The High Performance Edge Podcast
00:21:22 · Peter Troast, Larry Waters
[00:21:22] S1: Yeah. [00:21:22] S2: So we're gonna offer a human touch. We're gonna offer a better solution that is all encompassing. And you're the star here, not the equipment. The customer is the star. Their home is the star. It's not the equipment. It's not the magic beans that I have. It's it's none of that. It's it's we're gonna treat your house for what it is, very unique. And we explained that process through. Now, to be perfectly frank, I haven't seen this erosion coming in because our business is still growing. And when we do lose a customer or don't get a bid, I don't pay any attention to where it went. I just pay attention to what we need to do to win it next time. Got it. And so now these these companies are coming into market and they're saying, oh, we have technology that's gonna be really less expensive because we're one offing it, and we think that this machine is gonna take care of everything. [00:22:14] S1: Yeah.
00:22:14 · Peter Troast, Larry Waters
[00:22:14] S1: Yeah. [00:22:14] S2: And so that's great, but that's like a computer... That's like the AI coming out and says, hey, it's great. It still makes mistakes and it... And and it's not everything. Yeah. I'm not worried that all that's gonna take over. I'm worried that we're not gonna fix the houses and we're gonna waste a bunch of energy. And so you have a system that's gonna adjust that. The bottom line is you you have a hole in the bucket. The water's gonna leak out just as fast. It's... Right? It doesn't matter how much water's in the bucket. It's all gonna leak out at the same rate. So if I fix the hole, I can keep the I can keep the bucket tight. I'm not gonna leak anything out. You're just gonna put in a system that's gonna offset the deficiencies. I'm gonna fix the deficiencies. So you also live in a world of incredible comfort and and all these other things. [00:22:54] S1: So... Yeah. And you... Yeah. [00:22:55] S2: And I don't think anybody's really approaching it that way. It's very much what I've seen. It's concierge services and and there's there's a new company kind of coming to town. They've got some pretty interesting equipment, I guess. Yeah. It's supposed to do the whole job. That's gonna that's gonna appeal to, you know, disc profiling. We know people are broken That's up to four gonna appeal to specific parts of the of the population on how that goes. Right?
00:22:55 · Larry Waters, Peter Troast
[00:22:55] S2: And I don't think anybody's really approaching it that way. It's very much what I've seen. It's concierge services and and there's there's a new company kind of coming to town. They've got some pretty interesting equipment, I guess. Yeah. It's supposed to do the whole job. That's gonna that's gonna appeal to, you know, disc profiling. We know people are broken That's up to four gonna appeal to specific parts of the of the population on how that goes. Right? [00:23:19] S1: Yeah. Yeah. So But let's let's dig a little slightly deeper on this concierge concept because this is one of their, you know, this is one of their calling cards is the typical customer experience when you are dealing directly with a contractor is terrible. Right? You you know, and they're they're very overt about it. If you look at their websites, it's like, you know, this is... You don't need any more, you know, unreturned phone calls and delayed meetings and all the things. And, it sounds like you have really leaned into that. But how, you know, how are you communicating that the, you know, the the handholding concierge type process is really different when dealing with Electrify My Home?
00:23:55 · Larry Waters, Peter Troast
[00:23:55] S2: Well, first of all, I mean, there are some contractors out there that would just love give me as many jobs as I can do. I love the tools. I wanna just go install. Yes. Yeah. And those guys might not call you back if they're... If a customer went directly through them. Maybe concierge is better. But a good contractor that's gonna do good work is gonna make those phone calls. They are gonna get those emails, and they're not gonna all be AI generated. Right? Right. And so you're actually gonna talk to somebody. You can call somebody at the company that you have a relationship with, not how do I get ahold of these people? So there are certain people that wanna disconnect from society and not ever talk to anybody. Yeah. But there there... You're not gonna be able to build relationships with them. You're just selling them a widget. So there's still the majority of the population wants to have a relationship. Now someone will take it because it's a little bit cheaper, but a downside of going through the concierge too, is like you can have a concierge company and they send you to me. They're charging me a fee that I have to build back in for you. [00:24:50] S1: Right. Right. Right. Somebody's somebody's ox is getting gourd. [00:24:54] S2: Right. There's no such thing as a free lunch. And Right. And so that's what we like. We'll we'll give you all the services and the and the attention to detail and the customer service that all of these guys will, and they'll save you a bunch of money because we don't gotta we don't gotta pay another layer.
00:24:54 · Larry Waters, Peter Troast
[00:24:54] S2: Right. There's no such thing as a free lunch. And Right. And so that's what we like. We'll we'll give you all the services and the and the attention to detail and the customer service that all of these guys will, and they'll save you a bunch of money because we don't gotta we don't gotta pay another layer. [00:25:09] S1: Yeah. Got it. One more question about the model, Larry. You obviously are describing that you're doing everything comprehensively, and you're addressing the envelope alongside of the mechanical systems. Are How are you getting all of that work done, especially on the envelope side? [00:25:24] S2: We're working our butts off here. I've got all my guys trained up on dry climate building science. Yeah. And how to seal houses and how to do blower door tests and how to be successful with insulation. Yeah. We only do scope. We only do attic insulation here in house if it's in our scope because it's in our scope. [00:25:42] S1: Got [00:25:42] S2: it. I have a subcontract that I'll bring in for anything else, but we do all the air sealing and testing and all that stuff ourselves. [00:25:47] S1: Okay. Okay. So you've internalized Yeah. [00:25:50] S2: Yeah. And we... I've... I have my own electrical department. We do all the electrical in house. We do everything in house, so that customer only has to talk to one person. They don't have to themselves turn into a general contractor.
00:25:50 · Larry Waters, Peter Troast
[00:25:50] S2: Yeah. And we... I've... I have my own electrical department. We do all the electrical in house. We do everything in house, so that customer only has to talk to one person. They don't have to themselves turn into a general contractor. [00:26:00] S1: Got it. Okay. Good. Good. Which is, you know, which is another really hot topic in the industry is just, you know, everyone in in high performance knows the importance of the envelope. It doesn't necessarily mean that everybody has embraced it as a business. Right? So, so that's that's interesting to hear. Good. Well, as we wind down a little bit here, I just wanna make sure that you tell the story of the other side of the Electrify My Home, the the work that you do in training, and and how you're, you know, supporting so many contractors, some of whom are your competitors, which is a pretty extraordinary thing. So tell us a little bit more about that.