The Home Service Expert Podcast

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Sara Nay is the CEO of Duct Tape Marketing and the author of Unchained. In this episode, Sara and Tommy break down why most contractors rent their marketing instead of owning it, which accounts your agency should never control, why referrals alone stall a home service company around $1 million, how to get found in AI search, and the two fixes to make this week if your marketing feels like chaos.

Get Sara's free marketing audit for home service owners ⟶ https://dtm.world/hsep Duct Tape Marketing ⟶ https://ducttapemarketing.com

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 02:59 - Tommy Spends $5 Million A Month On Marketing 04:34 - Do You Need More Leads Or A Better Journey? 05:58 - What's Broken About The Agency Model 07:47 - The Accounts You Should Own, Not Rent 08:32 - When The Agency Keeps Your Website 11:41 - Random Acts Of Marketing 13:00 - One Person Can't Run Six Marketing Roles 15:33 - Direct Response Or Brand? 16:38 - 87% Of Searches Now Touch AI 19:34 - Should Contractors Publish Prices? 20:38 - The $400 Steakhouse Problem 23:23 - Interview Your Best Clients 23:46 - Record Every Sales Call 28:49 - Nextdoor, Angi, Yelp: Pick Two And Own Them 33:19 - The A Team Sells You, The Interns Run You 34:38 - The Five Questions To Ask Your Best Customers 36:59 - A 91% Booking Rate And The Calls You Still Miss 38:11 - The Money Sitting In Your Old Customer List 39:33 - Why Competition Becomes Irrelevant 41:46 - Why Referrals Alone Are Dangerous 43:14 - The Sign: Pay More Per Lead, Always Win 44:53 - Marketing To The Affluent 47:38 - What Marketers Get Wrong With AI 50:40 - Your Home Page Is What AI Reads First 56:29 - The Founder's Brand Beats The Company's 1:00:06 - Use Your Voice To Pull Stories Out 1:06:30 - Buy Back Your Time 1:09:22 - Delegating Versus Dumping 1:10:24 - Two Fixes To Make This Week 1:13:33 - Sara's Final Advice

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David Bach is a ten-time New York Times bestselling author and the man behind The Automatic Millionaire. In this episode, David and Tommy break down why $3,000 a year saved from age 15 to 19 beats saving from 27 to 65, the one hour a day rule for retiring a millionaire, why a tech making $250,000 can still be broke, why owners should buy the building their business is in, and David's idea for a flat tax on IRA accounts.

Get The Automatic Millionaire, 20th Anniversary Edition ⟶ https://davidbach.com

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 01:37 - The Number One Rule: Pay Yourself First 03:17 - Save One Hour Of Pay A Day 03:57 - How 565,000 People Became 401(k) Millionaires 06:46 - The Myth About Investing Aggressively When You're Young 07:32 - Tommy's Roth IRA At 16 08:56 - What $20 A Day Becomes 10:06 - The $27.40 A Day Leak 13:38 - The Corvette Ride That Started It 16:19 - Born To Spend Or Born To Budget 18:15 - A Lesson At McDonald's At Age Seven 24:10 - Homeowners Are Worth 40 Times More Than Renters 27:31 - Why A Garage Door Is Worth Financing 28:29 - Buy The Building Your Business Is In 30:04 - Wealthy But Not Free 31:49 - Why High Earners Start To Resent Their Jobs 32:49 - Making $250K With Nothing Saved 35:25 - The Chart: Start At 15, 19 Or 27 39:33 - Why David Holds Zero Private Equity 41:07 - The Advice He Wishes He Had At 20 45:01 - Batteries Included People 48:11 - $46 Trillion Sitting In Retirement Accounts 50:42 - The IRA Flat Tax Idea 58:37 - Social Security In 2033 1:00:48 - Why The Trades Aren't Going Away 1:01:40 - The Barber Who Saved 75% Of His Income 1:04:55 - What Money Taught David About Himself 1:08:10 - Discipline And Non-Negotiables 1:18:05 - What People Said At His Father's Funeral 1:25:00 - The 20th Anniversary Edition

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Dan Kuschell grew up on welfare in Detroit, built a direct mail company to $1 million in its first year at 22, and now helps home service companies grow through Breakthrough3X. In this episode, Dan and Tommy break down the one message method, why "know, like and trust" is the wrong model, the five pillars Dan found across 5,000 companies, how to ask for introductions instead of referrals, and the family photo mailer Tommy sent to 3,000 neighbors. Get Dan's free gift package for home service owners

⟶ https://breakthrough3x.com/tommymello Growth to Freedom Podcast ⟶ https://www.growthtofreedom.com/

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 03:23 - From Welfare In Detroit To A Million Dollar Mail Business 05:05 - The Coach Who Blackballed Him And The Mailer That Fixed It 10:04 - 34,000 Leads A Month And Why Recruiting Comes First 14:44 - A 1 In 500 Surgery Two Weeks After His Son Was Born 16:19 - The Questions That Rebuilt His Life 18:49 - Tommy's Grandmother And The Good Hours 24:18 - The Question That Took Six Weeks To Answer 27:33 - When Being A Man Of Your Word Holds You Back 31:20 - Could You Take 30 Days Off Your Business 34:17 - The One Message Method 39:06 - Five Pillars Found Across 5,000 Companies 42:36 - Why Know, Like And Trust Is Wrong 45:01 - One Post A Week And $5 A Day 46:00 - Agencies That Own Your Website And Ad Accounts 48:28 - Answer Every Lead In A Minute Or Less 52:39 - Why Hiring Ads Bring In Customers 55:35 - Be The Chairman, Not The Technician 1:00:14 - Is Branding A Waste Under $20 Million 1:02:34 - Partner Gifts That Create Referrals 1:08:44 - The Truck That Does Everything And Stands For Nothing 1:09:27 - Fix Your Pricing First 1:13:22 - Stop Asking For Referrals, Ask For This 1:17:28 - A Family Photo Mailed To 3,000 Neighbors 1:20:55 - Where To Find Dan 1:25:38 - Two Books That Shaped Dan 1:26:57 - Play A Bigger Game

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Dr. Robert Cialdini wrote Influence, the book behind almost every sales training a home service tech has ever sat through. In his second visit with Tommy he goes past the seven principles into the smallest changes that move the biggest numbers: the two words a restaurant added to its booking call that cut no-shows 62%, the one question that took Boy Scout popcorn sales from 15% to 52%, why "967 reviewers" beats "967 reviews," the number one rule of sales every trainer teaches backwards, and the $75,000 envelope Charlie Munger mailed him for a single chapter. Then Tommy puts him on the spot with two live persuasion role-plays. Learn more from Dr. Cialdini and the Cialdini Institute: https://cialdini.com Influence Unleashed, December 5 and 6 in Tempe, 75 seats, $500 off with code A1GARAGE

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:53 - 75 seats in December 03:16 - Who Robert Cialdini is 04:29 - You already paid for this research 05:44 - What ethical influence actually is 07:17 - The seventh principle: unity 08:01 - The couples study and the word "we" 12:54 - Two words that cut no-shows 62% 14:20 - Chris Voss and getting to "no" 15:00 - The Boy Scout popcorn question 16:35 - Social proof and the McFlurry 18:54 - Say reviewers, not reviews 19:38 - Authority: who vouches for you 21:00 - The number one rule of sales 22:22 - A welcome line that lifts conversions 23:42 - Scarcity done honestly 24:52 - Advice to young Robert 26:40 - Put them in the boat with you 28:19 - Ask for advice, not opinions 29:43 - The $75,000 envelope from Charlie Munger 32:44 - Two mints and a 23% tip 34:16 - Give first, before they decide 37:41 - Why 89% beats 90% 40:06 - Warren Buffett's letters and honesty first 42:37 - "You're worth it" 45:12 - Pre-Suasion: the moment before the message 48:39 - Live role-play: talk me out of your book 50:17 - Building a following the ethical way 51:59 - Rapid fire 54:14 - Charlie Munger on why wealth matters 57:39 - Tommy makes it right with a customer 59:46 - What changed his mind, and what's next

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Zac Garside spent eight years training CSRs before he noticed the most profitable channel in home service was the one nobody used: the customer list. Now his agency Send It runs email for some of the biggest contractors in the country, including A1. In this episode Zac and Tommy break down why contractors rebuy customers they already paid for, the one-email-a-week plan any company can run tomorrow, the Will/Won't research framework that tells you what homeowners are really afraid of, and why two CSRs with identical scripts book at completely different rates.

Get Zac's free swipe file of 20 top-performing campaigns: https://withsendit.com/expert

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:46 - From training CSRs to running email 01:58 - Booking jobs the week you need them 02:54 - How to stay out of the spam folder 04:45 - The subject line has one job 06:35 - The 6x in 60 days guarantee 07:40 - Open estimates first, then members 10:36 - Homeowners read email. Owners don't 13:03 - Email, SMS and direct mail 14:09 - It has to come from a friend 15:54 - Tommy's neighbor letter and $225,000 20:44 - What a good open rate looks like 24:49 - The next wave: personalization 29:31 - The two-year spring campaign 34:31 - Broadcasts, campaigns and automations 37:27 - "You're never talking to them again?" 44:20 - Starting from scratch 45:23 - One email a week, four segments 49:26 - The Will/Won't research framework 52:53 - Same script, 90% vs 50% 55:58 - Making customers feel something 1:00:41 - The easiest ROI in home service 1:03:40 - One piece of advice: trust 1:06:00 - Free swipe file and where to find Zac

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Revenue is everywhere in home service right now. Profit is not. Tommy sits down with his mentor Al Levi, author of The 7-Power Contractor, and Jim Leslie, president of Home Service Freedom, to break down why: the hiring excuse every contractor uses ("nobody wants to work") and the answer Jim gives back, what a lost tech really costs, the five things of staffing, why you should triple your pricing, why the owner who is the best CSR, dispatcher and tech is the ceiling on his own company, the zero-or-two cranes rule for your org chart, and the listening tour every owner should take this week. Al is retiring at the end of the year. His last small-room session is at Freedom 2026: Monday, October 26, 6 PM, Mandalay Bay. Use code ALFREEDOM at freedomevent.com to unlock a seat in the room with Al and Jim.

Home Service Freedom: https://homeservicefreedom.com | The 7-Power Contractor: https://7powercontractor.com

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:50 - Al, Jim and Freedom 2026 02:03 - Revenue for vanity, profit for sanity 03:49 - Put your pricing online 05:50 - Three kinds of testimonials 06:38 - Lead times and the boom-bust cycle 11:19 - The five things of staffing 11:32 - What a lost tech really costs 12:35 - Al's last room at Freedom 15:00 - The empty truck in your yard 15:44 - Stand on the bridge 16:39 - Triple your pricing 17:51 - Fighting commoditization 22:15 - Would you send me to your mom's house 25:29 - They just don't want to work for you 27:22 - The best CSR, dispatcher and tech 28:15 - Zero cranes or two 30:09 - The five-year org chart trap 32:26 - Burning tokens on technology 35:33 - There is no silver bullet 40:40 - What your accountant should say 42:24 - $2.6 million to the bottom line 46:54 - The listening tour 50:04 - Al's three-month notice 55:57 - One thing to do this week 59:45 - The room at Freedom

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Most home service owners hear virtual assistant and think someone to answer emails. Alyssa Shivers and Mia Juan of Ready Roles think bigger: five callers on $5.75 an hour brought one moving company almost $500,000 in paid estimates in a single month. In this episode they break down what owners get wrong about VAs, why a $3 an hour VA gives you a $3 outcome, the 10-day onboarding that makes a remote hire work, the flat fee model where every dollar after that goes straight to your VA, how many calls a data activator makes a day, and the real reason most VAs fail (it is not the VA). If you are still reading your own email, this one is for you.

Ready Roles: https://readyroles.com | Mia Juan on YouTube: search "Mia Juan" VA readiness checklist from Ready Roles: [LINK OR ATTACHMENT FROM READY ROLES]

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:55 - What a VA actually does 02:13 - Data activators explained 05:56 - The first-hire mistake 08:01 - The owner is the problem 10:00 - Night shift in the Philippines 13:47 - $3 an hour buys a $3 outcome 15:11 - VAs and AI tools 20:16 - My Home Story Pro 21:19 - $500K from five callers 23:18 - The pitch and the script 26:35 - The Dream 100 list 29:10 - The time study 30:00 - How to start with a VA 33:04 - Ten minutes a day 34:46 - What to pay a great VA 40:25 - The octopus executive assistant 41:38 - Eight steps of delegation 42:34 - The owner who blamed his VA 48:30 - The Big League Movers story 52:58 - What it costs 54:56 - 200 calls a day 58:08 - Go after the big players 1:01:58 - Closing advice

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Derek Cornish got laid off, answered a job ad, and became the top salesman at a window company. Then he and his partner Lakota Tidd built Top Home Improvements from a garage to $20 million a year across three Michigan locations on door knocking and 300 events a year. In this episode Derek breaks down the sales system behind it: why close percentage is the first KPI to track, why his Detroit manager did more revenue with fewer reps, the month they raised prices 30% and had their biggest month ever, sweat questions, same day next day, first in last in, the scariest room in the company, and how to fix commission breath before it costs you the sale. If you run a home service or home improvement sales team, this is the playbook.

Follow Derek Cornish and Top Home Improvements: https://tophomeimprove.com | [email protected]

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:51 - Laid off, then top salesman 07:35 - Selling to people not looking 09:25 - Why 3 out of 10 wins 10:43 - Bottom line beats top line 14:37 - Never scared of price 16:41 - From texts to a KPI system 18:37 - Fewer reps, more revenue 26:30 - Commitments and accountability 29:45 - The scariest room 33:01 - The first KPI to track 34:26 - Same day, next day 37:27 - Beating the big brand 39:58 - When they ask for a discount 45:46 - Selling out of your own pocket 54:31 - Go for the no 55:37 - Commission breath 59:39 - A million behind, a million ahead 1:03:04 - Pancakes and the Top Home cult 1:09:01 - Raised prices 30%, biggest month 1:11:54 - Fractional CFO and accrual 1:13:14 - Role play, role play, role play 1:21:26 - Predictable Success

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🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Tommy Mello does $410 million a year and admits he is still chasing the next thing. Tal Ben-Shahar taught the most popular course in Harvard's history, built the world's first master's and PhD in happiness studies, and won Israel's national squash title at 16 only to feel nothing three hours later. Together they break down the arrival fallacy that runs every entrepreneur, why happier companies post better margins, the SPIRE model, minimum viable interventions you can do in 60 seconds, why New Year's resolutions die by January 17, the phone-in-a-box rule, the accountability buddy that raises follow-through by 200 percent, the good enough life, and what it means to give yourself permission to be human. Connect with Tal ⟶ https://talben-shahar.com -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 01:27 - The unhappiness that started 30 years of research 03:23 - National champion at 16, satisfied for three hours 05:40 - What is the arrival fallacy? 06:30 - Unhappy versus depressed and quiet desperation 08:11 - Enough is never enough and the $3 billion regret 09:38 - Two schools of thought and turning goal theory on its head 13:43 - SPIRE: the five elements of wellbeing 17:20 - Minimum viable interventions 18:34 - Five things you can do in the next 60 seconds 22:31 - Vision boards and the environment that primes you 25:04 - The six-week challenge and why resolutions die on January 17 26:51 - Keystone habits and islands of sanity 28:16 - Would you sleep next to a bottle of whiskey? 30:45 - Habits belong on the calendar 31:39 - The age of distraction and being bored with dignity 35:43 - Zero startup cost and the 200 percent accountability buddy 37:54 - Commitment bracelets and the letter N 42:53 - Stress is fine, recovery is what's missing 43:51 - Does happiness lead to success or the other way around? 45:01 - Six Fs, balance and fitting 48 hours into 24 48:59 - Wearables, step counts and building happiness into a blue collar culture 52:49 - Speed round: the biggest misconception high achievers have 53:46 - Live every day as if it's your first 57:27 - Rate it 1 to 10: cold plunge, sauna, sleep and reading 1:00:39 - Permission to be human 1:02:02 - Learn to fail or fail to learn 1:03:47 - Advice for your 20s and the 90-minute sprint 1:05:34 - $10 million and the Happiness Studies Academy 1:06:35 - Five books, one for each SPIRE element 1:08:19 - How to reach Tal and his closing message 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

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Jason Feifer has run Entrepreneur Magazine for 10 years, and his message to owners is the opposite of what you'd expect: the title you hold is rented, press won't save you, and the only safe ground is something you own. He and Tommy get into being singular instead of interchangeable, the billionaire mentor he walked away from, why he tells businesses to stop chasing coverage, and the arbitrary yes that keeps life interesting.

Connect with Jason ⟶ https://www.jasonfeifer.com Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/heyfeifer/

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 02:05 - Singular or interchangeable 05:33 - Accessible vs available 06:51 - The title you rent 10:37 - Who should actually be an entrepreneur 16:20 - Why he ditched his own framework 18:50 - Ryan Reynolds: willing to be bad 21:05 - The Mailchimp all-hands story 25:43 - The Gary Vee focus debate 28:05 - The billionaire's list 30:46 - An interesting life 31:40 - The Dan Martell exchange 35:28 - How the speaking career started 37:50 - Don't bother with press 39:40 - Google zero 41:57 - What matters most: brand trust 43:01 - Awards, rankings, and recruiting proof 46:00 - The rapid-fire round 47:34 - No meetings before 11 52:40 - The Dave Eggers sellout screed 59:01 - Where to find Jason 1:01:00 - The arbitrary yes

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