Insight • 5 min read

Field Service Case Study: How Regional HVAC Co. Saved $18K/Year

A regional HVAC company serving residential and commercial clients across three states was struggling with operational inefficiency. Their fragmented software stack was costing them $2,400+/month and causing technician frustration.

$18,828
Annual savings
23%
Increase
Same-day
invoicing
🔍

Executive Summary

A regional HVAC company serving residential and commercial clients across three states was struggling with operational inefficiency. Their fragmented software stack was costing them $2,400+/month and causing technician frustration.

After consolidating to Custanova, they achieved:

  • $18,828 annual savings on software costs
  • 23% increase in jobs completed per technician
  • Same-day invoicing (previously 3-5 day delay)
  • Zero paper forms (previously 40% paper-based)

The Challenge

Before Custanova

The company was using:

  • Salesforce Essentials for customer management ($875/mo)
  • ServiceTitan for dispatch and scheduling ($1,400/mo)
  • Typeform for customer satisfaction surveys ($70/mo)
  • Zapier to connect everything ($99/mo)

Total Monthly Spend: $2,444

Pain Points

  1. Data Silos: Customer information lived in Salesforce. Job history lived in ServiceTitan. Survey responses lived in Typeform. Nobody had the full picture.

  2. Offline Failures: Technicians frequently lost connectivity in basements, attics, and rural areas. ServiceTitan's mobile app would freeze, forcing paper fallbacks.

  3. Integration Breakdowns: Zapier connections broke monthly. Lead data didn't sync to job records. Survey responses were orphaned.

  4. Slow Invoicing: Jobs completed Friday weren't invoiced until the following week due to manual data reconciliation.

  5. Technician Frustration: "I spend more time fighting the software than fixing AC units." — Field Technician


📊

The Solution

Migration to Custanova

The company migrated to Custanova Pro ($25/user/month) over a 2-week period:

Week 1:

  • Exported Salesforce contacts and accounts
  • Imported historical job data via CSV
  • Configured custom form for service reports

Week 2:

  • Deployed mobile app to all 35 technicians
  • Conducted 2-hour training session
  • Ran parallel operation with old system

Week 3:

  • Cut over to Custanova as primary system
  • Decommissioned ServiceTitan and Typeform
  • Cancelled Zapier subscription

🚀

The Results

Cost Savings

Category Before After Savings
CRM/Customer Management $875 Included $875
Field Service Platform $1,400 Included $1,400
Forms/Surveys $70 Included $70
Integration Platform $99 $0 $99
Monthly Total $2,444 $875 $1,569
Annual Total $29,328 $10,500 $18,828

Operational Improvements

Technician Productivity:

  • Jobs per technician increased from 5.2/day to 6.4/day (23% improvement)
  • Reduced "windshield time" with intelligent route optimization
  • Eliminated 30 minutes/day of data re-entry

Invoicing Speed:

  • Before: 3-5 business days from job completion
  • After: Same-day invoicing (often within 30 minutes)
  • Cash flow improvement: ~$15,000/month faster collections

Data Quality:

  • Customer records: 100% linked to job history
  • Survey responses: 100% attached to job records
  • Duplicate contacts: Reduced from 12% to <1%

Technician Satisfaction:

  • Net Promoter Score (internal): Improved from -15 to +42
  • "The app actually works in basements now." — Field Technician

💡

Key Features Used

1. Offline-First Mobile App

Technicians complete full service reports in basements, attics, and rural areas without connectivity. Photos, signatures, and form data sync automatically when back online.

2. Intelligent Route Optimization

Powered by Google Maps AI, daily routes are optimized for shortest drive time. Result: 18% reduction in fuel costs.

3. Unified Customer View

Every customer record shows:

  • Contact information
  • Complete service history
  • Open quotes and invoices
  • Survey scores
  • Communication log

4. Automated Follow-Ups

Workflow automation sends:

  • Service confirmation emails (immediate)
  • Satisfaction surveys (24 hours post-job)
  • Maintenance reminders (6 months post-service)

5. Real-Time Dashboard

Dispatch managers see:

  • Technician locations on live map
  • Job status in real-time
  • Daily completion metrics
  • SLA compliance tracking

🎯

Implementation Timeline

Week Milestone
Week 1 Data migration and form configuration
Week 2 Mobile deployment and training
Week 3 Full cutover
Week 4 Process optimization and automation setup

Total Implementation Time: 4 weeks
Total Implementation Cost: $2,500 (internal labor + training)


Quote from the Operations Director

"We were paying almost $30,000 a year for software that didn't talk to each other. Our technicians hated it. Our office staff spent hours reconciling data.

Custanova gave us one system that actually works. The ROI was obvious within the first month. The technician feedback alone was worth the switch."

Sarah M., Operations Director


📈

Lessons Learned

  1. Parallel operation is essential: Running both systems for 1 week caught edge cases before full cutover.

  2. Technician buy-in matters: Involving field staff in form design led to better adoption.

  3. Data cleanup first: Deduplicating contacts before migration prevented inherited problems.

  4. Automate early: Setting up workflow automations during Week 4 locked in efficiency gains.


🔍

Conclusion

For field service companies, the fragmented software model is unsustainable. Integration costs, data silos, and offline failures create hidden operational drag that compounds over time.

Consolidating to a unified platform like Custanova delivers:

  • Immediate cost savings (50-70% typical)
  • Operational efficiency gains (15-25% productivity improvement)
  • Improved technician experience
  • Better customer visibility

Is your field service operation ready to consolidate?

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This case study is based on a real Custanova customer. Some details have been anonymized for confidentiality.

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