Beyond the Software: The Pricing, Marketing & Execution Behind a Profitable Home Service Business

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What's up, Lemonheads?
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I'm Rachel Derez, a graphic designer here at Lemon Seed Marketing, and I'm popping into the LTR this week to introduce something a little different for you.
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So recently our co-founder Crystal Williams sat down with Daniel Putman from the New Flat Rate and Brian Bowman from Divergent Solutions for a Lemon Seed webinar.
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And the conversation was way too good to leave there.
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They tackled something that I think a lot of home service businesses need to hear.
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Before you blame your CRM, your price book, your marketing, or whatever new tool you're using, you might need to take a closer look at the execution.
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They're getting into pricing and profitability, operations, marketing, and how all those pieces have to work together if you want to build a healthy business, especially as you prepare for a softer season.
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So, whether you're wondering if you're priced correctly, trying to get more out of the leads you're already paying for, or just feeling like something in your business isn't clicking the way as good, there's a lot to unpack in this one.
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So I'm gonna hand it over to them.
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Let's zip some lemonade.
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Um, because we are talking all things about how it's probably not your CRM's fault.
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Um, it's probably not an issue with um price books and marketing and things like that.
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Odds are we have an execution problem, but we are gonna be talking through lots of cool things.
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So I'm Crystal Williams with Lemon Seed Marketing, the co-founder, me and my business partner Emily.
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We have a marketing fractional marketing CMO company for everyone, uh, home services that we really work hard to come alongside contractors and be their eyes and ears for what they should be doing for marketing.
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And so really excited.
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These are two of great people that I know.
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Ryan actually worked with my family's company for a while, and she actually works down the hall for me.
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So no stranger to Ryan.
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And then, of course, my sweet friend Danielle.
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Ryan, I would not describe Ryan as sweet, uh, spicy before she's sweet, but great, great person to work with.
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And then there Danielle is pretty sweet.
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Uh, she got a little sweet personality.
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So welcome everybody to the bunch.
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So before we get started, um, guys, in the chat, we love to know, uh, just like Darian said, Darian's working behind the scenes, but we love to know what your industry is, where your home is.
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And one thing that would even help us today is if you're on a specific FSM or CRM.
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So are you a house call pro, a service titan, filled routes, filled whatever, whatever you're on, we want to know.
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Uh, because we are always trying to help contractors and meet them where they are.
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So I thought I would just let me let the other friends here introduce themselves.
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So I'll start with you, Ryan, and then when we get to Danielle, Danielle's our first speaker.
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So excited to have her kind of kick things off.
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But Ryan, tell everybody a little bit about yourself.
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Hello, everybody.
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I'm Ryan Bowman, chief contrarian for what I'm calling Divergent Solutions.
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We do process and systems engineering, workflow development, all of the operational things that keep everything else moving.
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So imagine someone following you around with a clipboard, holding you accountable for everything you're doing.
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That's what we do best is making sure the pressure is off of every one of your tools and um we're pushing all your failures onto the right plate so that we can get them sorted out.
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So we are Sigma nerds and process and systems engineers.
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I love it.
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I love it, great.
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Okay, and then Danielle, a little bit about yourself and what you offer.
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Well, and Ryan to back her up, she is a bulldog.
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If she's working for you, know that she is gonna win for your team.
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And so I I love that.
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I love that she defends her contractors ruthlessly.
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So love that.
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Yes, well, everyone, thank you so much, Crystal, for the warm introduction and for hosting this for us.
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And uh really great to see some familiar faces and well names, I should say, on here.
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Thank you guys.
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It's a big deal to jump on a webinar in the middle of the afternoon.
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So thank you so much for spending time with us.
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But I'm Danielle Putnam, CEO of the New Flat Rate.
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I'm in Georgia.
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We do all things pricing and uh work with a lot of contractors all over the US and Canada.
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I personally have four amazing kids, and my six-year-old son just started flag football and he got two touchdowns Monday night.
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All of a sudden, I am that mom that's like, oh my gosh, I have a quarterback.
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And he's like flag football, six years old, but QB1.
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I love that.
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I love that.
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Well, today, as we jump into things, I think that what we wanted to spend a lot of time is just talking through where we are seeing the most opportunity for contractors.
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So I work with them in a marketing capacity, Ryan's working in them from an operational capacity, and then Danielle, just lots of coaching and pricing and things like that.
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And guys, to be honest with everyone, like when you sit in seats that me and Ryan and Danielle sit in every day, a lot of times the consistency of what we see is glaring.
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Um, and to us, we speak about it like it's so easy to fix.
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I've sat in a contractor seat, several people, all of us have, I think, sat in the actual contractor seat of knowing what it's like to run a contracting business, a home service business.
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And so we want everyone to know that we're speaking honestly from what we actually see happening every single day.
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And at the end of this, any of us would be happy.
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You may, you may need bits and pieces of us, a collection of us, none of us.
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Um, and so we just hope that you walk away today with maybe some things to work on, some things to focus on, um, and maybe even some tools that you need to deploy to really be ready for the soft season that's coming.
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Um, and just again, I like preparedness, right?
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The more we can be prepared, the more, the more intentional we are with our strategy, whether it's pricing or ops or marketing, the better we'll perform.
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So we thought we would just get kicked off um with Danielle.
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She's just gonna give a presentation here a little bit.
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Um, and we can certainly make this conversational.
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So please pop in the chat any questions.
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We're moderating that, but let's jump into talking about are we priced correctly, profitability, how do we present pricing, all of the pricing things, right?
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So I'm gonna I'm gonna toss it over.
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I'll be the quarterback and toss the ball to you, Danielle.
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No, you gotta score a touchdown.
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Let's do it.
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I'll catch it and run.
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Hey, uh, and while while you guys are chatting in as we get going, starting with pricing, would love to hear what you hope to gain.
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Why did you jump on with us today?
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And so it's helpful to see what kind of software and tools that you're using.
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But something caught your attention.
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It could be because you love to hang out with with Crystal and Ryan, and that's amazing.
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So we love that.
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But if there's anything specific you're here to learn or gain, why what did you hope to gain?
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If you'll just throw that in the chat too, we'd love to hear what you hope to gain.
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And I'm gonna share my screen for a second with some slides because I like this picture.
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And you know, we all went into business because maybe we wanted more freedom for ourselves, but ultimately we were told that a business provides all this freedom.
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And essentially, your business should print money.
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And I love this picture because if we put a dollar in, four dollars come out and it's so predictable.
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And I know that's what we all hope for our business all the time, but we're seeing, and this isn't new, it's just that it's still happening.
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So many business owners are living from the company credit card.
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And so they're swiping the company Amex as their own and not really paying attention to how much the company is absorbing for them, they're not taking a personal paycheck.
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And and so I want to be clear here, I don't care if you swipe the Amex and buy your gas.
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I don't care if you buy shoes for your kid.
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What I mean is when we're not really looking at if we put in a dollar and$4 come out, if we if we're not looking at that, are we putting in a dollar and 50 cents is coming out or is$5 coming out?
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And so when it comes to money in our business, sometimes we let the lines get really blurry and then we don't know if we're profitable anymore.
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And then we start to feel that dreaded Friday payday.
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I've got to pay my team on Friday.
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Is there money in the bank?
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And we're doing this cash flow, looking at the bank account accounting.
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And this isn't stuff that you haven't heard before.
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And so many of us have felt this time and time again of I went into business because it was gonna be fun and I was gonna have freedom, but all of a sudden I'm struggling paying bills.
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The monthlies are getting higher and higher, and there's these constraints and these constrictions.
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And then is constrictions a word?
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Constrictions, can restrictions, constriction, I think constrictions is a word.
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So, but but there's all these things, right?
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And all these pressures.
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And so we want our business to be a predictable money engine.
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But if we're not really looking at the money piece and we don't know if we're pricing profitably, and we're not making sure that we actually are making room for profit in our business, then a lot of us business owners uh don't feel like our business is actually printing money because hey, who doesn't want to have a business that prints money?
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I have a friend that's like, hey, let's print more money, let's print more money.
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Like, yeah, that would be amazing.
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And but that is what we we want to do is we want to be able to predict things like that from our company.
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So it's really important to know how to price right to make sure that we are priced right in the market.
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And that's just a couple of the things I want to hit on.
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I'm super passionate about this question right here.
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Why won't they pay me what I'm worth?
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And uh a lot of people have heard me say that I'm on this race or this mission to stop the race to the bottom of let's stop trying to be the cheapest in the market so that we can get the jobs, but let's actually be able to get customers to know that they're going to get great value and they're gonna pay for great value.
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I want that to be the norm, right?
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And so with our pricing, we want to make sure that we can price what we're worth so that we can run a strong, reputable business, provide great value, uh, take care of our team, grow our team, retain our team, and have that freedom that we're looking for.
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I think a lot of customers, especially right now, you know, gas is expensive, diesel is expensive, groceries are expensive, what should things cost?
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And we're Googling and we're saying, hey, uh, you know, Chat GPT, how much is it going to be for that light switch repair?
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And I um I think there's just such a lack of education and knowledge around what things really do cost out there.
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So I'm on a mission, I've been releasing press releases.
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This isn't about me, but I just wanted to say I've been releasing press releases, letting the general public know, hey, in Florida, it was$985 was the average price for a light switch the other day.
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Like I want them to know so that we can educate.
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This stuff isn't free.
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So let's be thankful to our service providers because they're actually here for you.
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Customers asking, am I getting ripped off?
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And so I think it's important for us to educate, but that might have been a little bit of left field.
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Y'all still with me?
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Okay, cool.
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Did anybody put in here what they hope to gain?
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Hope to see a screen share example of how exactly to use the new flat rate with service Titan.
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Oh, wow, thanks for saying that, Gabriel.
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I didn't have um, I can show you that.
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Um leveraging tools inside systems.
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Okay, very cool.
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When it comes to your pricing, uh the the the question I want to ask is, do you know your billable hour?
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Which means do you know how to set your rates?
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And then when's the last time that you actually updated your prices?
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And the third one is did you set your price or did your competitor did you say, oh, you know, hey, what are you charging?
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Did you start calling around and and blind shop your competitors to kind of gauge?
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So many say, Ah, I just kind of went with my gut.
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This felt good, and then they set their rates that way.
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Uh this morning a team member was talking and uh she shared with us that she's working with a lot of contractors right now.
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Don't worry, I know what I'm sharing, although it looks weird.
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I'm I'm moving my screen, I know.
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Uh a lot of contractors right now.
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She's working with raising their prices.
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Every six weeks, she's adding$10 to their pricing because they're so underpriced, undercharging where they should be.
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And it's causing so many issues.
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Of course, they're not profitable.
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And this is not one, this is many contractors that she's working with right now.
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They're they're so unprofitable and they're so afraid to say, hey, I can't go from two to four hundred dollars as a billable hour because my team will freak out that if they see all those prices, that won't work.
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They they won't understand the value, and and I won't be able to have they won't, they won't do it.
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And so there's a there's a reminder, every six weeks she's increasing in$10 increments so that she can slowly get the teams accustomed to where they should be priced.
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So there's a lot of different ways.
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Let's start by looking at our pricing.
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There's a lot of different ways to adjust them, but that's something that somebody is doing.
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I don't want to take up all the time here, but I want to quickly do these four things, is what I wanted to hit on.
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When we're wondering, are we priced right?
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We've got to remember that every dollar in our company needs a place, it needs a bucket.
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And so if we were gonna do very simple math, we were we're gonna use four quadrants and the four quadrant quadrants of our financials.
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If we've ever, I don't know, Crystal or Ryan, have you guys ever seen a billable hour calculator where it's like, what's your insurance?
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What's your truck?
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Uh you know, your monthly truck fees, what's your gas?
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It's eye-opening.
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Well, but it's too much.
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It's like a thousand lines and PLs, and it's like, hey, give me your perfect PL completely up to date so that I can actually calculate your great billable hour.
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And that's so stressful when you're already running your business to have to go and find the right uh financials to hand to the person that wants your billable hour.
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So instead we said, hey, let's say that uh 100% of the revenue that you have is 100% and you got to have it in in somewhere so it's organized.
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So we're gonna do four simple quadrants of finances in our business.
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We're gonna say, hey, 25% goes into labor, 25% goes into overhead, 25% in material, and 25% profit.
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What I love about this is we don't have to waste time saying, where should this Dasani water bottle go?
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Should it go in my overhead or should it go in my material?
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Where should that go?
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Like we're just gonna make some simple buckets and we're gonna stick it in one.
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And I'm not even kidding.
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Now, 25%, actually, that's high.
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Uh, majority of the contractors that we are working with and talking to are at about 5% right now, if they're profitable at all.
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And so please know that if you're struggling with your profitability, you're not alone.
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That is not uncommon.
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But if you've not read, some of you have probably read this, love this book.
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I know Mike McAllowitz has been a lot of the trade shows um over the last 10 years with us all.
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But Profit First is so good saying that you're going out and you're generating revenue, your guys are doing jobs, you got to take the profit first.
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And so if you decide, hey, we're gonna be 25% profitable or we're gonna be 10% profitable, you got to take that profit out of the revenue and stick it away in a safe spot and then pay your expenses afterwards.
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Otherwise, it all just ends up in a black hole.
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So let me slow down.
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That's an easy way to start looking at our finances, is we have to predetermine what do we want our profit to be.
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And then if we're gonna calculate a billable hour so that we know if we're priced right in our market right now, I'm gonna take two seconds and do this, and then I'll give you this tool if you want to do your own, and we can have a strategy call afterwards.
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Uh but Crystal, Ryan, when you guys work with people or somebody chat in faster, what do you pay your top technician?
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Somebody give me a dollar per hour.
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Per hour.
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What's Trey, what's he pays technician?
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Their own performance pay.
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A lovely version of performance pay last I saw.
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What's uh what are you guys paying your your top technician?
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How much per hour?
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Average in Texas across my limited bucket is in the in metros like 28 to 48.
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So I think we could say like 32 for all the variations of performance to pay in spivs, we're averaging in the 30s, probably.
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Love it.
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And you know, um, nobody's answering online, so there we go.
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There you go, Gabriel did 4850 for plumber.
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Okay, cool.
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That's what we'll put in here.
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Thank you, Gabriel.
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So we got 48.50, which is gonna round up to 49.
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And then we have to remember that there's a burden on uh the labor with the government taxes and benefits.
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We're gonna average that at 15%, which calculates our new hourly rate for that technician at$56.
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And then the number of paid hours, typically eight in a day.
00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:24.480
Uh, but we're actually not 100% efficient, none of us are, and so the billed hours is typically 4.5, which gives us an efficiency rate of 56%.
00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:30.400
And so our adjusted labor is now$99 per hour for that technician.
00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.960
And then our number of paid days in a year is about 260.
00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.160
And then we've got some freebie days, some sick days, some vacation.
00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:50.559
I know I'm going through some math a little bit fast, but I'm gonna jump all the way over here to say that that gives us a suggested retail global hour labor rate of$516.
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.240
So the industry average is about$250.
00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:59.279
Going from$250 to$516, that sounds a little crazy.
00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:02.480
And but I want you to think about it for a minute.
00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.519
Is your business as profitable as you want it to be?
00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:11.359
If not, would it be time to take a look at what are we making?
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:12.480
What are we spending?
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.640
If that number's a little bit hard to stomach, I'll stick in here.
00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.079
I believe Ryan said 38.
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.400
Which gives us a 404 uh billable hour.
00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:31.119
And then something else that's really important to look at, a lot of people don't know uh what their daily target is.
00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:32.720
I think it's really amazing.
00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:35.920
If I could share anything on this webinar, it's this one thing.
00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:44.240
If your team knows the daily target for every truck that's going out rolling, what do they want to bring back at the end of the day?
00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:46.160
Then they can help contribute to that.
00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:56.720
And it's not turning technicians into salesmen, it's just saying, hey, we're a team and each truck needs to bring back$1,817, or it might be$1,500 or$2,000.
00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:10.720
But if they know, then they can participate in that and then they can start championing around and it's it's important versus the majority don't have any idea what their daily truck goal is, and the owners don't either, and that's why they haven't shared it with the team.
00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.720
So if you don't know what yours is, let's spend some time together and figure that out.
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:17.119
I love it.
00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:18.559
Last thing I'm gonna share.
00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:23.759
Hey, Anna, if you'll stick these in there, uh I'd love to provide the billable hour calculator.
00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:28.480
If you'll stick that link in there for people, please, and they can play around with those numbers themselves.
00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:32.880
But Gabriela, was it you that asked you wanted to see what the new flat rate and service Titan looked like?
00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.480
So, real quick, uh, we'd love to help people with their pricing.
00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.400
You can do options on your own.
00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.039
Uh or if you like help, we'd be happy to help you.
00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:44.319
Our menus look like this.
00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.200
We offer five price points, anything diagnosed in the home.
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:53.440
And when the customer chooses an option, then down at the bottom right now I've got send to house call pro.
00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.039
Because we are seeing your available calculator.
00:19:57.440 --> 00:19:57.920
You are?
00:19:58.240 --> 00:19:58.480
Yes.
00:19:59.119 --> 00:19:59.359
Yeah.
00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:00.160
Cool.
00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:02.799
That's cool.
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:04.400
That's cool.
00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:05.440
Okay, cool.
00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:06.240
All right, thanks.
00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:24.480
So here's the uh what our the new flat rate looks like is our our menu of options, but then uh you can send it directly to the to Service Titan or here it shows sending directly to House Call Pro and it'll go directly to the job that you are dispatched on, and then you close out your credit card processing over in your uh software programs.
00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:27.200
Okay.
00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:44.880
So I think the importance here is again, one of the biggest things I see people see is they're underpriced, they don't know their billable hour, and they're afraid of making changes to get themselves priced correctly because they feel like it prices them out of the market.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:59.920
So I think again, you're gonna hear me say the word strategy so much today, ad nauseum, because strategically, owning a business, especially a home service business, requires strategy, strategic thinking from the beginning, right?
00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:18.400
So from how I'm gonna be priced to when I'm gonna take increases to how I'm gonna pay my people to how this, how I buy product, all of that is so important that new flat rates structure, and I I we share a lot of clients that use that utilize the the new flat rate way.
00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.759
Um they're in your freedom coaching program, like they're in lots of programs.
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:26.880
Those contractors tend to really be a lot more dialed in.
00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:30.000
And everybody's like, what's your advice for a contractor starting off?
00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:39.920
I was like, know your numbers because marketing and all these other things are great, but until you can talk your business talk, you don't know what direction to do.
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.400
So that's my biggest encouragement there.
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:45.440
So, all right.
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:52.240
Well, from there, you know, I think learning how your how your pricing is making you profitable.
00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:59.839
Um, maybe even some of the biggest mistakes, Danielle, like maybe what's one of the biggest mistakes you see them making, contractors making?
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:07.759
Like I said, it's it's really blurry and and they stay in denial too long.
00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:08.400
Yeah.
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:08.880
Right?
00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:13.920
And so everybody loves to lie, lie to themselves and say, no, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.
00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:22.000
But what you're saying, Crystal, is no, we actually should know our numbers, and it feels difficult, and so we don't, we just keep avoiding it.
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.359
But I think they undercharge for too long.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:26.319
Yeah, yeah.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:31.359
Then the idea of getting caught up, yeah, it's yeah.
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.559
Instead of it being a little step up, it's a gigantic leap.
00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:35.039
Yep.
00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:41.680
Ryan, and I know that you you get to see the behind the scenes of a lot of contractors because you see their books, you see their things.
00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:43.519
What are the most of them missing?
00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:45.680
This is really funny.
00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:47.759
I call this making pearls, right?
00:22:48.000 --> 00:23:01.920
Because at first, operationally, it's one little bitty thing that's kind of annoying, and you haven't even you're not paying attention to it, but if you give that enough time, it is big and shiny and expensive, and undoing all that is way harder.
00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.000
So Daniel's so sweet.
00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:05.359
I'm about to tell on all y'all.
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:16.240
The biggest pricing problem, and this kind of plays into this flat rate specifically, is assuming that your flat rate price is an excuse to not know anything else.
00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:20.000
You're like, well, I don't have to know this margin, I don't have to know how long this takes.
00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:21.279
I don't have to know a lab rate.
00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:23.039
I use I use flat rate pricing.
00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:27.440
That is the absolute most like all day, every day.
00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:34.000
If I could shake people, I'm like, flat rate pricing is the presentation view to your customer only.
00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:41.200
As a business owner, you darn well better know you're you're not exempt from time and materials because you're using a flat rate price.
00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:45.440
You have to know exactly what's going into it, whether that's what you put forward or not.
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:54.960
So the misuse and just flat rate almost became a buzzword, you know, like corporate jargon, like pitch deck and alignment.
00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:59.279
Flat rate became such a talking point, it became a buzzword, and it's like the telephone game.
00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:04.640
It's been translated so many times in so many different people's interpretation of what flat rate pricing is.
00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:08.240
It just means this is what we do and this is how much it costs.
00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:14.799
So one of my favorite things to do is take a job that someone has done in the system and work it backwards.
00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:17.200
Like, okay, here's your labor rate that we now know.
00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:18.799
Here's how long it took you for this.
00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:20.960
This is what you paid for your materials.
00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:27.359
You're negative on jobs that you already did because you've just been slapping a sticker on stuff.
00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:33.039
So again, I'm a big fan of shock value, and it's well, we use flat rate, that's all it is.
00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.319
Okay, let me show you exactly why you still have to live in both worlds.
00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:39.200
Your customer can see the very polished, very controlled version.
00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:40.240
I'm all in.
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:44.880
You're not exempt from knowing operationally what is going into your business.
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:47.200
A number one at McDonald's costs what it costs.
00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:49.599
You go in, they push number one, you've send it out there.
00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:55.440
Somebody in the Ivory Tower somewhere knows exactly what goes into that, and they have control of what's going on.
00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:01.759
That's why breakfast at McDonald's, the same breakfast I've been getting since I had my driver's license, used to cost me$4, and today it's nine.
00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:06.319
The people on the ground push the same button, but the variables have changed.
00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:16.960
So this this like loose definition of well, I use flat rate, that is not an excuse to lose control.
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:18.559
To lose control.
00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:21.599
Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely.
00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:27.839
It's and again, it this it's because we don't enjoy this part, a lot of us don't enjoy that part of the business, right?
00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:40.240
And to be frank, it takes a lot of uh mental capacity to sit down and calculate and things, and then sometimes it's a very brutal truth too, and so we can just stick our head in the sand.
00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.720
Well, what let me tell you what happens on the marketing side.
00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:49.839
So I can tell immediately if a contractor has their head stuck in the stand sand because there's a big difference.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:55.440
I can have a conversation that says, hey, we want to help you build your brand and capture leads.
00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:59.039
And I need to understand, and they'll tell me I'm doing$3.2 million.
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:02.640
My goal is four million this year, my average ticket is this.
00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:04.079
This is how I plan to do it.
00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:15.440
I need to take your price increase versus some people say, I, you know, I'm probably gonna lend somewhere around 1.5-ish, maybe 2.5.
00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:19.680
I'm like, oh, you got like a you got that big of a swing in the maybe.
00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:30.480
And you know, I got some guy, like you can just tell that they allow, let's call it allow, they allow this loosey-goosey approach to their books.
00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:34.400
And listen, you make movement with math, right?
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.680
What gets measured is what's gonna perform.
00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:42.400
So if you want to see average ticket increase, start tracking average ticket.
00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:52.640
If you want to see yourself be a lot more dynamic when your dis when your distributor manufacturer takes a price increase and you're right behind them adjusting pricing, there's power in that.
00:26:52.799 --> 00:27:06.000
So if you want to feel like a boss babe or boss dude doing your thing, be so in tandem with the movement of your average ticket and your cost per equipment and your labor burden.
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:12.799
Be in so in tune with those that you barely miss a day or two where your pricing is not shifting.
00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:17.039
Um, and it's a different kind of power move, but we don't talk about it enough.
00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:20.559
What we talk about is build a great company culture.
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:21.519
Is that important?
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:21.920
Yes.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:23.440
Well, you need lead generation.
00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:25.759
Can I tell y'all this new whole philosophy?
00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:27.759
We don't generate any leads.
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:28.240
Okay.
00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:30.079
Leads are captured.
00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:38.240
People, no one wakes up and goes, well, thank God I saw that Facebook ad about their maintenance agreement because you know, I've been needing a whole new HVAC unit.
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:40.319
Does those do those things happen?
00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:50.640
I mean, sure, but in the grand scheme of things, and for 90% of the market, what's happened is we are we are selling them stuff they don't want to buy.
00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:55.200
And so we have to work extra hard to stay in front of them and do those things.
00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:04.799
And I we need to know the volatileness, there's a word, volity, volatility of uh of your pricing.
00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.039
And again, it's it's very obvious to me.
00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:11.839
And I've been doing this for lemon seed six years, and I was with the my family's company before that.
00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:18.000
And one thing about my brother, Trey, so he's very direct kind of person, but he's also a decision maker.
00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.039
So you didn't have to worry that we weren't gonna make a decision.
00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:25.359
And I honestly like people when they even when they sign, and I know you two can agree with this too.
00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:40.319
When I get contractors that interview lemon seed and we interview them, they're either gonna go, they're either gonna sign quickly and we're gonna be off to the races and rocking and rolling, or we'll we're still passing it around the circle seven months later because I can't decide.
00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:43.119
And I and I'm like, I don't, I it would be hard for me to work with you.
00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:44.640
You're so indecisive.
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:51.039
You also don't know your numbers, or the numbers that you claim to know are cloaked in so many nuances.
00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:52.960
Well, but you know, it's really not fair.
00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:54.079
What about warranty work?
00:28:54.160 --> 00:29:03.200
What about I'm like, okay, listen, you can live in the what-ifs, and you're gonna be living in the broke kingdom until you get out of that, out of that space.
00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:09.680
And so there's so much power in knowing your numbers, and it's so not sexy, right?
00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:13.359
You want to be able to sit on a call and be like, look at my marketing, look at what I'm doing.
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:24.720
When really marketing is icing on a cake that you've built operationally, and many of y'all are one little jiggle away from the whole thing falling apart.
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:26.000
Right?
00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:29.599
So I'm I'm gonna talk a little bit about marketing strategy here.
00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:40.240
So along the same vein with Danielle about pricing um and knowing those things, marketing also needs, if marketing was an exact science, everyone would do it.
00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:40.880
Right?
00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:52.799
The hardest thing for me to train people, for me to teach the mindset to technicians or to home to uh contractors, sorry, to contractors, is it is a mindset of change.
00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:59.680
The only thing that's consistent in marketing is the pat fact that we need to pivot every day, right?
00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:10.000
We need to build our brand, we need to be looking at the new stuff, we need to know what's working so we can juice it up till it doesn't work anymore, and then we need to be ready for our next move constantly.
00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:11.680
So you just live that life.
00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:18.960
So if that gives you anxiety, I don't know what to tell you because I can't make it any simpler.
00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:20.480
It just kind of is what it is.
00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:29.759
Your mindset around marketing has to be that I call it the two plus two equals five method, meaning our marketing should compound on itself, right?
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:43.680
So what we're doing, our vehicle reps and our community signage and our social media, and then our direct mail and our website and our AI tools and all the, it should all compound and be greater together than they are independently.
00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:52.960
So when we only give credit to things that are last point of acquisition, meaning, well, I am gonna cut everything because PPC is what's bringing in the money.
00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:56.319
Number one, I want to know your average tickets on those calls.
00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:03.440
So when you go to a cold PPC lead, what's your average ticket versus a referral style lead, right?
00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:05.119
What are your average tickets?
00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:19.920
I want to know that, but I need you to understand that the more you dial back the foundational pieces of branding and brand awareness and top of mind awareness, the more that PPC number will struggle because it just gets the glory.
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:25.920
They the customer has probably interacted with your brand 10 to 12 other places.
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.599
That was just the last place that they chose to interact with.
00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:37.680
And I promise you, they can literally have clicked a PPC ad and your COSR could say, Well, Miss Miss Bowman, tell me how you heard about us.
00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:38.720
And you know what they're gonna say?
00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:41.279
I see your vans in my neighborhood all the time.
00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:47.839
They were like, Well, you just called the pay-per-click number, and she's probably gonna call it again and cost you another amount of money, right?
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:49.359
So that's what I'm saying.
00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:55.759
Like, many of our contractors have lost the focus on the fact that if you, and listen, you know who else?
00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:56.720
PE groups.
00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.519
They've dialed everything into a spreadsheet.
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:06.400
And as long as it computes in a spreadsheet formula, we will put all of our marketing dollars there.
00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:13.599
And in the meantime, your brand presence and recognition and and authenticity is dwindling and dwindling and dwindling.
00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:14.799
And then guess what?
00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:19.440
A new business opens up in your market and they push hard into the community.
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:25.920
They're live on social media, they're sponsoring things, they're putting out yard signs, they're handing out plungers, they're doing all these things.
00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:33.599
And all of a sudden, slowly but surely, that pay-per-click campaign that you are running and your GLSA that you were running are now low and underperforming.
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:35.599
And I'm like, they're taking it from you.
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:37.279
That's literally what they're doing.
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.119
Listen, and I do it.
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:47.839
I literally, when I get a client, the first thing I do is look for the weak holes in their market and we go guns ablazing into that market.
00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:49.839
And my contractors are scared to death.
00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:52.079
I'm like, listen, put this helmet on and hang on, right?
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:54.480
Like, because we're going to market.
00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:57.680
And people are like, I don't really know what go to market means.
00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:06.640
I was like, going to market means we've got a budget, we've got a campaign, and we are ready to ruffle some feathers because that's what we want to do.
00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:14.160
And you no longer when you partner with people like Lemon Seed, New Flat Rate, and Divergent, we are the we are the front line for you, right?
00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:15.440
Like we're we're going in.
00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:21.039
Danielle's team can modify and help you build it and show you and coach you on the importance of those things.
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:23.680
My team is like, follow us, right?
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:24.319
Here we go.
00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:27.680
Ryan's over here, like, follow me, do these things.
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:31.599
And it's because we know what it takes to do it.
00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:33.359
And does everybody fit our mold?
00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:33.920
No.
00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:40.960
Um, are there people who just their style of business doesn't match ours, their style of pricing or lead it, whatever doesn't match?
00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:41.599
Sure.
00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:45.599
But at the end of the day, we've all built good companies.
00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:58.960
And we know that when you can look at marketing as icing on a cake, and everything that we do has to be reiterated literally over and over and over again.
00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:05.200
And I need to show up over and over and over again, and it's not always trackable on a spreadsheet.
00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:07.039
You will sleep better at night.
00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:15.360
You will sleep better at night by knowing that you're doing an 8% budget on your marketing spend of what your revenue goal is for that year.
00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:19.199
And then let's learn what our customer acquisition cost is.
00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:21.440
Let's learn how much we're retaining people.
00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:26.719
Because some of y'all will pay to get a new lead, go service their system, and then y'all never talk to them again.
00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:28.880
You just think they're gonna call you back.
00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:35.039
Also, another thing that you guys do is um, this is this is I'm on my soapbox.
00:34:35.119 --> 00:34:46.159
But what happens is if y'all ever worked with someone, I mean, literally five years ago, you're you know, you went out and put in one pound of refrigerant, you were like, that's my customer.
00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:47.360
I'm claiming it.
00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:51.440
But what you need to remember is it depends on how they came back to you.
00:34:51.760 --> 00:35:02.880
So when they came back to you and that that three pounds of refrigerant that you put in their system and didn't sell them a new one with that big of a leak, it lasted them two summers, three summers, whatever.
00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:04.480
And now they're calling back.
00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:09.840
If they're calling through Google Local Service Ads, friend, they didn't even search for you.
00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:17.119
They actually went row, they went out into the land of Google and now AI and said, who's the best person for me to choose?
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:21.760
And when they saw your name, they were like, okay, I think that's who was out here the last time.
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:28.480
Or did you get them because you're sending a newsletter out every single month that's keeping yourself top of mind?
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:34.639
Or do you have a big wide drip campaign that goes to those people, right?
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:39.039
There's a way for us to keep our existing customer base engaged.
00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:44.559
Those are cheap leads, those are little treasure troves that we can go to when our call count's low, right?
00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:55.440
But on the other side, like I beg of you to have a robust marketing strategy that includes ways that is building your brand for long-term success.
00:35:55.679 --> 00:36:08.960
It is capturing leads as they show up and your customer experience, meaning how you answer the phone, how you respond to reviews, how you respond to chats, how you respond to form pills, is dialed in.
00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:18.239
Ryan and I are working together on a client right now that just honestly had a wild mixed bag of problems.
00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:18.800
Okay.
00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:20.880
Um, pricing not dialed in.
00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:23.920
Honestly, the two owners weren't on the same page.
00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:35.280
I literally called and said, okay, I have someone that needs operational guidance because lemon seed cannot be, we can be helpful, but it's not even on good data.
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:41.840
So long as this is who I think if it's who I think it is, Crystal, this is a mutual, mutual, mutual.
00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:43.679
Oh, all three of us are working on this.
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:51.920
So what and what goes on with this is like, and I'm not that I'm taking credit for this, but what happened is I knew these this family, wonderful people.
00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:55.199
I know them, still know them to this day, and they're wonderful people.
00:36:55.440 --> 00:37:03.199
All of y'all are wonderful, but what happens is sometimes we get in our own way, and so we're like, hey, I literally saw it.
00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:10.880
I was like, you need your pricing is not under control, your house call pro is not set up correctly, your marketing is not set up correctly.
00:37:11.039 --> 00:37:15.599
So I can take off running, but what I'm running with is bad data.
00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:22.960
And also what I'm running with is you're very much underpriced, and you need a pricing strategy, right?
00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:27.280
And so you don't why pioneer when you can partner?
00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:29.440
So why try to go build something up?
00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:32.079
Go ahead, Danielle, Crystal.
00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:43.440
I think you live, sleep, dream strategy, like and that's an easy term for you, but I don't feel like it's as easy for the rest of us.
00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:52.480
So will you say quickly, strategy versus execution or strategy versus like implementation, yeah, right?
00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:55.280
Because we might think we have a strategy and we actually might not.
00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:59.760
So when you're like pricing strategy, marketing strategy, it might be over some of our heads a little bit.
00:37:59.920 --> 00:38:00.880
No, no, no, that's fair.
00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:03.199
My my partnership guy told me this the other day.
00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:08.079
Um, so he told me, and I thought this was good, he said almost everybody thinks they have a plan.
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:09.519
I got a plan.
00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:14.880
Um, but strategy means that, and and this is how Lemon Seed looks at it, okay?
00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:23.280
This means we know why we're doing it and when we're changing it, and and also how we're gonna change it.
00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:26.320
And so not everything has to happen at one time, right?
00:38:26.559 --> 00:38:38.880
So literally with this mutual client that we share, there my strap, my marketing strategy included them having a better pricing strategy, meaning what is your execution?
00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:45.119
How are we going to implement and execute a new pricing plan of action?
00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:55.280
And so here, here is Danielle, and she has a great product that if you will subscribe to the concept and get then we can go to next step.
00:38:55.440 --> 00:38:57.360
Next step, I want you to work with Ryan.
00:38:57.599 --> 00:39:19.840
Ryan's gonna look at your entire operation and she's gonna start pushing and pulling what needs to be pushed and pulled, but only after we have pricing under control, because our strategy is a really a timeline of what happens when, and understanding that we do things sometimes that are not our long-term, that are not long term.
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:21.679
One of those is lead aggregators.
00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:29.039
If I told some of you right now that we needed a robust plan with Angie, y'all would be like, oh my God, no, it's a terrible plan.
00:39:29.199 --> 00:39:32.480
Well, I don't want you to stay there forever, right?
00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:36.239
But right now, you just called me because you couldn't make payroll.
00:39:36.719 --> 00:39:38.079
So we need to invest.
00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:45.119
Our strategy is that we're going to invest in Angie to help us get leads of any kind just so we can roll trucks.
00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:54.719
But our long-term goal is to lessen more and more need of that because we're building our brand and our level of expectation higher and higher and higher and higher and higher.
00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:57.280
But it can't happen overnight, right?
00:39:57.519 --> 00:39:59.599
I can't snap my fingers and do it.
00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:01.840
And it's the same thing, you know.
00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:05.280
Um, I'm gonna use I'll use new flat rate again.
00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:11.039
I have seen people have a fantastic strategic approach to good, better, best, right?
00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:12.239
I'm using the right language, right?
00:40:12.320 --> 00:40:13.599
Good, better, best pricing.
00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:15.519
And they're like, well, my guys wouldn't do it.
00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:17.840
So, you know, I just kind of gave up on it.
00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:21.039
I'm like, okay, so now we let the prisoners run the prison.
00:40:21.440 --> 00:40:34.079
So you're responsible for the company making money, you're responsible for helping them have a payroll, you're responsible for being fair and honest in the market, but our guys can just say we're not gonna do it, and we give in to that.
00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:35.519
Like, who's the boss?
00:40:35.760 --> 00:40:36.079
Right?
00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:45.360
And how I look at that is let's say if we're at a hundred million, I'm sorry, not a hundred million, a million, a million in revenue, and we want to get to two million.
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:46.400
That's a big jump, right?
00:40:46.480 --> 00:40:47.199
We're gonna double.
00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:49.039
We're gonna go from one million to two million.
00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:50.239
And how are we gonna do it?
00:40:50.320 --> 00:40:51.519
Well, we've got different strategies.
00:40:51.679 --> 00:40:54.320
We can do a pricing strategy where we're gonna go this path.
00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:58.639
We've got our marketing strategy, we're gonna go this path, we've got our operational strategy, we're gonna go this path.
00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:08.480
And there's different tasks that we can do along the way, but the goal is to get to two million, and we can do different strategies to get there, is how I view it.
00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:09.679
I love, yeah.
00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:11.599
I mean, and again, you're right.
00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:15.199
I do use the term strategy all the time because I love it.
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:16.320
I just want to make sure we all know.
00:41:16.880 --> 00:41:32.800
No, it's it's a great call out, and I use it so much because a lot of people have a list of vendors, they have some marketing ideas, or honestly, a lot of people tell me that when I say tell me about your marketing strategy, they immediately tell me who their website provider is.
00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:34.960
Oh, yeah, I use whomever.
00:41:35.039 --> 00:41:36.639
And listen, there's a bunch of great ones.
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:44.159
Yeah, and it's it's really forgetting that owning a home service business is really a big old puzzle piece, right?
00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:49.760
And we need all of us, all of us need to be on the same page.
00:41:51.119 --> 00:42:04.880
So yeah, but I was just saying, imagine having everything in, I say it all the time, it doesn't matter who your marketing company is or how good they're doing, imagine generating all that extra volume, and then your pricing is costing you money.
00:42:05.039 --> 00:42:07.280
It's gonna 5X an existing problem, right?
00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:10.480
So one tool isn't the solution to the whole thing.
00:42:10.719 --> 00:42:13.440
If you've if it's not ready, it's gonna get worse.
00:42:13.679 --> 00:42:16.000
Well, and like let me say I pride myself on this.
00:42:16.079 --> 00:42:21.119
Like when I was at McWilliams with our family's company, and Ryan knowed Ryan worked with me in that capacity.
00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:25.119
I was forever trying to figure out this is a problem, this is a solution.
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:26.880
This is a problem, can this be the solution?
00:42:27.039 --> 00:42:30.480
Like literally, and there is no one-stop answer.
00:42:30.559 --> 00:42:33.039
There is, and and honestly, you got to build your roster.
00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:36.159
John used a good John's my partnership guy here at Lemon C.
00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:37.440
He used a great analogy.
00:42:37.599 --> 00:42:44.079
It's like taking your team out to run the ball, a football analogy here, but nobody knowing any of the plays.
00:42:44.320 --> 00:42:47.840
Everybody's out there, everybody knows their position, right?
00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:50.079
Everybody knows that we're trying to get the ball over there.
00:42:50.239 --> 00:42:54.639
We want to make more money, but everybody needs to know where everybody's going at different times.
00:42:54.800 --> 00:43:00.880
And I'm gonna use another, another analogy because this is where I'm gonna kind of end on where things are going, or my portion.
00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:05.679
I need people to understand where we've been, where we are, and where we're going.
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:09.199
And so, marketing, remember me telling you, marketing is a game of chess.
00:43:09.280 --> 00:43:10.639
You just never get to get up.
00:43:10.880 --> 00:43:11.199
Okay.
00:43:11.679 --> 00:43:13.920
So I use this like analogy.
00:43:14.079 --> 00:43:17.599
My husband and I were sitting, my son is in the marching band, so he marches at halftime.
00:43:17.679 --> 00:43:20.719
So we go at the beginning of the game, we watch and then we leave.
00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:23.760
So my husband's sitting beside me and he's like, Man, throw the ball.
00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:25.119
Like he's wide open.
00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:26.719
Like, look at number 12.
00:43:26.880 --> 00:43:27.920
He's wide open.
00:43:28.079 --> 00:43:31.440
And so I was just sitting there and I thought, man, I would be terrible.
00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:34.079
Number one, I'm five foot tall on a good day.
00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:36.239
So I can't see a whole football field.
00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:43.519
So if I was the quarterback, I would be struggling because I can't see, I can't look above, right?
00:43:43.679 --> 00:43:44.880
And see out there.
00:43:45.039 --> 00:43:48.639
And so Ray's like, yeah, my husband said, Yeah, but you know where the ball just was.
00:43:48.800 --> 00:43:50.079
Follow the ball.
00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:54.239
And so I started thinking, like, listen, this is how marketing goes.
00:43:54.400 --> 00:43:58.079
Contractors, some of y'all know where the ball was and y'all wish it was still there.
00:43:58.400 --> 00:44:03.599
Man, 10 years ago, as long as I A good website with good words and a phone book, I was killing it.
00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:04.320
Right.
00:44:04.480 --> 00:44:06.719
And then a lot of y'all know where we are today.
00:44:06.880 --> 00:44:09.679
So today, you know, you got to be a little bit more robust.
00:44:09.760 --> 00:44:11.280
And so you're doing a few other things.
00:44:11.519 --> 00:44:20.719
But very few of you are really ready to ready to look over to the to the right here, as I say, look all the way over to where marketing and business is going.
00:44:21.039 --> 00:44:23.360
And where it's going is technical.
00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:28.320
Where it's going is a tech stack that is going to get more and more complex.
00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:33.119
And why when I say tech stack, those of you, and I'm just going to use a few, these are in no particular order.
00:44:33.199 --> 00:44:35.360
These are just the ones that pop up into my head, okay?
00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:48.559
But if you're using CI Web Group for your website and it's all AI generated, and you're using new flat rates style for um pricing, and you're using Divergent has come in and it's helping you do that.
00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:58.800
And then Lemon Seed has a dashboard, and then you're using um Unify 360 and they have a dashboard, and then you've got a broccoli dashboard because they're your AI voice agent.
00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:02.480
And then you've got a direct mail people who give you a matchback report.
00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:09.440
That is the stuff that is gonna just it will suffocate us because we want all that data.
00:45:09.599 --> 00:45:10.800
We're hungry for data.
00:45:10.880 --> 00:45:16.639
We want to make data-driven decisions, but now we've got data coming out of our ears, and most of us are like, you know what?
00:45:16.719 --> 00:45:18.719
I'm gonna, I'm just gonna shut my laptop.
00:45:19.039 --> 00:45:20.400
I'm just gonna shut it.
00:45:20.639 --> 00:45:22.159
I can't keep up with logins.
00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:23.119
I can't do all this stuff.
00:45:23.280 --> 00:45:29.440
So what I think is in the future is as business owners, and I'm talking to the three of us here as well, right?
00:45:29.840 --> 00:45:42.880
I we have got to look at what is the most beneficial stack of technology that we can build that keeps our companies forward moving and with what's coming.
00:45:43.039 --> 00:45:46.559
So if I'm only doing what's here, I'm never ahead.
00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:50.960
So sometimes you have to be a little risky and be like, you know what?
00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:55.119
AI websites sound terrible, but you know what I mean all the time?
00:45:55.280 --> 00:45:56.800
How do AI websites work?
00:45:56.960 --> 00:45:57.840
How does this work?
00:45:58.079 --> 00:45:59.920
How do I, how do my clients do that?
00:46:00.079 --> 00:46:04.400
You know, chirp, catch, unified 360, OnePath, I don't know.
00:46:04.559 --> 00:46:07.119
Let me go look at every single one of them because you know what?
00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:12.000
Odds are there they are the right fit for a certain style of contractor, right?
00:46:12.239 --> 00:46:16.079
And so there's so much goodness out there in our industry.
00:46:16.320 --> 00:46:18.719
But some of you, number one, y'all act like it's Christmas time.
00:46:18.800 --> 00:46:25.360
So y'all, if if they give you a$10 discount, y'all are signing up and complicating things and never fully onboarding.
00:46:25.440 --> 00:46:27.360
And then some of y'all are scared of your own shadow.
00:46:27.440 --> 00:46:29.280
Like, I'm not doing anything else, right?
00:46:29.440 --> 00:46:38.880
So, my encouragement to you is enjoy marketing again, to where you just come to the realization that you're gonna have fun with your marketing.
00:46:38.960 --> 00:46:50.320
We're gonna push the envelope, we're gonna try some things, we're gonna track, we're gonna be knowledgeable and we're gonna be intentional about how we go about our marketing so that you enjoy it again.
00:46:50.400 --> 00:46:53.519
Because right now it just feels like a time suck and a money suck.
00:46:53.679 --> 00:47:04.400
But let's get back and enjoy the game and then let's stop looking at better where the ball was, keep our eye on where it is, but be always looking up at who we can throw the ball to, like what's next, right?
00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:05.280
All right.
00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:07.519
So, and again, the chat is open.
00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:12.079
So if you've got questions or thoughts, please jump in here and let us know.
00:47:12.239 --> 00:47:16.239
Um, Ryan, thanks for being so participatory there in our Slack.
00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:25.280
Um, and so now I'm gonna kind of turn it over a little bit to her um uh to Ryan as we're gonna talk through a little bit of execution style, right?
00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:29.920
So some of you, you got you invested with new flat rate.
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.639
You feel good about your pricing and your your your price points, your profitability.
00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:36.639
You're you're working on some good things there.
00:47:36.800 --> 00:47:38.719
You've got some marketing dialed in.
00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:43.440
And now, unfortunately, the ball is in your court to execute, right?
00:47:43.599 --> 00:47:47.519
So, Ryan, tell us what you're seeing, tell us what you like to focus on.
00:47:47.840 --> 00:48:00.800
So I was I spiraled a little bit when you were talking about just the I have this here and this dashboard and this and this, and I have this running joke where I just started saying bing bong, bing bong, like every single everything all day, every day is an alert.
00:48:00.880 --> 00:48:04.079
It's a notification, it's a check this, it's a dashboard, it's a login.
00:48:04.559 --> 00:48:10.960
Holy crap, how in the world are you supposed to see what you need to see quickly and efficiently to make a decision and move?
00:48:11.199 --> 00:48:16.079
So that notification information fatigue is so freaking real, it's insane.
00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:16.480
Yep.
00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:19.119
And this is I kind of pick on marketers a little bit.
00:48:19.199 --> 00:48:22.159
I'm like, those creatives stress me out.
00:48:22.320 --> 00:48:23.440
I am the data nerd.
00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:28.159
I want to be in a cubicle with a clipboard doing accounting, just leave me out of it.
00:48:28.559 --> 00:48:32.960
But I know how critically important the marketing is.
00:48:33.119 --> 00:48:36.559
And then I also know that it is a huge investment.
00:48:36.800 --> 00:48:38.159
It's also critical.
00:48:38.239 --> 00:48:39.679
It'll make or break you.
00:48:39.760 --> 00:48:42.000
And this is something we talked about in the comments too.
00:48:42.159 --> 00:48:47.840
I don't care who's your marketing if you spent one dollar or a million dollars if you didn't answer the damn phone.
00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:48.960
You see what I mean?
00:48:49.119 --> 00:48:51.119
So one thing is good.
00:48:51.280 --> 00:48:53.039
You have to have all the things.
00:48:53.280 --> 00:48:58.159
So what I end up doing is picking on the marketing companies a little bit, like, oh my gosh, those creatives.
00:48:58.239 --> 00:49:01.039
But then a client will come to me and be like, Yeah, I know they make me nuts.
00:49:01.119 --> 00:49:02.239
I can't stand it either.
00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:04.960
Look, I'm spending X amount and I've got three calls on the schedule.
00:49:05.039 --> 00:49:06.559
You know, the first thing I'm gonna look at?
00:49:06.800 --> 00:49:07.679
Your match rate.
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:12.079
I want to know every single opportunity you had, how many of them actually landed in your CRM?
00:49:12.239 --> 00:49:15.119
And if it's four out of 50, we've got questions.
00:49:15.360 --> 00:49:25.039
Now, if this means that the activity was happening and it went to a sales at HVAC.com email that 14 people thought they were checking and no one ever checked it.
00:49:25.199 --> 00:49:26.400
Well, this is a you problem.
00:49:26.559 --> 00:49:31.760
If all those calls were about your vehicle's extended warranty, okay, then have a conversation with your marketing company.
00:49:31.840 --> 00:49:34.639
But that happens maybe 1% of the time.
00:49:34.960 --> 00:49:42.719
It is how you move your customer through your business from nice to meet you to deposit that I care about.
00:49:42.800 --> 00:49:45.440
And that should not be that hard.
00:49:45.679 --> 00:49:48.239
If you think of it like imagine a relay race.
00:49:48.320 --> 00:49:54.719
I don't know if anyone else sits around and eats snacks and watches the Olympics, but I'm telling you right now, if you watch a relay race, it's simple.
00:49:54.800 --> 00:49:57.760
What is it, four or five people, okay?
00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:00.400
And they know exactly what their job is.
00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:06.320
They're in their place, they know what their job is, and they are ready to freaking do it before the whistle blows.
00:50:06.559 --> 00:50:13.119
And if you think of your entire customer journey that exact same way, when the phone rings, who's getting it and what did they do with it?
00:50:13.199 --> 00:50:14.639
And who do they hand it to next?
00:50:14.800 --> 00:50:18.960
Then when they go to hand it to that next person, she's already running full speed ahead to the next thing.
00:50:19.119 --> 00:50:21.599
She's very clear on her lane and her role.
00:50:21.920 --> 00:50:22.800
Same thing.
00:50:23.039 --> 00:50:28.000
If one of those girls at any point of that race trips and falls, the entire time is shot.
00:50:28.159 --> 00:50:32.559
The entire customer experience is now slower because one person stumbled.
00:50:32.800 --> 00:50:36.880
So that flow is a very clear, like a monopoly board.
00:50:37.039 --> 00:50:47.840
The customer comes in, you have the conversation, you wow the customer, you book it, you go out, you schedule dispatch, you collect, all of those things have to be very, very, very clear.
00:50:48.079 --> 00:50:51.199
Otherwise, it doesn't matter what pricing tool you bought.
00:50:51.440 --> 00:51:00.639
It doesn't matter who your marketing company is, who's helping you generate the opportunity if the opportunities are coming in and you're just eh, if you don't know how to field the ball.
00:51:01.199 --> 00:51:08.719
So I will like tools like new flat rate, or there's some other, you know, some other things like, well, I'm a member of this, or I subscribe to this, or we use this.
00:51:08.880 --> 00:51:11.039
I'm gonna tell you right now, you know what I have at my house?
00:51:11.199 --> 00:51:14.320
I have a Peloton at my house that has clothes hanging on it.
00:51:14.559 --> 00:51:23.039
So if I got pissed off one day because I'm a little bit chubby, I don't get to go leave a bad review for Peloton because I've had this thing for five years when it's been a clothes rack, right?
00:51:23.199 --> 00:51:30.559
So it does, I don't care what tool you have if you're not using it at all, if you don't know how to use it and you're not leveraging it.
00:51:30.639 --> 00:51:34.800
The Peloton is never going to solve my problem if it just sits there.
00:51:34.960 --> 00:51:43.199
And that's exactly the same truth with every single thing that you have signed up or have access to in your business, all of it.
00:51:43.519 --> 00:51:51.760
And I've said this before there is no easier problem to diagnose and harder problem to cure in a business.
00:51:51.840 --> 00:51:56.320
This is across the board universally than just absent leadership.
00:51:57.440 --> 00:52:01.679
So this is me kind of spinning off of John's sports analogy from earlier.
00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:04.559
Imagine you're at the Super Bowl, okay?
00:52:04.719 --> 00:52:08.159
You make it to the Super Bowl, halftime the coach disappears.
00:52:08.320 --> 00:52:08.719
He's gone.
00:52:08.880 --> 00:52:10.079
He just leaves, okay?
00:52:10.559 --> 00:52:12.000
You low, you end up losing.
00:52:12.480 --> 00:52:17.039
And then he shows up after the game and comes into the locker room and coach is like, what the heck are you doing?
00:52:17.119 --> 00:52:18.719
This is the worst thing I've ever seen in my life.
00:52:18.800 --> 00:52:24.400
So then he comes in critical of an expectation that you weren't able to deliver when he abandoned you, right?
00:52:24.639 --> 00:52:26.639
It doesn't mean that people on the field aren't talented.
00:52:26.719 --> 00:52:28.800
It meant they it means they weren't being led.
00:52:29.519 --> 00:52:42.639
And so operationally it has to come from a place of not I went to a conference and signed up for this thing, figure it out on your own, but how are we actually going to use this in the in the business?
00:52:42.800 --> 00:52:54.159
And that's easy for me to say, but it's also easy operationally to underestimate what work and effort has to go into actually implementing something.
00:52:54.320 --> 00:52:55.039
Does that make sense?
00:52:55.280 --> 00:52:55.599
Oh, yeah.
00:52:55.920 --> 00:53:02.880
You've got a team that's performing and you it's got you to a place where you've outgrown what's working and you're uncomfortable and you're like, look, we need to get to the next level.
00:53:03.039 --> 00:53:08.719
Chances are you don't just have an extra person sitting around who can take their foot off the gas and focus on this whole new thing.
00:53:09.039 --> 00:53:12.639
So I think integration is a cuss word.
00:53:13.760 --> 00:53:18.880
Because listen, companies, y'all lie that y'all have an integration.
00:53:19.199 --> 00:53:27.039
Um, and so when we're trying to onboard and implement and do things, integration becomes I mean, I'm dealing that right now with my family's pest control company.
00:53:27.119 --> 00:53:33.360
You know, we want to integrate some new things, but you know, we're just time to do it is so hard to come by.
00:53:33.679 --> 00:53:34.000
Yep.
00:53:34.079 --> 00:53:35.920
I want to I want to defend everybody though.
00:53:36.159 --> 00:53:40.559
Business owners sign up for more things because they're trying to solve their problems.
00:53:40.719 --> 00:53:45.199
Yes, yes, they have problems, and it's like, can somebody please fix this for me?
00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:46.719
So I'm gonna sign up for another thing.
00:53:46.880 --> 00:53:47.760
I mean, I do it all the time.
00:53:47.840 --> 00:53:50.880
I'm gonna sign up for another thing, and then I throw it to my team to say, here you go.
00:53:50.960 --> 00:53:52.079
I was trying to help you.
00:53:52.320 --> 00:53:56.719
And we have to remember, let's stop signing up for the things and let's just pick the next thing.
00:53:56.960 --> 00:54:05.760
Well, and invest and do it, and let's finish the next thing that we I'm a big fan of just really fully leveraged.
00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:08.159
I don't like integration at all.
00:54:08.400 --> 00:54:14.000
Even from the technology standpoint, I've seen that just tool to tool connectivity is a pain.
00:54:14.079 --> 00:54:16.639
I think, Danielle, you can probably agree with some of that.
00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:22.000
Trying to make your solution play well with another solution when both are important really stinks.
00:54:22.079 --> 00:54:27.199
And that takes a whole separate skill set and a whole separate time trying to figure out how to make those things work.
00:54:27.440 --> 00:54:30.880
So I'm a huge advocate for less is more.
00:54:31.280 --> 00:54:34.400
And then everyone's like, well, I don't want all my eggs in one basket.
00:54:34.480 --> 00:54:35.679
Yes, you do immediately.
00:54:35.840 --> 00:54:43.360
Like centralize the amount of places you have to go to get your information, connect what you can and then kind of trim where you can't.
00:54:43.679 --> 00:54:56.320
Um, but technology integration is such a drain, and especially in home services, I don't think anyone started their home service business because they wanted to play like even new know what an API key is, right?
00:54:56.400 --> 00:54:57.280
No one cares.
00:54:57.519 --> 00:55:02.880
So trying to learn and figure all of that out in the background is a whole separate can of work.
00:55:03.119 --> 00:55:05.440
It's just a distraction from the basics.
00:55:05.760 --> 00:55:07.360
Yeah, yeah, no, for sure.
00:55:07.840 --> 00:55:08.559
It really is.
00:55:09.440 --> 00:55:10.320
It really is.
00:55:10.480 --> 00:55:11.519
So let's do this.
00:55:11.840 --> 00:55:13.760
We have five, five or six minutes.
00:55:13.920 --> 00:55:16.719
So, number one, we want to answer any of your questions.
00:55:16.800 --> 00:55:19.920
So when I go, I'm gonna ask Ryan and Danielle a question.
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:25.679
But in the meantime, if you have any questions, please pop it there in the chat, right in the middle of the screen at the bottom.
00:55:25.840 --> 00:55:27.039
Just pop it there in the chat.
00:55:27.119 --> 00:55:29.119
We'll see it and we'll do our best to answer it.
00:55:29.280 --> 00:55:31.760
Um, and it can be for any of us or all of us.
00:55:31.920 --> 00:55:36.960
Um, but I think here at the end, one of the things that we want to talk to everybody's like.
00:55:37.039 --> 00:55:42.880
So, Ryan, what is one thing a contractor could look at or change in their business tomorrow?
00:55:44.480 --> 00:55:58.320
If you think of your customer journey like that relay race, if your customer were the baton, does your team know when to receive it, what to do with it, and how to hand it off?
00:56:00.639 --> 00:56:04.559
Like, how does your opportunity move through your company from start to finish?
00:56:04.719 --> 00:56:06.719
Who is responsible for what?
00:56:08.320 --> 00:56:10.480
Okay, who is responsible for what?
00:56:10.639 --> 00:56:11.599
Go figure that out.
00:56:11.679 --> 00:56:13.519
Do a little customer journey mapping.
00:56:13.679 --> 00:56:15.760
Okay, Danielle, what about you?
00:56:16.079 --> 00:56:17.519
That's so good, Ryan.
00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:20.559
I don't think we've done a good enough job on this call.
00:56:20.719 --> 00:56:22.880
Really tooting the horn for Ryan.
00:56:23.360 --> 00:56:26.239
Her operational insight is really good.
00:56:26.480 --> 00:56:27.119
It is.
00:56:27.440 --> 00:56:29.360
Yes, that was excellent.
00:56:29.519 --> 00:56:33.840
I would just say the same thing, but I'm trying to be creative and different.
00:56:34.480 --> 00:56:39.599
But with that, then I have to go to the front lines and say maximizing every opportunity in the home.
00:56:39.679 --> 00:56:53.039
So when we've got a service technician out in the field, they've got to be reminded and held accountable and trained and equipped to have the tools to be like, what else can we help this customer with without them having to have the sales pressure?
00:56:53.280 --> 00:57:01.199
And so that also goes to the support, you know, team back at home base of setting the technician up for success.
00:57:01.599 --> 00:57:05.119
We're gonna send a technician out there, they're gonna do a great job, they're gonna diagnose everything.
00:57:05.280 --> 00:57:07.599
If they find anything else, do you want them to let you know?
00:57:07.920 --> 00:57:09.280
And then the tech gets out there.
00:57:09.360 --> 00:57:11.360
Hey, if I find anything else, do you want me to let you know?
00:57:11.519 --> 00:57:20.639
And so always looking at how we can maximize every opportunity in the home because customers will buy more from you if given the option, because they don't want to deal with this again.
00:57:20.800 --> 00:57:23.599
And we all have problems in our house all the time.
00:57:24.960 --> 00:57:26.320
Yeah, I love that.
00:57:26.559 --> 00:57:29.760
Making the most of every single opportunity for sure.
00:57:29.920 --> 00:57:37.760
Um, and then for me, for for marketing, I would say if I could tell everybody to do one thing, I would tell them to start doing better on social media.
00:57:37.920 --> 00:57:41.039
Um, because social media is exactly what it sounds like.
00:57:41.119 --> 00:57:43.199
It's a social way to stay top of mind.
00:57:43.360 --> 00:57:51.920
And when you're not doing it, other people are, and it's one of those things that I just think is becoming a necessary tool that you're using to do that.
00:57:52.000 --> 00:58:04.480
But then the second thing would be pull all of your contractual agreements for your marketing, document them, and start tracking things correctly, um, or get someone in that can help you do those things.
00:58:04.800 --> 00:58:07.599
So, okay, well, we didn't have any questions.
00:58:07.760 --> 00:58:09.360
Uh, jump in the chat here.
00:58:09.599 --> 00:58:17.679
So, Ryan and Danielle, why don't y'all put your um so we got a poll that just popped up that's on the screen right now.
00:58:17.760 --> 00:58:19.360
We'd love for y'all to fill it out.
00:58:19.599 --> 00:58:27.119
Um, Ryan and Danielle, just pop into the chat real quick your your email um or how y'all want to be contacted.
00:58:27.280 --> 00:58:32.719
And then we will send this out too with everyone that signed up for the webinar and all that contact information as well.
00:58:32.960 --> 00:58:50.800
Um, but if you need help right now on the screen, uh we would love to know if you would you need operational guidance with with Ryan, you want some uh pricing and honestly, I call it a um financial support tile things from from Danielle.
00:58:50.880 --> 00:58:53.519
Uh it's just a broad range that I like for the new flat rate.
00:58:53.599 --> 00:58:59.760
So depending on what you really need right now with pricing and things like that, I encourage you to reach out over there.
00:58:59.920 --> 00:59:08.400
Um, or of course, with Lemon Seed, we would love to be the team that comes in and helps you organize all of your um marketing in general.
00:59:08.639 --> 00:59:11.039
Help let us help you get it organized and off of your plate.
00:59:11.119 --> 00:59:15.760
So, Ryan or Danielle, any last few little words or thoughts?
00:59:16.079 --> 00:59:18.239
Thank you guys for taking the time being here today.
00:59:18.719 --> 00:59:21.760
I know, I know it's in the middle of the day, so I thought it was really, really good.
00:59:21.920 --> 00:59:25.199
Um, Anna from New Flat Rate has just popped some things in there.
00:59:25.360 --> 00:59:32.079
Um, Ryan's telling you guys to know your numbers, including layers of things, and a good price book is so critical.
00:59:32.239 --> 00:59:35.519
Listen, I do not promote people that I don't think solve problems.
00:59:35.679 --> 00:59:39.679
And so we would love to be the team here that solved your problems.
00:59:39.840 --> 00:59:42.880
Um, you can start with any of us and we can connect you to the other ones.
00:59:43.039 --> 00:59:46.480
But if not, guys, thank you for joining us for this webinar.
00:59:46.639 --> 00:59:49.119
We know everybody is so busy, busy time of the year.
00:59:49.199 --> 00:59:53.039
Hopefully we do a few more of these, but everybody's about to get on the road.
00:59:53.199 --> 00:59:54.239
So we hope we see you.
00:59:54.400 --> 01:00:03.840
Um, Ryan and I are hosting an event in uh Ryan's hosting an event in Houston on Thursday, October 1st.
01:00:04.159 --> 01:00:04.800
October 1st.
01:00:05.199 --> 01:00:07.519
October 1st, um at Top Golf.
01:00:07.599 --> 01:00:08.400
She's hosting that.
01:00:08.480 --> 01:00:12.480
It's for Trades Thursday, um, really put on by House Call Pro.
01:00:12.639 --> 01:00:17.599
So if you're in the area, which I consider Lufkin in the area, we're about two hours from there.
01:00:17.760 --> 01:00:23.679
But come and hang out with us at um Top Golf and just play a little golf and have a good time.
01:00:23.840 --> 01:00:26.559
Um, and then Danielle, where is New Flat Rate headed next?
01:00:26.719 --> 01:00:27.599
Put you on the spot.
01:00:27.760 --> 01:00:28.800
Where are y'all gonna be?
01:00:28.960 --> 01:00:32.639
Well, actually, we've been we we we don't have the big shows this fall.
01:00:32.719 --> 01:00:37.679
We've been hanging out at PHC in regional and doing a lot of regional shows.
01:00:37.760 --> 01:00:42.719
So if you're going to any of your local chapters, absolutely.
01:00:42.880 --> 01:00:47.840
Then I will see everyone hopefully at women in H V H C R um next week.
01:00:48.000 --> 01:00:49.679
So, guys, thank y'all so much.
01:00:49.840 --> 01:00:51.360
Have a great rest of your week.
01:00:51.440 --> 01:00:54.719
Thanks for joining us, Ryan, Danielle, you are precious friends.
01:00:54.800 --> 01:00:55.840
Thank y'all so much.
01:00:56.639 --> 01:00:57.760
Y'all can't see that.