E263: Having All The Great Techs You’ve Ever Wanted

Al Levi is the author of The 7-Power Contractor and co-author of The Home Service Millionaire. A former contractor who worked for 25 years in every aspect of his family’s Long Island-based HVAC/plumbing business, Al has been rated as one of the 25 most influential contractors in the United States by Plumbing & Mechanical Magazine. He now helps other contractors learn how to run their businesses with less stress and more success through consultations, workshops, and webinars.

In this episode, we talked about recruitment, apprenticeship, training manuals, orientation process…

Show notes

• Introducing Al Levi. [1:25]
• Al talks about how he used to put up with his employees’ misbehavior. [3:49]
• What it takes to have willing technicians with great skills. [5:51]
• What Al’s clients are mostly built upon. [6:43] 
• Adding a training curriculum to better train technicians. [10:34] 
• How to successfully recruit young and willing apprentices. [11:33] 
• What to look for in apprentices before actually training them. [14:53] 
• The relation of employee orientation to the success they’ll contribute to the company. [17:50]
• What the essence of sales is and its relation to service technicians. [20:52] 
• What A1 focuses on during their employee’s training period. [22:03]
• The best practice to find a new technician. [22:35]
• Debunking the common misconception of training an apprentice who has a tendency to leave. [29:55]
• Three phases that employees can undergo to progress with their career. [34:32]
• The importance of doing ride-alongs. [38:36] 
• Why companies should not focus on just one platform to find great technicians. [39:14]
• What staffing power is all about. [40:09] 
• What Tommy does with A1’s employees after their two-month hardcore training. [43:04] 
• What Al always shares with small companies who want to grow their business more. [45:38]
• Why Al refused to train his competitors’ employees. [53:20]
• A tip to better retain employees. [54:52] 
• Three books on Al’s reading list. [58:35]
• Al’s most important piece of advice to home service business owners. [1:00:51]

Resources And People Mentioned:

• Signature Staffing System 
• The 7-Power Contractor
• The 7-Power Contractor: Run Your Contracting Business With Less Stress and More Success by Al Levi
• Nexstar Network
• Starbucks 
• Dale Carnegie 
• Indeed
• Craigslist 
• Monster
• Career Builder 
• ServiceTitan 
• F.T.I. Failure to Implement: The 10 Principles of Phenomenal Performance by Howard Partridge
• Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg, PhD
• The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale