Building the ServiceTitan voice

A successful brand must consciously decide how it will sound in customer-facing copy and collateral. The ServiceTitan voice is:

• Bold and inspiring: Our copy should inspire customers to want to pursue greater levels of success.
• Informed and insightful: The copy we produce should demonstrate that we have a clear understanding of our customers’ businesses.
• Articulate and concise: Our copy should respect our customers’ need for efficiency.
• Authentic and connected: Our copy should reflect our deep connection and commitment to the trades.
• Premium quality: The aesthetic of our copy should reflect the premium quality of our software and the level of success contractors can attain through its use.

Anyone producing content for ServiceTitan should do the following to ensure that a distinct, recognizable voice emerges at every touchpoint in the customer journey with the brand.

Get to the point

Current and future ServiceTitan customers are busy doing big things. Use language that gets directly to the point to show you respect and understand the demands on their time.

• Make clear and succinct statements. Don’t use ten words when three will suffice.
• Avoid long sentences. Our communication should be easy to digest.
• Avoid hedge words like “maybe,” “possibly,” “potentially,” etc. Hedge words sound indecisive rather than confident.
• Use single strong words instead of relying on weak modifiers (excellent and challenging vs. really good and very hard).
• Avoid overusing superlatives like incredible, amazing, awesome and so on. The more they appear in messaging the less impact they have.

Read more on the importance of conciseness in this article from Forbes.

Write like a real person

Messaging is more effective when the speaker and audience are able to connect on the same level. Plain-spoken, conversational language helps us sound less like a corporation and more like our customers, i.e., real people.

• Address readers as “you” and ServiceTitan as “we.”
• Make it personal by using names and specifics when possible.
• Avoid tech industry slang and jargon.
• Keep it professional.

Read this article on LinkedIn for tips on avoiding jargon and sounding more human.

Stay Positive

We are here to encourage and inspire. Our messaging should not dwell on the negative. It should focus instead on how and what our customers stand to gain.

• Present data in an insightful, helpful way, with a focus on learning and improvement.
• Focus on solutions, not problems, with a can-do attitude.
• Use exclamation points rarely, if at all, to avoid sounding artificial and over the top.
• Never use more than one exclamation point consecutively (!!!)


Check out this article from Purdue University for strategies on accentuating the positives in your writing.

Punctuate correctly. Period.

Correct punctuation adds clarity and helps convey the intended meaning of a message. Improper punctuation can make the message harder to understand.

Avoid punctuating messages with colons, semicolons, ellipsis (...), and especially exclamation marks. In most instances, periods and commas will suffice.

For more on punctuation and its importance, read this article on LinkedIn.

Write impactful headlines

Well-crafted headlines help us stand out from countless other companies competing for audience time and attention. Cut through the noise with headlines that are clear of purpose and consistently on message.

• Be original (avoid cliches).
• Be specific.
• Keep it simple yet accurate.

An effective headline should convey a strong, clear message even if the audience reads nothing else on the page.

Example: https://youtu.be/ka2a4_jvB8k 

Be consistent

Multiple writers in an organization can more effectively evoke a cohesive brand experience if they agree on and use a single set of rules—a style guide.

Sticking to a style guide helps create consistency. Consistency in messaging brings a brand’s personality to life.

What follows is a short list of rules for common scenarios. Please refer to the ServiceTitan Verbal ID for a more exhaustive set of language guidelines.

(Read more on style guides and their value in this article from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.)

Grammar guide

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be capitalized, with periods.

Example: United States = U.S. (not US)

Bulleted and numbered lists

Add periods if the bullets are sentences. No periods if they’re fragments or a list of words.

Capitalize the first letter of the first word regardless.

Commas

Use the Oxford comma in a list of things. Omitting the comma can sometimes cause misunderstandings.

Correct: “I love my pets, Lady Gaga, and Indiana Jones.”

Incorrect: “I love my pets, Lady Gaga and Indiana Jones.”

Without the Oxford comma, the sentence above could be interpreted as stating that you love your pets, and your pets’ names are Lady Gaga and Indiana Jones. What you mean to write is that you love three different things: your pets, Lady Gaga, and Indiana Jones.

Dates and days

Follow this format: Monday (day), September (month + date), 2021 (year).

Example: The event takes place on Monday, September 30, 2021.

Em dashes/en dashes

Em dash is the longer dash (use sparingly for emphasis or clarity). En dash is the shorter dash (use for numerals).

Em dash example: “There he was—with a wrench!”

En dash example: 100-150

Headline formatting

Write headlines and subheads in sentence case rather than titlepage case to make them feel more human and personal. Avoid end punctuation like periods in most cases.

• This is an example of sentence case
• This Is an Example of Title Case

Example of sentence case from servicetitan.com:

When to use title case (headlines versus titles)

Use capitalization/title casing when branding or naming something specific. Instances in which title case is appropriate at ServiceTitan include:

• ServiceTitan events (e.g., Toolbox Live, Marketing Summit for the Trades)
• Titles of speeches and sessions at ServiceTitan events
• ServiceTitan products and product features (e.g., Marketing Pro, Ads Optimizer)
• Titles of white papers, webinars, and other long-form articles or guides
• ServiceTitan groups and communities (e.g., Community, LadyTitans)
• Job titles (see below)

Job titles

When referring to a specific person’s full, professional job title, capitalize it. When not referring to a specific individual, the job title should be lowercase.

Example: As Chief Marketing Officer at ServiceTitan, Chris Petros wears many hats.

Example: Hiring managers need to know what characteristics to look for in a chief marketing officer.

Numbers

Spell out one through nine and use figures for 10 and above.

Possessives

If a singular or plural noun ends in “s,” add an apostrophe after it.

Example: It’s the business’ responsibility to account for those losses.

Times

Use lowercase a.m. and p.m., with periods. Always use figures, with a space between the time and the a.m. or p.m.: “She started work by 6:30 a.m.”

If a time range is entirely in the morning or evening, use a.m. or p.m. only once:

6:30-10 p.m. 

If it goes from the morning into the evening (or vice versa), you need both: 

“10 a.m.-2 p.m.”

‍

Using AI to write copy for ServiceTitan

Artificial Intelligence (AI) generators, such as Chat GPT, can be valuable tools for generating prompts and text in our brand voice. Here are some general guidelines for using AI in our copywriting process while maintaining the ServiceTitan voice:

Understand the purpose

Clearly define the purpose of using AI-generated copy. Is it to generate ideas, draft initial content, or assist in specific sections? Identify the specific areas where AI can provide value while ensuring it aligns with our brand voice and messaging goals.

Train the model

If using a language model like Chat GPT, provide it with a dataset of ServiceTitan's existing content to help it understand our brand voice, tone, and style. The model can learn from the examples and generate more relevant and on-brand content. Here's how we can train the model effectively:

• Dataset Selection: Curate a dataset that represents ServiceTitan's existing content, including marketing materials, website copy, blog posts, and customer communications. Ensure the dataset captures the tone, style, and messaging that aligns with our brand voice.
• Provide Clear Instructions: During training, guide the model by giving it explicit instructions on our brand voice. Clearly specify the desired tone, language style, and any specific phrases or keywords that reflect our brand identity.
• Feedback Loop: Continuously provide feedback to the model during the training process. Identify instances where the generated text is on-brand and reinforces our voice. Likewise, identify and correct instances where the generated text deviates from our brand guidelines.
• Iterative Training: Train the model in multiple iterations, incorporating the feedback and adjustments made during the process. Each iteration helps the model improve its understanding of our brand voice and generate more accurate and brand-aligned content.

Use AI as a prompt generator

AI can generate prompts or ideas for copywriting. Inputting a brief description or key points can help the AI generate suggestions that align with our brand voice. Review and refine the suggestions to fit our specific needs.

Iterate and edit

AI-generated content is a starting point, not the final product. Edit and refine the output to ensure it matches our brand voice, follows the guidelines in this style guide, and resonates with our target audience. Human editors should review and polish the AI-generated content.

Validate with real users

Before implementing AI-generated copy in customer-facing materials, validate it with real users or gather feedback from our target audience. This step helps ensure that the content is clear, engaging, and aligns with their expectations.

Maintain human touch

While AI can assist in generating copy, maintaining a human touch is crucial. Our brand voice should always sound authentic, personal, and relatable. Use AI as a tool to augment our creative process, but rely on human judgment and expertise to make the final decisions.

Remember, AI-generated content should serve as a tool to enhance our copywriting process, but it should never replace the expertise and creativity of our human writers. Use AI as a collaborator to generate ideas and support the writing process while maintaining our unique brand voice and style.

Example prompt for brand-aligned content

To guarantee that the generated text is in our brand voice, consider using an example prompt like the following:

"Imagine you're a ServiceTitan marketing specialist tasked with creating a social media ad campaign to promote our latest product feature, technician forms. With technician forms, our customers can now create and assign non-job-related forms to techs. This allows them to keep track of non-job events like safety meetings and truck inspections without having to filter out dummy jobs from reports. This saves them time, but more importantly, gets rid of an annoying work-around; keeping important information neatly in one place. Write a catchy and engaging ad copy that highlights the key benefits, evokes curiosity, and resonates with our target audience of service professionals."

While the feature name itself does not include terms like "AI" or "ML," ensure that the feature description highlights the underlying AI capabilities and how it benefits customers. Use the description to elaborate on the advanced AI technology employed by Titan Intelligence.

By providing a specific scenario and role-playing exercise, the AI model can generate text that reflects our brand's values, customer-centric approach, and the language style we expect from our marketing. This example prompt helps ensure that the AI-generated content is tailored to our brand voice and meets our customers' expectations.

Naming product features

When naming the unique features of ServiceTitan, it is crucial to emphasize that these names represent the distinctive functionalities within our product. These features differentiate us from our competitors and often arise from direct requests from our customers. These names are not brands, but descriptors of the specific capabilities offered by ServiceTitan. Here are some additional guidelines to consider when naming product features:

Reflect functionality

Ensure that the names directly convey the primary function or purpose of each feature. Customers should be able to understand the core functionality simply by reading the feature name.

Customer-centric approach

Keep in mind that these features are developed based on our customers' needs and requests. The names should reflect the benefits and value that customers derive from using these functionalities.

Avoid branding

Feature names should not be treated as brands themselves. Instead, prioritize descriptive and clear names that focus on functionality rather than creating a separate brand identity for each feature.

Customer understanding

Use language and terminology that our customers can easily comprehend. Avoid technical jargon or industry-specific terms that may confuse or alienate users.

Customer feedback

When possible, involve customer feedback and input in the naming process. Consider conducting surveys, user interviews, or gathering input from customer support channels to understand how customers refer to and understand the specific workflows.

Collaborative approach

Encourage collaboration among cross-functional teams, including product development, marketing, and customer success, to ensure that feature names accurately represent the functionalities and resonate with our target audience.

Naming Titan Intelligence features

When marketing or describing features that use Titan Intelligence, our goal is to clearly communicate to customers that these features leverage the power of AI provided by Titan Intelligence. This section provides guidelines specifically for naming features that utilize AI capabilities within ServiceTitan. 

Clear and descriptive naming

When naming features powered by Titan Intelligence, similar principles apply as naming our regular features. The feature name should be clear, descriptive, and indicative of its purpose and functionality, enabling customers to understand its capabilities from its name alone. For a detailed explanation of this naming process, please refer to the "Naming product features" section in this copy guide.

▶  Example of acceptable naming:

Ads optimizer

The feature is an ads optimization tool that feeds revenue and audience data into Google so that you can train Smart Bidding to optimize for sales, not calls or form fills

▶  Example of unacceptable naming:

Co-Pilot

This feature name does not follow the guidelines outlined in this section. It lacks clarity and descriptiveness, failing to convey the purpose and functionality of the feature to customers.

Powered by Titan Intelligence

To emphasize that a feature is made possible by the  power of AI provided by Titan Intelligence, add the tagline "Powered by Titan Intelligence" to the feature name.

Example:

Ads Optimizer, Powered by Titan Intelligence

This tagline highlights the AI-driven nature of the feature and its dependency on Titan Intelligence.

AI focus in feature description

Legal disclaimer for AI features

When applicable, include a legal disclaimer regarding the use of AI technology in the feature. This promotes transparency and compliance with any legal requirements related to AI usage.

Example:

Legal Disclaimer: This feature utilizes advanced AI technology provided by Titan Intelligence to deliver optimized results. Learn more about our AI capabilities and data handling practices here.