The Sharpest Tool™

Charlene Ierna is the owner of Ierna’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing in the Greater Tampa Bay, FL area and a certified alligator trapper. She shares how she balances her role as a leader and visionary in her home services business, and why valuing relationships is key when facing challenges.

Charlene shares that she was inspired to enter the home services industry when she saw the huge market for the trades, specifically air conditioning services, in her hometown. Seventeen years ago, they had to call into Tampa for A/C service, and she saw this gap as an opportunity for a business.

From two employees to 90, Ierna’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing has grown steadily with hard work. Today, Charlene embraces the multi-faceted role of visionary, innovator, leader, and brand ambassador. She emphasizes that she thrives in this position because she enjoys being involved and engaged in her local community, but getting to this place where she could do what she loves took intentional business and team building.

“I love what I do, and I think that I am better suited for that, like I said I like to be a visionary for the company and I think that as any wise leader would do… my time is better spent managing employees that can do things that maybe I’m not necessarily great at or do things that I maybe don’t necessarily enjoy doing, so I’ve put people in place that have built that team, so I that I can do the things that I’m really good at or things that I’m good at doing.”

In the home services industry, Charlene has found that most of the challenges her business faces are rooted in relationships: employees, colleagues, competitors, and customers. These challenges are constantly changing and evolving as people are unique and relationships are dynamic. Social media and people’s desire for instant gratification have also added a layer to this challenge, by making the industry more fast-paced.

While Charlene acknowledges that women do not make up the majority of people in the trades, she has never found her gender to be a barrier to success. She is also excited to see more females joining the field and taking advantage of the many opportunities that exist within the industry.

“I think you know, it’s like everything in life really that’s unexpected. You can’t control the challenges that are happening in your life, but you can try really hard to control the way you respond to those challenges. And I think that’s been super important to over-communicate with your team, collaborate with your team on all levels. I think it’s been important to signal safety out there… and one way we’ve done that is to not do a single layoff since. We’ve not pulled back in any way, shape, or form.”

Charlene highlights that protecting your human resources, especially during a crisis, needs to be your priority. She made sure her business’s actions reflected how they valued their relationships by:

1. Over communicating with her team.
2. Making it clear that their jobs are not in jeopardy.
3. Being totally transparent.
4. Supporting them as her work family.
5. Staying calm.
6. Providing her team with the necessary safety measures.

Have tenacity. Have a plan but make sure it’s flexible. Be ready to pivot, and know that changes and challenges are part of what make your job so important.

Roger Wakefield is the founder of Texas Green Plumbing, a Green Certified Plumber, speaker, and successful YouTuber whose channel focuses on plumbing and trade advice. He shares how using social media for local leads has brought his business growth and success. 

Texas Green Plumbing is a full service, residential plumbing company that specializes in slab leaks and leak detection, just Northeast of Dallas, TX. With only three trucks, they’re not a big company, but they are a very busy company that does well in their area. 

Leveraging social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok is often an undervalued and tough to tackle part of running a home services business. But Roger argues it doesn’t have to be. 

A few of his tips for simplifying and making your marketing strategy effective include:

1. Utilize keywords that pertain to your home services industry and geographic location.
2. Define who your customer is and figure out which platforms they like to hang out on. That’s where you should be publishing your content. 
3. Focus on creating a synergy between all of the platforms you are using by repurposing content in creative ways. 
4. Network on social media like you would in real life by telling your story, sharing why you do what you, and answering questions.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Roger shares how when his wife encouraged him to attend a local networking event, he was hesitant. However, once he was there, he was in his element. 

“And I kid you not, that first night networking, we got three lead calls the next week… and I was like wow, that was really really easy. I think all tradespeople should be out networking. All you do is talk about the business that you do. People will love you for that.”

He emphasizes that this kind of organic sharing is exactly how you should approach your social media content. For example, we all love to buy but we all hate to be sold to. When you’re meeting people at a networking event, anyone who tries to hard sell or cold sell to you is not going to be someone you want to keep in touch with. 

After this first successful networking event, Roger and his wife eventually got involved in the group called Master Networks which teaches you how to bond, find common interests, and build relationships.

He started applying these concepts he was learning about networking in real life to his networking on LinkedIn.

“How could I use LinkedIn to get in front of not just people, but the people that can introduce me to people. So I started looking at real estate agents. And I thought, ‘I want to be the most informative plumber that there could ever be for real estate agents. I want to teach them about plumbing… I want them to understand the value of it…’ and I started using LinkedIn to grow locally. I started reaching out to local real estate agents. And I would just tell them ‘Hey, I’m Roger Wakefield -  I put out valuable content that can help you help your customers.’ And I started building connections.”

Roger highlights that by telling your story in this way, by adding value, you become a trusted advisor to your audience. You position yourself as the first person they think of when they need help. 

Websites are crucial, but they don’t need to be complicated. They also don’t need a lot of pages in order to be effective. Instead, make it easy for your customer to find what they are looking for. 

A website should: 

• Tell your story and tell the customer why you do what you do. 
• Tell your customer how to get in touch with you. 
• Add value to the customer’s life with helpful information about questions they need answered. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will make your website easy for Google to find and retrieve when your customer is searching for an answer. By positioning your blog around topics and keywords your customers are asking about, you will help Google direct your customers to your site. 

On YouTube, SEO is equally important, since it is owned by Google and functions as a search engine. 

Roger shares that he likes to utilize long-tail keywords to attract his target audience. These are people searching for specific plumbing and trade content. Long-tail keywords are more specific and have a lower search volume, but often yield higher conversion rates because they attract a very niche audience. 

Roger’s tips for creating content for your social media platforms and blog are simple:

1. Ask your receptionist what questions they are receiving on the phone from customers. Create content that answers those specific questions. 
2. Never stop learning. And never stop sharing what you are learning, whether it’s a new tool or new technique in your industry. 
3. Start! You don’t have to have everything perfect to begin. You just need to start, and improve a little bit everyday.  

YouTube: Roger Wakefield 

LinkedIn: Roger Wakefield 

Website: Texas Green Plumbing

Podcast: The Trade Talks (coming soon!)

Roger Wakefield is the founder of Texas Green Plumbing, a Green Certified Plumber, speaker, and successful YouTuber whose channel focuses on plumbing and trade advice. He shares what his 40 years of experience in the industry have taught him, from the importance of processes and planning to finding focus in chaos and spotting marketing red flags.  

After quitting high school his junior year, he went on to manage a burger joint. When his coworker told him about his family’s successful career in plumbing, Roger was interested. He applied to work for them, and started his first project at $4.75 an hour. 

He went on to work with Green Plumbers USA, becoming an Elite AP and Director of Operations. These roles and responsibilities ignited his passion for green plumbing and water conservation. He also saw how community concern for conservation varied based on geographic location to bodies of water and access. He believes that water conservation and management should be a priority no matter what, and has continued to advocate for this in his own business. 

Five years ago, he founded Texas Green Plumbing, a nod to his Texan pride and formative years with Green Plumbers USA. Today, he spends his days split evenly between running the business and running his social media platforms, which includes a YouTube channel with over 50,000 subscribers. 

When he started out, growth happened organically through networking and talking to people in his community. As his business grew, his staff grew, and he realized how important it is to be selective in the hiring process. 

“You want to make sure you’re getting people in who believe in your culture and want to do things the way you want it done.”

Over the years, Roger shares how he saw what made the businesses he worked for fail and what made them succeed. Something that stood out to him, was how often they lack a real plan for achieving their goals and creating the culture they want. In his business, he wanted to have real tangible processes. 

He hired a company that equipped them with the processes and education necessary to track daily Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), stick to their budgets, set their pricing, and create a strong workflow. He says this was a phenomenal investment that set them up to thrive.

Before founding Texas Green Plumbers, Roger went on to become a cosmetologist. He helped his sister manage her hair salon, went to cosmetology school to learn how he could better support her, and then ended up also opening up his own hair salon. Soon after, he went to school to become a massage therapist. Eventually, he realized he really missed plumbing, and he returned to the industry to start his company.

While this may sound crazy to some, for Roger, this is his secret recipe. When things get crazy, he finds clarity. 

“If I’m starting one business, it’s just as easy to start two. As long as they’re close or similar or something like that, I know what I need to focus on. Sometimes that chaos is just enough to make you look at it sharper than you ever have, and say okay, this is where I need to focus. And when we focus, we win.” 

For Roger, finding the right marketing agency took a lot of trial and error. He highlights the red flags to look out for when searching for a trustworthy marketing partner:

1. They tell you what you want to hear, but you aren’t seeing results. 
2. You’re paying the marketing company more money than you are paying for Google ads. 
3. They don’t tell you the full story: like encouraging you to get a new website without informing you that it won’t include SEO and you’ll need to invest in that crucial part after the fact.
4. They are poor communicators.
5. They can’t give you a good idea of what kind of ROI you should expect. 

“I believe in marketing. It doesn’t matter how great of a company you have, if nobody outside your door knows about it, they’re never going to find you… a great marketing company, they can change your life. Think about somebody that walks out, they’re a good plumber, a good HVAC tech, or something like that, they walk out on the street with the right marketing company - life is amazing. But when you get a bad one, that can put a company out of business.”

Roger says that all of the marketing conferences he went to always told him that social media was a tool for global connection. However, he has since figured out a formula to make it work locally, which he calls “Social Local Growth.” Learning how to do this has changed everything for Texas Green Plumbing, and he’ll be sharing how they make it happen in Part 2 of his interview.

Chad and Amy Hart are the husband and wife team behind Continental Plumbing in New Port Richey, FL. Together, they have built their home services business from the ground up to the strong, eight-truck fleet it is today. They continue their conversation from part 1, highlighting how education and training has strengthened their business and why the trades are such a great source of opportunity for both men and women.

Chad and Amy are passionate about training and educating their own team, and paying it forward to other business owners, including their competitors. Their open-door policy allows other business owners to come observe how Continental Plumbing runs their business from the inside out. Chad believes that giving back in this way also pushes them to stay one step ahead of the competition. And Amy has seen how empowering their team with strong educational resources makes for happy employees, which results in happy customers. 

“I think customers know… if our people are happy, the customers will be happy.” - Amy

At Continental Plumbing, Chad and Amy have seen how important it is to set expectations. When the team understands the expectations and follows through on the values of the company, everyone wins. For example, Amy highlights the importance of having the front desk prepare customers for what to expect, and then it is up for the techs to provide exceptional service.

Chad credits working with a business coach as the driver behind setting these expectations for his team.

“For me personally, what made me get in front of it was a business coach ‘cause they see things from the outside. They don’t see it from the inside like I do so if someone else can sit back and have a thousand-foot view of your company, and they look down and say ‘You know what, this can help you, I’ve seen this work, try this’ a business coach to me is priceless to be honest with you.” - Chad

They will push you, and if you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing. 

Amy also emphasizes how important consistent meetings are. These check-ins help everyone stay educated, connected, and focused on meeting expectations.

Chad and Amy both prioritize learning as part of their business success. A few of their methods of learning include:

1. Reading
2. Online webinars 
3. Attending Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PPHC) and Quality Service Contractors (QSC) events
4. Audiobooks
5. Conventions
6. Listening to older contractors’ advice

“I would like to see some of the stigma removed from the trades… you don’t have to go the path of college to have success in life and I think the trades right now really need more people coming into the trades especially because the older ones are getting ready to exit.” - Amy

Chad also hopes to see high schools bring back shop classes on welding, AC, and more. He believes that giving kids a taste of the trades in this way, even just for a semester, could inspire future careers. There is so much opportunity to learn, build wealth, and master skills in the trades that people do not realize. Amy also shares that there is a great need for women in the trades, and that they can bring unique value to the industry.

Chad and Amy’s advice to fellow home services business owners is:

1. Never sacrifice time with your family for business. You will never get that time back, Your business will always be there.
2. Learn how to say no.
3. People first. Business second. This is how you will find success. 

Learn more about Chad and Amy’s company at Continental Plumbing.

Chad and Amy Hart are the husband and wife team behind Continental Plumbing in New Port Richey, FL. Together, they have built their home services business from the ground up to the strong, eight-truck fleet it is today. They share how an internal theft pushed them to reset their whole business, define their values, and transform their culture. 

Chad, a master plumber with 25 years of experience, got started in plumbing by helping out a friend’s family plumbing business. He relished the challenge and expertise it required, and soon set off to build Continental Plumbing. In the early years, Chad was a one man show. But after he developed epilepsy, Amy left her job as an elementary school teacher to drive his truck for him while he continued servicing homes. Today, she jokes that running a small business and running a classroom are not too different. 

Chad and Amy share how working with your significant other is both a strength and a struggle. Setting boundaries is key to finding a healthy work/life balance.

“It came to the point where we realized that all we were doing was talking about work and we weren’t working on our family or ourselves… so we had to make that decision where we said ‘Okay, we’re stopping at a certain time and if we need to talk about something let’s write it down, email it to one another, and we’ll deal with it later.” - Chad

Chad also emphasizes the importance of hiring employees who you trust will do their job. This gives you freedom outside of the office to focus on your other priorities, like family.

At Continental Plumbing, they use DiSC, a personality assessment tool, for hiring. This helps them gain a better understanding of their applicants’ personalities when they are reviewing their resume. If they seem like they would be a good fit, they are then invited into the office for a few face-to-face interviews. Amy looks for individuals with these traits:

• Altruism
• Work ethic
• Respect for property
• Desire to learn/preferred methods of learning
• Communication

Chad highlights that over time, they have learned that it’s more about finding the right person, than the right set of skills.

A few years ago, Chad and Amy had an employee theft inside the business. Looking back, they see how this experience gave them a wake up call and a chance to reset their business. They fired nearly everyone on their team, and started rebuilding with more intentional hires. Bringing in a business coach to guide them during this time was a big turning point, and helped them define their company values. Today, these values help them navigate every decision and hiring choice:

• Family
• Trust
• Reliability
• Consistency
• Happiness

At Continental Plumbing, all employees spend time understanding both sides of the job: from the office where they take client phone calls to the field, where they provide their expert plumbing services. Pairing different age ranges together has also proved fruitful. Chad has older techs teach young techs the ropes, and young techs teach older techs how to navigate the more technological side of the job. Most importantly, Chad and Amy focus on letting their team know they really care about them and their families. 

“As a teacher, you know, you get this fresh batch of kids going into the school year and they’re basically yours. It’s like your own little family during the day. You have to have house rules, classroom rules, you know, there’s procedures, and you have to care about them... I guess I kind of look at it the same way. We have people in our care. We have people that depend on us for their livelihoods and their families, just like those kids in my classroom were dependent on me to take care of them and teach them.” - Amy

You can learn more about Chad and Amy’s business at Continental Plumbing. Tune in for Part 2 with Chad and Amy next week.

Southwest Industrial Electric is an industry-leading electrical solutions provider based in Los Angeles, CA. In this episode, CEO Kristin Larson, and COO Elizabeth Rochefort, share the mindset and strategies that have helped their business cultivate long-lasting customer relationships. 

Kristin and Elizabeth highlight how the customer relationship is prioritized and given intentional focus. This is a value that is ingrained in their sales team from the moment a new employee begins their job. They understand that creating great relationships and return customers is a key part of their role in the company. 

From working hard to meet concerns, budget restraints, and schedule changes, Southwest is willing to do what it takes to continue the relationship. 

“The big thing that Southwest really focuses on is that we kind of operate like we are part of the customer’s team... Even though we’re a totally different company and different entity, we operate like we are a branch of your company. If you need something done, we’re going to make it happen... And that’s kind of the philosophy we’ve always taken. So, with these customers that we’ve had for forever, they all know that they can call us at any time and we’re going to from our scheduling, to our electricians, to our invoices, to everything, we’re going to make sure that we can service them with what they need.” - Elizabeth

Kristin and Elizabeth both credit clear communication as a core principle in creating great relationships, from big jobs to little residential jobs. 

• Receptionists are always on call and ready to connect the customer with the right person, answer questions, and solve problems.
• Schedulers call customers the day before the job to let them know what the schedule looks like and what to expect. 
• Electricians are trained to clearly communicate what they are working on, keep their space clean, and let the customer know when the job is finished and any necessary updates. 

Kristin and Elizabeth both share that this mindset of longevity has always been what drives the business, ever since the company was founded 40 years ago. This mindset guides all of their business decisions and is reflected in how they treat their employees and customers. Being a part of something that is continuing to thrive and grow makes everyone feel important, valued, and recognized, which results in return customers and happy employees. 

Southwest works in both the residential and commercial and industrial space. 

Identifying the ideal customer for their business model has been a formative piece of their success. However, even if a business doesn’t check all of the boxes of their ideal customer, they still treat them with the same care and expertise with the hopes that the relationship will be fruitful and long-lasting. This approach has helped them balance their customer base and tackle the challenge of quality vs. quantity while working toward growth. 

The electrical contracting world often isn’t regarded as highly in social circles as many other roles like being an actor or a fashion designer. 

“I just sort of always felt like there was this idea of it that was just not necessarily good. It wasn’t like ‘Oh wow, cool, you do that?’ …so we also really want to spread the word and get good PR out there for the electrical contracting industry as well as contractors in general, sort of set the example, and get more people doing the same thing because we love what we do, we think it’s super interesting to be able to provide a service that so many people can’t operate without this service. We’re working for people in the aerospace industry where they’re building rocket ships... we’re doing projects to expand distribution companies that service the world. That’s really fun!” - Kristin

Kristin and Elizabeth are passionate about increasing awareness and respect around the trades and their essential expertise. At Southwest, they treat their installations and their work as art, they get involved in community events to help others and increase their visibility, and use their social media and YouTube accounts to share their work and showcase who they are. Through these intentional connections with their community, they hope other contractors will be inspired by their example and join them in highlighting the amazing opportunities in this field of work.

Customer testimonials are another important part of Southwest’s PR strategy. Kristin makes it a priority to share their testimonials in their monthly newsletters to customers, on social media, and with their staff to keep everyone encouraged. 

1. Focus on helping people. If that’s what’s driving your actions, that will come through to the people you’re working with and they will appreciate that. 
2. When your employees are happy and feel invested in, that will show in their work, impact your customers, and help your business grow.

Southwest Industrial Electric is an industry-leading electrical solutions provider based in Los Angeles, CA. In this episode, CEO Kristin Larson, and COO Elizabeth Rochefort, share the ins and outs behind their creation and implementation of a robust training program that has resulted in outstanding employee retention and performance. 

Kristin and Elizabeth are cousins. The company is a family business that Kristin’s father (Elizabeth’s uncle) started 30 years ago in 1998. He kept it pretty small, just him and a few other electricians. When Kristin was hired about 15 years ago on the administrative side, they started creating streamlined procedures and protocols so they could grow. As CEO, Kristin oversees the entire business, with a special focus on the financial health of the company. 

Elizabeth joined 10 years ago, and mainly oversees the production division. She makes sure Southwest has everything they need to do to be out in the field completing jobs, from hiring new staff to stocking supplies, updating training courses, and scheduling electricians.

At Southwest Industrial Electric, Kristin and Elizabeth have created a robust training program for their staff. Their approach is unique in several ways, including:

• Individuals move through the training program at their own pace. There are several courses within each program, and a checklist to accompany each course. 
• The focus is on understanding each course thoroughly, not just completing it. 
• It involves reading documents, watching videos, and then actually practicing those skills in real-time, like working on wiring a dummy light fixture, or answering a customer call. 
• Every time a course’s checklist is completed, staff must take a test and score 100% to move on. If they don’t score 100%, they go back to studying and reviewing the course, asking for clarification, and take the test again.

“It is constantly evolving. A few reasons, one, the technology is always changing. You know, there are certain things that stay the same in our industry, but there are things that change. We are constantly moving toward better lighting, more energy-efficient lighting… And we look out for if there are any areas where… the same question keeps coming up, or the same thing is hard to understand, and we’ll go how do we add something, or make it a little more clear? And then of course with technology, we’re now trying to put our whole program into a lot more videos, when for years, we had it all written down in a book.” - Kristin

The training program is also constantly evolving as they add new positions, adapt to new challenges like COVID-19, and shift responsibilities around to make each role work synergistically. When they see gaps in their employee training, they create new courses called “pilot” courses to ensure that that gap of knowledge is filled and their employees are set up for success. 

Elizabeth first started seeing significant improvement in the team when they began implementing their initial training, which helped employees hit the ground running much quicker and more efficiently. She continued to see improvement as they added courses and more details.

About 10 years ago they started running the training program that has evolved to what it is today, and five years ago, they were able to identify some themes in hiring that changed how they selected their team. 

“Maybe about 5 years ago, we sort of came to the conclusion after some trial and error, that when we just looked for people that had like 10 years plus experience, they had a really big background in whatever we were hiring for, they would sometimes come with procedures or protocols that were ingrained in them which didn’t really match what we were going for and what our protocols were. And we would sort of run into butting of heads… it just didn’t work as well as it could… We started to see more and more that people with not as much experience, but the basic skill level and basic experience we needed, could go through our training and would take to our procedures and protocols faster and easier because we weren’t sort of trying to undo whatever had already been ingrained.” - Kristin

Kristin and Elizabeth also saw that these individuals often moved up the ranks quicker than their more experienced counterparts. While some positions they hire for do require more experience, this revelation has shifted their perspective when they are considering new hires. 

Having such a high-level training program has also made it easier to identify and solve problems in real-time. 

For example, Kristin and Elizabeth share how they saw their office staff struggling with some of the higher level electric terms and topics when scheduling consultations and projects. They not only updated training courses to address this, they also added meetings during the week to tackle any new questions their staff was facing. When they saw that their field staff was struggling with understanding some internal office topics like invoicing and scheduling, they went back to the training drawing board to update the information and make it really clear in these areas. 

During COVID-19, they have also been doing a lot of Zoom calls with their electricians out on the job. This allows the office staff to see what the field staff is doing, ask questions, and be immersed in the projects.

Having an evolving system in place to address these questions and challenges is key to helping their team and business flourish. 

Kristin estimates that their current employee retention sits at a whopping 90-95%. She and Elizabeth credit this to their employees fully understanding their roles and responsibilities, which leads to success. And when you’re successful and good at what you do, this leads to satisfaction. 

Set aside time and start. Make a list, or a roadmap of what you want to do, and then start tackling it one step at a time.

Learn more about Southwest Industrial Electric and stay tuned for Part 2 with Kristin and Elizabeth next week!

Steven Deyo is the Vice President of West Houston Electric, and leading their current expansion from Katy, Texas to Los Angeles, California. He shares how his family-owned and operated, third-generation company has made the transition from commercial new builds to residential. He also highlights how they are identifying and capitalizing on new opportunities in the market. 

Steven grew up working in the company as a kid. At 10 years old, he asked his dad for an interview. He began as a tech, became a journeyman, and worked his way up into a leadership position. In addition to twisting wires as a profession, he is also a guitarist and songwriter. These aspirations coupled with the budding opportunity in our increasingly electricity-powered society inspired him to expand the family business to Los Angeles. 

“I came out here and became a California-licensed electrical contractor… knowing there’s a lot of technology coming with solar, and electric cars, and their future, I definitely thought it would be a good idea to have my contracting license out here and continue the business in TX, so we are able to develop in both cities, in LA and Houston.”

Steven was only a one-year-old when his parents won the bid to wire George W. Bush Senior and Barbara Bush’s home in 1991. Since then, they have had a storied roster of high-end customers. 

However, because of these high-profile homes, their reputation grew and demand across neighborhoods began to rise. This catapulted them to pivot their business in order to focus on residential. They saw this as an opportunity for long-term relationships with their customers, troubleshooting common problems, ensuring important safety upgrades, and providing precise, careful service within each unique home. 

Of course, there were tensions and growing pains that come with every transition, but Steven credits their success to his family’s work ethic. He emphasizes the lessons that going out and doing these jobs with his father taught him, and how this leadership from the top down helped them establish clear processes that would help their team and serve their clients best. 

“I definitely learned about gathering a team and partnering with the right people to make it happen. It’s a lot of processes that are going into getting new customers and developing our market. So, over time learning from the companies that we work with that help us to make it happen, doing podcasts, also listening to podcasts like this one, this let me gather a lot of content and learn from industry experts... I try to attend trade conventions, expos where I can learn, I’m part of coaching groups where they teach us this material, Blue Collar Success Group is one that I’m having success with.”

Building a culture begins with hiring the right people. Steven acknowledges that it is tough and challenging, but these key pillars help make it happen:

1. Know what you’re looking for in an employee.
2. Follow up with people.
3. Always be recruiting and looking.
4. Maintain an organic presence on digital and online platforms.
5. Provide incentive-based pay for technicians and team.

Your company values also have a profound impact on your culture. Steven credits hard work, integrity, communication, and serving each customer as if they were the only customer for shaping the customer and employee experience at West Houston Electric. 

Steven shares that the expansion to Los Angeles is a different, separate entity from West Houston Electric, but will share the same processes and values that make their original location successful. 

Some of the trends that inspired them to expand and capitalize on consistent developments in their industry were:

1. The increasing adoption of the Internet of Things and smart homes.
2. Older homes in need of electrical renovations and code compliance.
3. LED lighting.
4. Security systems.
5. Electric cars.
6. Energy conservation and sustainability: generators, solar systems.

Steven’s advice to those pursuing growth and expansion during this time is to surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable. 

“Be clear on your goals and partner with people that can help you be accountable to those goals and check on them regularly.”

Dan Dowdy, Founder of Built for the Trades, and Tim Flynn, Owner of Winters Home Services, are two powerhouses in the home services industry. In this episode, they share how to conquer seasonality during the election year, battle complacency, and make strategic decisions. 

During election years, Tim highlights how there is a natural dip in demand.

“Always work as if you’re in a deficit. Always work as if you’re in a recession. Call by call.” - Tim

While this slower season may seem daunting at first, Dan recommends taking it as an opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive. Work on your maintenance contracts, tighten up your inside sales, and work with your staff to really hone the customer experience so that every call makes money. 

Dan surmises that the reason these election years impact sales is due in part to people being tighter with their money because they’re not sure what the economy is going to do. 

If you are complacent, then when the economy slows down, you’re stuck. Three tangible ways you can be proactive are:

1. Start with your training. Your front line needs a good checklist and questions that will set your tech up for success. Work on improving your customer experience from start to finish.
2. Check your phone lines for dead numbers. This sounds simple, but you should never blindly trust. Verify and do quality checks often to ensure you’re receiving calls.
3. Stay optimistic and communicate clearly with your staff. When things get slow, it can be tempting to jump over your managers to get things done, thereby undermining the systems you have established.

“As a business owner, when things slow down and you start seeing all the flaws in your business, you just want to jump back in and start directing your customer service rep and your technician and going around your management team that you built. You really have to make sure that you stick with your chain of command and you’re empowering your leaders and managers in your company.” - Dan

Another piece of being proactive is checking in with your marketing company or department for quality and verification. Keeping up consistent communication ensures that you aren’t spending unnecessary money, and your marketing tactics are helping you meet your goals. For a bonus point, do it with a smile!

“You’re the reflection of your people.” - Tim

Tips for maximizing your marketing:

• Focus on the demographics, geographics, and psychographics of your audience and how you are connecting with them.
• Diversify your marketing with various touch points (choose strategically) from door hangers to yard signs.
• Serve, educate, and sell on social media.

Both Dan and Tim emphasize the importance of solving current problems with your long-term vision and goals in mind. Think strategically, take action, and plan for what you want the future to look like. 

Joining a mastermind group is a great way to connect with other owners and leaders in the home services community who can help you shoot holes in your ideas, improve your plan, and offer support along your journey. 

Dan: [email protected] BuiltfortheTrades.com

Tim: [email protected] Winters Home Services

Justin and Kristen Deese have 20 years of experience in the home services industry. They’ve channeled everything they have learned into their book “When Your Business Partner Is Your Spouse” and their coaching and mastermind services in addition to overseeing their two home services businesses. They share why having a vision is essential to success and how to find a balance between work and marriage.

When they started their careers in the home services trades years ago, they were working longer hours than ever and felt like they could never take a break. It took them several lessons and failures to learn that it was less of the business’s fault, and more of how they were approaching it that was causing these struggles.

When a friend gave Justin the book “EMyth,” his world began to expand and he realized that there were people out there who could help them overcome their challenges.

Today, they have successfully reached a point where their home services businesses can run without them, and they have time to work on the business rather than in them. They have published a book “When Your Business Partner Is Your Spouse,” started a coaching program, and are about to launch their second podcast on July 15, 2020.

Strengths:

1. Justin and Kristen highlight that they are very complementary in nature so their strengths and weaknesses balance each other out.
2. There is a level of trust between spouses that goes deeper than a typical business partner.
3. Finding your lane, what you are good at and what you are responsible for, and staying in it is a game-changer.

Weaknesses:

1. Drawing a line between business and home life is a challenge and something you need to intentionally fight for.
2. If you are not setting time aside to focus on hobbies, interests, and quality time outside of business with your spouse, you will revert to talking about business.
3. Without a strong understanding of your partner’s personality and social tendencies, you will struggle. Take time to learn whether they are an introvert or extrovert, and utilize personality tests to understand how you can meet their needs and help each other thrive.

Kristen admits that their lack of vision was a big stumbling block during their first years. They were solely focused on paying the bills which left them feeling pulled in too many directions.

“Every time an opportunity came along that looked like money coming in, we would say yes because that was our vision. And so we added several lines into our services that we probably shouldn’t have or that were a little too far from our main service. But then once we got clear and said ‘okay, we’re going to be the very best at this... it got a lot easier when other opportunities came along’, we said ‘okay, is that going to help us be the very best at this or is that going to distract us?’ And that makes it a lot easier to say yes or no to the opportunity.”

Justin emphasizes that a vision is the best accountability tool to use that will help you narrow down your focus and find success. He used to think that if he was so busy that he was running around with his hair on fire, he was successful. But now he knows that the opposite is true: a clear focus brings a calm, measured approach to growing a healthy business.

One of Justin’s favorite sayings is “Measure, Motivate, and Manage.” It is critical to know what numbers are dictating your business’s success and measure those. Otherwise, you’ll be operating off of feelings instead of facts. Setting these clear goals and expectations for every member of your team helps everyone show up and perform their best.

“Your team needs to know exactly what to do, so especially when there’s uncertainty going on in the world the more they can come to work and kind of feel that ease of ‘Okay, I know what to expect at work, or what needs to be done, or what expectations I need to meet,’ I think it kind of helps them a little bit.”

Justin and Kristen have seen that the businesses who succeed are the ones who refused to be indecisive and instead took intentional action.

Ask your spouse what they want!

Learn more about Justin and Kristen Deese at Business Spouse, like their page on Facebook, and follow along on Instagram.