Jobber - Experts & Thought Leaders

Jobber, the provider of home service software, today released its latest Home Service Economic Report: 2024 Q3. The report features expert insights and proprietary data aggregated from more than 250,000 residential cleaners, landscapers, HVAC technicians, electricians, plumbers, and more, who run their businesses using Jobber. data findings The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent interest rate cuts are already showing early signs of impact on consumer spending, bringing cautious optimism for the home service industry. After a slower first half of 2024, Jobber's data shows increased momentum through the end of Q3, signaling a gradual recovery fueled by improved financial flexibility for consumers. These findings are also supported by the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (MCSI), a monthly survey based on interviews that measure U.S. consumer attitudes towards personal finances, business conditions, and economic activity. home service category "As we move through the second half of 2024, we're seeing encouraging signs for the home service category, especially as financial conditions continue to improve and consumer confidence grows," said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. "At Jobber, we're committed to helping small home service businesses capitalize on these opportunities, and the data we're seeing suggests a path toward sustained growth in the months and years ahead." Demand for Home Service Outpaces Consumer Goods Higher average invoice sizes helped stabilize revenue, balancing the variability in new work Despite fluctuations in new work volume, consumer demand for home services held steady in Q3, with spending on services outpacing consumer goods. Higher average invoice sizes helped stabilize revenue, balancing the variability in new work. As interest rate cuts improve disposable income and consumer sentiment, household spending power is expected to rise, potentially driving further growth in home service demand. greater affordability Economists anticipate that the interest rate cuts will continue into 2025, providing greater affordability in areas like mortgage rates and financing for home improvements. This environment is expected to boost activity across both the housing and home service markets as consumers look to invest in essential home maintenance and renovation projects. Housing Market: A Positive Outlook Ahead Rising home equity and expected increases in home improvements will drive demand for discretionary The housing market remains closely tied to demand for home services, and recent data indicates a promising future for this sector. While certain indicators, such as construction spending, new permits, and housing starts, have shown temporary stagnation, the cumulative effect of rate cuts is projected to revitalize the market by mid-2025. Rising home equity and expected increases in home improvements will drive demand for both discretionary and essential projects, pushing projected annual spending to $477 billion by Q3 2025, nearing previous peak levels. Segment Highlights: Green, Cleaning, Contracting, and Construction Jobber's report includes insights on the four key segments within the home services category, revealing trends in consumer spending and business resilience: Green: The Green segment, which includes lawn care and landscaping, saw early growth in 2024, though activity slowed in Q3 except for July. Despite economic pressures, median revenue remained stable as homeowners prioritized smaller, recurring outdoor maintenance over large renovations. Cleaning: Cleaning services, including residential and commercial cleaning, have seen rising median prices but declining volumes in 2024. While new work schedules fluctuated due to reduced consumer spending, service providers have maintained stable revenue growth by increasing prices and focusing on premium offerings. Contracting: The Contracting segment, covering services like electricians and HVAC, experienced a downturn in new work scheduled by late Q3. Nonetheless, median revenue stayed steady, likely due to pricing adjustments and a shift toward higher-value projects. Construction: Construction services, including residential and commercial projects, have seen an improvement in median revenue as consumer spending shifts toward maintenance and improvements. However, new work schedules continued to decline in Q3, reflecting cautious spending amid the gradual economic recovery. sustained demand and expansion "The 2024 Q3 Jobber Home Service Economic Report shows a promising outlook for the home services sector as interest rate cuts start to boost consumer spending and demand," said Abheek Dhawan, Senior VP of Strategy & Analytics at Jobber. "With rising home equity and a shift toward maintenance projects, we anticipate steady growth as financial conditions improve. The sector is well-positioned to benefit from an aging housing stock and increased focus on essential updates, setting the stage for sustained demand and expansion through 2025 and beyond."

Jobber, the pioneering provider of home service software, announced the launch of Jobber Copilot, an AI-powered assistant that serves as a business coach, data analyst, marketing specialist, and Jobber product expert to help home service pros make better data-driven decisions, improve their strategies, and streamline their operations like never before. "We're developing AI tools to further simplify the daily operations of service professionals, with the long-term goal of having AI handle all administrative tasks, allowing business owners to focus on the work that they're actually getting paid for," said Forrest Zeisler, CTO and co-founder of Jobber. New AI-powered features "Jobber Copilot is the first step in this product evolution," continues Zeisler. "It supports business owners in scheduling, quoting, and marketing best practices so they can service customers faster and grow revenue easier." Zeisler added: "We're excited to unveil several new AI-powered features in the coming months that will take the guesswork out of starting and operating a home service business." Jobber Copilot's initial capabilities Marketing support: With context into a service pro's customer trends and job history, Jobber Copilot can provide tailored marketing strategies to help businesses meet their marketing goals. Copilot can even write blog posts and social posts based on what's relevant and interesting in their specific industry. Data analysis: Jobber Copilot goes beyond surface-level insights by using historical data within Jobber to analyze operational efficiency, cash flow, workforce performance, and more. This means customers can access all their data instantly and receive suggestions on improving or highlighting areas of opportunity. Business coaching: Drawing on its expertise in home service and knowledge of the service pro's business, Jobber Copilot can deliver highly relevant and personalized guidance based on a customer's questions and prompts. Whether they need help with day-to-day challenges or want to work on long-term goals, Copilot provides tailored strategies with the business' data and goals at its core. Jobber product expertise: As an integrated feature within Jobber, Copilot is highly knowledgeable about how to get the most out of the platform. Jobber Copilot will recommend features to help business owners achieve their goals and optimize their business operations. Addressing key pain points The time-consuming nature of data analysis has long been a challenge for business owners The time-consuming nature of data analysis has long been a challenge for business owners, but Jobber Copilot alleviates this burden by providing instant insights.  Sean Rozonkiewiecz, Vice President of Elite Lawn & Landscape based in Lexington, SC said, "Through Jobber Copilot, we discovered most of our requests come in on specific days, allowing us to increase ad spend on those days—something we wouldn't have known without a lot of manual digging." Other AI tools "So much of my data is in Jobber, but before Jobber Copilot, I didn't know how to use the data to meaningfully answer questions I had about my business," explained Santiago Trujillo, owner of Sandia Shine Co LLC based in Albuquerque, NM. "Having Jobber Copilot there to give me answers to things that are on my mind, and quickly, is massive. Other AI tools just aren't capable of that level of personalization." AI tailored to home service businesses Home service pros have a unique opportunity to partner with AI while focusing on their trade skills While some industries fear being overtaken by AI, home service pros have a unique opportunity to partner with AI while focusing on their trade skills—tasks that AI cannot replace, like repairing air conditioners or landscaping properties. With 44% of service pros reporting in a recent survey that business coaching is most valuable when paired with help developing marketing strategies, Jobber Copilot is well-equipped to address their needs. Homeowners welcome AI in home services Another recent survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners found that they are increasingly supportive of AI use in home service businesses, particularly for fast communication. More than half of homeowners (51%) are interested in AI if it means more rapid responses from their service pro, and 57% believe AI will lead to better customer service, particularly in automating the scheduling of maintenance and repairs (54%) and cost estimates for services (49%). However, while AI can handle inquiries and bookings, 78% of homeowners still prefer a human to perform services inside their homes. This balance of AI-powered efficiency and human expertise is where home service businesses will shine. A new standard for home service excellence Jobber is not only enhancing the way home service businesses operate but also working with them to set a standard With the launch of Jobber Copilot, Jobber is not only enhancing the way home service businesses operate but also working with them to set a new gold standard for the industry. By integrating with AI, small businesses can deliver best-in-class service that is personalized, efficient, and reliable. "Small, local businesses provide a level of care and customized service that's hard to compete with," adds Sam Pillar, CEO and co-founder at Jobber. "Our goal at Jobber is to stand behind these businesses and to provide tools that make it easier to do great work. Features like Jobber Copilot eliminate overhead so that business owners can focus their undivided attention on their customers and on doing a great job." Jobber's extensive knowledge base Powered by a large language model (LLM) that has been trained on over a decade of Jobber's extensive knowledge base, Jobber Copilot is specifically designed to meet the needs of home service professionals.  It leverages an array of resources, such as podcast transcripts, Jobber Academy articles, support videos, and more, positioning it as an industry expert in helping businesses thrive. The Jobber Copilot is free and available in beta to all U.S. and Canadian Jobber customers.

Jobber, the global provider of operations management software for home service businesses, announced the launch of location timers, a new feature that uses geo-fencing technology to automatically and accurately track employee time on job sites, substantially reducing manual work for home service businesses in any industry, including contracting and construction, landscaping, tree care, painting, HVAC, and roofing.  Need for location timers Home service pros need to track their time on job sites to inform payroll, invoicing, and job costing. With so many priorities to juggle, many employees forget to clock in and out on the job, which results in errors and inaccuracies that admins often struggle to manually correct in time for payday.  Features Jobber's location timers feature provides home service businesses with two modes to fit their needs: 'Automatic mode' automatically starts and stops the timer in the Jobber app when the service pro arrives and leaves a client's property. 'Reminder mode' sends a push notification when the service pro is near a client's property. When they’re ready, they can start or stop the timer with just a tap.  As a result of the feature, businesses report improved employee workflows, better insights into their operations and profitability, and spend less time on administrative tasks such as payroll.   Accurate data saves time I get more accurate data so I can schedule jobs and plan my team’s routes more effectively in less time" “Because of our busy schedules, my team often forgets to clock in and out of jobs, which leaves me carving time out of my day to ensure that their time entries are accurate,” said Dylan Bamberger of Plantscapers, Inc. He adds, “With Jobber's location timers, now I just look at our timesheets for unusual discrepancies, saving me hours during the week and helping me get through payroll quicker. Plus, I get more accurate data so I can schedule jobs and plan my team’s routes more effectively in less time.” Optimizing operations “Tracking your time at a job with accuracy allows home service pros to quickly and easily understand how to price work, schedule crews, and make critical operational decisions,” says Sam Pillar, CEO & Co-Founder of Jobber. He adds, “Jobber makes it easier for home service entrepreneurs and their employees to serve their customers better with just one click. Removing the burden of manually tracking time at a job leaves more time to optimize operations and win more work.” job costing feature Location timers join a suite of recently released Jobber features designed to help service pros streamline operations, win more work, and generate more revenue. Jobber’s new job costing feature helps service pros maximize profitability while the online booking and drive-time features help them book more work with less effort, while minimizing drive-time between appointments.

Housing market dynamics, pressures on global supply chains, and the rising costs of materials and labor are a few of the trends that are impacting the HVAC industry. While COVID-19 restrictions may have been largely lifted throughout the U.S., many of these lingering trends can be traced back directly, or indirectly, to the pandemic. Jobber’s Home Service Economic Report: Record Growth Fuels Labor Shortage explores these trends and their true impact on home service businesses’ ability to get work done. Below are key takeaways for the Contracting segment, which includes HVAC businesses, based on Q3 performance and data from over 100,000 home service companies. Homeowner Spending Continues to Grow Let’s start with good news. Consumer spending continues to drive revenue growth in Home Service—including residential HVAC— which has outperformed all other categories, including Grocery Stores and General Merchandise Stores in Q3 2021. Long-term sustainable growth is expected through Q4 2021 and into 2022 due to several factors: Demand Maintains Momentum: The number of new homes being constructed and new building permits issued continues to outpace pre-pandemic levels, with no indication of slowing down. Additionally, remodeling activity remains very high and is expected to accelerate towards the end of the year. All these trends mean that demand for home services will remain very high. New Work Growth Stays Positive: New work scheduled continues to show positive year-over-year growth, although the supply chain and labor shortage challenges are certainly slowing things down. There is a lot of opportunity for the category as those challenges are overcome. Growing Invoice Sizes Across the Board: Due to increased input costs, the cost of services being delivered has increased, which means invoice sizes are increasing for all the main segments across Home Service, including Cleaning, Contracting, and Green. With October and November typically being some of the busiest months for HVAC companies, it’s safe to assume that the industry will finish the year with strong demand. Now, the ability to take advantage of this spike in demand is a different story. The inability to hire enough employees will prevent service providers from keeping up with demand Skilled Workers in High Demand While the labor shortage has impacted Home Service less than other categories, the need for skilled workers is impacting the rate at which HVAC technicians and other service businesses can book new work. The ratio of hires to job openings has decreased significantly, suggesting the current demand for talent is not being sufficiently met. This inability to hire enough employees will prevent service providers from keeping up with demand and taking on more work. Help Wanted, Inquire Within The Contracting segment showed positive growth in new work scheduled year-over-year in Q3 2021 but was impacted the most by labor shortages among Home Service segments. Our data shows that service providers that we're able to increase their headcount were able to schedule more work and increase their revenue at a much faster rate. This gap is creating opportunities for both new HVAC entrepreneurs and workers seeking to pursue HVAC careers. It’s also making the battle for talented technicians extremely competitive. Growing Pains The increased cost of materials, material scarcity, and labor shortages are starting to cap While the HVAC industry has shown resilience, there continue to be emerging and rapidly-changing economic trends that HVAC business owners and other home service providers have to navigate. While new work scheduled saw positive growth, this growth was slower year-over-year. The increased cost of materials, material scarcity, and labor shortages are starting to cap the amount of jobs service providers can commit to. Demand Outpacing Supply Due to steel mill products seeing a 122% growth over January 2020 prices, the prices of HVAC and commercial refrigeration equipment have increased. Gas and diesel prices reached peak levels last quarter as well, contributing to higher operating costs across the board for HVAC businesses. Regardless of the obstacles that stand in their way, home service businesses, including those in the HVAC industry, continue to persevere and outperform nearly every other major category. This speaks to the incredible resiliency of Home Services and the essential nature of these companies. One key takeaway from Jobber’s report is that the best time to open a home service business or pursue a career in the trades is now.

The entire economy has been severely impacted by COVID-19, with small businesses being hit the worst. These businesses make up 47% of the private labor force and contribute 44% to GDP in the United States. Thankfully, not all small businesses are the same. Jobber’s Home Service Economic Report: Summer Edition analyzes the performance of the Home Service category throughout 2020, and shows a positive path towards recovery. It shows that the Contracting segment, which includes HVAC businesses, had its first full quarter of positive year-over-year growth since the start of the pandemic. As we look ahead to the future, it’s important to reflect on the past year and understand how residential HVAC, and the Home Service category as a whole, has fared through this pandemic and the economic turbulence that it has caused. Jobber’s report highlights some trends and key findings that can help guide companies through the end of the year and into 2021. The Residential HVAC Industry Falls within a Strong Home Service Category Wrapping up the third quarter, it’s clear that the Home Service category—including residential HVAC—continued to recover as the economy opened up and consumer demand rebounded. With the exception of Grocery Stores and General Merchandise Stores, Home Service was the most stable category through the peak of the pandemic. It also recovered very well through June and into Q3, showing 10% year-over-year growth in September, compared to other categories such as Clothing Stores and Restaurants, which registered declines of 12% and 14% respectively. New Work Scheduled Finds Pre-Pandemic Success New work being scheduled is an early inductor of the health of Home Service businesses, and a proxy for consumer demand. When the pandemic first hit, the Contracting segment, which consists of industries such as Construction, Plumbing, and HVAC, saw a sharp decline in new work scheduled in March and April. Residential HVAC continued to recover as the economy opened upAt its lowest point, Contracting saw new work decline by 23% year-over-year as states across the country began implementing stay-at-home directives and consumer spending tightened. This impacted revenues in April and May, where growth declined 15% year-over-year, roughly 25% below expectations. Despite this dip during the initial peak of the pandemic, new work scheduled for the Contracting segment started to show signs of recovery from May onwards, hitting a record high for the year in June with 15% growth year-over-year, and consistent positive growth since then. As a result, the third quarter revenues for this segment have also shown positive results. Although the growth was moderate earlier in the quarter, the Contracting segment finished strong with 12% year-over-year revenue growth in September, matching pre-pandemic levels. Employment Growth Sees Upward Trajectory In April, the U.S. unemployment rate shot up to a record high 14.7% largely due to COVID-19 layoffs, but improved to 10.2% in July as the economy began to reopen, and further to 7.9% by September. For Home Service specifically, the category began 2020 with positive employment growth in Q1 that outpaced the employment growth in Total Nonfarm. However, stay-at-home orders in April caused employment growth year-over-year in Home Service to drop drastically by 12.9%, although this was still a bit better than the 13.4% drop for Total Nonfarm employment. Since this drop, Home Service has seen rapid recovery, with September employment only showing a decline of 3.9% year-over-year while Total Nonfarm shows a decline of 6.4%. Digital Payments on the Rise Despite Historic Resistance The Contracting segment has historically been a bit slower to adopt digital payments as these businesses often have large invoice sizes, and don’t want to collect payment using methods that can deteriorate their margins. However, according to market reports, the adoption of digital payments has accelerated significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The adoption of digital payments has accelerated significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemicSpecifically, the estimated percentage of transaction values done digitally in 2025 is now expected to be 67% rather than the previous estimate of 57%. In our data, we saw a significant increase from January to May, from 32% to 37%, in the share of payments being collected through digital methods, compared to other methods such as cash or check. While each business has its own unique dynamics related to e-payment usage, it will be interesting to monitor this trend heading into the new year, as social distancing continues, and more companies commit to improving their technology usage. Although there has been a positive economic turnaround for all categories towards the end of Q2 and through Q3, it’s difficult to predict where we are going with the recent rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the country. While consumer spending and employment have recovered from the massive declines they saw in early Q2, they seem to be stagnating a bit below their pre-COVID growth levels, suggesting that both consumers and businesses are remaining cautious. One thing is clear though, Home Service as a category is incredibly resilient as most businesses managed to survive through unprecedented economic hardship, while finding new and better ways to service their customers.

A global pandemic is a scenario that few big corporations have plans for, let alone small businesses. The emergence of COVID-19 has affected nearly every industry worldwide. All businesses have been forced to pivot, adapt, and at times, completely reinvent their operations to survive. Looking at data from tens of thousands of Home Service professionals, Jobber’s Home Service Economic Report: Spring Edition sheds light into how segments such as Contracting, which includes the HVAC industry, have proven resilient in the face of hardship. Reflecting on trends observed over the past six months, the data reveals that Contracting and the Home Service category as a whole are on a strong path to recovery, and rebounding to pre-pandemic growth levels. To understand where we are heading, let’s explore some key findings in more detail to help HVAC businesses make better informed decisions. Marginal Economic Dip Amid Peak COVID-19 Months With very few exceptions, almost every Home Service industry felt the economic impact of COVID-19; some more severely than others.Data reveals that the Home Service category was far less impacted by the pandemic compared to other categories April was the hardest hit month according to nearly all indicators across all categories. Timed with widespread stay-at-home orders and a significant drop in consumer demand, median revenue for Home Service businesses decreased by 15% year-over-year. Despite these challenges, data reveals that the Home Service category was far less impacted by the pandemic compared to other categories such as Clothing Stores, which saw a year-over-year revenue decline of 87%, and Restaurants, which saw a revenue decline of 53%. While the Contracting segment, which includes industries such as construction, electrical, and plumbing, in addition to HVAC, did see a 15% decline in April revenue; it remained relatively stable compared to others, proving to be resilient to economic downturns even during a historic crisis. New Work Scheduled Reaches a High Point The stable and meaningful nature of Home Service work helped maintain and provide jobs to millions of Americans throughout this time, all while delivering comfort and safety to their communities. New work scheduled for Home Service businesses reached a record high in JuneWhile unemployment shot to a record high of 14.7% in April (largely due to the pandemic), the Home Service category was relatively less impacted, and recovered much quicker than others. Several industries within this category, including HVAC, were designated as essential throughout the country, allowing many of these businesses to continue operating even as others were forced to close. In June, new work scheduled for Home Service businesses reached a record high for the year with an increase of 15% year-over-year. The Contracting segment, which was seeing new work growth of around 2% year-over-year before the pandemic hit, actually hit a record high of 14% growth in June. As new work scheduled continues to look optimistic, Contracting enters Q3 with a positive start. Rebuilding Revenues to Pre-Pandemic Growth Prior to the pandemic, the Contracting segment was seeing industry-average revenue growth. However, the steep decline in new work being scheduled when the stay-at-home There has also been more disposable income available to many that have started working from homeorders came into effect impacted revenues and caused a decline of roughly 25% below expectations. This quickly changed as homeowners spent more time at home than ever, making them more inclined to take money set aside for travel and invest in home projects they’ve been putting off. There has also been more disposable income available to many that have started working from home, and are spending less money than usual due to lesser commuting to work and lesser dining out, if at all. In just two months, the Contracting segment saw a turnaround in revenue, from -15% year-of-year growth in April and May to 10% in June. With the upswing momentum of new work scheduled in this segment, Contacting is well-positioned to see continued revenue growth entering Q3. It’s impressive to see contracting businesses overall return to pre-COVID levels so quickly. The first half of 2020 has really shown the resilience and resourcefulness of small businesses in the Home Service category. Although many businesses have suffered tragic losses, others have survived this crisis quite well, and have started getting back to their pre-lockdown performance levels. Although we have not yet seen the full impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on small businesses, there is hope for HVAC entrepreneurs that industry growth will continue to increase during the third quarter and beyond.