The Home Service Expert Podcast
00:06:02 · Zach Deering, Tommy Mello
[00:06:02] S0: Yeah. I think initially, we started from a pain point, right, which was my mom and I had this experience and then I've always been pretty curious. Right? I think that's what led to my first business when I was 12, aptly named ZDPCs. I just assembled computers in my my bedroom. Like to joke, like, I'll never have as good of an OpEx business because I didn't pay any rent, and my dad took me to go buy the computer part. So, like, it was it was a really, really cash flow efficient business. But I think I've always been curious, and so what I saw with my mom in my experience was was it just us, or was it the contractors that happened to visit us? And the thing that I quickly learned spending time with homeowners and contractors across the country was this, like, really, homeowners are being sold to rather than trying to create a shopping experience. And that was the thing that came out to to us, and that there was... These are complex purchases, and there isn't really a modern solution until we came around that really thought about how do you create a shopping experience. And so that's really what we're on a on a mission to do. But I think you could trace it back to the same thing that caused me to start the business when I was 12, it's the same thing that caused me to start this business, which is I'm just a very curious person. [00:07:08] S3: That's the best quality to have. What do you think most homeowners really care about?
00:07:08 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:07:08] S3: That's the best quality to have. What do you think most homeowners really care about? [00:07:13] S0: Yeah. Totally. It's it's a great question, and it's a question that we care a lot about answering, so we actually commissioned this massive survey of homeowners that have actually bought, right, and had actually shopped in the last twelve months. And what they care about, and I think the most surprising thing, is typically not price. 69% of homeowners say that price isn't the most important thing. What is important to them is trust, it's quality, it's understanding what they're buying, and it's also agency, right? Homeowners, we wanna shop, right? We don't wanna be sold to, we wanna feel control over our purchases. [00:07:55] S3: 100%. Yeah. No. I I I always say this, I love to buy but I hate to be sold to. [00:08:00] S0: Really? [00:08:01] S3: I got a really good book for you. Okay. It's called Relevant Selling by Janie Smith. Okay. And they did a double blind study with 500 homeowners on garage doors in 2017. And where do you think price came out in the order of importance? [00:08:16] S0: I'm gonna guess like fourth or fifth. Number nine. Number nine. Okay. What would... Do do you remember what was number eight? [00:08:24] S3: All I know, one of the top ones was they cared about who was coming to their home, that they were safe. [00:08:29] S0: Sure. [00:08:29] S3: They cleaned up, they honored their commitment, they honored their warranties. The cleanup was actually a bigger thing than I would have thought of. Yeah. But they kept their date.
00:08:29 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:08:29] S3: They cleaned up, they honored their commitment, they honored their warranties. The cleanup was actually a bigger thing than I would have thought of. Yeah. But they kept their date. [00:08:36] S0: Yep. [00:08:37] S3: And my dad always taught me you could do it the best quality, you could do it on their timeline, you could do it the cheapest, but you could never be all three. [00:08:43] S0: You're only [00:08:43] S3: two out of the three. [00:08:44] S0: Only? You know, it's funny when I went to college, there was a two out of the three, was just you could either sleep, you could do well in school, or you could have fun. You could only get two of those three. [00:08:55] S3: That's a good point. Yeah, because you could have fun, get good grades, but you're not gonna sleep much. [00:08:58] S0: Exactly, exactly. [00:09:02] S3: Are there general generational differences in how people shop for their home their home services? [00:09:07] S0: There there absolutely are, and a lot of it you actually see in the discovery process. So one of the really interesting things was we looked at how did you find your contractor? Would you like to guess which channel today, for folks that were actually shopping, was the most common channel that they actually discovered a contractor through? [00:09:25] S3: Yeah. I mean, I would obviously guess Google.
00:09:25 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:09:25] S3: Yeah. I mean, I would obviously guess Google. [00:09:27] S0: Spot on. 39% was Google. What's interesting is millennials, it was over 60%, and for baby boomers, it was less than 30%. So you see a real generational divide. Where you see baby boomers is they're much more likely to have used a contractor that they previously used. It's possible because they've also just bet in the market, and they've known contractors for for for forty years. So you see the discovery process is is different, right, about where they're finding contractors. And then when it comes to the buying process, there is actually a lot of similarities in what different generations want. Obviously, sort of online pricing and online shopping and price discovery is something that is a little bit more common in the younger generation than the older generation. But here's the reality. 69% of homeowners today are looking for a price online before they have anyone out to their home. So while there are some generational differences, it's also very clear that the modern homeowner, right, they wanna be able to shop on online and they wanna really discover price. [00:10:29] S3: Yeah. Marcus Sheridan talks a lot about this. Totally. As endless customers is give them the information. Yes. Be very transparent. Compare the products. Talk about what you... You're not good at. And that transparency will lead to more trust.
00:10:29 · Tommy Mello, Zach Deering
[00:10:29] S3: Yeah. Marcus Sheridan talks a lot about this. Totally. As endless customers is give them the information. Yes. Be very transparent. Compare the products. Talk about what you... You're not good at. And that transparency will lead to more trust. [00:10:43] S0: Totally. And I think what it... One of the things that I think we're really on a mission to do is how do we change this industry from historically selling to people to creating shopping experience? And and and Tommy, can I ask you a question? [00:10:55] S3: You [00:10:56] S0: bet. So think about a time that you bought something that you knew very little about, but it was a fantastic shopping experience. Does something come to I [00:11:04] S3: do this... I mean, unfortunately, I probably... I mean, there's anywhere from 20 to 30 packages a week coming, mostly books. [00:11:11] S0: Okay. [00:11:12] S3: But yesterday, I mean, I'll tell you this, something pops up and here's what makes a good shopping experience for me. Yeah. I can see a quick video on the landing page. Yep. I like it. It's you know, all of Robert Cialdini's seven influences Sure. Get me. And then I hit one button. Yep. I hit the shop button, it's a purple button. [00:11:31] S0: Yep.
00:11:31 · Zach Deering, Tommy Mello, Tommy Mello
[00:11:31] S0: Yep. [00:11:32] S3: And it's like Amazon and my address. And by the way, getting it the same day and next day is not the ultimate thing for me unless it's like something I need at the house. Sure. Like I just bought an ankle brace. Sure. I needed that right away. But for the most part, I'll wait. Yeah. But I just don't wanna load in. There's some Shopify accounts Yep. That you don't even... It doesn't even find your address. Doesn't load your credit card. Yep. Like and that sucks. [00:11:54] S0: Yep. [00:11:55] S3: And here's the fact, Zach. If that happens, I mean, I gotta [00:11:59] S2: really... I mean, 90% [00:12:01] S3: of the time I'm jumping off that site. Yep. And they're retargeting me, I'm like, no. You're you're you're stupid. I'm not gonna take the time. Yep. I wanna hit... I'm lazy now. Yep. Amazon made us lazy. Yep. I wanna hit boom boom done. [00:12:11] S0: Totally. [00:12:12] S3: So that's what's different for me, but I'll tell you this. I like to see my options and I like to be in the driver's seat. [00:12:18] S0: Totally. Like control options, educated right with that video, personalized, write your information in there. [00:12:24] S3: Right.