S3 EP40 From $200K in Debt to a $228K Month as an Electrician | James Crews

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I don't think our lead flow was very much different from the month before, but I think a lot of it comes to the sales process. Like I mentioned, I had a second appointment for that one of the Facebook leads that actually the initial was the month before. And then we've used that all the way to this month. So just knowing like how to get that scheduled with the customer, even if you're not going to close right in there, like if you understand this sales process and you train on this, then it's going to make such a difference. You don't even have to have a massive marketing budget. The opportunities that you do have, if this gets implemented, it's going to make a huge difference.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Million Dollar Electrician Podcast, where we help home service pros like you supercharge your business and park up those sales.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

I'm Joseph Witchani, and together with my co-host Clay New Meyer. We're here to share the secrets that have electricians sell over a million dollars in a single service band.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Now it's time for sales. It's time for sale. It's time to become a million-dollar electrician. All right, and we're back. Welcome guys. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to the Million Dollar Electrician Podcast. Today we've got a super cool show for you. Uh, recently we interviewed Kevin Locklear, who just had his kick charge rebrand. We've got another guy. I swear we're not stealing from Dan's crew. These are actually our guys too within the Academy with ServiceSoup Electrical and with the Million Dollar Electrician. We have James Cruz here today. James is trying to get past this $2 million mark. Did about 1.65 last year, $1.2 the year before, recent rebrand with Waybright Electric. James, we're super excited to have you, brother. James got a crew of about six and has actually some special breakthroughs to go through today. As always, guys, so I want to remind you here a bit of a disclaimer, we do help electricians go from zero to a million and beyond into multiple seven figures. And what we're going to share are real stories, real case studies, but there are only five percent of us that ever make it to seven figures and beyond. Chances are this isn't you. However, we want to share this real inspiration, this real story with you today of how James has done it and how you may be able to too. So welcome, James. Thanks for joining us on the show today, man. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Yeah, thank you. I'm doing good. Um, well, I am uh I'm honored to be here and um looking forward to what we're gonna dive into.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Awesome, man. Awesome. Well, we gave you a great setup here. I know you've got some big wins. I'm gonna save that for just a little bit further down the way. If you wouldn't mind telling us a bit about how you got started in this thing, how long you've kind of been in business, what really sparked you to start your own thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yeah. Well, so just on a personal level, I always had this kind of entrepreneurial spirit. I remember even back when I was like 13, just thinking about how I was gonna, you know, optimize my little lawn care service and what I was gonna what I was gonna do that summer to make sure I could get more lawns done and you know set up my set up my, you know, you know, my my lawnmower with my pool wagon and and my weed eater and my blower. And anyway, you know, so I already had that. And when I was a kid, I would, I would go door to door and um sell these uh Krispy Kreme donut cards to to fundraiser to pay for my you know uniform or sports, you know, team costs. And so that was that was kind of uh an organic process that I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Honestly, the last thing I ever thought I'd do is be an electrician, you know, because the trades for the longest time just got a bad rep. And um, and it was kind of almost like looked down upon. And now I think the tables, the tides have turned and things are, you know, turning out the opposite way, may you know, maybe. So um, you know, the trades, I think I think the trades are very strong and very powerful, and um, there's just a lot of opportunity. And even since I've come into it, I mean it's just like, I don't know. It's um it's almost, yeah, like I look at it like a gold mine. I think there's a lot to be a lot to be done here. So I'm very optimistic about that. But you know, uh just I'll try to speed through this quickly, but you know, my journey, I was actually in college, community college, and I was like, hey, you know, gonna follow the college path like everybody else. Ended up getting uh I got a I got a girlfriend in my sophomore year, and I just got super distracted. My grades just plummeted. And so I did the hey, I'm gonna take a break from school thing. And I took uh I took a couple semesters off. Um one to just save some money and then and then I took a semester and I went to Europe. During that time that I went to Europe, I I uh you know, was just doing some odd jobs and working for working for uh some family friends that own these massive like uh lodges in in the Swiss Alps. So and the thing is, you know, every structure, every building has to have some maintenance and um and has to have some work done on it. And I remember, you know, I I was just cleaning these places. I was kind of just, you know, the I was just part of the cleanup crew and uh, you know, to turn around for the next set of visitors that would come in. And uh, but I would always see like a plumber and an electrician and you know, some other trade coming in and fixing these buildings. And I remember the um the owner who I was working for, you know, at the time I had this thought, I was like, yeah, I'm gonna go back home and I'm I'm gonna get back in into college and go into the medical field and nothing against the medical field. Um, you know, uh it's it's it's a great uh industry to be in. Um, but you know, he discouraged me. He said, man, look at the opportunity here that you have getting into a trade. They're always gonna need it. And um, I look at this plumber here, you know, he uh you know he works over there anyway. He's like he works, you know, nine months of the year and then the three months he takes off. So I've yet to be able to do that. But that maybe that's the goal down the road here. But I knew I didn't want to be a plumber just because that just seemed like a little too messy. But you would be surprised. You'd be surprised though. Yeah, you'd be surprised. I mean, being an electrician is not like you're not gonna get messy. I mean, there's definitely some dirty jobs being an electrician too. Um, and so I I came to find that out, especially um, you know, getting into under under houses or in attics, or you know, if you're doing anything on the commercial side, industrial side. But yeah, so I, you know, I I did a few months, uh, that was a good experience there. And I came back to US. And when I came back, I got back enrolled at school. And uh actually a buddy of mine, uh, a really good friend of mine, was encouraging me again as he's like, hey, look, you know, I'm a house builder and it seems like electricians are are hard to come by. You should look into being an electrician. And I just kind of blew that off. But I said, you know what? It I'll check out the tech school down the road here. And if they have an opening, then yeah, I'll I'll I'll do it. So I went and they didn't have any openings. They were totally booked. Uh, I mean, full class. But the uh the instructor told me, like, hey, if we end up getting an opening, we'll let you know. So I was like, Well, I guess that's my answer. That's my sign. I'm not doing that. Yeah. Well, lo and behold, you know, semester starts. I'm actually in college. Uh, and at the same time, uh, you know, a couple days into it, I get a call. And this is back when um still had home phones, you know, so get get home uh, you know, from school. And then there's a message, and I'm like, uh, I should probably just delete this message before I listen to it. But I went ahead and played it out, and they said, hey, we got a spot for you if you want to come on. So just being a man of my word, I was like, all right, well, I guess I'm gonna do this thing. So I got into that tech program, and uh, you know, not getting too much into my background, but I'm a city boy. Uh, I'm not, you know, some I'm I'm not yeah, I'm a city boy, used to uh more of the uh the white collar kind of background, you know, college educated, all that good stuff. Yeah, and so when I got into that tech class, it was just like, oh man, I I I was in another world, and I didn't I did not belong there. But, you know, I was at the same time going to college, doing tech, and then I was working at a hospital. Come to find out, I was not cut out to work in a hospital. And so, so, you know, that tech course uh, you know, finished at the end of the year, and I said, you know what, I'm gonna go for this. I'm gonna get into um I'm I'm I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna give a shot at being an electrician. But um I knew that I was gonna do this as a business. Like if I'm gonna do this, I'm going for my master's license and and becoming a contractor.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

That entrepreneurial piece again.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Yeah, can can I ask actually because because that's really interesting. Can I call a time out there and just where does that come from early on? Like at 13, there's a lot of us who were interested, but there's a ton of us who just had no business idea at all. Was your dad in business or was this a family influence thing? How did you come to be so young thinking that direction?

SPEAKER_00 9:09

I don't know. I don't know. Honestly, um, I don't know. It was just it's like for me, maybe it was just genetic. I like somehow I ended up getting this the universe. I don't know what you want to call it, but yeah, I it wasn't like my my dad wasn't necessarily a business owner, you know, um, and my mom neither. And so I don't know. I just knew that like I I I I recognized like there was some great opportunity and I don't know, I just kind of fell into that and so into that thinking. Um I I think, you know, just from that, just from like not knocking on those doors and seeing how easy it was to sell these donut cards. And I'm like, whoa, I just I just grabbed like 80 bucks. I'm 11 years old, and I did this in what, like, you know, a couple hours, and then you know, going door to door and knocking to get you know new lawn customers. I don't know. It was just it was like kind of addictive also. And so I just yeah, I just I was like I had it set in my mind, like this is this is you know what I'm I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do something entrepreneurial.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

I don't I don't think we covered this before, but you and I actually have a lot of pieces in common back then. I was uh 17, 18 when I first started door knocking, but I started a concrete company, really was my first business and made an absolute mess of it. I ended up taking on a foundation for like a $50 million municipal project, a big sports complex that I had no business running in my early 20s. But same sort of thing, that door knocking. I mean, I I look back at it now, I'm like, man, I learned so many fun fundamental lessons just in that experience alone. Super cool, man. Back to your story. Sorry to interrupt you. I'm just always interested in that background. Yeah, yeah. So you started out, you decided to go on your own.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Yeah. Um, so yeah, I worked for several contractors with the idea in mind that, like, hey, I'm here to gather the experience. And that's probably not like you know, I kept that on the low. I never really shared that with anybody that I worked with because like I knew that that's probably not something that they want to hear, right? Uh and um, and that's that's the reality. But I ended up working for a a major, you know, commercial, industrial, uh kind of nationwide uh electrical contractor that was doing work on these data centers uh here in Oklahoma. And then um, so that was what I was doing. And you know, I'd have people call me. I mean, I I guess my number, you know, got popular between different people. And and so that started really um getting me really busy even after work. I had a, I mean, the the job was already demanded, and then I ended up like putting in again, like I'd be out 12 hours a day, and then I gotta figure out how to, you know, go over here and install some recess lighting, or let me find some time to, you know, change out a panel. Thinking back, man, what a great deal those people were getting, you know, from me at that time. Um at a certain point I said, man, I am burning the candle on both ends here. I can't keep doing that. Something has to give. I was I was dating my wife at the time and we were not getting any time. And uh yeah, so I I said, okay, well, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna take the leap. I think I had like a I had like a little job lined up the next week. I'm like, if I do that, I'll have enough money to get by that week. There was really no, there was really no plan. It was like, dude, I mean, I owned my own house at that time. I think my mortgage was 600 bucks a month. And I just I was like, I'm gonna figure out a scrape buy. We'll we'll we'll I'm gonna figure this out. And so yeah, I went ahead, did it. And uh at the time uh when we first started, I I did have uh actually had a couple partners. One of them, you know, actually uh was the license holder. And um and until until I I got my master's license. I didn't have it right away when we started the business. The goal was for the three partners to be, you know, uh we we were all gonna be, you know, working this together. Right. But as time kind of went on, we things kind of changed and went down to just two of us. And uh and so uh yeah, and originally like we had no idea what what we were gonna do. I mean, it's just like, hey, I have this, I have this like knowledge of some electrical from just the different companies I've worked for. And I'm gonna just I'm gonna just see where my need, you know, where my skills can can meet people's needs. So just a hustle, just a just a hustle, man. That's what it was. And um, it was a hustle and a struggle. Definitely started to get some momentum in year two. And um, and you know, one of the things uh early on, like I think it was like yeah, year two, like that would have been like 2019. So really like in in 2020, year three, got a little bit distracted with some shiny objects. And you know, you like in 2020, you're you're hearing I mean, I've been around other industries like HVAC and plumbing, and you're just hearing about like, wow man, how HVAC is just killing. Oh my goodness. And so I thought to myself, well, we're doing okay with our, you know, with our electrical, we're we're we're we're not like you know, you know, killing it, but we're you know, we're we're we're growing. And that mean by growing at the time is I just kept hiring more people. So my staff was growing. My staff was growing, but I knew nothing about really looking at PLs and and understanding numbers. Do I have any profit? I mean, as long as money was in the bank, that was all that I really knew to think about.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

So so I thought maybe, oh yeah, I I I look kind of successful because my team is growing, but I was so wrong on that. And we ended up we ended up adding in HVAC. Wow. Just had no plan, did not, yeah, did not understand, really didn't understand what we were doing with electrical, to be honest with you. But we added an HVAC and that was a total disaster. Biggest probably one of the biggest lessons uh we learned, not that HVAC, there's anything wrong with it, but just adding in another service when you don't even have your primary service, you know, set up, you understand it, you know. Yeah. So, you know, it's like um we just took the train wheels off of the you know the the the bike and just we crashed. And um, so what ended up happening is uh we got some massive debt in 2020. I mean, what you were talking, you know, a couple hundred thousand. Wow. Um when you're when you're not profitable and you get a couple hundred thousand uh in debt, that's it's pretty devastating.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Oh no, super hard. But but sorry, how much was your revenue at that point, James? If you don't mind me asking, just to give a context.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

I think the yeah, it was probably like right at that, like we stayed at like 1.2 for multiple years in a row. Okay. Um, so like right over a million, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:46

And um Yeah, so you owed like 17-18 percent in debt. There was no profit.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Yeah, there was no there's there was zero profit.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Yeah, you know what's really interesting about your story too, if I can just say is you're you were a pre-COVID company.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

So we're gonna have to get some insights about that too, because uh it sounds like now I'm hearing, well, you had some forces, you had to work through COVID anyway, you didn't have a choice, right? Yeah, you're on the pre-COM.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah, you know, you know, we um we didn't know what to expect during that time frame. We just thought it like, you know, we were like we're the the team were like, we're bandning together, we'll make this thing work. And yeah, it was a very uncertain times. And you know, I I don't think it was because of that year, particularly like COVID or anything like that, that we end up having, you know, that big of a deficit. It was just just not knowing what we were doing. And, you know, when you add in another aspect to your business, now your focus is all over here, and then the primary thing is like went from hey, it's making a little something to hey, now it's starting to lose too. So I'm losing both ways over here. And it was that was a massive lesson for me. So we had to cut the bleeding off. Um, it took a little while. I have a friend who's a really successful rooper, and he's like, Well, you know, hey, it's okay, James. Uh, you know, sometimes you're a little bit slow learner, but you're you're making your way. And I we say that jokingly, but but sometimes you know, yeah, yeah. I mean, it was it's like uh it took like, I don't know, maybe about um close to 18 months for me just to decide, okay, I'm gonna stop the bleeding. Like I I'm one of these guys, I'm like, oh, I I gotta, I, I gotta keep going and I gotta make this thing work because I'd advertise for it and and and I'd put myself out there, but it was it was time to let it go. So we did, and and then really in 21 is when uh took a little bit of time to reflect what was the direction of our company, what were what what are we doing? Because before Clay, we were trying to do new construction, we were trying to do commercial projects, we were just I'm over here, you know, getting estimating software so I can do takeoff on plans and yeah, all this stuff. I'm even going to industrial industrial places that honestly I didn't have the expertise to be in. But so uh, but you know, I stepped back and uh one of the things that really changed my perspective and gave me some direction was reading the the the book uh Home Service Millionaire. I think that's what it is, yeah, Home Service Million Millionaire by Tommy Mello. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh yeah. And um, you know, I we took I took a week and my wife's family's from Puerto Rico. So I went to Puerto Rico and just read that book that whole week and and I just came back with like some massive clarity, and I was like, this is the way, and uh that this is what we're gonna do. Like we're not, we're we're just gonna focus on this, and and um, and that's how I do it.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

I don't want to be rude here, but there are such important things I just want to make sure we make time for this idea of like that debt and the decision to take on that debt. I know for sure there's people in in our sleep pro group in the inner loop right now, and there's listeners. This happens more than we think or care to admit, especially since apps like the House Call Pro, the Jobbers, the CRM started offering financing so easy to grab for contractors. And we've been on here and said this a couple of times. Like, please, please rethink that strategy a little bit because they really get you. You're really got and so can we actually just spend a little more time in that space with you?

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

Where did the 200k like where did you guys secure your financing from? And what ultimately, if you can recall, like pushed you over that edge to say, okay, or was it just adding up from multiple sources?

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Yeah, uh, one second.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Yep, all good. James has a bit of a cold here today, guys. So he came either way. We appreciate him. He's just muted there to uh give you a break from the thanks, brother.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Okay, didn't want to blow up the ears. Yeah, so sorry, if you can uh reiterate that question.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, just I know there's some people listening right now who are either they're in a bad spot, they're considering getting financing and kind of over leveraging themselves without some of these principles in place or really knowing what's going on. Yeah, where did you guys go for that much debt? Was it from multiple sources that all added up between partners and stuff? Was it one? And then how did you make that decision and get out of this situation?

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Yeah, okay. So it was uh we were not making any profit. So, you know, we're buying everything on a business credit card that had like a 70k limit, max that out. All these different suppliers, we are maxing out our you know, our credit at each one of these supply houses. Then we had a gas credit card that we, you know, we maxed out. So I mean, I've got 30,000, 30,000 here, 20,000 here, 70,000 here, you know, 40,000 here. You know, it's it it added up and I owed everybody, right? And um, yeah, and that was that was a horrible place to be. It took it took three years to get all that paid down.

SPEAKER_02 20:58

So did you do debt consolidation or was this literally just old fashioned, keep it all apart and work through it?

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Yeah, yeah, it was like and this I used the debt snowball where we just went, hey, we owe this much at this place, let's knock that one out, then let's knock that one out, and then that one and the biggest one, which was our credit card interest, was insane. And so I mean we we we had we ended up paying more than 200k at the end of the with all the interest, but yeah, yeah. Um, so it was man, and it happened so fast, like that debt accumulated in like six months, right? Oh my god, that's tough, man. So sorry.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

Yeah, and by snowball, I think you're referring to like what Ramsey teaches, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:40

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

So, guys, if you're listening to this and you don't understand what that means, like a really simple concept is first and foremost, ignore the interest rates and take care of the smallest one first. That seems counterintuitive, but what you really need is momentum. You need a little snowball before you ever get a big thing that you can push and just start knocking snowballs. something out and really prioritize it that way so you keep that momentum going. Man.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

You know, debts down to five and then down to four and then three and then two and then you got the one and and so it just kind of keeps that focus. You know, you're you're you're you're getting you know small win, a little bit bigger, a little bigger, that sort of thing, right? So the emotional uh it's an it's it's an emotional drive on that.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

But speaking of which, what did you do? I mean I could tell you're fit. Love the shirts by the way, bright yellow. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Was it just like workout routine and resilience? Like how do you get through 18 months of just painful, you know, how do you do that?

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Those those are probably some of the most stressful times that I can remember. Like I'm telling you, ooh, just thinking about it was giving me goosebumps, but like I remember like Thanksgiving of I think it's Thanksgiving of 2020. I wasn't even with my family that day. I was in the office just looking at all of our debt. And I mean I now talk about depressing I'm tears coming down my face because I'm just like man how'd it come to this? Uh yeah we'll just relive in that moment in my head right now is kind of rough but but um but it taught me a life lesson and I I will never go back to that. Yeah but yeah I just don't give up that's one thing I I don't know I'm I'm I think I'm just stubborn that way I just wouldn't know how to I wouldn't know how to give up on that I probably go down a sinking shit to my fault. But but you know I also I also had this thought of like just projecting into the future like hey we're gonna get through this and this is going to become a part of my journey which is going to play into the success story. And um so I would not allow you know that to be my defeat you know so and you know there's also other you know incredible stories out there of people not throwing a towel in and you know sticking with it. And and so I knew like hey my story it was small in comparison to some of the things that I've heard about and I knew it was possible to like get through this just you know one you know one step at a time yeah one step at a time and I knew that like if we improved our company like like you know what you guys teach and just if I can move the needle a little bit and then we'll we'll we'll we'll make the improvements necessary and that that will snowball the other way you know into our into our success into a profitable company and so on and so forth.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

Yeah I love what you said there. I love that and it it reminded me like what what I really heard in my head was let this be a chapter don't let it be the last chapter. Yeah no for sure otherwise it's just it goes in the experience wallet the failure wallet we learn from this it builds character we don't do it again.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Yeah so the turning point was really after that in 2021 like deciding hey this is what we're gonna pursue um service and really seeing that as the option and after that yeah I think like my my focus and my mindset was like okay I need like more so well actually I I I came across seven power contractor by um by Al Levy. Yeah and I I love that book and you know at the end of his book he has you know the where you can do a 30 minute consultation with him and you know on that consultation he said well hey here's what I think you need like right now yeah I can give you the operations guides and all this kind of stuff for your company because that's what he that's what he he he provides. But he's like what I what I really think you need right now is I think you need to learn sales sales power as he calls it and um because if you you know let's say you you you you become great at uh marketing and you get a hundred leads but you know James you if you don't know how to sell to one lead you're not gonna be able to sell to a hundred leads right and I that just resounded and I have never forgotten that and that was the next thing I pursued that's how I came across you know uh Joe Lucani and um just his his story and I was like wow here's a here's an electrician who's who's done this that's that's my guy you know um um there's my that's my hero right there right so I just yeah so I was like on a mission to connect with with uh with Joe and and that's what we worked on like you know um I didn't nothing I I mean as much as I as much as I had this like approachability with people and um I felt like oh I I know how to connect and I didn't really understand like uh there's actually like you can train to be better in sales and there's this thing called closing and where you don't just send out emails and hope for the best and and there's there's like a whole psychology behind this. I didn't know I didn't know any of that. Like I just thought you're you know how you hear people say oh I got the gift of the gab and all that stuff or whatever. I just thought oh some people have that thing and but I didn't yeah I didn't know anything about that. And when I found that wow you can actually train and learn and better yourself in this thing it just opened my mind up and honestly like it's something that I I mean I I kind of like fell in love with it's it's it's a lot of fun. You know it's a lot of fun it's a lot of fun when you're getting better at something and you're starting to win. So um so yeah I mean that's so that was the first and most important thing that I think started making the shift and then like you know learning wow you are charging this much to do this kind of a work. Well if you learn about sales and you learn how to add value now you can actually increase your margins and you're not poor after every single job. You know? Yeah and you can aff you you can afford to do things better for your customer, for yourself, for the people that are in your organization. So it made a huge shift.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

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SPEAKER_00 28:43

Would you mind sharing a couple of things like we went pre-21 and looked at uh formerly ECS right uh way right today yeah versus kind of today the value experience difference that a customer might recognize from those five years okay oh wow put you on spot this one was unplanned guys I'm I'm thinking of a job right now okay sweet I'm thinking of a job right now where I would and I you know I I think uh I would try to be creative about how and I think creativity use it you should you use it all the time should always use it but I try to be creative like how we could keep the cost down you know to a minimum and I would I don't know I would buy certain type of material I'm thinking of one where I bought a meter panel combo and um the reason why this comes to mind is because just recently like five or six years later we came back to this customer's house and um at the time like we did not replace the riser. So you know we have a riser that the um that you know connects the the the feeder uh wires that go into the meter we left the old riser there um we have this meter panel combo and the thing is if you know anything about those they're really limited in space yeah and we didn't do we we we well I that's all I that's all I said we you know that's all I offered I said well this is what I can put in and and that's what we went with well guess what like you know five six years later we come back and they want to add a hot tub circuit and I think this was like a hundred amp system and I don't think there was any room in that panel stuff like that you know now if I came to your home and I saw like you know you know hey we have an old service here I am going to I'm gonna give you a range of solutions that we can go with that are going to be like totally future proofing this thing and and giving you the best protection. I mean the quality of what we're gonna do is gonna be just it's it's it's gonna be immaculate and it or we'll give you all the way down to the very least of what we could do. I still may not do like a panel meter combo though I'd probably still do something better than that now. But back then I didn't know how to create any kind of value and I didn't really even think about I was just trying to get the job. And I didn't know I didn't know that like hey like they can pick that if they see you know some different solutions here. So yeah I mean that that's one example that I can think of.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

That's a great example though. Can I speak to that for a sec? Yeah even if James even if you offered that as your base option today at least you'd know here's the menu I presented and you chose that. So when you come back to do more work it can be addressed and say well this is actually why we offered more but nonetheless here we are so now we've got a bit of rework to do to get to that next option.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Yeah exactly and and in terms of um accountability you know if they're choosing hey I want to do the minimum then and and then later that's not adequate. Well you know hey we can go back to what we did look at in the past and that that ends up being their uh you know their accountability so in this case here we you know that was on us you know because it was like hey you guys put this in so um yeah I think that's been a drastic change man and you just don't know what you don't know but yeah really good insights I want to fast forward here now that we've kind of tied into the present day and people got a taste for how you serve now that's awesome man congratulations on that you've been holding out big wins so we're gonna call this the win of the week moment right here. I haven't even heard these yet uh James is about to announce it live I don't even think you posted this in the app have you no I was um you know I was kind of waiting for um for Joe you know to come back and I was like I I want to share this in person and then I was gonna you know uh make it public for everybody and then he's not here today which is okay I know he's gonna see this so you'll be listening yeah yeah so this last month like a goal of ours was to break 200 200k and gosh we've had that goal for so long and we broke it uh we actually hit 228k yeah this last month yeah so and I actually set a goal for one of my um you know the the well the other uh service you know sales tech that we have and he broke 100k himself okay so he's a huge part of that yeah so and then also another thing to add to it we just sold our first solar system uh and that was something that we've always been intrigued by and wanted to get into so that was really cool too. But again like with the training and with understanding how options work I mean that's made all this possible right and getting that getting that sales training and understanding how to position ourselves you know with the customer getting getting those commitments to really understand like where we're at and and by the way even one of the one of the really great wins that we had was um and I know Forrest will like this one and I and I think I said something uh about this but we had uh like a Facebook lead that came through and um you know we I didn't close it on the first appointment right I mean we went through I thought we were gonna close on the first appointment I jumped the gun but we set a second appointment met with the wife and we closed the 16k you know uh panel renovation and some additional things there so that was really cool that was actually on the last you know that was like what the the before last day of the month so yeah yeah one of those unexpected ones yeah well it was like you know if they if they meet on that second appointment the chances of you selling that are just like way up here right if they're like agreeing to see you again it's like yeah so it's in the bag most likely that isn't said enough by the way like that's a number we don't track enough yeah absolutely if you've got those great feelings second appointment that kind of thing like yeah it's a it's a huge turnaround I love that yeah great great note yeah yeah yeah yeah so this is massive uh I always think the ABCs when we hear a win like this where are we meaning hey back when James set his goals to break 2 million you know you came from a 1.65 kind of year you know you're gonna need uh another 25 increase or so in order to break that 2 million and so then that that's kind of our B where are we going to 2 million?

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Does this 225 or 228 you said? 228 yeah yeah if we were to continue that on average would that break the two million I think everyone could do the math on that 166 a month is two mil right so yeah well over it. So that'll add up and and make up for some slower months as it ebbs and flows. Absolutely and so then it's like okay that's the A, that's the B. Now we get to see well will that add up and what was the difference in this month? So James, if you wouldn't mind like what added up in April that was different than months prior that worked well for you that we might be able to replicate now.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Well I okay one thing that I really believe in I mean people may you know not give a whole lot of weight to this but actually goal setting like actually going in and setting goals and talking about it with the CSRs talking about it with the you know the technician that talking about it with the install team like all of that and then and then and then as we're inching at that goal like making it a visual for the team to see I'm telling you like I know that had a massive impact right and that was just a motivating factor to just keep keep pushing and keep showing up best we could to customers homes. And look I I'll tell you this last month we had the biggest sales month but we also had some like we also had some tough situations. We had a guy put his foot through a ceiling at a customer's house we had you know some drywall paint repair guys that came in to do some work that kind of you know left some paint on the customer's carpet and uh on the floor and uh you know we had um yeah we just said we had some different challenges I won't go into all of them but yeah but regardless of that like you know we address those things and then we just stay on top of like hey let's let's see where we're at okay let's keep pushing for this and having having set those goals and then and then a visual to see like hey how we're performing on that I think that was a really that made a big impact. That was a huge motivating factor. Like you got to have the attitude has to be really good. If that attitude is there, dude so much is possible. So there was that yeah and and I mean you could maybe attribute uh I don't know I I don't know I I was gonna say you know hey month of April like things start calm alive. I don't know if that's true or not because I mean for some people it didn't and that's what I that's what I was hearing here. So but I I think like our like we were really focused on the goal. I think that's probably the biggest thing and we were all like you know trying to get our yeah try trying to make sure we hit whatever the mark was on our performance as a team.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Yeah yeah I love that yeah and and just to tie into the I don't know piece is what I always kind of preach is like it's okay to have market forces. We're not in denial of that that it's not that the environment doesn't have ebb and flow itself. Of course there's lots going on in politics there's lots going on municipally statewide province wide wherever you are Canada US other places in the world I mean man there's always stuff going on there's always different forces being applied but what we can control kind of serenity prayer is the in-house stuff.

SPEAKER_00 38:14

So if and you did a good job of pointing out a few things you feel you did exceptionally well this month if we can recognize what those are then we can keep our internal counter going right yeah so I will be honest with you I don't think like our lead flow was very much different from the month before um but uh the process like I really think a lot of this comes to like the sales process like I mentioned like I had a like I had a second appointment actually on multiple occasions I'll tell you a couple other situations here that turned out for the best but I had um a second appointment for that um like one of the Facebook leads that was actually the initial appointment was the month before right and then we pushed that all the way to this month. So that's one okay um but just knowing like how to get that scheduled with the customer like even if you're not gonna close right then there like if you understand this sales process and you train on this man it's gonna make such a difference I you don't even have to like have a massive marketing budget whatever just the opportunities that you do have like if this gets implemented it's gonna make a huge difference right that's why I I agree with Al leaving like you need to learn sales as your first thing that needs to be first. And but I I use that personally and also you know I think um you know our other guy Trey I mean like a lot of these were opportunities like opportunity calls that we did two call closes and that gave us that uh opportunity to come in like last um and also just gave some time to like for the anticipation for the customer right and I think maybe to degree that's like they're kind of like making their mind up at that point, you know? So um one customer I you know like there was a turnaround on this and I I would attribute this to to to to what Joe has also taught me about generators but one customer you know a certain generator solution uh wasn't gonna work for them and they you know they said hey no you know we'll we're we're just gonna we're gonna wait but we actually kind of pressed into that and said hey look I know that you guys are not on board with these standby systems but would you consider maybe like a semi-automatic portable system and that got us back in the game they loved it and we went ahead and did like a 10k portable system for them right yeah and the margins are great on they're great and and I another customer that was looking at doing a standby but we figured out by going through and and and and sizing the house and what their needs were like hey we could come in and do this you know uh like a semi-omatic portable system and they love that too. So we closed a few of those that that was exciting for me because man I have shied away from generators like it's just like something I didn't touch. Yeah but you know hey that knowledge that I've learned through you guys just gave me a totally different perspective. I'm I'm excited about it. It's actually kind of fun being able to figure that out.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Are they Duramax? Yep yeah went through Jesse both yeah yes that's right great team yeah absolutely as you guys know a Duramax has sponsored our podcast and our whole group exceptional pricing through us guys if you're an SLE pro member in the app yeah absolutely so this has a been a really cool and insightful story here. What do you think James you would or could have told yourself five years ago assuming you wanted to shortcut any of this what do you think you would have told yourself to kind of help help you get get through this and get to where you are today maybe a little easier a little simpler I would have if I'd have gone back in time I would have thought you and Joseph and I would have said hey you guys need to make sure you like you guys needed to exist back then.

SPEAKER_00 41:55

So yeah no I mean first thing invest in the coaching like that's probably just a massive thing industry specific is super important. Don't get bogged down with like a ton of things either I mean like if we can just better one thing at a time like don't get like we don't you don't need to be doing a ton of things just like just improve this one area first and then move on to the next doing that's gonna have a massive impact. Don't get in debt learn sales so you can make profit so you don't have to get in debt you know and learn your numbers yeah like learn like about margins that they're absolutely necessary if you're afraid to charge a certain amount that's just because you don't um like you don't really understand you know how to you don't really understand value like how to bring that and how how people actually want those things. They want quality they want value and they will pay more for that and uh and you can rest you know at night knowing that you did it the right way and they can too and it's not your decision at the end of the day what somebody picks. So you can you don't have to feel like a salesy you know scummy person. It's like at the end of the day if they want to pick the best thing and they want to pay top dollar let them do that. But if they want to go with something that's going to be a band-aid repair that's on them. You are just here to show them like what what they can have and you can do that with integrity. So like I think yeah looking back like I would have said immediately get some sales training SLE like service Luke Electric like get some get some sales training learn about what you can do better. I love how one of the things that really was like that drove me to you guys is I mean just the creativity and like you know uh and tapping into that right like I mean um tapping into like what what else could be done you know and and and opening that up. So yeah I would get industry specific coaching sales training and learn how to how how to make some profit and um and then just in invest in in the company. And I'm not I I don't I don't think I need to say too much more, but that's probably what I would have that's probably what I would have done.

SPEAKER_02 44:03

Yeah, those are good insights, man. You've actually mentioned creativity a couple of times. And I think that's open to interpretation. What do you mean by that, James, when you say creativity?

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Um, yeah, so I mean, like, look, like solutions. Okay, I'll give you an example. One that I think is really, really, really good. It's it's cool, is like on these generator, on these generator jobs, you know, we offer to put in um, you know, uh emergency lighting and pathway lighting, emergency pathway lighting. So like if they were to have an outage, right, they're gonna know immediately. And they've got uh at the outlets, they've got like um these battery backup pathway lights. So hey, that leads you, like if you if you're just doing a regular interlock, like you need to get to your panel, right? And at the panel, we've got like an emergency like egress type of light that as soon as power is out, it turns on, right? So, like, hey, you lose power, I'm able to walk safely all the way to my panel. Like, how how valuable is that, right? Especially for an older person. Um, and they don't have to fumble around, look for their phone, whatever. But you know, stuff like that. That's like a little example there. Uh and just creativity in how I can make this solution, you know, more bulletproof for somebody if somebody's gone through something in the past where they really want to make sure they have, you know, top safety and assurance, like, hey, maybe, you know, instead of just putting regular smoke alarms, they want to put, you know, smart, smoke, smart smoke alarm system where they get an alert on their phone and the option to press that button so that emergency services come in. It's stuff like that, you know? And it's like, man, what kind of that's that is that's like top-notch level service. And it's like, it's totally justifiable and people see the value in that. And and that, and and you are charging for that value.

SPEAKER_02 45:46

Yeah, yeah, I love that. That's a really good share, and I understand better. Thank you for sharing that. One thing I realize is like if we can just get out of our boots and go in the customer's shoes for a minute, and we think about value, one of the things that we never want to do is have them learn something that we could have done that they then have to call us back to ask a question about. That to me is like the ultimate abrasive service. So, where most of us seem to fear offering a little more. I hear you're going to the other side, James, and you're like, no, it's my duty to offer stuff that we could think of collectively with relevance so that that situation never happens where they call me back awkwardly, like, hey, did you think of this? I just heard about these from the radio where my friend got these in their house, but you never offered it. What's this?

SPEAKER_00 46:35

Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's our duty to anticipate, you know, their their needs. And and like you said, it does need to be a relevant solution. Like, I don't know, I'm not gonna, I'm not going to, you know, just throw in some sort of item just to like create, you know, you know, higher price points, you know, like I'm not gonna throw in a car charger for someone if they're not you know anticipating having a a car or an EV charger, right? They're like, no, I hate EVs. Uh why would I put that in? But I am gonna, I am gonna make sure that like whatever I'm creating is gonna be relevant to their needs, and I'm going to, I'm gonna think through, you know, based on our conversation, and it'll be different for everybody to a degree. I there's some overlap with amongst everything, but based on our conversation, like, hey, how can I best serve you thinking, anticipating for your needs? And and they'll be blown away. Like, that's one thing I love about it is like when people see that, they're like, oh, that's such a good idea. I didn't even think about that. And and then even if they don't get it, it just makes it so much easier to get the thing that they were gonna get, you know. It's like, well, you know, hey, look, I saw this, obviously that's gonna be a higher investment. Let's go with it for now. But whatever that price point is for what you were gonna get, you know, what they were asking for, it's it seems totally um you know affordable in comparison to get something that's higher. So, you know, that goes back to that's kind of switching gears, talking about options and and creating a variety of options. They're different price points. And, you know, by by going in, thinking of like what's the best, most relevant and future-proof, you know, bulletproof type of thing I can create for them, which is gonna be a higher investment. Um, it just makes everything else downstream from that look like, okay, well, that's that's gonna be a lesser investment and that's more that maybe easier and more affordable, you know, versus just coming in with one thing and that's all they have to make a judgment call on, you know?

unknown 48:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, really great explanation, man. Thank you for that. Do you worry about finding electricians to help grow this team in the way that you guys do service now?

SPEAKER_00 48:43

I no, I do I worry about finding electricians. Um, I don't think like, you know, most electricians are trained to this level, like like as an industry standard. So I think anybody that you bring in, you're gonna have to train them. I think some guys are gonna be, you know, if they already have like all the technical experience, especially like with the kind of work we do, the service work and stuff like that, it could be that that's gonna be like a shorter training period and you're focusing more on the soft skills and um, you know, understanding how to, you know, do the sales side and create options and all that kind of stuff. Um, I don't know. I think there's a lot of guys, young guys that are looking for an opportunity to come into the trades. I think the next move, and I think this is for us too, is just focusing on a like training program that can take somebody from A, you know, to Z and get them there. I think there's a lot of like there's a there are a lot of young guys that are, young guys and girls even like that are looking to get into the trades. So I I don't know if you're gonna find people that are just like directly ready to just be plugged into your you know company. They're gonna have all the skills, especially this type. But uh, but if you're if you have a good like training for them, I think yeah, that fills that gap. I can do that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:59

Yeah, yeah. I gotta show you actually. We just created a new a new training tool for options too, by the way. Better than ever. This web-based app that's super cool, man. Really focuses on the observation section, tying in what the customer said to you, even has a few uh mock transcripts built into it so that they can pull through and and try to use their best uh verbiage. Super cool, very excited to show you that. We won't be releasing that one to the market just yet. That's a bit of a tease, but uh for the inner circle for sure. James, you've been an absolute pleasure to interview today, man. We've learned so much from you. Is there anything else you wish the world knew about you or Waybright? Uh, we didn't really get to go into the kick chart stuff, but super exciting. Congratulations on the uh big brand shift and the biggest month ever, these records. Just super pumped for you, man. But yeah, what else? Is there anything else you wish we knew about you?

SPEAKER_00 50:49

Well, uh like I may just talk to the brand, uh the rebrand just a little bit. So uh yeah, we were very bland, right? Like we just our name was ECS, and it was always getting confused. S E C, E S C, BCS, like it was just and and so uh, and I always had this thought like, hey, once we got into this type of work, like we do need a market and me memorable. And so I knew I went we needed to rebrand. And we did that this year, uh, just to share a little bit on that. The initial transition was pretty tough. And I just say that so that somebody that maybe think about it, like, hey, they're prepared for that. And uh and it was tough for us because there were some issues with the company that was handling our marketing. You know, when you have two websites out and Google's looking for compliance and with your Google ads, and and I mean it, you you really you really for one, you need somebody who understands how all that works. Uh Google will like Google ended up shutting down our ads, our LSA. Uh, so this all happened in the month of January, which is you know, like month of January can be tough. It could be a tough month for some people and uh ended up being like a really tough month for us, like no, like hardly any calls. But you know, our strategy in that month was we were doing a lot of outreach to customers to let them know about the brand change and then and then setting up like you know, inspections and those sort of things, right? And so that really kind of like taught us like that that forced us to learn about like setting up inspection calls, which like we've even done even now, and we um have made some uh additional like sales on so I think that's huge. But yeah, and and and and the thing is like everyone that I in my circle that's done the rebrand has spoken to the fact of like that next year it made an impact, a pretty massive impact on their revenue. And they all all attribute uh a lot of that to the rebrand. Now, I will say I like I don't know that we've really come into that just yet. I mean, it's only been like four months. I'm gonna stick with like the sales process is you know the most important thing. Get that done first. But I do know this that like us coming in, we are definitely a disruption in the market. Um when people see us, I mean, it's different than any other electricians. And I I'm not saying that like arrogantly, I'm just saying it really is. Cake Charge did a fantastic job with our rebrand, and we're really happy with it. And we get constant feedback from you know, people around us, like that's it looks amazing. And I don't know, it gives it gives the customer kind of a different feeling. Like, you know, uh they they feel more uh like at ease and comfortable with, you know, that the investment that you put into the way you look, you know? So yeah, I think that's a value add.

SPEAKER_02 53:37

I think there are internal questions that a good brand does answer that the customer no longer has to ask. Like, is this person coming to my home? Do they have a criminal record? Are they a one-span shop just doing it themselves? And can we trust them? Is there a three-dimensional experience with reputability on the back? You know, can that that whole trust category in the value equation? I think is definitely in layers simplified for the homeowner when they see the branding with the personality and the full wraps and website and everything connected and congruent for sure. You guys wrap the bands already and all of that?

SPEAKER_00 54:16

Yeah, yeah, we've wrapped the bands. I mean, we still have a couple bands to wrap. I I drive a truck, so my truck is wrapped, and yeah, it's um it is nice. I mean, you know, even as silly as this may sound, this is definitely an impact. But like the kids love it too. And I think when you're going into people's homes, if you know, if the kids are like, hey, look at that like that electrician way bright, or look at that, you know, like like parents, believe it or not, parents listen to that kind of stuff. I mean, I've gone into places where, hey, how did you find out about us? Well, our kid, they saw, you know, your truck and they told us to call you, you know. It's like, really, okay, you know, so yeah, having a brand that's inviting to uh to everybody and memorable, that's what that's what our goal was. And um, and so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:01

Did did you guys do the mascot too? I can't recall.

SPEAKER_00 55:04

Yeah, we did. Um, you know, it's not on here. Actually, if I turn around, you might be able to see it, but it's on the back of my shirt room. Yeah, so can you see that it's a sun? Nice, yeah, yeah. With some glasses, so yeah, um, but yeah, and that's on our that's on our vehicles, and yeah, so it's been it's been really cool doing that.

SPEAKER_02 55:23

Yeah, definitely. And I think you answered my next question already. Is are people calling just from seeing you already? Are you are you getting some of that local traffic?

SPEAKER_00 55:32

Nah, I I don't know. Well, here's what we've we've done. We've have put a lot of signs, right? We've put a lot of yard signs. That'd be that's become part of our process. And door hangers pretty much wherever we go, right? So believe it or not, that's exciting for me when I hear somebody calling as a result of the yard sign uh door hanger campaigns. Because uh, you know, it's not free, but it's like, you know, hey, it's a low-cost lead, and it's so satisfying. And then even um, like uh we got a lead just the other day from being parked at a Home Depot, and you know, one of the people in there saw the van and then saw the guys because everything is congruent, you know, uniform. You you you can't miss us, right? We're bright yellow. Uh and they're like uh you know, asking us, hey, you guys are electricians, can I have you come on? I need this done. And yeah, and we got a lead from that. So um, yeah, and and I don't know if I want to say this on the podcast, but we might I I'm just gonna say this for now. We I just actually signed today to start uh you know on some billboards here locally. So um, yeah, so I'm really excited about that. That was one of the big moves that I was that's one of the big reasons why I was like, hey, we gotta get branding right, uh, because we're gonna be, you know, putting putting out, you know, you know, we're gonna be on the billboards. So um we just did that. Um, so we're it's the exciting times.

SPEAKER_02 56:56

Awesome, man. Yeah, that's super fun, super cool, and uh definitely proud of you guys for that. That's an awesome uh investment. Did you consider other companies for you? Is this Dan Antonelli Kick Charge hands down? I mean, we can see why he's the OG. We've had him on the podcast, definitely an absolute stud. We love him, and I've I just know no one else to get on a ladder at 19 years old, right? We were talking about the early entrepreneurial stuff. Well, he was too striping vans, right? There's no one like that, but there's this Harley Davidson kind of price tag that we know about that comes with kick charge.

SPEAKER_00 57:30

Did you consider anyone else, James? No, I didn't consider anyone else. Like, I'm probably a sucker in terms of like when I look at something I like, that's what I'm doing. I don't I don't consider anything else. So there's not much of a sales process with me that you gotta go through. I'm like, that's I'm doing that. And I don't look at the I don't know, I don't really look too much at the price. I'm like, that's what we gotta do, we're gonna make it work. And I'm I'm happy with it. Yeah, I just I mean, it was worth the investment, it's gonna pay itself back. You know, I've I've I I don't want to be critical of other, you know, branding companies, but I will say, I don't know, I I have seen some like I've seen some people that had rebrands that look like copycats. And that was one thing I was concerned about. I didn't want to have anything that could remotely look like similar to another brand. I have a I have a friend who has an HVAC company, and I s you know, and I I was watching something recently about another company that um was at one of these big you know home service events and they had a post with another HVAC company and it looked like almost identical the the branding. I mean another state, another name of the company, but like and I was just like that's kind of that's kind of scary. So I I had a pretty uh I was pretty confident like with like Kick Charge that we would come up with a graphic and you know a name and everything that was not gonna be that you yeah, that was gonna be its own. And so yeah, that's what I was after.

SPEAKER_02 59:04

That's awesome, and yeah, yeah, really good points there. Yeah, the the billboard, that would be fun. Way up there right on the highway.

SPEAKER_00 59:10

Oh, I wish I actually the uh billboard gave me a uh a little mock-up small billboard. I didn't bring it in here. I would show you though, but yeah, it's gonna be exciting. We're gonna be kicking that off on the 15th. So next week, week from well, week from tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 59:26

Yeah, amazing. Did you put like um just curious, a QR code or something that someone might be able to scan or go to? Or what do you hope the billboard does for you?

SPEAKER_00 59:35

Well, it so uh well, what we wanted to do is to drive, well, from what we want to get um we want to get out of uh what what do we call that? What's what's the word I'm looking for? Um I can't think of it. No, I'm thinking of like Grant Cardone said it. Um it's um obscurity. We want to we want to come out of obscurity, right? And this is our first year being this brand, so our goal is to like just blow up our brand. The the hope is to uh bring traffic to the website and and and for people to find this like a little more organically this way. Like like leads are considerably less costly if somebody types in your name versus if they're like, hey, electrician near me, right? So like I mean, we're talking about like a tenth of the cost. So marketing what dollars spent is a massive ROI on that. So like we want to we want people to start thinking of us and being top of mind. Um know that it's uh we know that it's not an overnight thing necessarily, but it's gonna be an investment that and we're willing to do that because like we we want to be around and we want to be you know dominant in our market.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:40

Nice, yeah, really good. Where are you guys headed? What's your next uh milestone after you break two mil?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

Well, I I'm thinking like, I mean, if if the marketing goes to plan, like I think we would probably probably make a leap to like five mil. So I know that sounds um that sounds ambitious, but I think that it's possible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:58

Absolutely. Yeah, I know it is. Uh a lot of listeners, I'm sure, will agree. James, you've been an absolute sport today. We got to wrap this one up. Anything else you want to uh end with here today, brother?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

No, it's an honor just to like uh be on the on the podcast with you and you guys. Um, I'm so glad that you put together this organization to um really help electricians. Like this is what was missing, this is what had been missing. Uh, a lot of the other trades have had a boost and help, but man, look at look at the impact it's having. I just want to give a hand to you and and Joe. And I think you guys are a great dynamic. So I just want to say that. Like, you know, your your expertise and Joe's expertise, man. If anybody hears this, like this is where you need to go first. And I'm not, I you know, I really mean that. Like, invest in SLE and go through and and soak up everything that you can from here. There's so much, there's so much that you can get, you know, from being a part of this. And so, yeah, um, that's kind of what I I want to end on. I just thank you guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:00

Well, thank you, man. That means a lot uh to hear that coming from you. Of course, this stuff is never really uh pre-orchestrated. James just speaks his own mind. But what I can tell you uh for me again, thank you for that. But I think what sets us apart is that Joe and I are not the same. We are complimentary, absolutely adore Joe for what he's been able to bring. And James, you've given him plenty of great feedback today. Wish he was here for it. As you know, he loves to hear that stuff too. And what I bring is so different. Um, so it's very complimentary. But here's the number one thing the promise I can make to you guys before we shut this one down is uh we're committed to one percent better every day, too. And so I know there's some companies, there's trainers, there's people that are gonna sit back on this, and that's just not our MO. It never will be. And so I hope to have many more people here to share uh great stories, great wins, and and reach the same kind of goals that James is talking about. Thank you guys so much. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to hit repeat on this one and watch again. Just to let you know, we've got two more shows coming to our YouTube as well as some live stuff that's gonna be dropping again soon. Just like the old days, Joe and I used to go live five days a week. Joe's got a show called More to Give that's starting. And we're in that show, Joe's actually going to be doing real options with great tech. The creative side that James talked about in this show here today, that's that show is going to be absolutely excellent. It's gonna be real options that are built with you that you could go and present to homeowners today to make your business better, to make it shine like way bright. And I've got a show coming up called RTFM, which is a bit of a dedication to my first year electrical teacher, King Ohm, we called him. RTFM, which stands for read the fucking manual. Excuse my French guys, but you need to hear it. Um, and that show is going to be all about the strategies and me simplifying the service game for you guys. And that one's gonna be coming uh weekly on YouTube as well. Um, so yeah, ton of great content, much more coming. Thank you, James, again, man. Have a great day, you guys. We'll see you again next week. Bye for now.