The One About Picking The Right Software To Scale Your Blue Collar Business with Jenny Benbrook
Jenny Benbrook joins The Blue Collar Trade Show to unpack one of the biggest money pits in the contracting industry: software that gets bought but never gets used right. From her journey through the skilled trades industry to co-founding Powerhouse Consulting Group, one of the first consulting firms built to help contractors get real value out of platforms like ServiceTitan, Jenny breaks down why technology investments fail and what it takes to make them pay.
The conversation digs into the unglamorous foundation of every successful software rollout: data hygiene. Jenny explains why dirty data quietly kills ROI, why most contractors only scratch the surface of what their platforms can do, and why a well-structured price book is the backbone of pricing, sales, and reporting. She also covers the most common challenges businesses hit with ServiceTitan and why expert guidance during implementation saves contractors months of frustration.
The back half gets into the bigger picture: how the trades industry handles change, why intentional investment beats impulse software purchases, and how contractors should evaluate and plan their tech stack before signing another contract.
What This Episode Covers:
Jenny’s journey through the skilled trades industry and into software consulting.
The founding of Powerhouse and how software consulting for contractors became its own category.
Why data hygiene is the silent killer of software adoption and ROI.
The most common challenges contractors face with ServiceTitan.
Why a well-structured price book matters more than most owners realize.
How technology drives real business growth when implementation is done right.
The role of change management in successful software adoption.
How to evaluate and plan a tech stack with intention instead of impulse.
Key Takeaways:
Buying software is step one. Implementation, training, and optimization are where the dividends come from.
Dirty data compounds. Clean it early or pay for it later.
Your price book is the foundation of pricing, sales, and reporting. Structure it right.
Change management is not optional. Your team adopting the tool is the whole game.
Intentional investment beats reactive purchasing every time.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Location
06:11 Jenny’s Involvement in the Founding of Powerhouse
13:59 Pioneering Software Consulting for Contractors
21:00 Data Hygiene and Software Adoption Challenges
26:15 Challenges with ServiceTitan
32:55 The Importance of a Well-Structured Price Book
43:34 The Value of Technology in Driving Business Growth
53:04 The Impact of Change in the Trades Industry
01:00:10 Tech Stack Planning and Evaluation
Want to learn more about Powerhouse Consulting Group?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennybenbrook/
Website: https://mypowerhouse.group/
Looking to hire skilled trades talent or find your next opportunity?
Visit us at https://thebluecollarrecruiter.com and https://bcrecruits.com