Who Is Thriving? 

The 2025 Residential Trades report asked contractors how they felt 2024 had gone for them — in terms of if they are thriving, surviving, or struggling.  

At the trade level, the report found that the three top trades making up the “thriving” segment were roofing, pool and spa, and water treatment. Electrical, plumbing, and roofing contractors made up the majority of the “surviving” data, and HVAC, general remodeling, and painting made up the majority of the “struggling” data.  

Another part of the annual survey assesses the biggest risks to contractors meeting their goals. In 2023, data showed the recession, labor shortage, and access to working capital as the three (actual) biggest risks. This year’s data found that labor/overhead costs, labor shortage, and an increase in material prices were the biggest (foreseen) risks to meeting goals in 2025. 

To Be A Thriving Business 

To understand what thriving businesses are doing differently, Snow turned to the contractors' top goals for 2025. The top three 2025 Top Business Goals, as told by the contractors surveyed for ServiceTitan’s report, were to grow revenue, retain existing customers, and in tie for third place: acquire new customers and improve cash flow. 

This resonated with Amanda Mahaffey, co-owner of Tuck and Howell Plumbing, Heating, & Air, in Greenville, South Carolina, as their plumbing department saw a 157% increase from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025 after being launched just a year prior. She attributed their success not just to demand, but to strong marketing and growing brand awareness. 

“If you own a business, these are things you want to do without them even being ‘goals,’” she said.  

Jay Mahaffey, the company’s other co-owner, emphasized the importance of focusing on existing customers as the foundation for growth.  

“I've always had this motto, ‘Love the one you're with,’ because those are the customers that helped build your company in the first place,” he said. “That’s who made you great. So, I don't want to focus so much on new customers that we forget the people that loved us this whole time, that we gave all those decades of good service to, because they're the ones that's going to be easier to get you your business anyways. So, focus on that low-hanging fruit, then we can acquire new customers, and, of course, improve cash flow, cash flow, cash flow.” 

Offering Options Is A Must 

One of the strongest predictors of a thriving business, according to the report, is offering “Good, Better, Best” pricing options. Of the contractors who reported thriving, 54% offered tiered options on at least half of their jobs. Meanwhile, 28% of struggling businesses offered multiple estimates on fewer than 10% of jobs. 

Amanda pointed out that some studies show people tend to choose the middle option when given choices, making this strategy both smart and customer-friendly. In the past at Tuck and Howell, repairs were presented to customers with no options or financing, which limited customer flexibility. 

Jay Mahaffey said offering a minimum of three or four options needs to be a non-negotiable for each and every sector of the trades. 

“Consumer behavior 101: If you give someone one price and they don't like that price, they're just going to choose someone else, but if you give them four options, they feel like they might be shopping the whole entire market now,” he said. “You give them a price anywhere from $187 all the way up to $900, they feel like they have shopped with four different companies, essentially.” 

Mind Your Words: Communication (Channels) Matter 

When Snow trains her CSRs to speak with customers on the phone — particularly when calling to schedule an in-home visit to discuss pricing — she advises them to avoid using words like “quote,” “bid,” or “estimate,” as these may encourage customers to seek competing offers. Instead, they are coached to say “some pricing and options,” which reassures homeowners that there will be choices suited to their budget and their home. 

“Be very careful in your word choice,” Snow said. “Let them know that you've got all the pricing and all the options to find the right solution for them.”  

The survey also asked contractors how customers typically initiate contact.  

Most contractors (64%) reported that customers typically first contact their business by phone. Other methods included home service apps and online booking forms (each at 10%), text messaging (7%), and other unspecified methods (9%).  

“This just shows that if you are only answering the phone and you don't have multiple ways for your customers to contact you — look at that chunk of business — it’s almost 40% that you could be missing out on,” said Snow.  

Following Up: A Strategy That Pays Off  

One of the most impactful data points from the report concerned follow-ups on unsold estimates. Specifically, the survey looked at the additional revenue gained through this method.  

The results showed that among thriving businesses, 39% reported generating an extra 1-15% of revenue when they follow up on unsold estimates. Similarly, 42% of surviving businesses saw the same gain, while only 23% of struggling businesses reported this benefit, suggesting that consistent follow-up on unsold estimates could be a key factor in contractors’ boosting their revenue, and overall business performance. 

This led Snow to wonder: How many businesses actually have a solid follow-up process? 

Tuck and Howell didn’t, until they created a dedicated team for reaching out to customers with unsold estimates.  

“We watched what their booking rate was with unsold estimates, and what the struggle was being able to reach people,” said Amanda Mahaffey. “All we were doing at that point was calling people.”  

In light of the low response rate they were receiving via phone call, and recognizing the preference many people have for text messaging — including the co-owner herself — the company recently implemented texting as a follow-up method. Their past use of outbound texts showed strong ROI, and although they eventually stopped it due to being busy, the phone-only approach proved way less effective.  

She emphasized this revenue opportunity: “When I showed Jay this report saying 1-15% of additional revenue is generated through follow-ups — that's not even factored into the revenue that we anticipate picking up for this year,” she said. “So, I told him, ‘Imagine if we were able to pick up an additional 15% of revenue by following up on unsold estimates.’” 

What the 2025 Residential Trades Report makes clear is that thriving contractors aren’t necessarily doing extraordinary things — they’re just doing the basics exceptionally well. They're setting clear goals, offering multiple pricing options to their customers, communicating with their customers in the way they want to be communicated to, and making sure that no opportunity slips through the cracks. Which means that for contractors who are looking to move from struggling — or even surviving — to thriving, it might not be as difficult as it seems.