The Home Service Expert Podcast

Scott Mann spent 18 years as a Green Beret, then stood up Task Force Pineapple, a group of veterans who used their cell phones and 20 years of relationships to get about 800 Afghan allies out during the fall of Kabul. Today he teaches business owners how trust and storytelling actually move people. Tommy and Scott break down why helping your team make sense of their role beats paying a buck an hour more, the wounds, scabs and scars test for knowing when a story is ready to share, how Green Berets built trust one rooftop at a time, what happens to people when two companies merge, and why every technician needs to be the thermostat, not the thermometer, before walking into an angry customer's home. Plus the three books that changed his life.
Connect with Scott Mann ⟶ https://scottmann.com
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
03:42 - Small Town To Green Beret
07:26 - Getting 800 Afghans Out
09:44 - Life After The Military
11:52 - Building Trust Where There's None
16:15 - Nobody's Coming To Save You
19:07 - Why Good Technicians Quit
23:17 - Sense Making Beats A Raise
26:56 - Span Of Control For Leaders
29:47 - Scars Over Accolades
36:20 - Wounds, Scabs And Scars
45:10 - Move With 70% Information
47:09 - Rooftop Leadership Explained
50:23 - Be An Empathetic Witness
53:03 - Ask What And How Questions
1:00:25 - Merging Two Company Cultures
1:06:06 - Three Keys To Culture
1:11:06 - Be The Thermostat
1:17:04 - Your First Step Forward
1:23:17 - Books That Changed His Life
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Kyle and Becca Erdmann are husband and wife and second generation owners of Erdmann Outdoor Living, the company Kyle's father started with a two man crew in 1982. They were stuck around $5 million with zero systems until Becca came in, built every process herself, cut the product list down to three, and took the business from losing money to 10% profit. Tommy and the Erdmanns break down hiring with DISC profiles, why they make job offers on the spot and pull them if they aren't accepted, how only one person has quit since 2021, how they sell financing and anchor price on $70,000 tickets, and how a designer's secondary sale adds $1 to $2 million a year in change orders. Plus the one rule they never break as a couple in business.
Connect with Kyle and Becca ⟶ https://erdmannoutdoorliving.com
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
02:04 - Stuck At $5 Million
04:10 - Zero Systems, Zero Processes
08:09 - Why Expand To Phoenix
12:27 - Hiring With DISC Profiles
16:40 - Job Ads Built For Profiles
24:04 - Offers Made On The Spot
27:39 - The Rule They Never Break
32:02 - Four Stay Interview Questions
32:58 - One Quit Since 2021
37:15 - How They Sell Financing
42:24 - $70K Tickets, 20% Close
44:13 - Anchoring From $10K To $300K
49:57 - Their Company Custom GPT
53:32 - The Designer's Secondary Sale
56:42 - Hitting A 90 Day Timeline
58:39 - From -4% To 10% Profit
59:21 - Cut 50 Products To Three
1:02:42 - Visionary Meets Integrator
1:08:20 - Advice For Couples In Business
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Billy Cline spent 15 years running a door business without a playbook. Then he found this podcast, read the E-Myth, and started doing the work. Today YourNewDoor.com is a Dallas residential door replacement company that has doubled every year for three years, runs all W-2 crews with no subcontractors, and closes high ticket jobs entirely by phone. Tommy and Billy break down selling doors over a screen share, why his close rate went up after a 25% price increase, how he took over a struggling competitor for no money and watched its phone number sell over $1 million, why he never kills an old brand, and why owners who say nobody wants to work are looking in the wrong place.
Connect with Billy Cline ⟶ https://www.yournewdoor.com/
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
03:41 - Bring Culture Into Their Homes
05:45 - The Marble Jar Theory
07:56 - Fifteen Years Without A Playbook
18:36 - How He Paid For Harvard
20:36 - Meeting Roy Williams
26:31 - Never Kill Your Old Brand
28:43 - Home Service Vs Home Improvement
36:50 - Why Customers Really Call
39:47 - Selling Doors Over The Phone
44:53 - The Guided Buying Experience
45:50 - Close Rate After Raising Prices
47:56 - Chase Margin, Not Revenue
57:49 - Nobody Wants To Work?
59:09 - One Key Hire Away
1:05:00 - Why Tommy Posts Everything
1:07:41 - A Competitor For No Money
1:18:39 - The Affiliate Installer Program
1:24:27 - Advice To His 2020 Self
1:29:44 - Don't Ever Quit
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Lakota Tidd dropped out of college at 21, started Top Home Improvements in his mom's garage with two lawn chairs and no money, and built it to $20 million in seven years by knocking doors, including the day his pen froze solid in a Michigan blizzard with nothing on the board. No digital marketing, no bought leads: $14 million came from canvassing and events alone, and in March his events team did $1 million in revenue in one week. In this episode he breaks down how he recruits and pays canvassers, why he treats them like kings, the sword and shield mentality that got him through five years as a lone wolf, the scarcity paradigm that kept him stuck at $10 million, why he stopped tracking nothing and built a board, and what he would say to the owner who is spending $40,000 a month on leads that never come.
Top Home Improvements ⟶ https://www.tophomeimprove.com
Follow Top Home Improvements ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/Tophomeimprovements/
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
01:55 - Two Lawn Chairs And A Frozen Pen
04:26 - Lone Wolves Die Alone
06:26 - The Sword And Shield Mentality
08:50 - What You Focus On Grows
10:08 - Treat Your Canvassers Like Kings
11:18 - Fresh Blood Every Single Week
13:32 - Hiring Is Guessing, Firing Is Knowing
16:01 - Competing With The Summer Programs
18:05 - Spending $40K A Month And Waiting For Leads
19:46 - Does Door Knocking Hurt Your Reputation?
21:24 - How Canvassers And Event Reps Get Paid
24:57 - Why $100 Million Is Not The Goal
28:54 - Kids, Leftover Time, And Balance
31:15 - Showers For Soldiers
34:47 - Profit Matters More Than Revenue
35:59 - The Law Of The Lid
38:06 - Build The People, Not The Business
43:20 - The Barbaric Way To $20 Million
45:15 - Enjoy The Bottom While You Have It
48:56 - The Sickness Of Indecision
52:32 - Five Books, Read Many Times
56:31 - Real Confidence Vs Fake Confidence
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Chau Nguyen sold two tech companies, bought a 1974 Bronco that kept breaking down, and turned that headache into Vintage Modern, a $60 million luxury vehicle company that hand builds classic inspired trucks for LeBron James, Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Lopez, and Tommy himself. He did it with no outside capital and no ad budget: he posted three times a day for seven years, built a following of millions, and made social media his number one sales channel. In this episode he breaks down why organic leads buy at three times the rate of paid leads, why rich customers are tighter with money than most contractors assume, how to market a home service company to the affluent, why the founder has to be the face of the brand now, and the hiring mistake that nearly held his company back.
Vintage Modern ⟶ https://vintagemodern.co
Follow Vintage Modern ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/vintagemodern/
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
01:37 - The Bronco That Made His Wife Smell Like Gas
03:33 - From Coupon Books To A Top 100 App To 40 Cars
06:14 - No Investors: Sales Paid For Everything
07:15 - How Do You Charge For 900 Hours Of Craftsmanship?
10:42 - His Kids Taught Him Instagram
14:23 - Organic Vs Paid: Why Organic Leads Buy 3X More
16:25 - Your Product Probably Has A Hole In It
20:46 - Scarcity, Exclusivity, And Selling To The Elite
26:30 - Why He Has Never Paid An Influencer
29:18 - How A Home Service Company Markets To The Affluent
35:13 - Rich Customers Are Tighter Than You Think
38:12 - The Mark Wahlberg DM And The Tyler Perry Referral
42:16 - Should The Founder Be The Brand?
47:36 - Competing With Ferrari At $60 Million
51:03 - Robotaxis, EVs, And Listening To Paying Customers
54:52 - Productive Paranoia: Why Winning Is The Dangerous Moment
59:07 - The One Piece Of Advice He Has Never Shared
1:03:03 - On His Hands And Knees Under The Car
1:07:36 - The Two Books He Has Listened To 50 Times
1:12:11 - Where To Find Chau
1:13:36 - Grinding From Zero To 5 Million Followers
1:18:00 - What Comes Next For Vintage Modern
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