How Christian Brothers grew 867% by ditching gut decisions for data-driven strategy
Highlights & Key Results
Company: Christian Brothers
Location: San Diego, California
Founded: 1980
Industry: Property Restoration
When Gabe Matthews joined his family's carpet cleaning business in 2001, Christian Brothers was a small San Diego operation that had been serving the community since 1980. Fast forward to 2025, and Gabe now leads the company as owner, having transformed it into a full-service restoration operation handling everything from water damage emergencies to complete property repairs.
The challenge
For Christian Brothers, the biggest hurdle wasn't the work itself. It was staying competitive without the built-in volume of a program model. In a rapidly shifting insurance and restoration landscape, keeping up with evolving client expectations, shrinking margins, and new operational pressures required more visibility, structure, and data than ever before.
“We're not a program vendor. We're 100% organic. So our challenge is: how do we price like they price, operate like they operate, and still hold ourselves to the same standard — without that same built-in pipeline?” — Gabe Matthews, CEO
The market itself has been anything but stable. Insurance companies have been pulling out of California, and some of Christian Brothers' biggest clients have simply stopped writing business. Meanwhile, the expansion into emergency restoration work has brought an overwhelming volume of documentation requirements — photos, notes, and detailed reports — that their existing systems couldn't handle.
The compounding pressures created three critical challenges:
- Competing with Program Vendors: Matching the pricing and operational efficiency of larger, program-backed competitors without their inherent advantages.
- Navigating Market Instability: Adapting to an insurance landscape in constant flux, with carriers pulling out and economic uncertainty creating unpredictable conditions.
- Scaling with Accountability: Maintaining consistent standards and team alignment as project volume increased and the team grew.
Christian Brothers needed tools that could help them compete while maintaining the high standards that justify their organic business model — and more importantly, they needed technology that would grow with them, not just solve today's problems.
The solution
What started with a DASH™ subscription quickly evolved into a tightly integrated tech stack, with Cotality providing the operational backbone Christian Brothers needed to grow confidently. The key was finding a platform they could build upon, rather than simply patching immediate gaps.
DASH: Building the Foundation
At the heart of this transformation was DASH, which became the central hub for Christian Brothers' job management workflow. DASH provided the robust documentation and structured workflows the team desperately needed.
More importantly, it elevated accountability across the entire organization. Now, technicians can easily capture photos in the field, project managers can track real-time progress, and the broader team stays consistently aligned.
Integrating DASH into their daily routines also helped to replace guesswork and gut-instinct operations with trackable steps and real-time visibility. For a business handling both emergency and repair work, having everything centralized gave them the confidence and consistency to scale.
CRM: Connecting sales and operations
While DASH provided operational structure, Restoration CRM™ (formerly LuxorCRM) bridged another crucial gap: misalignment between sales and operations. With the seamless connection of CRM into DASH
While DASH provided operational structure, Restoration CRM™ (formerly LuxorCRM) addressed another critical challenge: the disconnect between sales and operations that so many restoration companies face. Its integration with DASH created a shared source of truth between departments, keeping promises aligned from the first conversation to the final walkthrough.
This alignment proved indispensable. Quality promises made during sales conversations were now consistently delivered during execution, strengthening client relationships and eliminating the internal friction that often slows projects down.
Mitigate: Streamlining project management and collections
As the ecosystem came together, Christian Brothers added Mitigate™ to streamline water mitigation documentation. The result, however, impacted more than just job site data; it fundamentally transformed their collections process.
Mitigate provides clear, standardized documentation that validates their work at every stage, from initial assessment through final billing. That level of clarity eliminated the disputes and negotiations that used to drag out payments. The numbers tell the story: average collection time dropped from 120 days to just 60 days.
Enhanced reporting: From instinct to intelligence
Beyond operational tools, Cotality helped Christian Brothers make the leap from instinct-driven to data-driven leadership. With custom BI reports and Reporting capabilities, leadership gained real-time visibility into everything from gross profit per project to technician productivity and job aging.
Gabe puts it simply: "We used to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants emergency service company. Now, we're a data-based emergency service company.”
This shift helped the company move from reactive firefighting to proactive planning — making informed financial, operational, and strategic decisions with confidence. The forecasting capabilities proved invaluable during California's insurance market turbulence, helping them navigate uncertainty when companies were pulling out and major clients were discontinuing operations.
The results
For a company that doesn't rely on TPA volume, this transformation has been remarkable. Christian Brothers has built a scalable, data-driven operation that competes effectively against much larger competitors while maintaining their independence and high standards.
Measurable business impact
The numbers tell a compelling story. Since implementing Cotality's integrated solutions, Christian Brothers has grown from $1.5M to $14.5M in revenue — an 867% increase — while expanding their workforce from 8 to 55 employees. They've also reduced collection times by half, improved their closing ratio by 15%, and created a highly accountable field operation.
867% increase
Revenue growth
$1.5M to $14M
Workforce expansion
8 to 55 employees
Collection times
Reduced by half
50% increase
Improved closing ratio
15% increase
Most importantly, they've built a business that can weather economic shifts and market uncertainty without compromising their independence. Despite operating without program vendor relationships, Christian Brothers now competes effectively with larger competitors, winning business based on quality and reliability.
Building industry through community
An unexpected benefit has been deeper engagement with the Cotality user community. Gabe describes reaching out to other users across the country during challenging times to share strategies and ask what’s working. This collaboration has helped the company adapt in real-time to market changes and economic uncertainty.
“We've been reaching out to other users across the country and asking, 'Hey, what are you trying? What's working for you?' That kind of camaraderie has really helped us think outside the box.”
This collaborative mindset also extends to his perspective on competition. He believes that a rising tide lifts all boats and encourages even his local competitors to adopt Cotality. When the entire industry operates with the same level of accountability and technological sophistication, everyone wins.
Looking ahead
The restoration industry is changing fast. Insurance carriers are consolidating, California's property risks are reshaping underwriting strategies, and restoration companies are under more pressure than ever to perform with precision. Thanks to Cotality, Christian Brothers isn't just keeping up; they're helping to lead that charge.
Gabe’s advice to other restoration companies reflects the strategic thinking that has driven their success:
With the tools, data, and community to support their journey, Christian Brothers is proving that you don't need a program contract to operate at the top of your game. You just need the right partner.
Cotality Restoration features mentioned in this case study:
- DASH - Restoration command center for job management and workflow automation
- CRM - Customer relationship management for sales and client communication
- Mitigate - Water mitigation documentation platform
- Reporting - Business intelligence and performance analytics
Ready to transform your restoration business like Christian Brothers? Discover how Cotality Restoration Solutions can help you achieve similar results.
Christian Brothers has been a Cotality partner since 2015, utilizing DASH, CRM, Mitigate, and integrated business intelligence solutions to improve accountability, streamline operations, and drive data-backed decision-making for continuous growth.
