Today’s show is an interview recorded a couple of months ago; it’s one that should absolutely be watched or listened to by our HVAC contractors. The topic is on the impending federal regulations impacting their trade. Some as soon as next year. Host Bob Houchin talked to two representatives from two exceptional, longstanding CertainPath Partners about this subject: Allison Skidd, Senior Manager for Global Regulatory Affairs with RHEEM Manufacturing, and Ben Middleton, National Sales Trainer with Daikin Comfort Technologies.
Today’s show is another another CertainPath Monthly Member Discussion. These are interactive, LIVE programs where I interview CertainPath members on a particular topic. The topic today? Call Center: How to Maximize Every Opportunity that Comes Into Your Office. Our guests discussing this matter are Call Center Managers: Janie Contreras of Home Service Heroes in Tampa, FL, and Melissa Holland of Sirius Plumbing & Air Conditioning in Carrollton, TX. These two offered incredible insights, and their knowledge will bring considerable value to any contracting companies call center!
Today’s show is another another CertainPath Monthly Member Discussion. These are interactive, LIVE programs where I interview CertainPath members on a particular topic. The topic today? Recruiting: How to Find Better People & More of Them. Host Bob Houchin is joined by Angela Blessinger, the Chief Culture Officer, of JA Bertsch Heating & Cooling in Coeur d'Alene, ID, and Gabe Adkins, Recruiting Manager, of OnTime Service in Birmingham and Mobile, AL, to discuss subject matter that affects everyone in the contracting industry. These two offered incredible insights into how you, as a business owner or manager, can improve your recruiting and hiring efforts immediately!
Today’s show is a great discussion with another CertainPath Crown Champion: Emily Dweck of Holencik Exteriors in Coplay, PA. Emily sold $2.3 million in roofing replacements last year, easily clearing the $1.5M threshold, which made her a Crown Champion. Emily has a tremendous story. She was completely new to the roofing industry just a few short years ago. She had friends who worked at Holencik, and they recruited her to the company. In October of 2019, she began her training, and by March of 2020, she was running her own leads. Of course, that’s when COVID hit, making this new profession even more difficult. Yet that adversity didn’t deter Emily. Instead, she has thrived. Emily is wired to compete. She has her entire life. From the time she was four years old until she graduated college—and even beyond—she’s been an athlete. Emily thrives on challenge and that desire to win. And it’s carried into her professional life. You’ll learn much more about Emily’s story. She also w...
Today’s show is a great discussion with another SGI Crown Champion: Charles Dozeman of WireNut Home Services in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As a service technician, Charles sold almost $2M in residential repairs and replacement systems. Charles is a high-energy, engaging guy. When you meet him, you feel like you’ve known each other for years. Charles is naturally a likeable person who connects well with others. He’s also almost a 30-year-veteran in the HVAC industry, most of it in residential. Before moving to Colorado, Charles worked for Milestone and another large contractor in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. That means he’s trained, trained, and trained some more. In fact, today, Charles trains Maintenance 1 technicians for WireNut, in addition to being a rock star in the field. It’s through all that training where you find why Charles is really successful: It’s his process. Charles has it down. He knows how to react to each situation in the home. He knows how to communicate ...
Today’s show is a great discussion with another SGI Crown Champion: Abbas Ghaffari of Steve’s Plumbing in Lynwood, Washington. Abbas sold & installed nearly $750K of residential plumbing work in 2021. Abbas is a great guy—and he has a great story. Abbas is an immigrant from Iran; he and his wife came to the US in 2010, originally settling in Austin, Texas. Abbas didn’t speak a bit of English, but he still found a way to make a living. He sold sunglasses and cell phone covers; he drove a taxi cab; and eventually, he became a plumber. Several years ago, Abbas’ wife got a job in the Seattle area, and off they went on a new adventure. Ultimately, Abbas took a job with Steve’s Plumbing. As you will hear/see, Abbas speaks glowingly about working for Steve and Rachel Egner, two longtime SGI members and mentors to many. Now, Abbas’ story alone is worth a watch/listen. BUT… he offers great insight for any service technicians. Abbas talks about how he sells club memberships, water hea...
This episode is part two of an in-depth discussion with Gus Antos, owner of Milestone in the DFW market, as well as a part-owner of SGI. If you haven’t watched or listened to part one, we highly recommend that you do. Gus shared a wealth of insight into branching into new businesses, talent acquisition, and managing labor costs while keeping a great culture. In this show, Gus tackles a host of other topics. He gives us insight into how a call center scales as you grow from a $5 million business into one projected to do $150M in 2022. Gus divulges how he’s handling materials costs skyrocketing, as well as the difficulties in acquiring vehicles in today’s economy. He ventures back into the topic of culture, as he provides insight into what Milestone does for leadership development. We got Gus’ thoughts on the current merger-and-acquisition environment, and we asked him why he’s chosen not to sell, even though he was recently proposed the “highest multiple ever in the history of ...
This episode is a discussion with Gus Antos, owner of Milestone in the DFW market, as well as a part-owner of SGI. For those of you who may not know Gus, his story is incredible. He and his business partner/father-in-law joined SGI almost 20 years ago. They had a couple of trucks, and they were about bankrupt. Fast forward to today… Milestone is one of the largest home services companies in the country. Gus projects they will do $150 million in 2022, and he projects Milestone will hit $1.2 BILLION in 15 years—all within the DFW market. This is part one of a two-part interview. In this first half, Gus digs deep into sharing how Milestone is finding so many talented people, and he explains how he monitors and controls labor to ensure profitability, while also keeping a vibrant culture. Lots of insights are included in this show. For example: Gus talks about the #1 mistake his team and he have made in recruiting; he reveals KPIs on monitoring new hire success; Gus divulges what he bu...
This episode is another SGI Monthly Member Discussion (MMD). These are interactive, LIVE programs where SGI members are interviewed on a particular topic. In this discussion, we talked to Tim Boulden of Boulden Brothers in Newark, DE, and Brian Leech of Service Legends in Des Moines, IA. The topic of today’s discussion is “Marketing: How to Stop Guessing and Think Strategically.” We cover an assortment of topics: branding, planning & budgeting, media options & strategy, target audiences, tracking, and more. Both Tim and Brian are members who’ve been with SGI almost a combined 40 years. They’re highly successful, seasoned contractors and marketers. In fact, both have been on The Successful Contractor Show within the last 12 months. We valued their insight on marketing so much; we thought it was appropriate to bring them back on this valuable topic.
Today’s show is a great discussion with Shelby Langevin of Electrical Experts in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Shelby earned a proud distinction: she is SGI’s FIRST female, electrical Crown Champion! She did it by selling over $500K in 2021… and thus far, she’s having an even better 2022. (To be a Crown Champion in HVAC and Roofing, you must have sold more than $1.5M in a year. To be a Crown Champion in electrical and plumbing, you must have sold—and installed—more than $500K.) Shelby has an incredible background. At 14, she knew she wanted to be an electrician. And she’s worked in every type of electrical contracting imaginable—industrial, commercial, new construction, and finally residential service. It’s at Electrical Experts, doing residential service, she found her perfect home. Shelby loves the training and support she gets from the company, and she loves the autonomy of making decisions on her own in the field. Shelby will walk us through her service call process—and ...