The Lifeblood of the Trades: CRM, AI, and the Future of Growth

On this episode of Born For The Trades, Mandeep sits down with Strick Tudor, a leader who has spent more than 25 years serving the trades and learning what truly drives a contractor’s success. From two decades at Enterprise Fleet Management helping contractors optimize their vehicles to leading revenue and partnerships in the world of trade technology, Strick has seen the industry from every angle. He is not just a tech executive. He is someone who understands the field, who has installed window units, cleared condenser lines, and spent time around family members who built their lives in the trades.

 The conversation quickly moves beyond the buzzwords. Strick challenges the common belief that a CRM is simply a dispatching and scheduling tool. Instead, he calls it the lifeblood of a business. A true Field Service Management platform becomes the command center where workflows live, numbers tell the truth, and leaders gain visibility into the daily health of their company. Without it, contractors are guessing. With it, they can understand KPIs, identify training gaps, support their teams, and make confident decisions rooted in data.

 As the leader of revenue and partnerships at Workiz, Strick explains what makes their platform different. Ease of use. Speed of onboarding. Fast time to value. An intuitive mobile app that technicians actually enjoy using. Embedded communications that capture conversations and turn them into insight. The goal is not complexity. It is clarity and growth.

 Then the conversation turns to AI, and this is where things get exciting. AI inside the trades is not science fiction. It is already converting leads, analyzing calls, automating follow-up, and even answering the phone 24 hours a day through virtual AI agents. Missed calls become booked jobs. Data becomes direction. Smaller contractors suddenly have the tools to compete with major players. AI becomes the great equalizer.

 Strick shares how contractors are seeing dramatic improvements in review ratings because customers are always being responded to. Some businesses are reclaiming up to 30 hours per week through automation. Others are uncovering hidden revenue by identifying upsell opportunities, aging equipment, and service plan gaps directly from call insights.

 For sales managers, the metrics are clear. Speed to lead. Conversion rate. Average ticket value. Service plans that build a competitive moat. The best in class are responding within seconds, not hours. The difference between growth and stagnation often comes down to how quickly and intelligently a business reacts.

 This episode is also made possible by our sponsors, Broccoli AI and Grow Reviews. Broccoli AI, at broccoli.com, provides AI voice agents that answer phones around the clock, book jobs, follow up on estimates, and dispatch technicians seamlessly. Grow Reviews, at growreviews.com, helps home service companies capture authentic video testimonials that build trust and drive more business.

Mandeep and Strick close with a powerful reminder. Be genuinely curious. Spend time in the field. Sit with dispatchers. Ride along with technicians. The future of the trades will belong to leaders who combine technology with real-world understanding. This episode is not about replacing people. It is about empowering them.