Field notes
Straight talk on pricebooks and selling install work.
No fluff, no buzzwords, just what we've learned building ServiceTitan pricebooks and running trade shops.
Flat rate pricing for the trades, explained
One quoted price for the whole job, agreed before the work. Here is why flat rate holds your margin better than a clock, and how to price a job that way.
How to write ServiceTitan service names and descriptions that sell
Almost every service in a real book has a description filled in. The name is where the trouble is, and the name is what your techs and your software actually read.
How to build ServiceTitan Recommendations and Upgrades into your pricebook
ServiceTitan puts two selling fields on every service, Recommendations and Upgrades. Most books leave them blank. Here is how to fill them, and why it matters more now.
Markup vs margin: why 50 percent can mean two different prices
A 50 percent markup on a $100 part sells it for $150 and keeps 33 percent. A 50 percent margin sells it for $200 and keeps 50. Same number, different box.
How to export your ServiceTitan pricebook
Five clicks gets you the file. The two settings you click past on the way decide whether what lands on your computer is your whole pricebook or a slice of it.
Do you need to link materials in ServiceTitan if your prices are static?
The most common objection to linking materials is 'my price is static, I'll just bake the parts into the price.' It's half right, and that half is the trap. Here's what ServiceTitan actually does when you link materials.
The silent gap: why you never see replacement opportunities
ServiceTitan can tell you which customers are due for a new system before the old one fails. Most shops get none of these alerts and never notice, because you cannot miss a lead that never shows up.
Migrating your pricebook to ServiceTitan
You're moving to ServiceTitan. Great call. Just don't drag your old book in as-is. Here's what actually moves, the order to do it in, and where the migration goes wrong.
Revenue per employee for the trades: what HVAC, plumbing, and electrical owners should expect
Revenue per employee is the fastest read on whether your shop is built to make money or just built to stay busy. Here is the number, the honest benchmarks, and how to raise it.
How to audit your ServiceTitan pricebook
You can audit your own pricebook in an afternoon. Here are the seven things to check, in order, and what each one is costing you while you don't.
The state of the ServiceTitan pricebook: what 27 real books show
We pulled the numbers from 27 real ServiceTitan pricebooks, 65,819 active services in total. The pattern is the same book to book: the work is described, but the selling structure the platform can prompt is almost never turned on. Here is the data, the method, and what it means.
How to read your shop's P&L in 90 seconds
You don't need an accounting degree. Three lines on the P&L tell you whether the business made money and whether the problem is pricing or production.
Coming soon
What we're writing next
- The complete guide to a ServiceTitan pricebook that sells The pillar: structure, pricing, options and adoption in one place.
- ServiceTitan pricebook import errors (and the silent ones) Vendor mappings wiped, duplicate codes, the gotchas nobody warns you about.
- Good / better / best in ServiceTitan How to structure tiered options techs will actually present.
One pricebook trick a month
One short email: a real leak we found in a real shop, and the steps to check your own book for it. No fluff, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
By signing up you agree to receive the monthly email. One click to leave.