The Home Service Expert Podcast
00:09:55 · Tommy Mello, Becca Erdmann
[00:09:55] S0: I think AI is going to help with the permitting. You know, it just hasn't caught up, but permits can be a pain in the butt. So how does it work? I mean, you're raising two boys. You're doing business together. Hopefully, there's still, you know, there's marriage, there's parenting, there's business, And sometimes those three things don't all mix. [00:10:21] S1: Well, mean, I think the good thing is that we've been together for about thirteen years. So before we even had kids, we already had a very solid relationship. So we're really good with communication. We're best friends. We're partners. We're partners in life. And I think that matters more before we even started getting into business together. Or it's the same mentality you have to have going into having kids. You're managing something together. You have to be on the same page and you communicate. Have So whether it's kids or a business, it's all kind of the same. And we're just really great at communicating. We've already had gone through. We've grown and developed together personally and professionally. So I think taking that into having kids, like it's just a different... It's the same, but it's different. Like it's just a different part of the day that you're both managing together. You both have to be aligned. You both have to communicate. Both have to be on the same page. At the office in front of employees or at home in front of the kids. So, I mean, I think it works great.
00:11:16 · Kyle Erdmann, Tommy Mello
[00:11:16] S2: Yeah. I mean, I have fun. We love spending every moment together. The business to us is nothing but fun. So, when we love what we do, we love growing. I mean, we've always loved cultivating people and what is parenting, but cultivating kids. So, it's taking a lot of the same skills and just applying it to your family at home. So, yeah, I mean, we we love the dynamic of it. Like you said, communication's always been key. So we just communicate very clearly and we've been able to make it make it work. [00:11:47] S0: What happens... So what I find my mom and my fiance do is, I just, don't know if I like that person. They kind of seem to think like the worst. Like Brie is not the same as my mom, like, I'm like, but who do you like? I mean, once you get to know these people, they like them, but do you guys ever like, it's like Brie's got a Spidey sense, but about everybody? And I'm like, we gotta hire somebody, you know? And I'm like, you know, we're at like 1,500 people at A1, and I'm like, yeah, not everybody's gonna be perfect. And I'm like, try to become their friends. I mean, at least I do, because I love my friends, so I wanna love my people. But do you guys ever have a... On the hiring side of who's gonna work out and who's not? [00:12:28] S2: I mean, typically when we're interviewing, especially our gut tends to align, which is something nice. [00:12:33] S0: Oh, that's good.
00:12:33 · Tommy Mello, Kyle Erdmann, Becca Erdmann
[00:12:33] S0: Oh, that's good. [00:12:35] S2: And we lean into the DISC profiling a lot. So, you know, we let intuition take the driver's seat, but the DISC profile and the data is what hammers it home for us. And we've done the interviewing and the DISC profiling long enough to where we've both gotten pretty good at identifying what the profiles will be before we even get them back. [00:12:52] S1: Yeah, mean we know what we're looking for for each position in terms of the culture fit, the DISC profile, and then once we get the DISC profile back, we take that through ChatGPT with the position. We look for the red flags to see, Okay, what potential questions should I be asking this person because of their DISC profile and their behaviors or their motivators that I want to make sure that they can do the job the way I want. So we'll go through that whole process, ask specific questions in the second interview. And then we both have to be aligned in our guts, in our heads for that person to be right part of the culture. [00:13:29] S0: So when it comes to sales, I mean, typically, hopefully, a business eventually is going have more people out in the field than the support staff. So you've got more direct labor than indirect labor potentially, but you guys are doing a lot more on the fulfillment side. So when it comes to sales, what are you looking for on the DISC? [00:13:47] S2: We prefer a DI over an ID. [00:13:50] S0: I'm a DI. That's great. [00:13:52] S2: I mean, DIs, they they I'm like a perfect match. We're we're both DIs. I... We are? Oh, no. You're a DC. Sorry.
00:13:52 · Kyle Erdmann, Tommy Mello, Becca Erdmann
[00:13:52] S2: I mean, DIs, they they I'm like a perfect match. We're we're both DIs. I... We are? Oh, no. You're a DC. Sorry. [00:14:00] S0: I'm a DI. Oh, I can see the c. [00:14:02] S2: I'm a DC. [00:14:02] S0: Yeah. That makes sense. [00:14:04] S2: Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. So I'm I'm a DI. I was an ID that have have flipped over mindset work or through mindset work that I'm able to become more of a direct person. Yeah, we look for a DI. IDs just tend to talk too much. [00:14:18] S0: Care don't more care [00:14:19] S1: too much about what people think. So, you're caring too much about what the customer thinks than to ask for the sale. So I think it needs to be higher D for a salesperson. [00:14:26] S2: High D. High D. Yeah. [00:14:28] S1: You gotta be able to ask for the sale and ask for what you want. [00:14:30] S2: High D, above average I. If S didn't exist, that'd be perfect. We need someone who's adaptable throughout the process, not so systematic that they get lost when it goes off tracks a little. I I prefer a lower c too because I don't want someone to get too lost in the details of a project. So, yeah, we prefer that. And then motivators wise, we look for people who are high in vigilistic, so extremely competitive, high utilitarian, so they care a lot about return investment and making money. [00:14:57] S1: We like winners. [00:14:58] S0: Yeah. What is the DISC test? Is there a certain one? Because there's like the Tony Robbins. There's all these different types of DISC. Where do you guys go to, How do you... What is the personality profile exactly that you guys use?
00:14:58 · Tommy Mello, Kyle Erdmann
[00:14:58] S0: Yeah. What is the DISC test? Is there a certain one? Because there's like the Tony Robbins. There's all these different types of DISC. Where do you guys go to, How do you... What is the personality profile exactly that you guys use? [00:15:12] S2: So we use... It's through Sean and Caitlin that you talked with. [00:15:15] S0: Yeah. Yeah. [00:15:16] S2: They do our DISC profiling. I think it's through... TTi is the company. But yeah, we like theirs just because it uses the DISC portion and it has the motivators portion. [00:15:27] S0: I love that. I mean, this is something that I think everybody should be listening to is we all talk about lead gen, lead gen. We need more leads. We need more leads. You're not booking the calls. You're not converting those calls. You're not getting the right sales on those calls. Most people have the wrong price book. They don't even realize they need to be priced to make a profit, and your clients want that, so you stay in business when something goes wrong. But these are things we talk about constantly, and I'm to the point now where I got 80 brand new technicians starting next month. Wow. And unfortunately, I think we need to be doing more of this stuff. And there's all kinds of people use Briggs and Myers, they use color, they use a culture index, you know. Have you guys tried anything else? [00:16:08] S2: No, we use this one first and it's worked out really well for us. We've gotten super comfortable with it. We give the profiles of the employees to the leaders so leaders can manage through the profiles too.
00:16:08 · Kyle Erdmann, Becca Erdmann
[00:16:08] S2: No, we use this one first and it's worked out really well for us. We've gotten super comfortable with it. We give the profiles of the employees to the leaders so leaders can manage through the profiles too. [00:16:19] S1: Yeah, mean, talks about ways to communicate, ways not to communicate. So, internally, everyone has access to everyone else's profile. So, you can see what motivates them, how to communicate with them. And I think it doesn't really matter what tests you use as long as you know how to interpret the results and you know how that affects your next employee next to them or you're the leader. They all have to interact and work well together. [00:16:40] S2: And you talk about lead gen too. What is hiring other than trying to generate leads for yourself? So, we use the DISC profiles as our, you know, onto the profile into chat to come up with our ad. So, the ads that we post for our jobs are specifically tailored for each position that we're going for. We're looking to attract the right person into it, which is funny because I've I've had conversations with with Sean and Kalin before, and they've talked about how we get so many green light employees that that match the profiles we're looking for and it's because our ads are tailored to the profile.