Tommy Mello is the author of Home Service Millionaire and the founder of A1 Garage Doors, a $40 million-plus home service business with over 200 employees in 9 states. Through HomeServiceMillionaire.com and the Home Service Expert podcast, Tommy shares his learnings and insights to help fellow entrepreneurs scale their businesses.
In this episode, we answered some of our listeners’ most pressing questions about training, sales, automation, marketing, financing and growing your business, and more…
Show notes
- Introducing this week’s episode, and some book recommendations. [1:27]
- The career growth of technicians at A1 Garage. [6:21]
- The number of managers A1 Garage has per technician. [7:09]
- Tips on scheduling and booking problems for small companies. [8:47]
- Tips on explaining and proving the value of your company and services. [12:13]
- How to make hiring simpler for smaller operations. [15:51]
- The ideal base size revenue to support the overhead of a dedicated trainer. [19:14]
- Thoughts on the frequency of sales training for techs. [21:00]
- Day one must-haves for a business that’s about to launch. [22:25]
- An impressive facility showroom versus a small but cheap industrial space. [25:05]
- Building a multimillion-dollar concrete coating company. [26:19]
- Thoughts on Angie’s List. [28:30]
- How A1 Garage’s performance pay model looks like. [29:50]
- Thoughts on virtual assistants or gig workers. [30:57]
- Whether home service franchises are worth the royalty. [32:00]
- Technicians’ pay structure at A1 Garage. [33:40]
- Choosing a truck for the fleet model. [34:31]
- Finding a trainer who can grow alongside a small business. [35:26]
- The ROI from Angie’s List. [37:08]
- Tips on how to open a new office in another state and keeping the culture high. [37:25]
- Good resources for new hires. [40:48]
- Recommended approach on budgeting and marketing. [41:42]
- Systems for financial reporting and management. [42:20]
- Questions about ServiceTitan. [42:46]
- Automated booking or a basic contact form. [46:25]
- Tips for starting a garage door service business. [47:00]
- Recommendations on books for mergers and acquisitions. [48:18]
- Whether or not to use loans for business. [49:55]
- Some good things to watch and read for upselling? [51:37]
- Advice on how to find really good talent. [53:01]
- What A1 Garage’s succession plan looks like. [53:55]
Resources And People Mentioned:
- ServiceTitan
- Amazon
- Audible
- The Coaching Effect by Bill Eckstrom
- The Sales Boss by Jonathan Whistman
- The Visual Sale by Marcus Sheridan and Tyler Lessard
- Off Balance on Purpose by Dan Thurmon
- Influence by Robert Cialdini
- Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman
- BBB
- Yelp
- Angie’s List
- HubSpot
- The Private Equity Playbook by Adam Coffey
- Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz
- Maximum Influence by Kurt Mortensen
- Whisper Sales Management by Joe Crisara, Jr.
- Door-to-Door Millionaire by Lenny Gray
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