Talking Sales, Marketing, And Recruiting With Guest Tommy Mello Of A1 Garage Door Service
04/14/21 • 52 min
On this episode of the Franchise Secrets podcast, Erik is joined by Tommy Mello, the founder of A1 Garage Door Service and the host of the Home Service Expert podcast. Erik and Tommy do a deep dive into sales, marketing, and recruiting for service-based companies.
While many business owners focus their attention on doing the work itself, creating processes and tracking KPIs is critical to success and growth. As Tommy and Erik detail in this episode, investing in your processes, your research, and your employees can allow an entrepreneur to make decisions based on facts, not feelings.
Listen to Erik and Tommy talk about sales, marketing, and recruiting:Tommy’s background (1:02)
Tommy shares his journey to the point where he started A1 Garage Door Service.
Family business (2:38)
Tommy talks about working with family, including some of the challenges he’s had working with family members.
A1 Garage Door growth (5:36)
As Tommy noted, he didn’t plan for the company to grow as it has. He attributes the growth to managing the company with facts, not feelings. That means tracking KPIs and creating the type of raw data needed to make big decisions.
Embracing technology (7:00)
Erik and Tommy continue to discuss the use of technology, especially CRMs, to track KPIs.
Building up the company (9:40)
Tommy breaks down how he’s built the company to the size it currently is -- from creating standard procedures and manuals to tracking every part of the business.
Getting focused (12:22)
Erik and Tommy talk about becoming laser-focused on their core business and how they’ve managed to push away distractions.
Traction (16:23)
Tommy and Erik discuss the system and book “Traction” and implementing the culture into a business.
Next steps (17:26)
Tommy details what the company’s current plans are, including some aggressive growth targets. He also explains some of the things the company is doing to achieve those goals.
Sales (24:50)
Tommy shares how he’s built up A1 Garage Door Service’s sales and some examples of how to build relationships with customers.
Consuming content (28:17)
Erik and Tommy talk about how they read books and consume other types of content to become better entrepreneurs. Tommy explains his process for creating notes and points out a few books he’s read.
Recruiting (34:10)
Tommy shares his insights on hiring employees and employee management, including having recruiters.
Training (37:33)
As Tommy notes, there are three main focus points in training -- Operational, technical, and sales.
Poor practices among competitors (41:55)
Tommy shares some of the things he sees his competitors doing wrong and his philosophy on things like pay and tenure.
Lead sources (46:55)
Lead sources like Angie’s List and Thumbtack are a staple of the industry. Tommy explains how he handles those types of services but points to search engine optimization and Google ads as a far better value.
Final bits of wisdom (50:50)
Tommy shares a few bits of his insight.
Links:
On this episode of the Franchise Secrets podcast, Erik is joined by Tommy Mello, the founder of A1 Garage Door Service and the host of the Home Service Expert podcast. Erik and Tommy do a deep dive into sales, marketing, and recruiting for service-based companies.
While many business owners focus their attention on doing the work itself, creating processes and tracking KPIs is critical to success and growth. As Tommy and Erik detail in this episode, investing in your processes, your research, and your employees can allow an entrepreneur to make decisions based on facts, not feelings.
Listen to Erik and Tommy talk about sales, marketing, and recruiting:Tommy’s background (1:02)
Tommy shares his journey to the point where he started A1 Garage Door Service.
Family business (2:38)
Tommy talks about working with family, including some of the challenges he’s had working with family members.
A1 Garage Door growth (5:36)
As Tommy noted, he didn’t plan for the company to grow as it has. He attributes the growth to managing the company with facts, not feelings. That means tracking KPIs and creating the type of raw data needed to make big decisions.
Embracing technology (7:00)
Erik and Tommy continue to discuss the use of technology, especially CRMs, to track KPIs.
Building up the company (9:40)
Tommy breaks down how he’s built the company to the size it currently is -- from creating standard procedures and manuals to tracking every part of the business.
Getting focused (12:22)
Erik and Tommy talk about becoming laser-focused on their core business and how they’ve managed to push away distractions.
Traction (16:23)
Tommy and Erik discuss the system and book “Traction” and implementing the culture into a business.
Next steps (17:26)
Tommy details what the company’s current plans are, including some aggressive growth targets. He also explains some of the things the company is doing to achieve those goals.
Sales (24:50)
Tommy shares how he’s built up A1 Garage Door Service’s sales and some examples of how to build relationships with customers.
Consuming content (28:17)
Erik and Tommy talk about how they read books and consume other types of content to become better entrepreneurs. Tommy explains his process for creating notes and points out a few books he’s read.
Recruiting (34:10)
Tommy shares his insights on hiring employees and employee management, including having recruiters.
Training (37:33)
As Tommy notes, there are three main focus points in training -- Operational, technical, and sales.
Poor practices among competitors (41:55)
Tommy shares some of the things he sees his competitors doing wrong and his philosophy on things like pay and tenure.
Lead sources (46:55)
Lead sources like Angie’s List and Thumbtack are a staple of the industry. Tommy explains how he handles those types of services but points to search engine optimization and Google ads as a far better value.
Final bits of wisdom (50:50)
Tommy shares a few bits of his insight.
Links:
Previous Episode
103: Franchise Marketing: What Successful Marketing Looks Like
On this episode of the Franchise Secrets podcast, Erik is joined by Jennie Wolff, the chief marketing officer at Sola Salon Studios. Erik and Jennie discuss what makes a successful franchise marketing strategy.
No matter your product or service, being creating and knowing some basics are all you need to create a successful marketing campaign. Jennie details her experiences in marketing -- both for an agency and for Sola Salons -- to explain what good marketing looks like and how franchises can find more success by knowing their story.
Listen to Erik and Jennie talk about franchise marketing:Jennie’s background and experience (2:43)
Erik and Jennie discuss her background at Sola Salon Studios and some new moves the company has made.
Experience-based marketing agency (9:47)
Erik and Jennie take a step back to her time working with a marketing agency that focused on creating experiences, and how great writing can be the foundation of any marketing strategy. From how her several job interviews with the company went through to specific examples of projects she took on, Jennie breaks down her versatility as a marketer.
Finding vendors in marketing (19:03)
Jennie shares her experience finding various vendors for marketing tasks, from dipping into her own network to using a staffing service. She also explains that not every task needs to be filled permanently.
Franchise marketing at Sola Salons (23:06)
After joining Sola Salons, Jennie was thrown into the fire with franchisees wanting and needing things immediately. She shares some of her first experiences and challenges, as well as how the relationship between marketing and the franchisees has changed over time.
How private equity changed things (30:38)
As Sola Salons was bought out by a private equity firm, things have changed dramatically for Jennie and the marketing department. Bigger budgets and the ability to leverage new software solutions have allowed the marketing strategy to expand dramatically.
What good marketing looks like (33:24)
As Jennie notes, good marketing is all about knowing your customers and how to reach them. She believes being able to get into the head of your customers should be the chief concern for any marketing plan. Erik and Jennie discuss how good storytelling is another major key for any business.
Successful marketing strategies for emerging brands (39:59)
Jennie believes knowing just two things is the foundation for any successful marketing strategy. 1) What makes your product or service special, and 2) Who you’re solving a problem for. Knowing those answers determine your company’s story and that’s the best way to market any emerging brand.
Links:Next Episode
Inside The World of a First Time Franchisee w/ Chris Rahill Part 1
On this special episode of the Franchise Secrets podcast, Erik talks with one of Mighty Dog Roofing’s newest franchisees, Chris Rahill. In what will be a multi-part series, Erik and Chris will go through every step of the franchise process -- From discovery day and buying the franchise, and eventually operating the business.
Hear Chris’s excitement, his fears, and his experience buying and running a franchise as he goes through it. Though he’s just beginning now, follow Chris on his journey as a Mighty Dog Roofing franchisee for his unique insight on everything to do with the franchise.
Listen to Erik and Chris talk about his franchise journey:Chris’ background in the corporate world (1:27)
Having just left his corporate job to buy a Mighty Dog Roofing franchise, Chris details his experience in finance.
Discovery day (3:21)
Chris shares his experience with the discovery process before buying a franchise and what he’s seen during the discovery day for Mighty Dog Roofing
Franchisor’s perspective (17:36)
With Chris’s side of the story down, Erik shares what it was like as the franchisor during discovery day and beyond, signing franchisees up.
Signing agreements and wiring funds (22:00)
With a decision made to buy a Mighty Dog Roofing franchise, Chris talks about what was going through his mind signing the agreements, wiring money over, and officially becoming an owner of a franchise.
Getting advice (24:18)
It’s a big decision to buy a franchise and getting advice from others is a sound strategy. Erik and Chris talk about where he got his advice and why it’s important to go to people where you want to be.
The leadership team (34:09)
As Chris notes, he wanted to own his own business and he wanted to go with people that have already been there at the highest levels. He explains how Mighty Dog Roofing’s leadership team was a big sell for him.
Last bits of wisdom (37:38)
Before closing out the interview, Chris shares some of his insight for anyone looking to buy a franchise.
Links:If you like this episode you’ll love
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