better/best options, photos, financing, e‑sign.
- **Two‑way texting + automations:** Missed‑call text back, SMS sequences, review requests.
- **Payments:** Card + ACH in‑field. Deposits for projects.
- **Open API/Zapier:** So marketing and phones talk to it.
- **Reporting that matters:** Lead‑to‑book, book‑to‑sale, average ticket, memberships, CAC.
Nice‑to‑haves: LSA integration, phone call pop, materials tracking, job costing, forms.
The short list (and who they fit) Here’s the operator’s take. No fluff.
- **ServiceTitan:** Enterprise HVAC/plumbing/electrical. Deep price book, memberships, marketing pro, dispatch IQ. Heavy, powerful, pricey ($300–$450+/user). Needs a champion. If you’re $5M+ and want control, it’s the standard.
- **Housecall Pro:** Solid SMB all‑rounder. Easy for techs, good scheduling, texts, estimates, payments. $65–$199/user tiers. Great for 1–20 techs. Lighter reporting than Titan.
- **Jobber:** Clean UI, strong quoting/invoicing, routing. Great for lawn, cleaning, painting, handyman, epoxy. $69–$349/month plans. Less deep on HVAC trade specifics.
- **Service Fusion:** Mid‑market feature set, decent dispatch, phone system add‑ons. Good value. UI not as slick.
- **ServiceM8 (iOS‑first):** Field‑friendly for small crews on Apple. Great forms/automation. Not ideal for complex shops.
- **Buildertrend/CoConstruct:** Project management for remodelers/GCs. Client portals, selections, change orders. Not a service CRM.
- **GoHighLevel (GHL):** Not a field CRM. It’s a marketing automation platform. Pair with your field CRM to run funnels, SMS, and reviews. Cheap power if you implement.
- **Salesforce/HubSpot:** Overkill unless you have in‑house admins. You’ll hate the customization tax.
Our quick picks:
- 1–5 techs, simple jobs: Jobber or Housecall Pro.
- 5–30 techs, HVAC/plumbing/electrical: Housecall Pro or ServiceTitan (if you can stomach price + change mgmt).
- Roofing/remodel/GC with long projects: Buildertrend + a light service CRM for leads and follow‑up.
- Epoxy/painting: Jobber + GHL for lead intake and SMS.
Rollout that actually sticks Software doesn’t fix bad process. Process fixes bad software.
- **Owner picks a champion:** Someone accountable for go‑live. Give them time and authority.
- **Clean your data:** Deduplicate customers, standardize services, set price book. Garbage in = garbage out.
- **Build your pipeline:** Stages: New Lead → Contacted → Estimate Set → Estimate Sent → Won/Lost. For projects: add Deposit, Scheduled, In‑Progress, Punch, Collected.
- **Automate the boring stuff:** - Missed call text back. - “Estimate sent” SMS with calendar link. - 3/7/14‑day rehash. - Review ask after job with photo prompt.
- **Integrate phones:** Use CallRail/Aircall/RingCentral. Pop customer records on ring. Record all calls. Score weekly.
- **Dashboards that matter:** - Lead → Contact rate - Contact → Book rate - Book → Show rate - Close rate by source - Avg ticket by source - CAC by source
Train like you mean it:
- 2 days for CSRs on scripts and screens.
- 2 ride‑alongs per tech to use mobile app.
- Shadow accountability the first 2 weeks.
Pricing reality Budget for growth, not price alone.
- Housecall Pro/Jobber: $69–$349/mo base plus per‑user. Expect $300–$1,200/mo all‑in for a small team.
- ServiceTitan: $300–$450+/user. $3k–$10k/mo for mid‑size. Big bite, big output if you use it.
- Add‑ons: CallRail ($45–$145/mo), GHL ($97–$297/mo), Zapier ($20–$100/mo).
A 5% bump in close rate or a $100 lift in average ticket pays for this. Do the math.