Tradify Helps SAH Disaster Restoration Scale Up 35%

Emergency restoration and trauma cleaning aren’t your average trade jobs, but it’s an industry that Scott Harding is very familiar with. 

In 2011, he took a leap of faith and founded SAH Disaster Restoration Services, a 24-hour, all-year emergency water and fire response business. A few years later, he added another division to the company, BC Trauma Cleaning, a 24-hour trauma cleaning and biohazard decontamination service. 

Scott’s small enterprise is now a team of 25 and has quickly become a major player in Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley, Canada. He’s proud to share that the business is a Certified Living Wage employer and an accredited Better Business Bureau (BBB) company. 

Scott’s success has a lot to do with his work ethic, something he’s undoubtedly learned from growing up surrounded by tradespeople. But he also believes that without Tradify, SAH Restoration wouldn’t be where it is today. 

“Before Tradify, I was the only one holding the information. To grow, I knew I had to go cloud-based and keep up with the times.”

Short on time? Skip ahead!

• 1. Pen and paper were unscalable
• 2. Scheduler helps boost job turnover
• 3. Job tracking removes a huge portion of the workload
• 4. Notes feature improves customer service
• 5. A fluid connection with partner businesses
• 6. Sign up for Tradify job management software

1. Pen and paper were unscalable

Like many new trade business owners, Scott started with a paper-based admin system. But, as SAH Restoration grew, it quickly became overwhelming. 

With every new job came a new set of quotes, invoices and reports – and he had no real support. 

“Everyone else would go home at the end of the day, and I would stay up all night working and doing paperwork, trying to keep up.”

Scott would spend all hours of the night and weekends “trying to keep up”. It was doable briefly, but he admits that his work-life balance wasn’t great. It also meant he couldn’t fully leverage his staff because they were always waiting on him.  

“It was great that my business was growing so quickly, but it was unmanageable. The decision to invest in Tradify was ‘make or break’.”

Scott knew he needed to trade his pen-and-paper for a digital, cloud-based system. That way, he’d have peace of mind knowing that important client and job information was stored securely, and his on-site and office staff could easily access it to do their jobs efficiently. 

He trialled several software options for different jobs, but switching between multiple systems got messy. That’s when he found Tradify, which could do everything in one system. 

“Tradify ticked all the boxes – and then some. After implementing it two years ago, the business has grown by 35%.”

2. Scheduler helps boost job turnover

With Tradify’s Scheduler, Scott's job turnover has soared, helping the business grow by 35%. 

When a customer enquiry comes in, the job details get logged in Tradify. With a birds-eye view of his teams’ availability, Scott can immediately assign a project manager who quickly deploys the nearest team to the emergency site. For less pressing jobs, they can find the next available slot that works for the client. 

"We move so much faster now. I don't have to wait to communicate with clients. I grab a quick estimate, it goes into Tradify, and we schedule the job," explains Scott. 

It means Scott spends much less time on the phone coordinating teams, which is a big win. 

"I don't have to do much of the day-to-day admin anymore because staff can manage their schedules using the Tradify app.”

3. Job tracking removes a huge portion of the workload

With 85 active jobs (which jumps to 200-300 during peak season!), knowing the stage of every job is key to SAH Restoration staying organised. That’s why Scott says his favourite Tradify feature so far is job tracking. 

With job dashboards, an interactive map and reporting functionality, SAH Restoration’s project managers can create individual tasks and organise work by custom categories and statuses. Once a job is complete, the accounts team can easily access all the information needed to send final invoices. 

This level of coordination means staff can monitor the status of ongoing projects, track completed tasks, and make informed scheduling decisions based on real-time information. Ultimately, it means SAH Restoration can take on and manage more jobs.

“Now I can oversee more jobs while focusing on growing the business – I don’t have to try and split my time,” says Scott.

4. Notes feature improves customer service

In a 24/7 disaster restoration business, clients are often calling in distress. Getting all the details down quickly is important – the worst thing you can do is lose the paper you wrote them on. 

With Tradify’s notes feature, SAH Restoration staff have a place where they can store customer and job information – for example, whether there are pets on-site, property access details, insurance claim numbers and even a customer’s work hours. 

Scott says it’s a simple feature that “has contributed to a noticeable improvement in our customer service.”

5. A fluid connection with partner business

Transitioning SAH Restoration to job management software has been such a success that Scott has also implemented Tradify at BC Trauma Cleaning. 

The two businesses can keep consistent workflows, templates and processes while removing the need to duplicate data entry. Scott says it keeps everybody on the same page and working together, despite the crazy schedules they all keep. 

The result? Both businesses are winning more work, staff and customers are happy, and automated admin processes help cut business expenses. 

“Overall, it was a strategic decision that’s given us closer collaboration, better customer service and reduced costs.”

6. Scott tells everyone to sign up for Tradify!

• 35% business growth. Scheduling software helps boost job turnover so SAH Restoration can take on even more work. 
• Reduced workload. With automated admin processes, Scott has more time to focus on growth and work-life balance. 
• Smoother operations. Real-time visibility of jobs’ progress means projects get completed on time and invoices are sent quickly. 
• Five-star customer service. Important job information, client preferences and property requirements are securely stored in the cloud. 
• Two for one. Scott uses Tradify to manage two businesses through one app he can access on his phone or desktop. 

Start your 14-day free trial. No credit card required. No pressure. Or take a look at Tradify in action during one of our weekly 30-min live walkthroughs.