Podcast Summary

Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service

Episode: The Smart Tech Plan for Contractors to Budget 3% to 6% and Stop Overspending

Guests: Jenny Benbrook (Powerhouse Consulting Group), Hosts: Tersh Blissett & Josh Crouch
Date: October 22, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Tersh and Josh talk with Jenny Benbrook, co-founder and CEO of Powerhouse Consulting Group, about how home service business owners can revolutionize their tech investment strategy. Jenny dives deep into budgeting for technology (allocating 3-6% of revenue), avoiding redundant software stack costs, effectively implementing automation and AI, and overcoming resistance to tech adoption in skilled trades businesses. Her insights are grounded in almost two decades of experience in the trades and in guiding contractors through the fast-changing tech landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rapidly Changing Tech Landscape in the Trades

• Explosion of Tech Options: Jenny describes how the number and pace of new technology solutions, especially for SMB contractors, has dramatically increased, changing the field so quickly that many haven't yet mastered their primary FSM (Field Service Management) platforms.
  • "The entire tech landscape has come completely changed... before most contractors have had a chance to get really comfortable with their primary FSM platform." (05:30)
• Marketing’s Evolution: The shift from simple, creative yellow pages ads to complex, data-driven and algorithmic digital marketing required a “whole new skill set.”
  • "You could no longer do this own as a contractor unless you really set aside that time to learn, to build. And that's a tremendous amount of dedication." (09:04)

Building and Auditing a "Smart" Tech Stack

• Redundancy and Overspend: Contractors often buy overlapping tools—particularly in marketing platforms—without realizing their FSM (like ServiceTitan) already has equivalent features.
  • "You might have a case where you want Marketing Pro and Hatch or Chirp... but most of the time, you’re paying for tools you’re not using or have redundancies." (23:32)
• Conducting an Audit: Powerhouse Consulting does a business and budget discovery—identifying goals and matching the tech stack, then auditing for redundancies and creating an implementation strategy.
  • “Do you have redundant tools? That’s a big one... Are you double paying, or do you have tools available... that you’re not using?” (23:19-26:32)

Notable Process Steps:

• Business & Budget Discovery: Analyze needs/goals vs. current stack
• Audit: Identify overlap and unused features
• Implementation Playbook: Assign project champions and clear roles so tools are owned and monitored, not “set and forget”

Change Management and Adoption Barriers

• Tech Anxiety: Resistance to new tech comes down to comfort zones (e.g., a large contractor still using pagers, pen and paper, manual invoicing).
  • "If I move away from this beeper that I’ve had for probably like 30 years... then I’ve got to implement this behemoth of an FSM platform and I’ve got to learn that." (30:27)
• Internal Champions: Avoid “super user risk” where only one person knows the tools—power lies in cross-training and shared ownership by department.
  • "We focus on really training and building the development internally to mitigate that risk or limit the exposure that a contractor might face." (14:27)

AI and Automation in the Trades

• Adoption Resistance: Many employees fear AI will replace their jobs, but Jenny reframes AI as an enhancer, not a replacer, especially in people-centric industries.
  • "If we can help a CSR understand the value of an AI agent in enhancing their productivity... then we can typically really gain adoption." (34:22)
  • "If you use AI as a tool... and you adopt it... all of a sudden you’re a hero." (36:20)
• Perceived vs. Actual Efficiency: Tech only improves margins if fully implemented and monitored—not just purchased.
  • "I've started to refer to it as perceived efficiency, where contractors are buying or signing up for all these products... but the misnomer is it takes work. You have to implement it, train, and then start over again as updates are released." (37:16)

Tech Spending—How Much Is Enough?

• Building a Tech Budget: Just as marketing budgets are set as a % of revenue, allocate 3-6% of revenue toward technology for proper enablement and scaling.
  • "Think about your tech in the same way and allocate a percentage of your growth goal to your tech because your tech is helping you achieve that growth goal. So it ranges 3 to 6% is what we find on average." (00:00, 46:03)
• Overspending/Underspending Triggers:
  • Underspend = can’t keep up or scale properly
  • Overspend (10-15%) = redundancy, lack of plan, profit leaks
• Evaluate regularly by running a cost-benefit analysis and removing duplicative spend (47:16)

M&A, Enterprise, and Future Trends

• Complexity at Scale: Consolidators and PE groups must standardize stack across locations, often involving pre-acquisition audits for tech compatibility/migration costs.
  • "We’re brought in quite often during the diligence phase to run that analysis because that’s factored into the valuation and the total deal. What does that lift look like?" (49:31)
• No Silver Bullets: Value comes from maximizing the tools you do have, not constantly switching.
  • "If you're using 1% of ServiceTitan, but you're using 90% of FieldEdge, that makes a difference." (51:34)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tech Budgeting:
  "Allocate a percentage of your growth goal to your tech because your tech is helping you achieve that growth goal. So it ranges 3 to 6% is what we find on average." – Jenny (00:00 / 46:03)

• On Change Management:
  "A lot of what we do... is breaking down the resistance to change. And a lot of that is just the fear of the unknown." – Jenny (31:19)

• On Avoiding the "Super User" Problem:
  "If you have one individual who knows the product... if anything happens—maybe not even if they leave, but if it's a family emergency—so we focus on building multiple ServiceTitan super users departmentally." – Jenny (14:27)

• On AI’s Role in the Trades:
  "AI can be utilized as a productivity enhancer... We do need options... We are so people centric, so I don't think AI will ever completely take these roles." – Jenny (34:22-36:20)

• On “Perceived Efficiency”:
  "Contractors are buying or signing up for all these products... but the misnomer is it takes work... treat your tech as a team member—invest in it, understand it, grow with it." – Jenny (37:16)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00 & 46:03] - Jenny explains the 3-6% tech budget rule for SMBs.
• [05:30] - Discussion on how fast the tech landscape is changing for contractors.
• [14:27] - The dangers of relying on a single tech "super user".
• [23:19-26:32] - How to perform a tech stack audit and build a thoughtful implementation plan.
• [31:19] - Jenny describes the importance of change management and coaching for adoption.
• [34:22-36:20] - Overcoming skepticism and achieving buy-in for AI and automation.
• [37:16] - The concept of “perceived efficiency”—purchasing software vs. actually realizing its benefits.
• [49:31] - How M&A teams use tech audits for due diligence.

Conclusion & Takeaways

For Contractors:

• Start thinking strategically about your tech investment: Aim for 3-6% of revenue, review and audit regularly, avoid redundant tools, and focus on implementation—not just purchasing flashy new software.
• Cross-train teams to avoid losing key operational knowledge, and use tech as a tool to enhance—not threaten—people’s contributions.
• Work with specialists (like Powerhouse) to get the most out of your investment, especially as tech gets more complex and critical to business success.

Connect/Next Steps:

• Contractors can connect and get free advice from Powerhouse’s office hours or reach out via their website (MyPowerhouse Group).
• Jenny and her team are open to questions and are focused on education as much as implementation.

Contact Powerhouse & Jenny:

• Website: MyPowerhouse Group
• Free office hours and Q&A: Available on their website