Aug. 27, 2025

S2 EP53 Record Sales & A Level of Service They Thank Us For with Austin Matthews

Austin Matthews was like most electricians, skilled, honest, and stuck. Until one shift changed everything.

In this episode, we uncover the mindset that turned slow calls into $48K weeks. No gimmicks. No hard closes. Just the truth about why electricians are stuck chasing small tickets and what happens when you finally learn how to serve at a higher level.

Whether you're an electrician, HVAC tech, or home service pro feeling stuck, burned out, or underpaid, this story will show you what's possible when you stop rushing and start leading.

What You’ll Learn:

Increase average ticket on every service call
Serve homeowners with confidence and integrity
Create trust without ever feeling “salesy”
Build a business that pays and feels good

⚡️Jump into the Million Dollar Electrician Community and connect with real business-minded sparkies!

⚡️If you are an electrician looking for trade-specific business training in pricing, options, sales, attraction, and marketing strategies, Then our Loop Method is your answer!

⚡️Learn how to serve and earn at the highest level. Contact us, We’d love to help!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction

00:05 - Meet Austin Matthews – Return to the Show

06:00 - From Good Old Boy Electric to Pro Service Team

09:15 - The Moment Austin Stopped Micromanaging

14:00 - Promoting Wes & Building a Scalable Team

19:00 - Cam’s Growth: $110K Month With Week Off

23:00 - Austin’s $123K Month & Letting Go of Sales

25:15 - Most Profitable Jobs: Service Upgrades + More

30:00 - Win of the Week: Club Membership = $15K Sale

34:00 - Content Marketing & Overcoming Camera Fear

38:00 - Advice to New Electricians & Owners

41:34 - Admitting You Need Help – Austin’s Turning Point

43:00 - Closing

#ElectricianPodcast #HomeServiceBusiness #AustinMatthews #ResidentialService #ElectricianMindset #ServiceSales #ServiceLoopMethod

00:00 - Admitting You Need Help

06:13 - Redefining Good Old Boy Electric

12:52 - The Power of Stepping Back

21:46 - Building an All-Star Team

28:57 - Creating Value Through Premium Service

35:42 - Content Marketing Success Stories

40:57 - Final Advice for Business Growth

WEBVTT

00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:02.547
The hardest thing for me was understanding that I did need help.

00:00:02.547 --> 00:00:05.586
I'll say it today I'm a dang good electrician.

00:00:05.586 --> 00:00:07.342
You know I'm a really hard worker.

00:00:07.342 --> 00:00:12.606
Especially when it's got my name attached to the brand, it's hard to know you need help.

00:00:12.606 --> 00:00:13.742
It's hard to admit that.

00:00:13.742 --> 00:00:17.530
You know, maybe there's people that know better about this business stuff than me.

00:00:17.530 --> 00:00:21.489
You know Reaching out to, if nothing else, a coaching group.

00:00:21.489 --> 00:00:30.785
You know, I know two guys that are great right here on the podcast with me.

00:00:30.785 --> 00:00:33.073
Don't be ashamed to take that advice, don't be ashamed to act on it and don't be ashamed to ask questions.

00:00:33.073 --> 00:00:34.598
You know I I wish I had done it three years before I did.

00:00:34.598 --> 00:00:38.168
You know it would have saved me a lot of heartache, a lot of headache.

00:00:38.990 --> 00:00:51.332
Yeah hello, hello, hello and welcome to the million dollar Electrician Podcast where we help home service pros like you supercharge your business and spark up those sales.

00:00:52.112 --> 00:01:04.712
I'm Joseph Lucani and, together with my co-host, Clay Neumeier, we're here to share the secrets that have helped electricians sell over a million dollars from a single service van.

00:01:04.712 --> 00:01:13.646
Now it's time for sales, it's time for scale, it's time to become a million dollar electrician.

00:01:13.646 --> 00:01:15.328
So we've got Austin Matthews back.

00:01:15.328 --> 00:01:26.242
It's been a little over a year, I think, since we did your first interview, austin, but welcome back to the show.

00:01:26.242 --> 00:01:26.905
We had a ton of fun.

00:01:26.905 --> 00:01:31.356
On the last episode we talked about how, when you first started out, I think you described it as good old boy electric.

00:01:31.356 --> 00:01:35.713
That initial approach maybe you know service last, just trying to make it work right, like so many of us do.

00:01:35.713 --> 00:01:38.923
Do you remember those times, the good old boy electric times, austin?

00:01:39.884 --> 00:01:47.674
oh, yeah, man, yeah yeah, good times Kind of.

00:01:50.600 --> 00:01:51.424
Lay it on us, man.

00:01:51.424 --> 00:01:53.287
That feels like there's a backstory attached to that.

00:01:54.322 --> 00:01:55.587
I'm glad that I get paid now.

00:01:55.587 --> 00:01:56.385
That's awesome.

00:01:56.385 --> 00:02:00.308
That's the best part is that I actually get paid to work.

00:02:01.290 --> 00:02:01.551
Yeah.

00:02:02.881 --> 00:02:04.260
I think that's a very good way to put that.

00:02:04.260 --> 00:02:04.862
Yeah, fair enough, so would.

00:02:04.862 --> 00:02:07.490
I think that's a very good way to put that.

00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:08.294
Yeah, fair enough.

00:02:08.294 --> 00:02:13.372
So would you say that you're in good old boy electric today, or or has that changed a bit for you?

00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:17.091
If, if we are, I would say that we've redefined the good old boy electric.

00:02:17.091 --> 00:02:20.590
Um, I think we've got some good old boys working here.

00:02:20.590 --> 00:02:21.944
I can tell you that much.

00:02:21.944 --> 00:02:26.091
Um, I'm very proud of the changes we've made.

00:02:26.091 --> 00:02:43.248
I think everyone that works here, even the guys that came on last year, would say even from when they started last year, we have grown exponentially as a team, as a company, as electricians, as humans, all of it, man.

00:02:44.330 --> 00:02:51.211
Yeah, you said some really important things there, actually like growing as a team and the whole team being bought into.

00:02:51.211 --> 00:02:52.746
We're not who we were.

00:02:52.746 --> 00:02:55.167
This is a different identity.

00:02:55.167 --> 00:03:08.546
I'm going to ask you a hard question what do you think your team would identify as today If we were to ask them that what is it If it's not good old boy electric, or if you've changed the meaning of good old boy electric?

00:03:08.546 --> 00:03:10.170
What does it mean today?

00:03:10.170 --> 00:03:13.627
Do you think if they were to answer that?

00:03:13.806 --> 00:03:18.365
What I would want to hear is we're the home service professionals.

00:03:18.365 --> 00:03:22.019
But the truth is, this is probably what you're going to hear.

00:03:22.019 --> 00:03:26.831
You're going to hear more along the lines of we're a group that tries really hard every day.

00:03:26.831 --> 00:03:32.985
You're going to hear you know, we're trying to do right, we're going the extra mile.

00:03:32.985 --> 00:03:37.568
Just the other day I heard so this happened twice.

00:03:37.568 --> 00:03:43.004
Now one of the guys the other day just happened to mention he's like yeah, I remember that job.

00:03:43.004 --> 00:03:43.486
That's the job.

00:03:43.486 --> 00:03:52.754
I went home and recorded the the tv show for the lady and then brought it back and emailed it to her the next day and I was like I thought, I thought that technician did that.

00:03:52.754 --> 00:03:53.638
He said no, no, he did it too.

00:03:53.638 --> 00:04:00.823
That was a different job and it's it's like you know, um, that's something that a year ago, I don't know if I would have thought of.

00:04:00.823 --> 00:04:02.045
You know what I mean.

00:04:02.045 --> 00:04:03.531
I don't know if any of my guys would have thought of.

00:04:03.531 --> 00:04:04.735
You know what I mean.

00:04:04.735 --> 00:04:06.439
I don't know if any of my guys would have thought of that.

00:04:07.600 --> 00:04:09.104
Yeah, that's interesting.

00:04:09.104 --> 00:04:13.973
So you're seeing it come out like why am I seeing a Shrek reference?

00:04:13.973 --> 00:04:18.391
We shouldn't have started with dad stuff, because I'm feeling like layers to an onion here.

00:04:19.175 --> 00:04:20.238
Yeah, parfaits.

00:04:20.238 --> 00:04:21.444
Everybody loves parfaits.

00:04:22.521 --> 00:04:23.384
Thank you, eddie Murphy.

00:04:23.384 --> 00:04:26.062
Parfaits, everybody loves par phase.

00:04:26.062 --> 00:04:26.543
Thank you, eddie Murphy.

00:04:26.543 --> 00:04:27.266
Par phase, everybody loves par phase.

00:04:27.266 --> 00:04:27.829
So there's layers to this.

00:04:27.829 --> 00:04:28.831
The people are complimenting each other.

00:04:28.831 --> 00:04:32.648
At this point it sounds like Absolutely, yeah, overall, absolutely.

00:04:32.648 --> 00:04:37.507
What changes within the person?

00:04:37.507 --> 00:04:40.072
What changed within the value set?

00:04:40.072 --> 00:04:41.302
How would you even begin to quantify this?

00:04:41.302 --> 00:04:44.386
Like, how would you even begin to quantify this?

00:04:44.386 --> 00:04:52.336
How do they become that team that takes care of the person versus that team that maybe rushes in, rushes out, takes care of themselves?

00:04:52.336 --> 00:04:55.002
Where do you think that change?

00:04:55.023 --> 00:04:55.425
starts.

00:04:55.425 --> 00:04:56.970
I've got a really good answer to that.

00:04:56.970 --> 00:05:02.863
It's probably not what anyone's going to expect, right, me taking a step back and me not.

00:05:02.863 --> 00:05:09.350
A micromanaging and, b allowing people to fill the roles that they need to fill.

00:05:09.350 --> 00:05:11.692
So we've got this employee.

00:05:11.692 --> 00:05:12.291
His name's Wes.

00:05:12.291 --> 00:05:16.617
I've known Wes for 10, 15 years now.

00:05:16.617 --> 00:05:22.461
I remember his first time in Georgia as an electrician.

00:05:22.461 --> 00:05:24.043
Right, wes is our service manager.

00:05:24.043 --> 00:05:25.725
Now he oversees the install crews.

00:05:26.846 --> 00:05:35.334
And when we made that decision to put Wes in that position, it was because I realized, wow, these guys need me to answer their questions.

00:05:35.334 --> 00:05:43.302
You know, run material, lay them out on job sites, and there's three crews of them.

00:05:43.302 --> 00:05:45.365
And I also need to help with the sales team, help with customer service.

00:05:45.365 --> 00:05:53.175
At some point I have to run a business as well, right, and it's like I'm failing them by trying to do it all myself, right.

00:05:53.175 --> 00:06:07.396
And so we took we took our sure enough A player, wes, and said hey, man, you know you've got all the qualities we'd love to see in an electrician in person, person.

00:06:07.415 --> 00:06:09.021
You know how can we empower you to rub off on other people?

00:06:09.021 --> 00:06:12.690
You know, it's like we're gonna pull you out of the.

00:06:12.690 --> 00:06:21.202
You're still gonna be the van maybe it wasn't pickup truck now, but we're gonna pull you out of that install van and it's like I want you to to get these guys to the point you're at.

00:06:21.202 --> 00:06:26.910
You know I want you to to help them grow, help, help push them, lead the way.

00:06:26.910 --> 00:06:28.872
You know you're already leading the way.

00:06:28.872 --> 00:06:40.290
It's like I can't do it the way you can because, at the end of the day too, like I'm the owner, so I have a different perspective on on what needs to be done than they do as well, you know.

00:06:40.290 --> 00:06:50.372
And so me taking a step back and allowing other people to step up, to fill that place where I stepped from, you know, and to to take the reins and just go.

00:06:50.372 --> 00:06:52.262
You know, obviously that's.

00:06:52.262 --> 00:06:53.545
There's some oversight there.

00:06:53.545 --> 00:06:57.202
Obviously, me and Wes talk a lot, but it's it's.

00:06:57.202 --> 00:06:58.507
It's beautiful.

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That's what it is.

00:06:59.550 --> 00:07:01.322
I love that.

00:07:01.322 --> 00:07:12.307
How do you know, like if someone's listening to this and they're like, well, maybe that's what I need, maybe I need to bring a guy up the ladder or someone in to be an install manager, did you second guess that at all?

00:07:12.307 --> 00:07:16.932
Was there like a period where you thought, well, if this guy's not on the tools, that's a hard transition.

00:07:16.932 --> 00:07:20.348
How did you know that needed to happen at that point?

00:07:26.918 --> 00:07:31.591
point Wes in an install van was the equivalent of having two install teams in one van.

00:07:31.591 --> 00:07:31.771
That was.

00:07:31.771 --> 00:07:33.220
That was how good he, that's how good he is Right.

00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:36.567
And so for us to lose that, I was scared to death.

00:07:36.567 --> 00:07:39.802
I was like, you know, we've got a lot of.

00:07:39.802 --> 00:07:45.769
We have a bunch of young technicians that are, that are, that are hungry, that are eager, that are, they're learning and working.

00:07:46.839 --> 00:08:01.377
But then I had my one guy that's been here for a while, that's really bought into the brand, bought into what we are, what we do, and pulling him from that spot it's very scary, it's hard right.

00:08:01.377 --> 00:08:07.622
Scary, it's hard right.

00:08:07.622 --> 00:08:13.103
But when I got to the point where I realized I'm on the phone saying yeah, I'll send you the address, and I hang up the phone and I call someone else and say hey, where are you at, what can I do with you?

00:08:13.103 --> 00:08:14.505
And I never send the address.

00:08:14.505 --> 00:08:17.923
And then I never go and buy the gfis or I never, you know.

00:08:17.923 --> 00:08:24.646
And then so then it's like two hours later I get another phone call and it's like hey, dude, I'm still sitting at home depot, what are you doing, you know.

00:08:24.646 --> 00:08:28.776
And it's like hey, dude, I'm still sitting at Home Depot, what are you doing?

00:08:28.776 --> 00:08:30.779
You know, and it's like we kind of grew into that from, we didn't have choice.

00:08:30.779 --> 00:08:37.187
You know, it was like this this isn't going to keep working unless I'm willing to step back and allow someone to to to do that job.

00:08:38.450 --> 00:08:47.341
Um, you know, I feel like it's one of those situations where it's a struggle that most business owners have, because we all look at it like it's our baby, like speaking.

00:08:47.341 --> 00:08:54.855
We started off talking about kids but literally this is like your baby and you built it and you're nurturing it and you got it out of the cradle and it's currently walking on its own.

00:08:54.855 --> 00:08:56.306
You're like, all right, we're getting it there.

00:08:56.306 --> 00:08:59.469
But then you got to put your hands off if they ride the bike for the first time.

00:08:59.469 --> 00:09:08.640
Like I've got to trust you, I've got to be willing to let you skin your knee a little bit, because otherwise you're the hover parent and the hover parent can't do everything Like we just can't.

00:09:08.640 --> 00:09:12.511
We don't have the mental processing power to do all the things for all the people.

00:09:12.511 --> 00:09:18.212
So I think it's a really emotionally mature decision to say I'm willing to step back to better everything.

00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:21.120
Yeah, and I think I'll.

00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:28.669
I'll say this too I think the install guys are very happy I did, because they were very tired of me falling short on my obligation to them.

00:09:28.669 --> 00:09:31.614
You know is the most professional way to put it.

00:09:31.614 --> 00:09:45.921
They're sick and tired of me not bringing the stuff my team here.

00:09:45.941 --> 00:09:50.413
By not getting enough stuff done to keep them moving forward, it becomes a tripping point and you just say, heck, who's better than west to move up?

00:09:50.413 --> 00:09:55.768
Uh, with this ability to install twice as much, it sounds like as other guys at that point.

00:09:55.768 --> 00:09:57.370
So congratulations on that.

00:09:57.370 --> 00:10:03.559
But also I mean what it seems like a risk right to lose that in the field and then to put that into management.

00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:08.107
Have you been able to see that translate into better installs beneath Wes?

00:10:08.107 --> 00:10:09.974
Would you say Absolutely.

00:10:10.455 --> 00:10:10.917
Absolutely.

00:10:10.917 --> 00:10:25.154
And also there's that that that factor of when it's an emergency situation, like something comes up and it's like we don't know how to do this, we can't do this, we need to back up and punt or we need to pivot.

00:10:25.154 --> 00:10:27.903
He was the king of that, you know.

00:10:27.903 --> 00:10:33.369
He was the guy that he didn't call me and say, hey, man, I don't know what to do right now.

00:10:33.369 --> 00:10:36.280
He was the guy that called me and said man, you won't believe we bumped into this.

00:10:36.280 --> 00:10:41.349
But cool thing was we found this and you know we're actually done at 30 minutes early.

00:10:41.349 --> 00:10:41.769
What?

00:10:43.952 --> 00:10:44.192
you know.

00:10:44.192 --> 00:10:52.923
I also think there's another factor that we may not be fully hitting on and that if you hadn't moved west out, you could have created a liability for yourself.

00:10:52.923 --> 00:10:59.187
Because imagine you've got a guy who can do the work of two installs and you've built your foundation on this one guy.

00:10:59.187 --> 00:11:08.214
But like I see it, like you got a couple blocks as your foundation and were he to, whatever reason, be pulled out of that block, the whole pyramid can fall down.

00:11:08.214 --> 00:11:17.947
But because you actually took him and move it higher, you reinforce the foundation with something else and he's less likely to topple and, as a result, you are less likely to topple.

00:11:23.284 --> 00:11:23.926
Absolutely.

00:11:23.926 --> 00:11:30.273
And what really changed for me was when I started looking at it and saying who's really suffering right now?

00:11:30.273 --> 00:11:38.231
Right, it's not me, it's not Wes yeah, my installers are a little bit, but who has the most to lose by me not doing this?

00:11:38.231 --> 00:11:39.143
It's my customers.

00:11:39.143 --> 00:12:08.412
Right, they're not getting served the way that Cameron, our all star over here, go in and looking at the work, building that relationship because of me, we're not holding it, our end of the bargain, right, and that's something like I've had to struggle with that for years now, where I say, guys, if we don't do what we're saying we're going to do, we're just lying to our customers face, say we're going to do, we're just lying to our customers face and I'm, we'll just shut down, like I'm not doing that.

00:12:08.412 --> 00:12:13.796
So once, once I realized you know the customers, the ones that stood the most to lose, then it makes it a no brainer to me.

00:12:13.796 --> 00:12:15.057
It's like we have to make a change.

00:12:15.116 --> 00:12:26.289
Then you know, and that's that's a good way to look at any part of the business really Based on the customer satisfaction.

00:12:26.289 --> 00:12:27.176
Yeah, backwards from there.

00:12:27.176 --> 00:12:27.779
Is that what you're saying?

00:12:27.779 --> 00:12:32.087
Absolutely, absolutely, okay, nice perspective.

00:12:32.087 --> 00:12:32.970
I like that shift.

00:12:32.970 --> 00:12:43.331
So, instead of just what you're thinking and feeling, actually escaping your own thoughts and feelings, going into your customers and asking them really how do we serve you better?

00:12:43.331 --> 00:12:50.947
And maybe there's a bit of a metaphor there and it's not just going to them and asking them physically, but in doing that, you realize this.

00:12:50.947 --> 00:12:52.746
You mentioned Cam being an all-star.

00:12:52.746 --> 00:12:59.269
How have you seen him develop and what role is he for anyone listening that maybe hasn't seen or heard of this before?

00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:00.541
Yeah.

00:13:00.541 --> 00:13:05.205
So Cameron's been with us for coming up on four years actually, two months from now.

00:13:05.205 --> 00:13:08.145
Yeah, man, and again Cameron and Wes both.

00:13:08.145 --> 00:13:11.212
I've known Cameron for dang near 15 years now.

00:13:11.212 --> 00:13:29.567
We came up together and he, His role here is I don't want to call it sales mentor, he's just, he's the guy when it comes to you going to customers.

00:13:30.280 --> 00:13:32.830
He's our first line of attack, so to speak.

00:13:32.830 --> 00:13:35.327
He's the one the customers get to meet for estimates.

00:13:35.327 --> 00:13:39.611
He's the one that goes out and does pretty much all of our estimates and whatnot.

00:13:39.611 --> 00:13:44.230
He does all the bigger opportunity stuff and the small stuff as well.

00:13:44.230 --> 00:13:54.629
He's grown, I would say, 50% or more since January, Just through consistent practice, since January, Just through consistent practice.

00:13:55.900 --> 00:14:02.847
What I love about it is he doesn't want me to hold his feet to the fire and say practice this, learn this, do this.

00:14:02.847 --> 00:14:03.509
You know what I mean.

00:14:03.509 --> 00:14:05.706
He wants to do it different.

00:14:05.706 --> 00:14:08.188
He wants to do better, right, and he's like me.

00:14:08.188 --> 00:14:20.307
He takes it very serious when it comes to what we tell our customer we better back that up, and so he's trying to find different ways to get better and stuff and the tune of like he's going to blow.

00:14:20.307 --> 00:14:22.427
You know this is the million dollar electrician podcast.

00:14:22.427 --> 00:14:25.408
Right, he's going to blow so far past the million dollars this year.

00:14:25.408 --> 00:14:28.447
It's, it's, that's, that's going to be done here in the next two months.

00:14:28.447 --> 00:14:40.881
You know he's he's great at what he does, you know, and it's not because he sits here and practice objection handles and object and practice, you know, hard closes and all this other stuff.

00:14:40.881 --> 00:14:48.591
It's, it's because he goes out and he bonds with these people and he makes connections with them and he serves them the way they want to be served, you know.

00:14:49.960 --> 00:15:02.048
Cameron's made me very proud working with him and I feel like you're almost selling them a little short, like you know, and so, from what I understand, when we first started working with him, he was around like the 40 to 60,000 per month ticket.

00:15:02.048 --> 00:15:03.111
You're right around there.

00:15:03.111 --> 00:15:05.889
And based on what we've been tracking.

00:15:05.889 --> 00:15:08.784
I remember you're saying since January he's been.

00:15:08.784 --> 00:15:10.408
It was like 80, the 90.

00:15:10.408 --> 00:15:12.392
And then just last month hit 110.

00:15:13.573 --> 00:15:16.467
Yeah, he had 117 the month before that too.

00:15:16.467 --> 00:15:20.769
I think he also only worked three weeks when he had 110.

00:15:20.769 --> 00:15:26.360
Last month he had a vacation in there too, wow 110 with a week off, 117 with a week off.

00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:28.105
This guy's an all-star.

00:15:28.105 --> 00:15:29.168
He's an absolute A player.

00:15:30.322 --> 00:15:33.243
Yeah, he'll break 100 this month as well, that's not a question.

00:15:33.322 --> 00:15:38.960
so yeah I love that I remember in the beginning, like when, when this all started.

00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:43.570
What I remember about cam early on was he was in the calls with you.

00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:46.243
He's in the office with you, sitting next to you.

00:15:46.243 --> 00:15:58.130
You were both just absorbing joe's teachings and what's in the program and coming to class and just being students and then going out and executing and challenge by challenge, win by win.

00:15:58.130 --> 00:15:59.352
Here we are today.

00:15:59.352 --> 00:16:07.912
Who would have thought you'd be sitting here and saying exactly what you just said, which is, you would not be surprised to see him blow well past a million dollars by the end of the year.

00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:14.892
Oh, yeah, absolutely yeah, I mean I I think he's pushing himself as well to, to, to break that.

00:16:14.892 --> 00:16:17.885
Um, like you said, he's been in it.

00:16:17.885 --> 00:16:24.746
He actually was the one that brought the idea of of being a service you know, service focused provider to us.

00:16:24.746 --> 00:16:33.148
Uh, four years ago when he came here, he actually came from a company that's owned by private equity group, um, primarily a HVAC company.

00:16:34.023 --> 00:16:53.807
He was one of their two or three electricians and so he had a little taste of it before and before he actually came to work with us, me and him would talk every week or so and he was just throwing it around, the idea of it, and then he started getting serious about it and I was like, I mean, I don't understand it, but but sure, come on, let's try it.

00:16:53.807 --> 00:16:56.230
And you know, that's what planted the seeds.

00:16:56.230 --> 00:17:20.153
And then, you know, I met you guys, um, I guess about three, two or three years ago now, and just y'all started kind of watering those seeds and then we, we joined, uh, joined the group with you guys almost two years ago now and, um, it's just been, there's there, there's a miracle growing the seeds now, that's awesome.

00:17:20.433 --> 00:17:21.737
You mentioned this private equity thing.

00:17:21.737 --> 00:17:26.769
I think there's a bigger conversation there too that most people don't realize Like we've seen it in class.

00:17:26.769 --> 00:17:32.049
Austin, you've been a part of the discussions where man, those guys cast a big shadow sometimes around us.

00:17:32.049 --> 00:17:34.284
You know it's hard to compete on Google.

00:17:34.284 --> 00:17:41.626
It's hard to compete with thousands of reviews which some of these bigger conglomerates that I mean they're beasts to deal with.

00:17:41.626 --> 00:17:43.732
It's David and Goliath, literally.

00:17:43.732 --> 00:17:46.605
But I love where Cam came from.

00:17:46.605 --> 00:18:02.265
I love this story because we so often say this let them market to the masses and spend more than you could while you market to their people for a wholesome place to actually feel appreciated as a person, not just a number putting numbers up.

00:18:02.265 --> 00:18:10.250
And I think that's such a huge opportunity for any company, whether you're the size Austin or just the smallest guy out there.

00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:11.353
It's huge.

00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:13.803
or just the smallest guy out there is.

00:18:13.803 --> 00:18:16.826
It's huge, absolutely, and just like you said, they they cast a heck of a shadow man.

00:18:16.826 --> 00:18:23.115
Our you know, the number one person above us has 35,000 Google reviews.

00:18:23.115 --> 00:18:29.613
We're second with 149.

00:18:29.613 --> 00:18:34.336
Yeah, that's for sure.

00:18:34.336 --> 00:18:37.185
And yeah, and that's cool, cool, they can do their thing.

00:18:37.185 --> 00:18:38.049
I love being right there, right, right there.

00:18:38.049 --> 00:18:41.983
When you scroll past that name that everyone knows so well, then you see me right there.

00:18:42.404 --> 00:18:48.438
So, um, yeah around the time of our last podcast.

00:18:48.438 --> 00:19:02.165
I remember there was a moment where you and cam actually got in a bit of competition and I think this aligns with the major thread here of being able to step back and let people succeed under you and let them take charge of their areas.

00:19:02.165 --> 00:19:05.212
You had a big month.

00:19:05.212 --> 00:19:08.304
I think you sold a hundred thousand something.

00:19:08.304 --> 00:19:11.529
It was about a year ago, August of 2024.

00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:17.444
I need to make a plaque and put it right there.

00:19:17.444 --> 00:19:21.804
Yeah, yeah, but here's.

00:19:21.804 --> 00:19:23.477
You want to hear something crazy about that though.

00:19:23.477 --> 00:19:29.813
Yeah, so this year I think I might've actually ran 10 calls myself this year.

00:19:29.813 --> 00:19:38.388
I look at it as all I'm doing is just taking away their opportunities, and even you know we've got a younger sales team as well under Cam.

00:19:38.388 --> 00:19:41.565
I'm just stealing from them if I'm out running calls.

00:19:41.565 --> 00:19:43.145
You know that's kind of what I'm doing.

00:19:43.145 --> 00:19:56.559
That 123 included a $40,000 house, a $30-something thousand dollar, maybe another house or another commercial project that was $33,000, $30,000, maybe another house or another commercial project that was $33,000, $37,000.

00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.929
I had $70,000 with two projects.

00:19:59.929 --> 00:20:10.519
This year we have not done one single new construction home, so Cam's breaking these hundreds and hundred tens with zero houses.

00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:22.031
I think we've sold four generators this year, so those numbers aren't from generators, they're not from houses.

00:20:22.031 --> 00:20:24.305
Anyone listening and saying it can't be done?

00:20:24.305 --> 00:20:26.211
Keep making excuses.

00:20:26.211 --> 00:20:28.505
It can be done.

00:20:28.505 --> 00:20:29.788
Doing can lights, you know.

00:20:31.320 --> 00:20:35.891
What do you think is your most popular and profitable job?

00:20:35.891 --> 00:20:36.932
That Cam sells, then.

00:20:38.300 --> 00:20:39.506
Probably service upgrades.

00:20:39.506 --> 00:20:43.230
I think that's probably a lot of people are going to say that too, you know.

00:20:43.230 --> 00:20:49.526
But it's not the service upgrade itself where I feel like we really specialize, like we do a really good job at those.

00:20:49.526 --> 00:20:51.688
That's probably my favorite job for us to do.

00:20:51.688 --> 00:20:54.469
It's the additional work that goes with that right.

00:20:54.559 --> 00:21:00.472
So it's not like the last two service upgrades we did also came with full house re-devices, you know.

00:21:00.472 --> 00:21:10.194
And then also it's like, okay, well, hey, by the way, your kitchen has one circuit that controls the microwave fridge and all three of the crockpots, you know.

00:21:10.194 --> 00:21:21.875
And it's like, well, yeah, we're doing, we're fixing your, your, your main service system here, but that's not going to fix that, and so here's what we can do to fix that as well, you know.

00:21:21.875 --> 00:21:22.617
And so that's what takes those, those.

00:21:22.637 --> 00:21:41.503
Once you get to the point of, okay, well, we're hitting these $7,500, $8,500 tickets on on the service upgrades, that puts you in that 10, 11, 12, you know, and it it, yeah, it boosts the ticket a little bit, but it's what these people need, you know, if you just go in there and give them a service upgrade, that's going to fix that problem.

00:21:41.503 --> 00:21:54.814
But if you don't address the kitchen, or the, the lighting, you know, or the, the two-prong outlets in here, you know, if you don't actually address that, then then you're not really serving them, right, you know you know something else that's really here.

00:21:54.834 --> 00:21:56.579
If you don't actually address that, then you're not really serving them, right?

00:21:56.579 --> 00:22:05.606
Something else that's really cool about the service upgrades that not a lot of people speak to is the labeling, because you think to yourself like okay, everyone is going to either reuse the labeling or they're going to do like a half-assed labeling.

00:22:05.606 --> 00:22:17.521
But the way we're doing it and I know the way you're doing it is you're actively going through each thing and, as a result, you're naturally finding additional things to bring their attention, to serve them, just by doing your job on a higher level.

00:22:17.521 --> 00:22:37.960
They get to be served because you're catching things and they could be proactive rather than reactive, and they're also being served in that when they need to turn something off, it's not lights plugs, lights plugs, lights plug, garage it's like all right sweet.

00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:38.903
We know what we're dealing with, the win-win.

00:22:38.903 --> 00:22:39.906
So we've actually found that, uh, a lot of times.

00:22:39.906 --> 00:22:46.968
If, when we do the service upgrades, we usually do them in two days, right, um, so we found that on the second day, by the time power gets cut back on, we're rushed to try to label these panels so we don't even touch that.

00:22:46.968 --> 00:23:02.364
We come back a third day when we're fresh and we're not rushed and it's not the end of the shift, and that's when we label these panels so that we know we're going to take our time, we're going to do it right, uh, and and the the beauty to that to speak to some of the other core values we've got is, if you're not priced right, you can't do that.

00:23:02.364 --> 00:23:05.922
You know, uh, if you're not pricing yourself right from the beginning.

00:23:05.922 --> 00:23:12.269
That's why a lot of these people don't label the panels, because they're just like oh, we've already got 16 hours of vets to wait.

00:23:12.269 --> 00:23:16.954
Sorry, that's all you get for what we charged you, or you need the old labels.

00:23:22.267 --> 00:23:25.180
Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's take the old labels off, put them back on.

00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:29.126
Yeah yeah, it's a really good level of service and it's one of those things that can escape homeowners.

00:23:29.126 --> 00:23:30.891
That's one of those little hidden things they don't even realize.

00:23:30.891 --> 00:23:32.556
It's like the price of safety.

00:23:32.556 --> 00:23:41.487
You know, we always said the price of safety is so hard to qualify or quantify, rather because nothing happens when it works yeah to a homeowner.

00:23:41.527 --> 00:23:42.469
it's the same sort of thing.

00:23:42.469 --> 00:23:44.800
It's like, well, yeah, I guess so you did your job.

00:23:44.800 --> 00:24:07.946
But we know behind the lines every electrician listening to this knows what it's like to be rushed at that final hour and actually go through and and to go even more specific, like, enhance, enhance, like the specific label that was written crooked, or placed slightly crooked, and you go I'm not going to fix that, they'll get over it because it's time to go.

00:24:07.946 --> 00:24:08.890
I've got the next call.

00:24:08.890 --> 00:24:10.025
I've got to pick up my kids.

00:24:10.025 --> 00:24:11.720
I've got to do these things, yeah.

00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:11.980
It's that go.

00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:12.561
I've got the next call.

00:24:12.561 --> 00:24:15.486
I've got to pick up my kids I've got to do these things, yeah it defeats us.

00:24:15.506 --> 00:24:16.086
Yeah, we, we did.

00:24:16.086 --> 00:24:21.421
We just finished a service upgrade monday, um two days ago, and uh, it wasn't.

00:24:21.421 --> 00:24:25.990
We did the job on friday but we had to come back to label that fan, you know.

00:24:25.990 --> 00:24:28.522
And it's like friday at 5 pm.

00:24:28.522 --> 00:24:30.988
Am I gonna focus on labeling the panel 100?

00:24:30.988 --> 00:24:36.384
Yeah, I want to say I would, but I also know I've got to go pick dinner up on the way home, you know.

00:24:36.384 --> 00:24:39.010
So, yeah, why, why even put us in that position?

00:24:39.051 --> 00:24:53.029
let's just plan to be there monday for however long you know and speaking to that, one more thing like I've been finding, even though I have a brand new home, I'm doing a ton of electropurge to it and the labeling is so half-assed that I have to relabel the entire thing.

00:24:53.029 --> 00:24:54.926
Like, literally, I'm I feel like.

00:24:54.926 --> 00:25:00.267
I feel like back in the day where I'm calling my wife upstairs like, is that turning off laundry room?

00:25:00.267 --> 00:25:03.959
Did bathroom kitchen was not in kitchen like it was.

00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:08.484
It was crazy you mean there's more than five breakers labeled receptacles?

00:25:08.484 --> 00:25:10.446
Wow, who would?

00:25:10.586 --> 00:25:20.363
have thought right yeah your care exceeds just this interview, uh, your care for your clients that is.

00:25:20.363 --> 00:25:27.349
I don't know if you know this, austin, you got honorable mention sometime around end of january, february.

00:25:27.349 --> 00:25:35.650
We actually had, uh, guillermo castillo on the podcast right around that time and he had mentioned they did this data deep dive.

00:25:35.650 --> 00:25:51.099
Yeah, and on that data deep dive what they found was repeat customers spent three times more on average than the one time customers that you get in house.

00:25:51.099 --> 00:25:57.373
And right at that time it was like during the same week, you had just reported a big win, which was I think it was christmas week.

00:25:57.373 --> 00:26:01.507
You guys sold I think it was a platinum, it included a club membership, your version of it.

00:26:01.507 --> 00:26:20.717
And then in january you went and did that inspection and the next ticket I believe what it was is the first ticket was about 5,000 and your next ticket was $15,000, directly as a result of that inspection and at 3X and we went oh my gosh, he's right.

00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:23.445
It was the shortest timeframe we've ever seen it.

00:26:24.367 --> 00:26:25.990
Yeah, so we started.

00:26:25.990 --> 00:26:27.340
That was actually our, our.

00:26:27.340 --> 00:26:29.144
It's arguable.

00:26:29.144 --> 00:26:42.231
We launched our first class pass membership Christmas week and so that was, either, depending on what time of day it was, it was either the first or the second first class pass that was ever sold Me and Cameron.

00:26:42.231 --> 00:26:47.809
Cameron sold one that day and I sold one that day and I hadn't dug deep to really find out who won that battle.

00:26:47.809 --> 00:26:51.990
But so the 5,000 hour ticket was the panel change.

00:26:51.990 --> 00:26:54.470
The 15,000 hour wasn't even the panel change.

00:26:54.470 --> 00:26:56.625
Uh, it was an emergency situation.

00:26:56.625 --> 00:26:57.650
They had a panel.

00:26:57.650 --> 00:27:00.882
It already had the outside is a newer home, had the outside disconnect, whatever.

00:27:00.882 --> 00:27:03.326
Uh, so the 5 000 was the panel change.

00:27:03.326 --> 00:27:20.051
And then they uh needed a whole home inspection and they saw some value in the uh other additions, with the first-class bats being a first-class bats holder, and we came back out and did that and yeah, I mean, it needed work, you know, and they knew that.

00:27:20.051 --> 00:27:26.093
So they found value in that and couldn't be more happier with that situation.

00:27:26.861 --> 00:27:27.624
So proud of you, brother.

00:27:28.105 --> 00:27:28.989
Yeah amazing.

00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:30.365
It took us a long time, I'm sorry.

00:27:30.384 --> 00:27:30.645
No, go ahead.

00:27:30.645 --> 00:27:31.411
It just took us a long time.

00:27:31.411 --> 00:27:31.772
I'm sorry.

00:27:32.416 --> 00:27:32.819
No, go ahead.

00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:37.131
It took us a long time to really get around to the club membership offer.

00:27:37.131 --> 00:27:41.571
You know, the first class pass holder stuff, instant.

00:27:41.571 --> 00:27:48.130
We had instant results with it, you know, and we have customers that are excited to be a part of that.

00:27:48.130 --> 00:27:53.586
You know, as crazy as that sounds, if you have any doubt about that, I had doubt about it for a long time.

00:27:53.586 --> 00:27:55.329
You know I I had.

00:27:55.329 --> 00:28:01.348
I wasn't willing to offer it until I knew it was something that I found the value in Like that's that's so important to me.

00:28:01.348 --> 00:28:07.711
You know, and, um, I do a hundred percent of the value in it and now my customers do because of that.

00:28:09.352 --> 00:28:09.832
That's huge.

00:28:09.832 --> 00:28:14.854
It's a big takeaway and I feel like this is one of those like this will be on the test moments.

00:28:14.854 --> 00:28:20.636
In trade school we listen for that right like, oh guys, this will be on the test, oh great.

00:28:20.636 --> 00:28:23.679
I wasn't paying attention for the last 20 minutes, but I'm gonna focus now.

00:28:23.679 --> 00:28:32.194
What I mean by that is if you're listening to this, if you're watching us on youtube, wherever you are, guys, please take notice of what Austin just said.

00:28:32.576 --> 00:28:36.230
Club memberships are way more complex in your head than they need to be.

00:28:36.230 --> 00:28:45.766
If you haven't implemented this, please take care of your customers at a higher level just by offering to take care of them at a higher level, and if they take it, it's so simple.

00:28:45.766 --> 00:28:49.281
I think this is even a value piece we've given away for free a few times.

00:28:49.281 --> 00:28:50.885
That gives you a basic outline.

00:28:50.885 --> 00:28:54.506
If you want that, just go ahead and comment club outline.

00:28:54.506 --> 00:28:56.775
We'll send it to you guys to help you out with that.

00:28:56.775 --> 00:29:03.084
It's something we believe in, just like Austin is saying, if you just offer to serve at the higher level, look what happens.

00:29:03.084 --> 00:29:07.134
The problem is the whole process built on this.

00:29:07.134 --> 00:29:11.971
So many times we rush in, rush out or we say things in our own head.

00:29:11.971 --> 00:29:17.019
That never get verbalized, but it stops us from just offering more.

00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:19.550
Would it be wrong of us to do that, joe?

00:29:20.566 --> 00:29:21.951
No, and I love your job on that.

00:29:21.951 --> 00:29:23.951
No, Clay, it wouldn't be wrong.

00:29:25.006 --> 00:29:26.952
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.

00:29:26.952 --> 00:29:38.917
So one of the things that's really come forward in this interview and I wanted to talk about it as well Austin, a couple times you've made us laugh in this one Little giggle the belly laugh actually is what you're famous for.

00:29:38.917 --> 00:29:53.405
Inspiring in our group, but also in your content has been absolute fire.

00:29:53.405 --> 00:29:54.890
You guys have done a ton of video stuff, a lot of organics.

00:29:54.890 --> 00:29:57.194
I know that at times you've thought, well, maybe this is worth it, maybe it isn't.

00:29:57.194 --> 00:29:58.787
How are you feeling about it right now?

00:29:58.787 --> 00:30:01.955
Because I know so many people look up to it and think, wow, that stuff is good.

00:30:03.664 --> 00:30:14.990
So I went through this shift a negative shift in my personally, a few months back and I was like man, we need to cut back on some of that.

00:30:14.990 --> 00:30:20.271
Like it's, it's not, it's not easy to make that content, it's not cheap to make that content for the most part.

00:30:20.271 --> 00:30:26.271
And I was like you know, this year has been different than previous years Like, let's just cut back just a little bit, right.

00:30:26.271 --> 00:30:36.836
And then I started thinking and I was like the way I'm justifying this is well, we just have less leads than before.

00:30:36.836 --> 00:30:37.699
So we just need to stop doing that.

00:30:37.699 --> 00:30:39.124
And it's like if we didn't do that, we would have no leads.

00:30:39.124 --> 00:30:42.233
And on top of that, we get so much feedback.

00:30:48.525 --> 00:30:55.275
So, ironically, 10 minutes before this conversation, uh, or before we started this podcast, uh, I was looking through um, just some analytics and that, some of our views and stuff.

00:30:55.275 --> 00:31:03.858
So when people are, when they engage with us on our videos and stuff, now they're watching more than just one.

00:31:03.858 --> 00:31:04.965
They're watching that one Like.

00:31:04.965 --> 00:31:13.155
So I've got I, it's not hard to boost it, it's not hard for me to bump something right, like I can go make a con, a comment on it, and it'll get pushed to the top and people see it.

00:31:13.155 --> 00:31:20.047
Well, now, when I do that, videos that are three rows deeper than that are gaining 400 views in a night, you know.

00:31:20.047 --> 00:31:22.212
So it's it's like it's a gift that keeps giving.

00:31:22.212 --> 00:31:30.519
It's it's marketing that keeps giving, you know, and yeah, there's a a little bit of a front investment in that, but it's there, it doesn't go away, you know.

00:31:30.519 --> 00:31:39.695
And on top of that it's genuine, like we enjoy, I can promise you, I enjoy making those videos and the secret to that is, hey, you did it first.

00:31:39.736 --> 00:31:40.640
I didn't want to be on camera.

00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:41.605
You know what I mean.

00:31:41.605 --> 00:31:49.378
Like I can be funny and genuine and stuff, but it scares me sometimes to be on camera.

00:31:49.378 --> 00:31:58.234
Like I'm self-conscious about a ton of stuff that's every human is, but it's, it's so much fun and people love it, you know.

00:31:58.234 --> 00:31:59.711
And it's a good conversation piece.

00:31:59.711 --> 00:32:03.291
Even when I'm out talking with customers, they just laugh about whatever we were doing lately.

00:32:03.291 --> 00:32:06.189
Or, you know, some of our ideas come from customers.

00:32:06.189 --> 00:32:07.951
They, some of our ideas come from customers.

00:32:07.951 --> 00:32:10.557
They're like man, we'd love to see y'all do this.

00:32:10.557 --> 00:32:12.221
We'd love to see y'all do that.

00:32:13.749 --> 00:32:15.595
I'd love to know more about this.

00:32:15.595 --> 00:32:16.425
Nailed it, nailed it.

00:32:16.425 --> 00:32:26.195
So for the people that are still feeling like, well, I'm shy on camera, I don't want to do that, what advice or do you have a trick or something you did to overcome that?

00:32:26.195 --> 00:32:30.944
Or just get over it and head straight for it Like what happened?

00:32:31.025 --> 00:32:31.286
for you.

00:32:31.286 --> 00:32:35.494
You can do it 10 times and as long as one of them is good, you got one.

00:32:35.494 --> 00:32:38.653
You know you can always restart when you're.

00:32:38.653 --> 00:32:39.557
When you start a video.

00:32:39.557 --> 00:32:45.653
Man, when I first, when we first started doing it, uh, if so, we have a guy that works with us and told me, right, he does a lot of our marketing stuff.

00:32:45.653 --> 00:32:46.536
Uh, he was behind the camera with our camera.

00:32:46.536 --> 00:32:47.317