Toolbox for the Trades

There’s no money for Christmas presents. We’ve got to try something — anything. Let’s start a company.  Since its founding in 2017, Viva Electric has evolved from just three vehicles to three locations. Today’s guest is the person with the vision for business growth and adaptation that has made the company what it is today: a family.   In this episode, I chat with Maegan Giler , COO and Co-Owner at Viva Electric , about orchestrating the explosive growth and change in her company.  Here are some topics we highlight in the conversation: - The origin story of Viva Electric as a construction company - Shared services with Griffin Brothers and mentorship - Behind the scenes of a COO’s business development strategy - When employees are family - Why marketing is everything  Check out these resources we mentioned: Episode #17 with Vanessa Gonzalez   If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here .  Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Being a solo dispatcher is like playing a huge game of chess every day. But the necessary skills for success change when you’re a dispatch manager with six dispatchers under you.   So, how exactly does the role change when the dispatch team scales?  In this episode, I chat with Barbara Pfeiffer, Dispatch Manager at The Eco Plumbers , about the delightful complexity of scaling your dispatch team.  Here are some topics we highlight in the conversation: - The moment when Barbara realized she loves dispatching - Training new dispatchers in 3 languages on the job - The importance of ride alongs and technician relationships - Advice for improving dispatching at your business  Check out these resources we mentioned: - Episode 4 with Aaron Gaynor - The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni  If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here .  Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Play ball! It’s a beautiful day for a podcast, folks. Today’s is shaping up to be a barnburner. In this crackerjack episode, we break out the baseball wordplay as I chat with Margie Baker, Operations Manager at 1-Hour Heating, Ben Franklin Plumbing, and Mr. Sparky Electric, about how to attract more women and Gen Z/millennials to the trades. The bases are loaded with topics such as: - The advantages of a Gen Z/millennial lineup - Scouting talent and training technicians in-house - Tips for handling communication curveballs and pitching a perfect dispatch game - Hitting triples in customer experience - a win for the customer, a win for the technician, and a win for the company - Why sales will have a better batting average if they learn to embrace the silences Extra innings (resources mentioned during the episode): Democracy in America by Alex de Toqueville  The Power of Consistency by Weldon Long  The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster by Darren Hardy  In Praise of Difficult Women by Karen Karbo  LadyTitans  If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here. Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

You’re a secretary for a little while, but you’ve been watching the technicians, and you want to give it a try.  So you become an apprentice. You’ve been in the field for a little while, but you see a need to open a new location, and you write up a business proposal.  So you become a general manager. As a GM, what’s the key to your success? (Other than a phenomenal work ethic and passion for the industry.)  Open-mindedness, especially in interviewing. This is the true story of this episode’s guest, Samantha Salazar, General Manager at Rice Plumbing and Heating.  Join us as we discuss: - Samantha’s career journey from no industry experience to management - Expansion and opening a new location - How she interviews, hires, and trains - Candid experiences as a woman in the trades Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: - Business coaches - Al Levi , Tommy Mello , and Ellen Rohr  - Ellen’s e-books  If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here.  Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The way to unlock a lot of growth and scale your business is to stop being the funnel. Sometimes the owner believes everything has to go through me. A business coach will help build relationships, improve processes, and keep owners from becoming a bottleneck.  In this episode, I interview a business coach and client about how their relationship has doubled business. Jim Corcoran is Head Coach at BDR , Tony Marmon is Owner at Trademark Mechanical , and they had amazing things to say about the coach-client relationship. Join us as we discuss: - How Jim moved from the field to coaching - When Tony recognized that he needed a coach - Jim and Tony’s mutual trust and vulnerability - Which processes had to scale and which had to go - Why people leadership lies at the core of scaling Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: Traction by Gino Wickman As a Man Thinketh by James Allen  If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here. Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Did you just write something on that resume? Big mistake. Did you make a note about the candidate’s kids?  Big, big mistake. And what about documentation for injuries and accidents?  If you didn’t take a witness statement, you failed. In this episode, I interview c about her love of processes and why she spends so much time thinking about things that could go wrong. To throw some much deserved light on the back office, Angie talks with me about: - Falling in love with the trades and learning on the job - Processes in action during a record-breaking heat wave  - Hiring and liability practices you haven’t thought about - Common personnel issues like accident reporting - What owners should know about accounting Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: - SmartLess podcast  - Harvard Business Review If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here . Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

To reach beyond the phone book generation, home service companies must leverage digital marketing.  That means understanding brand, messaging, and omnichannel. Today’s guest literally wrote the book on digital marketing for plumbing and HVAC contractors, and he walks us through how digital can bring in more calls (and potentially grow your business from garage-level to golfing vacations). In this episode, I interview Ryan Redding , Owner at DP Marketing Services and Host of Blue Collar CEO , about the impact of digital. Join us as we discuss: - Success stories so amazing they sound fake - What a home service owner really needs to know about marketing - Putting the customer at the center of your marketing decisions - Target customers and lead generation - Using messaging to tell stories about brand Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: - The Book On Digital Marketing: For Plumbing & HVAC Contractors by Ryan Redding  - Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch by Curt Coffman  - Who Not How by Dan Sul livan and Benjamin Hardy If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, Spotify , or here. Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

What’s your company’s purpose?  For that matter, what’s your own purpose for being in this business at all? Answering these questions can ignite passion in your recruits.  Skeptical? In this episode, I interview Ben Stark and Chris Hunter , Owners at Go Time Success Group , about how they became business success coaches for home service companies. In this episode we discuss: - Ben and Chris’s mentor-mentee relationship - The importance of developing your company’s vision, mission, and core values - Strategies for igniting recruits with passion - The four toolboxes and why the mental toolbox is the most important - Recruiting, marketing, technology, and entering new verticals Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: Ben and Chris’s book, It’s Go Time  If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here . Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

You clock in, you clock out, you know the basics, but you want to elevate your profession. What you need to do is start studying your craft. Want to unlock unbelievable opportunities by becoming an extraordinary professional? Learn from manufacturers, engineers, peers with three decades of work experience, and even your customers to find out how to go beyond your day-to-day.  Today’s guest, Ben DiMarco , CEO at DiMarco & Associates LLC , shares his learnings from 30+ years in the trades, including how to serve customers well beyond installing an HVAC unit. In this episode we discuss: - Why accountancy wasn’t for Ben - Commissioning and why it matters to installers - Air quality matters when we spend 90% of our lives indoors - A positive change in promoting the trades among the college-aged If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcast s, Spotify , or here .   Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Leader is not a synonym for firefighter. With the one notable exception — actual firefighters — if you spend all day putting out fires at your business…  You’re too busy to lead.  That’s one of countless lessons today’s guests, Eric Sprague & Larry Wilberton, Owners of Blue Collar Consulting and MorningTechMeeting.com , have learned over their many years working together — lessons they’re now teaching others through advising. They join me today to discuss: - Why leaders need to take a step back and let their team make their own mistakes - Why your teams home life is inseparable from their work life - How to use morning meetings to improve every facet of your business - How to spend 30+ years in business with a friend (without strangling them) If you want to hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or here . Know a business that could use a bit of muscle from ServiceTitan? Refer them here!  Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Toolbox for the Trades in your favorite podcast player.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.