The Home Service Expert Podcast
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.
00:35:24 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[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. [00:35:41] S0: And I think what that really gets at both for your team members and for homeowners is choice. Right? There are certain people that wanna work on a Saturday or Sunday, so they can have Tuesday and Wednesday off, And there's certain homeowners that also wanna be able to shop on those days because it's convenient for them. And I think more than anything and something that I've seen in your organization, something that we feel really strongly about, is how do you empower homeowners with choice? [00:36:05] S3: 100%. I mean, if you read what should we do by Joe Crisora, it's not on this shelf, but all he talks about is giving options and the data to back it up. [00:36:15] S0: 100%. [00:36:16] S3: And I think five options are better than three. There's all kinds of studies around that too. But also there's some people depending on how hard the options are to understand, it can confuse people as well. So it's really... There's a lot of science and psychology behind the options and then the pricing that you could make them.
00:36:16 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:36:16] S3: And I think five options are better than three. There's all kinds of studies around that too. But also there's some people depending on how hard the options are to understand, it can confuse people as well. So it's really... There's a lot of science and psychology behind the options and then the pricing that you could make them. [00:36:37] S0: A 100% agree and it reminds me of two things that we often think about. Price is only the most important thing if you don't understand anything else. Right? And so if a homeowner is telling you that, hey, you know, this other company's $500 less expensive, means they don't really understand what they're purchasing, which means that there was an education gap somewhere along that journey. [00:36:58] S3: So I'd ask you, Zach, what you said were 500 more. If you're the homeowner, let's just do a little role play. [00:37:05] S0: Yeah. Yeah. [00:37:06] S3: Let me ask you this. If we were the same price, Zach, let's just say everything being equal, which one would you choose? [00:37:13] S0: I mean, you're here right now and so we could get it done. So yeah, I'd be inclined if if everything was the same price, you're gonna give me a $500 discount, great. Let's go forward.
00:37:13 · Zach Deering, Tommy Mello
[00:37:13] S0: I mean, you're here right now and so we could get it done. So yeah, I'd be inclined if if everything was the same price, you're gonna give me a $500 discount, great. Let's go forward. [00:37:23] S3: Well, if the prices were the same and you choose us, and you obviously know we're different companies, you've done some research, we've been in business two decades, you can see the difference in the parts we carry. But why would you go with us? So I don't wanna lead with that discount, I just said all things being equal. And hopefully you'd say, well, I did the research. Yeah. I looked at your BBB. Yeah. I know you guys do background checks. Yeah. I know you run warranty calls ahead of new clients. Yeah. And so I'd I'd ask you to sell yourself. Sure. But you're not the real... I mean you you... This is not the perfect scenario because you don't have both bids. [00:38:00] S0: Yeah yeah yeah. [00:38:01] S3: I want you to just literally, I wanna hear you destroy the other company. Sure. And say, so obviously Yeah. Is $500 worth everything you just said not being done properly? [00:38:12] S0: Totally. Totally. [00:38:13] S3: And I think that a lot of people miss that. A lot of people make it about price and you'd be surprised. And during my orientation I do for three hours, we talk a lot about... A lot of people say Oklahoma and Tulsa are not as good as Phoenix or Reno is not as good as Orlando. And the the... I hear this every day and then I'll take a top 10 technician. We'll send them to any market, same price book, and they'll get the exact same.
00:38:13 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:38:13] S3: And I think that a lot of people miss that. A lot of people make it about price and you'd be surprised. And during my orientation I do for three hours, we talk a lot about... A lot of people say Oklahoma and Tulsa are not as good as Phoenix or Reno is not as good as Orlando. And the the... I hear this every day and then I'll take a top 10 technician. We'll send them to any market, same price book, and they'll get the exact same. [00:38:38] S0: Sure. [00:38:39] S3: So I always say we live in The United States Of America. Yeah. Like, if you told me to go to like Mexico City or something, I can't guarantee it would be the same. [00:38:46] S0: Sure. [00:38:46] S3: But we we always put those fallacies to to bed. You're an expert in shopping online, and we hear a lot about the challenges today being tricky, macro environment, lead flow being down, which it is. Consumer confidence, I believe, is going up right now. What do you feel like is the state of play in home services sales today?