The Home Service Expert Podcast
00:27:45 · Tommy Mello
[00:27:45] S3: You know, I think as this product continues to take market share, and I'm glad we're part of it because I think there needs to be a lot of training around how you start the sales. I think it's gonna change the sales process. I think we've got a pretty darn good one, but I still think... I've talked to a lot of technicians and what's nice is we wanna get in the we wanna get in the the battle with you. We wanna say, oh, wait. Can we do this? Can we do this? Can we do this? Now that's what's tough about what you're building is because I'm sure everyone's gonna have their 2¢. Totally. But it's the larger clients that'll influence. You know what ServiceTitan did a great job of and not so great is I I had our on the podcast since 2017. And he said, I just wish. He goes, Tommy, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build the best product that'll work for $100,000,000 plus jobs. Then we took their SOPs, their processes, their payroll, and we applied it so the small guys could have a chance. But then you get a five technician company that comes on and they wanna completely not... They wanna go against the tide of everything we built, that's a tried and true way. And they said we don't do it that way. And they try to custom rig this software to do what they used to do rather than saying we're gonna make some changes in the way we train. We're gonna make the payroll changes that everybody wins. And very few people are willing to make that change. And we... You did have to work pretty hard for our process because it's different, but I think it's a wave of the future. Totally. What what are some of the constraints that you think you're gonna have going into smaller businesses?
00:29:22 · Zach Deering, Tommy Mello
[00:29:22] S0: Yeah. Totally. And I think it's it's it's great. And I think there's a lot... Like, I definitely feel like we're building on the shoulder of giants with all the work that ServiceTitan and others have have done before us. And I think it's really impressive what they have built as an organization and what they've scaled. And so I feel very humbled that we get to sort of build on that foundation. I think a lot of it is just really understanding who your product is good at serving today and also sharing who it isn't good at serving. Right? And so today, if I'm honest, like, who are we good at serving? HVAC, plumbing, electrical, increasingly garage doors that are primarily using service tied in and that probably are 10,000,000 plus in revenue. Right? Just that is sort of the reality of where the product stands today. I think to the $2,000,000 shop, the product isn't a great fit for it today. We will evolve and we will improve the product to sort of meet those smaller organizations that have different needs. I think it's just being really clear about where... About what are the ingredients for people to really succeed with your product and sort of what are the limitations. [00:30:28] S3: You know about the conversation I had with Ara when I couldn't get on to service titan? [00:30:33] S0: I I I I think I've heard a little bit about it. You basically just like begged your way.
00:30:33 · Zach Deering, Tommy Mello
[00:30:33] S0: I I I I think I've heard a little bit about it. You basically just like begged your way. [00:30:37] S3: Yeah. I steamrolled them. I basically said, dude, we're 17,000,000. He goes, we're not made for garage door. Yep. My father and Vahe's father weren't in the garage door business. We built this specifically. You understand discipline. Yeah. You understand our focus. You understand the power to say no. I said, I understand all three of those things, but if you bet on us, you'll never have to turn back. Totally. And it was an hour long conversation. He goes, don't make me regret this. Yep. He goes, I'm sending out 10 success managers. Yep. They send one out to a big company. [00:31:08] S0: Yep. [00:31:08] S3: And you know, I think that changed the history of the company, it changed it by far We were the big winner there. I will never say, look what we did for service day. That allowed us to expand like crazy, have the KPIs, have attribution. And so I never once was like, man, I'm glad... You you must be glad of me. Now you did an IPO. No. I'm like, you did this for us. We won 95% of So I'm definitely... I have a lot of gratitude for that. You know what's interesting is Mantel shows... The data shows that Tuesdays are the biggest sales days. What does that reveal about buyer psychology? [00:31:44] S0: Yeah. I think maybe buyer psychology and also just like scheduling. Right? Like... And it's interesting and and you probably even see it in your own data where [00:31:51] S3: Oh, we see Tuesdays are the best.
00:31:51 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:31:51] S3: Oh, we see Tuesdays are the best. [00:31:52] S0: Yeah. Mondays are a little bit sleepy. On the weekends, interesting, a lot of people are like, oh, weekends must be great, which is... It's true. Right? You're more likely to have both buyers, and historically, that was limitation. Obviously, we're changing that. Right? If a buyer's away, the the reality though is the lead count is just lower on Saturdays and Sundays. I think Tuesday, it's like you're starting your week. You have a lot of opportunities at bat, and you're not getting as distracted by the weekend and as things per... Progress. And so I think it is a fun a a thing that we get to look at, and the power of what we're building is the data and what that means we can do for our partners. Right? And I like to say, like, we don't have customers, we have partners, and we're really in it with each of the contractors that we work with. And so if you go again to the question from before of, like, hey, what do others miss? I think it's missing that perspective. Like, fundamentally, if we do our job well, like, I want it, and and where we stand today and where I hope to be in the future is that when we walk in the office of any of our contractors, that it feels like we're a familiar face. Right? Like, if we just happen to be in Phoenix and I happen to stop by the a one office, they're like, Zach, great to see you. Like, thanks for stopping by. Like, that's the level of partnership and connectivity that we strive for.
00:33:06 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:33:06] S3: You're gonna have to really... It it it gets more difficult as the company grows. Totally. You're gonna have to start asking yourself this question, who not how? How do I get the right people on the bus as Jim Collins would say? How do I continue You know, when my when my brain shifted towards marketing for great people to come on the bus instead of getting great clients [00:33:30] S0: Sure. [00:33:30] S3: Everything started to solve itself. [00:33:32] S0: Sure. [00:33:33] S3: Because so many people out there that are probably listening are like, man, I got these three killers. I got a good person in my CSR and dispatch. I got a really good GM. But imagine if you had a team of all a plus players like Steve Jobs was was able to attract and they they wanted to come work for you. Well, how do they do that? Because you focused on putting the stuff out there Yeah. That at least show them there's a better opportunity for them which very few people do. [00:33:59] S0: Totally. [00:33:59] S3: And I think that's gonna be your biggest I won't say it's gonna be a problem, but that should be your biggest core, like like going after is building the team and continuing to keep what you've built. Yeah. Because you're out here today in our headquarters. [00:34:13] S0: Yep.
00:34:13 · Zach Deering, Tommy Mello
[00:34:13] S0: Yep. [00:34:13] S3: And you've flown out here a lot. Yep. And Zach's only one person. And so you're gonna have to delegate to Elevate. And I'm glad you're part of this because we'll work very closely together to continue to make this product better. And obviously, the more you scratch my back, I mean this is only the beginning. I mean luckily the people listening know I'm not a bullshitter. If I use you and I'm finding success, if somebody comes to a shop tour, I'll just show them that this works. One other thing I wanna just mention is when I was in the bar industry, I was a bartender, I was a bar back, I was a bus boy, you name it. Is I remember the owner said to me, he goes, Tommy, we know Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings are good with football. He goes, if we can make one other day great, that's where we make all the money. Yeah. That's where... That's the profit day. Yeah. And every bar is kind of busy on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday morning. And the reason I mentioned that is if you could make Saturdays and Sundays very very profitable Sure. And what we're working on as advertising, we love working weekends. Cost out at no extra charge. [00:35:23] S0: Yep. [00:35:24] S3: Because if I could pack those days and make those massively profitable, you know... By the way, everything's cheaper on those days. Yeah. Most guys are closed on Sundays. Yep. So all of a sudden, PPC and social media, all the other stuff, they they feed us better Yeah. On those days.