Latest / The Home Service Heartbeat Podcast / The $800 Service Call That Taught Him a Big Lesson | Jack Harris of Best Plumbing Heating & Air

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The $800 Service Call That Taught Him a Big Lesson | Jack Harris of Best Plumbing Heating & Air · The Home Service Heartbeat Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the Home Service Heartbeat Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Joe Cressera.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: Today I'm excited to be joined by Mr.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: Jack Harris from Best Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, who promises exceptional service, outstanding value for the people who live in the Western Nebraska panhandle.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Jack is the general manager of Best Services.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: Jack, thank you so much for joining us today.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: We're thrilled to have you on the show.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Man, thanks so much, Joe.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's good to be here.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Jack, let's start by sharing how you got started or how the Best Service uh plumbing uh heating and cooling service company got started in the service industry.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: And what led to your role as leadership uh general manager at Best Services, if you don't mind telling me.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll uh I can back up just a second there.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Best got started here just um uh 13 years.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Von Russell started the business back then, and then um uh it's been growing and developing ever since then out here in this in a rural community.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um for me, I uh kind of tripped into this.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um my education background would uh qualify me to teach history in a number of schools.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And um uh when I first figured that out, I was a carpenter and I was trying to figure out whether to be a I love carpentry and being a cowboy.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the dirt and the mud and the spurs and the wrestling, and they had to make a country song or something about it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: But um I was trying to decide there, love both, and uh um I ended up over the next 15 years in a in a company called Um it was a kitchen and bathroom remodeling company, and what I learned there was um what processes, what what good processes do in remodeling, and uh so we would remodel kitchens or bathrooms inside of a week and um lean heavy into the management side of it, and so uh number eight, I bought a different business and sold it.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh my wife had had um seen best plumbing around here.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this area we're in is about 5,000 people, so roughly 3,000 homes um just in the city or in our town.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: The county's slightly bigger than that, but anyway, so I was down doing some paperwork at the county, and uh I asked him, Well, what's the largest home service trades company around?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Did you guys have an idea, like from taxable receipts or something like that?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they mentioned best plumbing heating cooling, which I had barely heard of.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, they had an estimator position open, and um I had sold the other business and we were looking for something to kind of fill some time.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And um walked in there, did a quick interview, and and uh they asked me about uh I said, Well, you're from this other industry.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: Have you done plumbing heating?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any certifications?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I said, No.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: And well, um, but I done a ton of estimating, I'm sure I can pick it up pretty quickly.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, Well, let's give an example of this.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, can if you don't mind, can I start with one of your uh uh job costing sheets?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Can I start there?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll do some essence based off of that.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: And they just said, Okay, you're hired, and um uh went on to certifications and things, and and um um that led into leadership here for the last five years of that, as far as general manager.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how I got in here, and and best has been just steadily growing for those 13 years.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us a little bit about some of the challenges you faced when you first started out there, and how did you overcome some of those challenges uh when uh acclimating yourself to this area and to uh are you from the area originally, Jack?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Or tell us about that?
• 3:50
  unknown: Yeah.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, from the area.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this area here, uh, everybody will know Cabela's.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Cabela is the world's former outfitter with that.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: That was uh bought out by Bass Pro about seven years ago.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, no, that's longer than that.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um when I started in this was the end of 2019.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the obvious topic there is COVID.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that was the biggest challenge walking into this.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh, simply put, for our industries, one of the things that with COVID, we're we're walking into home services, your PPE was a big deal, and uh so that was kind of our first rather easy thing to do.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Go, you know what, we're really gonna lean heavy into we are the safe company to go with.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're gonna wear a mask walking up to your home, we're gonna treat your home with respect and um uh navigate this diligently while keeping you comfortable, fixing your plumbing and heating, cooling.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a massive thing, but for the home services industry, there's some honestly easy wins that um leaning into those really helped develop a customer base that was um loyal.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: Now, obviously, what what that is the challenge, it definitely uh there's there's companies who stopped it when the pandemic hit, and companies who said, no, we're gonna double down and uh do that.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: Sounds like best definitely was in the double down category and and did the most they could to make sure that safety and health uh were a very important uh priority.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: I would say another thing within that was just uh continuity within the company.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: At the time we had 32 employees, and um um we're doing a lot more with less now, but continuity within the company, and so what we ended up doing over the course of about the next year, of course, I wasn't uh from the home services industry exactly.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, some of my skill sets didn't quite fit, and we had to learn them.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: So we found a business coach and somebody who had already been there.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: The company was at a place where we were uh used to doing what we were doing, but didn't know how to do anything different.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we began learning that.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: And um that coach introduced us to ServiceMvP too when it came through.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad to hear that.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: You really did that referral for sure.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: You two still keep in really good contact, and I'm thrilled about that.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's uh a big bonus for for both of you.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I can't wait for years to come and see what develops out of that relationship.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: Jack, tell us about the service strategies um that you guys have implemented at uh over there at best that are crucial for uh having a customer-focused business, if you don't mind.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: What kind of other strategies would you say you've implemented there or that over the last couple of years have been important uh since the pandemic uh to grow it's a customer-focused business.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: That focuses on customers.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: What's the kind of strategies have been good there?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: I would say the biggest strategy to start with was simply um on our hiring and orientation problem pieces.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: We've recognized that the the pool of talent as far as just um uh installers, servicemen, plumbing, air conditioning, um isn't super deep.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh training from within is the only option we really have uh to do that easily.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: So what we've done is is lean heavy into uh man, uh how cool is it to be able to mentor and train um young men and women coming up into these trades and support the blue-collar industries like we have.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you and um between you, uh service MVP, your folks, Al Levi, um meeting him back in those time too, and some bits and pieces there, just uh learning from the guys who have already were like we're standing on the shoulders of giants, and uh some folks in the last 30 years that really have transformed, put uh the trades on the map and have made it a professional industry with professional standards, and um uh it's been amazing to learn to grow.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're still doing that right now.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't know that I answered your question exactly directly.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: That was my great, but I think I think it's like you know, Al Al is a great person who helps uh give you the kind of a business design, and we're the ones who kind of implement implement that this design makes sense, right?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's kind of like I think we're a good one-two punch uh uh to do that.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think you know he he kind of creates the uh he he creates the blueprint.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: We uh we kind of build the house uh from there in a way.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Does that make sense?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's this is a one-two punch for sure.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: Was there a key moment?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is a small, I know the area you work in.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and I I told your team, I said, you know what, someday mark my words, I'm gonna wind up over there.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna get myself over there.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: I said that's gonna be my next sale is they will find find a way to get stay with you guys.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Because I said, you know, I look at it, I'm like, man, that looks like a kind of a pin dot on the map.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like it doesn't look like what's out there, really, you know.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so, but you know, so you're probably likely to run into customers, and it's impossible to avoid people in that community because they're it's kind of it's kind of like an island, you know, in the middle of nowhere where you have uh yeah.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: So get tell me about a story where you uh heard from a client or you heard from somebody at your uh you're in a local area that uh the strategy was working, that some of the stuff that we were teaching and that Al had designed uh was coming to that was actually working.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: You got feedback from a client.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: Can you think of a story that somebody saw you at the market or maybe just came into the office and told you or whatever that uh this was actually I think you guys are doing actually pretty good with this thing?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, two quick ones.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: One was uh just a really good one, just uh not far from us here.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Is the the thing with our area is we're we're having a variety of folks move from um uh Denver's three hours from us, and so we're having folks retire, sell, whatever, and they're moving to this some of these smaller communities.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: And uh had several.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh one walked in the office, but are just like we are glad there's a we're used to service companies down in our area, and up here we keep looking on the website, and there's nothing out there but you.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: We're so glad that we can call and be treated from the phone call.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: We know you're gonna call us back, those types of things.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that is growing, and we get those pretty regularly.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's and honestly, what we need those.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh man, those wins and being able to express those wins to the team, be able to celebrate the the technicians who are on site who followed through, um, had their magic moments and things.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's been exceptional to to have that.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: On the other side, same thing, same pieces, fun little story.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh our Safeway grocery store isn't far, and this comes from me about seven, eight months ago.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going through the checkout line, and this fella that I've known for years, from uh Cabello, as I mentioned earlier, he uh there's a couple, three, four of us in line, the cashier and just buying a few things, and he says, Oh, hey Jack.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: And and I said, Hey, how are you doing?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And he sees my logo shirt on, and oh, you still work there?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so he says, Yeah, I do.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh you could tell he's a little bit, you know, he's putting stuff in his wallet and things.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And uh as I was checking out with the cashier, he hadn't stepped away from the desk there yet.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: And he looks back and he says, How do you guys stand yourself?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: How how can you even wear that?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, I'm so angry with best.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, My goodness.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I I know his name, I said my name.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, tell me a little about that.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: What you doing?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now the cashier standing here, I got two people in line behind me.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: This is just seven, eight months ago.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: And he says, Uh, you guys were just out of my house and you you were there for just a few hours, and and uh it was an$800 service call.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I just can't, how do you guys stand yourself for that long?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like who do you think you are?
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Man, buddy, I'm really sorry you uh had that experience and whatnot.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: But tell me, um curious to know when you called us, um uh how was your service experience?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: What when you called in?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: He said, Oh, and he just rolled right with it.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: He said, The lady was fine.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, she's wonderful.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: They asked me questions and we got booked and everything went good there.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, exceptional.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: And um the late the the checker lady at this point had stopped.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody stopped, and they were just watching a conversation at this point, and then nobody was moving, and they were just like, We're and uh so I'm thinking, well, this is an opportunity here, and right, we're trained and graduated from you guys for this kind of stuff.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, I'm on this, I better lead the way.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I said, Well, exceptional.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me about your next experience.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: What happened there?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what happened with the dispatcher?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: How'd that look?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, and what do you mean, dispatcher?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: They they dispatched the guy, I said, excellent.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Did they come out?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And he said, Well, yeah, they came out and they uh greeted us well and told us we had a nice lawn for uh that we must water for being out in the country because everything's so dry, you know.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: And and uh he literally said those words right in front of those people, and you could see I could see the light in his eyes beginning to change at that moment as he was uh hitting him the zoo.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well he was telling him, right?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I'm really curious about the the pricing though.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned that eight eight hundred dollars.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Were there other was there other structures given to you?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and he goes, he says, yeah, there's actually multiple, and I and then he just stopped and he said, I just I just can't stand it paid that much for for that much time.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: And anyway, see you later.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: And he went his other way the other late, the cashier.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, it was just a little snipshot of we just kept walking out.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: How was your service experience?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: And um you're right, we we bump into those people, but you know what, Joe?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: I uh walked to the left, went to the the the doors, and I realized in that moment, I thought, wait a minute, Steve, uh he went the other way.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I looked back and he was in line at Starbucks.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Wasn't about value and pricing, was it?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: He loves the service, they love those pieces.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: He was at Starbucks, and uh, and uh so walking out of there, those moments we need because it makes our heart just you can rest and breathe a little bit, like we're being led well.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: The process works, and these pieces are effective.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, we have another five stories of greatness to match those high heat moments, you know, and to really lean into really lean into those people around here, they love to be treated well uh and professionally and good.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's not um what we call chucking the trucks all the time, and so um but it's a decision you make at each service call to reorient your mind and go, no, I'm gonna follow this process, and it just it's a one more ounce of belief with every every call you do using those systems.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: So now thank you.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh as you grow this business, and if I was a client in that area of uh the western panhandle in Nebraska, how would I know if I would be a good fit uh to have to hire a company like yours?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what's what's like the best type of a client uh that would that would be attracted to the kind of service that you provide at best, if you don't mind uh kind of sharing that with us.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think it's the people that are gonna appreciate we're um best, we're bringing excellence to service and training.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: And those customers that really value um knowing that with that truck's gonna show up, that that white truck with the logo, and they they uh there's some security and safety built in there.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that message they got ahead of time going, okay, here's the guy walking to my house, and we're background checked and and uh um we've done our homework and they're trustworthy and trained.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um when they uh when we walk through a diagnosis process and then give them some solutions based off that, that they're uh um they get to have their choice based on their moment.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh who knows what situation they're in at their time.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it really fits to um to make the extra investment and to uh um repair things in a way that are gonna uh give you a lot of security for some years and know that it's taken care of so you can deal with other things in your life.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh other times you're not.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Kids in T ball and those things start up, and you're you're really going, man, we need this fixed well, and then have the backing to know, you know what?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um if I uh if I invest this minimum amount, I can call them back in a month, and they'll uh we can reapply that service to our next service that I needed to do back then.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like it gives us a lot of freedom and options to be able to uh to breathe a little bit, know you're taken care of.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: And um yeah, we do call you back too.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: We hear that one a lot.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for calling us back.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of our big things, even if you look at some of our reviews and things on there, about every tenth of one is like actually called us back.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Nice book.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Nice on reviews.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: What a novel concept.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Communicating with your clients.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Jack, tell us about the qualities.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: If you're when you're when you're hiring, honestly, when I worked with your people, I just had uh was thrilled to have the people that I've done training with over there.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I noticed are top quality people.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: How do you find or what's the strategy you do to look for uh the kind of people I know they have people from all over the country you wound up getting over there to come out there to Western panhandle?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, one of your salesperson, I forget his name, but the guy came in, he was from New York or something like that.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: He came all the way out there and he was that Pennsylvania.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: Pennsylvania, that's right.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: He was like talking about how he came here, he like he felt like, yeah, I feel like I'm at home, you know.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm home now.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: He he found his home uh finally after wandering around the east coast and he found that this is uh this was actually the best place for him and his family.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh what's your strategy to find uh hiring good people like that?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um don't mean to pat you guys in the back too much, but it's gonna happen occasionally because we're really pretty uh when when we went through leadership training and um started leaning into gap meetings and seeing the quality that comes out of gap meetings and really the quality of the leadership people to be able to that like that's a skill to develop.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and we're in 2026, we're leaning into that even more, yeah, and trying to do it at a higher quality level.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, because of that, um first of all, we're taking the the people that we have in there, and like I said, just leaning into development.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: We've been doing that for about six years now.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, our system advisor is definitely one of those.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so identifying the personality traits that that we need for that position.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then the first part of the interview pieces uh uh in the first phase, that's identifying those that requires and and uh giving them a little test.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And just um there's the testing part, which is kind of the hard skill part, then there's just the relating.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: And is does the relating part match the hard skill part?
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: And trying to just get the best feel you can in an hour, well, maybe over a time or two of what uh if if they're a faster paced or a slower paced, they're uh uh if they lean more into detail and task for a task oriented position like maybe uh um you know, accounting or something where that little decimal point matters, or uh on the people side, you know.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um are they really more so it's just kind of assessing that part for us.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Next, number two, and all of our managers who do the where we we have a little training process that we learn from you guys to graduate people from uh before we go on with it.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, ambition.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: And they just gotta be have some motivation, and um, and that's developed into now.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um they all kind of do that together.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: We're uh there's so many problems that get solved anymore before.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Or uh just noticing the other day, uh yeah, we we had an issue, but I didn't hear about the issue till a little bit later.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, I heard two or three solutions from our team members, and I just had to pick which one.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: They gave me options.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: That was nice.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so anyway, identifying the personality trait, the ambition, for that's first interview.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Second one is um hard skills for the position.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really kind of diving in there, and then um my favorite thing to do though at the preferably at the end.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: I like it at the end if I can.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, Joe, we pull up a a graduation, uh benchmark graduation, and I love to just have them watch that graduation, and I'll even give them a a uh what do you call that one?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Laminate, a laminated benchmark or something kind of follow and watch it.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, the the benchmark.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I got it.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: The benchmark, and uh laminate, and just have them walk through some uh once in a while, they'll request when I give them that, they'll request uh I love it when they request uh uh an erasable marker.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Because they know they're gonna go through it, and it's that high C is wanting to, you know, you can see all these little nuances.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then um when they walk through that, what we're looking for at the end of that now is uh in this.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Came from the team, it's just I'm just bringing up ideas that they've thrown at us over the last few years.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're they're looking for like a respectful fear, uh, just enough to go, oh man, I gotta do that.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, yeah.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: No, I've done stuff before, but not quite like that.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, does that really work?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Are they you know, those same things that we are wrestling through are like really?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: You treat people like that?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or oh yeah, I've been through sales training stuff, and I know how this goes.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, that's usually what you get is yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: Give it to me, no problem.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: I got you, you know.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, we all know the whole team's just like well, yeah, you'll see, you'll see.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll we'll see if we have the grit.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: So those are that's the last piece, and it really does sort out um all those people you met, plus a few more, really understand.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, we think we can work with this person to bring them in, and and that's probably the biggest litmus test is just like doing a ride-along day, and they come to our morning meeting and stuff, and just seeing if the whole team goes, Yeah, we're gonna buy into this this person or not, you know.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's kind of the way it goes, but man, we're uh we always say we're always uh always hiring, and we are, but uh it's slowed down a bunch, which is good.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's about all I got on that for you, Joe.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, hiring is one thing, but hiring the right people is even better than just hiring anybody.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us about your leadership style over the last five years.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: What have you learned about leadership over the last five years, Jack?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us about just lessons from the front line that you have.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh if you you give us uh some of your private thoughts and uh and uh things that you took inventory and said, here's the things that I've I think every and if a little bit every year I'm alive, I always think like I thought I knew what leadership was like 20 years ago, but every year, every year I'm like, hey, I just learned something new.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I made those videos, but even after I did the videos, I'm like, man, I should have added this other stuff.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, because there's so much more to learn about that.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: What what have you learned about leadership last five years, Jack?
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: That was that.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um my first thought when you said it was you just said it too.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: It just said it doesn't, it just never ends.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you're always going deeper, and then society changes.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: And now we got Gen Z popping up in front of us, going, okay, this is another little how do we adjust to make these folks feel comfortable?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: And how do we lead, how do we develop this folks?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because our old the systems we've done for five years are starting to fail a little bit in some areas, and we're trying to figure out why some of that.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um probably my my biggest lead, I got some uh one or two big stories off the back of my head, but I'd I'd rather give you a talk about this one recent one because it's so close to my heart right now.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it was over the silliest thing, and sometimes the littlest things make a big impact.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was uh shoe covers.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it was this it's the silliest thing, but it dawned on me because I was in a I I was on the road, this is probably pushing two months ago, and um uh it's actually our service manager who was out on a a sales call, and um he said, Hey, can you come out here?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I had been wanting to shadow with him that month anyway.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so went out there, we we did this call together, and and uh uh things are really good and uh and that type of thing.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um customer didn't buy then.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: The yes, no schedule later was a solid schedule later.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so we we come out of there.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that later that day, my wife texts me and says, Hey, so and they didn't they lived a number of miles from us to say him and his wife were talking and they have new carpet.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: And she wanted it, he's like, Hey, have Jack come back out.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: We'd love to show him the new carpet.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and with my wife.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought, you know, this is interesting.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: So we go out there, this is four or five hours later.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: So in the evening, my wife and I go out there, we meet up with the same client.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm without my manager here, we're just totally different scenario.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: But Joe, I was about three minutes behind my wife.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was hanging up the phone.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: I walk in the door and her shoes were on the floor.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: My wife took her shoes off at the door.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I looked down at my shoes and I thought, I didn't take my shoes off.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I and like when I was there four hours earlier for the sales call, I didn't take my shoes off.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: I totally forgot about the shoe things.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: They're in my truck.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: I I preach this and do this normally.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: And in in our in our uh side of things, usually the calls I end up going on, um, they're they're the problem ones or when something's gone awry and going in to kind of sort it out.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I make sure to take care of as many soft skill things as I can and just build as much credit credit as I can.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, anyway, I didn't totally forgot, completely forgot.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: And the lady a little bit later, she expressed herself, oh, my husband loves his new carpet so much.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: I should have done this years ago and put new carpet in.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: He vacuums four or five times a week ever since he got his new carpet in.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: He just loves it so much.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, as soon as you guys left, he vacuumed the carpets just a little bit ago.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Oh my goodness, yeah.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: And he goes, Yeah, there is some dirt and stuff, but it's okay.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: I vacuumed it.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: There was no damage or anything.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: He loved his carpet.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: And Joe, I didn't put my shoe covers on.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Me or my manager.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: We totally forgot it.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I I'm not gonna say it that lost us the sale.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we still haven't sold it yet, but it was a it meant a lot to them, and I didn't know it.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so the next day I walk into our whole team, and you know, these are the nuances.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: We're trying to get it.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's something we it's been two years.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: We have not got our team across the board to wear shoe covers.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: It is a major thing.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: So leadership-wise, I uh said, I don't know how else to do this guy.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I took over, I asked our manager, I said, I want to take over the morning meeting this morning.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: And we brought in a box of shoe covers and said, everybody, both locations all across the board, put on we're in out shoe covers this morning, we're all putting them on.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and then for the rest of 2026, we don't come into our morning meetings without putting on shoe covers.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: Every like we this seems to be so normal.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: So it was just a leadership piece.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: And uh then just this morning, I walked in.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um was able to go in there, and our owner was next to me, and he slaps me on the shoulder and goes, Hey Jack, I had sat down and started whatever, and he hands me the shoe covers.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still not forgetting it, but you know what?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: All the rest of the team had him on two months later.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we're just having to acknowledge our the places where we're failing.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're uh stepping into those, owning it.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then, but we gotta affect the whole team, it's gotta be consistent.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's and uh I think it's the leadership by example or by uh, you know, walk the walk.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to talk that talk, you better walk the walk too, right, Jack?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so we'll we gotta lean into that in some other areas too that we're slipping, and um, and so it's it's the leadership component that we're uh putting in.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: But but really the um the failure, failure to implement.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Have you heard that book, Joe?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Have you heard of failure to implement?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: I have heard of that book.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: I've read it, yeah.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay, yeah.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: I've uh I'm leaning into that because it's just uh I don't know, we're there's ruts and they're hard to get out of.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: So is leadership, we gotta we gotta do it.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, I always say there's a there's a there's a high there's a higher power and a lower power, and the the the the higher the the lower power is easy to do, it just drags us what we normally do, which would be do nothing.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh in the higher power takes an effort.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's the heart that's so to get the high get to our higher power, it takes an effort to serve and to to remember to do things.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and even the small little rituals that we do, uh, it's just hard.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's just you know, it's it takes an effort to remember to do all that stuff, even something as simple as making our bed and uh and doing the things that we normally do every day to uh take care of ourselves uh physically and emotionally, too.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh how do you guys balance?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry, go ahead, Jack.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't mean to cut you off.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, well, I I was just gonna have one other little piece, but it is uh it's it's seriously the gap meetings and just having a method, just a method that really does fit, of course, this last generation.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um oh shoot, what what uh what are they calling the last generation?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Millennials, right?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and then Gen Z.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just having a method that fits into that and and just a step-by-step process.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um I was just taking a guy through that yesterday through the process because he's he's new and he's I just kind of took 10 minutes, walked him through what that looks like.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: So when he when it comes up, he already knows and expects it.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's a great leadership tool and a skill to sharpen that most business owners that I know and collaborate with regularly um don't have and are scared of.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm I kind of preaching that all the time, like lean into that.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: It it's yeah, I'm hearing hearing a lot about ownership and responsibility right now.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I'm that's what I'm hearing.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: And that makes me feel good, to be honest with you, I think we share that.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think we share both share the passion for that.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's easier to say than it is to do, but it definitely uh uh it definitely once you once you do it, it makes gives you gives you a good feeling like you've been cleansed.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how to put it that way.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's like I feel cleaner when I do it, you know.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh amen, brother, amen.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: How do you balance the work efficiency?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, getting people out there.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's a long drive to most of the some of the locations you guys go to.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: And with delivering the personal client experience, there's a the effort of like, hey, let's get in and get out of there, or is there like, hey, just stay as long as you need to talk to your client and create a connection?
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us about how do you guys what's your what's your philosophy there?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Efficiency versus personal connection with your clients.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: That is a I have no idea.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, really on a really practical it's just a better way to put it, but would it would it would a would a co would a would a would one of your co-workers be criticized if they spent too much time talking to a client and relating with the client?
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: Or would that be something like, hey, you guys stop talking to the client so much?
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_02: Or would it be hey, you or is it more you need to start connecting more?
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think the balance is when you instruct or coach people?
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: Is it more hey, spend more time with the client, or is it more hey, stop spending so much time with time with the client?
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: What would you say uh you you kind of push push people toward the net uh aspect of things, Jack?
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'd say um I I'd say that uh what what we do is coach quite a bit on on um yeah, you're you're uh spending lots of time with those folks.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um but uh you're not how do I say I I'm trying to make that up.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um you're not connecting with them in the way you think you are.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and that's it's shown by your but but by the the effectiveness of how how much they buy into the trust, like uh the sales basically, and and uh are they gonna trust you with this this uh five thousand dollars that they're about getting ready to hand you, you know, is you're relating over things, or are they really buying in and trusting, hey, this person's got our best interest in mind and they know what they're doing.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I suppose it's a little bit that, but that it's a struggle point.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're still trying to figure out.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of our particular issues on that topic that will help solve it um secondarily is simply truck stock.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: I know that's super simple and super uh that way, but but really, I mean that there's connecting with the client, but then there's also just the amount of time for us that we're spending.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: We got to get truck stock implemented and um um yeah, if clip reviews later, it's uh my team will know too.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've been saying that for a while.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're in a rut and we're gonna figure it out.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how to get out of it, but we're gonna figure this piece out.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe that'll be when we invite Joe and go, okay.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: I have a special I have a special file for you that goes over here.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: Help us turn that piece.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh another thing is that is a great dispatcher that's organizing efficiency.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: So a piece that we that is that we do have in our process is like once we dispatch and and arrive, um, we have a 40-minute time period to visit with the customer and and run through the benchmark and diagnose.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh after that, the dispatcher is reaching out and uh just uh via text message.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, we have an idea of time frame yet, and they and we do reach out.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: So that that is helpful.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: They always know that the like the clock's ticking.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's a helpful piece, it does help it.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then um Yeah, it must be nice when you work in a case.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: It must be nice when you work in a city, though, like a big city where you can get like, hey, we're just like five blocks away.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's like especially in the environment, it's a challenging environment for sure, because it is uh very it's a very inefficient uh situation where nobody's like right down the street, pretty much.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody's like miles away.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's not gonna be like the amount of time it takes between your customers in Los Angeles, that time would take us like five hours to get there based on the amount amount of distance you guys have there.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, distance versus all the stop and go, true.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um the the vendors and stuff, just having the supply houses.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's uh we we have to have a balance of how much warehouse stock we have versus how much we order and those things.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's it's part of what we what we got to uh solve in this great game of business.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: So all right, Jack, let's go into let's go into let's dream, let's dream a little bit now and let's imagine the future of home services in the western handle of Nebraska.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I know it's kind of old school over there, probably.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you got a lot of agricultural situations going on and just a bunch of uh mix a mix of different people.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: But what do you think?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um what does home service look like?
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: Let's say 20 years from now, you know, with uh all these solutions are will the human beings still be there for the people of West Western Nebraska, or what do you think?
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh uh what do you see in the future of home services?
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_02: If we could dream a little bit here.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, if we could uh figure out a way to mix like cattle and some some uh wheat and stuff into these things would be would help us out a little bit.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um there is even though it's that way, I think with social media and everything being so close and whatnot, honestly, there is a the the big talk is AI.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: Even even when I drive 20 miles north into you know a farmhouse and things, and there they have their uh their Google Gemini or whatever sitting and you know they're talking to it and it's repeating back and um ordering that there's a whole bunch to that.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: And um when cus when customers they have such simple access to parts pricing and stuff, I think for us the the as far as future goes, it's like how do we not be um uh you know just a price comparison and a commodity that way.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: Especially in a place like where you guys are at, the amount of people in the staff, the inventory, the trucks, the maintenance of the trucks and upkeep of things like that, it can make you uh it can really actually honestly, it's uh if I always say if I could do the worst thing I could do to somebody, my enemy, I'd make them go into your kind of a business because it's uh it's tough, you know, to keep all those, keep all those balls spinning at the same time.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_02: No plate spinning, I guess, at the same time, right, Jack?
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, the plate spinning part of it.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: So there's this uh whether it's a fear or a thrill, well, I don't know yet.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: But uh the AI piece, um even uh like right now we're trying to make the decision of um uh you know, do we allow AI to be uh an answering service after hours for us?
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: Jack, it makes makes a lot of sense in a lot of areas, yeah.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: But uh go ahead.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: This is the home service heartbeat moment now, Jack.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: What keeps you motivated?
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: What makes you tick to be part of this work?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh like you said, but you did mention it before a little bit, but give us like what's in your heart uh when you get up every morning, what gets you out of bed and makes you uh can't wait to get to work in the morning?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh just uh finding the next skill to gain.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like for me, it's operations.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: I and positionally I'm I'm I'm needing to learn how to be an operator, and uh gaining that skill, and I'm finding out that's a whole nother skill set that I dip my toe in.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: You have to be somewhat, but but there's a lot of fine-tuning to it.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, it's it's uh uh you know being firm, fair, and consistent in that part.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: But I get up there, but really uh so uh personally it's that, but but how that affects everybody is um developing technicians.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um just loving the taking these blue-collar guys who have have uh one way or another ended up in a in the trades and uh uh teaching them, just growing them, they're they're worth it.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of value, they bring value home to their families and and who they are as men and women.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um that the work they do uh is a massive part of it can be a lot of a lot of your identity, but it doesn't define all of you.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of things you bring in in your customers, um they feel that authenticity and they uh they know when you're truly interested in them.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just developing the technicians in a mentoring kind of a way.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and now I'm I'm leaning more into training a couple of our trainers to do that.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it seems like uh definitely I can speak firsthand that uh the people who work at best uh plumbing, uh heating and cooling are some of the best in the country.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: I I teach over 73,000 service providers, and I would say that you guys are definitely in the top uh five percentile of all those people.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_02: So definitely you've done a great job.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think you guys uh just a certain culture of excellence and uh and authenticity, listening to people.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't I get the impression nobody's afraid to tell the truth there.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's like the truth is the truth seems like it's valued even when it's not popular, as our pure motive say, right, Jack?
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've heard that somewhere before.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_01: They they are uh uh we love each other here, and that they're a neat bunch, and it's a fine balance all the time between um you know coming to work in our our work environment and and in the friendship environment too.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's always uh a fine balance to go, which uh, which again, that leadership training and learning how to try to figure out that balance as best we can.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: I really do appreciate that.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what keeps me motivated is is uh is those guys just learning how to do it better, and I love honoring the trades that way, like you and Al have done and others that have just raised the professionalism of it up a bunch.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: There's a bunch of smart, capable people that are uh are truly running it all.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's been amazing.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I got two other let my last question, and then we're gonna wrap it up, Jack.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_02: And this one we we we explored the future, and now we're gonna explore uh a little bit about your past.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_02: I want you to I want you to imagine going back in time and talking to a younger, much younger Jack Harris who uh who didn't know as much as you know now.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_02: But if you could go back, if you could go back in time and talk to maybe that 17 or 18-year-old Jack Harris, who was maybe just graduating high school and who was like thought just like his eyes are wide open and like uh couldn't wait to explore the world.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_02: What advice would you go back and give yourself if you could go back and talk to yourself when you were 17, 18 years old before when you're just starting starting to embark on this career journey?
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um I told him said, well, to begin with, just buy D Walt tools and get it over with, just stick with them.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_01: Don't do all the other stuff.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: So get the get good tools.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: Don't buy cheap, don't buy cheap.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna be around.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was a deal.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I honestly, what one of the pieces is uh I would say to me and all those people, like especially those ages, get your certifications quickly.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um really buying into your mentors, and and uh um they've been there, they're in the they understand how fast time goes.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, like lean to those certifications matter a lot.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yes, it helps the company, of course, but it's also something that it just increases your value a bunch.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: And without we have all these soft skills that we train, you know, as far as uh uh going to the home and all and all the different things, but there's also this massive part of just having the aptitude to do the work and leaning into it and figuring that out quickly because if you do that you have a lot of confidence too and you and you need both.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah I think you I think you can speak with more confidence if you uh know what you're doing from a from a being a good plumber or being a good air conditioning or heating technician.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you if you know what you're doing or you're competent at the work I think it does give you a more of a platform of confidence and uh which is an intangible it's hard to describe uh how you got it but you kind of know when you got it you know what I'm saying?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah that that is uh that is so so true.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: And utilizing the technology that's available now to do that the online courses the podcasts like um I would really be telling them lean into those things and um uh educating yourself outside of work um we're not uh they're just so valuable there's just so much value you have a lot more time than you think every day there's so much training available that it's an embarrassment of riches in today's world honestly Jack where can listeners say that again I'm sorry Jack what'd you say say that again while you say something about riches I said it's an embarrassment of riches the amount of uh training that's available for the average person between the podcasts and uh I mean really it's the the free training that's available to people if they just took the time instead of listening to garbage or whatever or or or the media or watching TV or social media hey the why don't you sit down and listen to some of these uh people have a lot of wisdom to share and I think if you ask people they're willing to share it like Al and myself and other people too so yeah there's never been a time there's more information available than there is right now I'd say we'll say it again we say it here but there's three or four people here within our organization that for for the guys that hear this um if you want to know where to start now what books to hit or or even have the regiment to have somebody meet with you for 15 minutes three four times a week and get started there um you know the numbers or the office like come on and we will help you walk walk forward through all that so we just want to really encourage all of our people we have people that will invest in you.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_02: So well thank you Jack uh where can listeners connect with you or learn more about uh hiring uh best uh plumbing heating and air conditioning service services yeah I just uh direct everybody to simply do our website at bestplumbing and h fact.com we the go to the career section there uh the phone numbers contact info even the chat section you can get right to us through those pieces and um uh also guys is just anybody out there for for business coaching and stuff service MVP um uh yeah trust the process and it's okay get get over your fear piece um oh what when when we did that when we first got on with you guys we uh uh the business manager and I we called it a Hail Mary moment really we're like we're gonna do this this is the option in front of us and uh we're so glad we did so it's fine and I always say it's like it's isn't it weird when you hire somebody like us and it actually works like hey I guess uh something we paid for actually doesn't work if we just use it but you know it doesn't work without you you know your part of it uh which is to implement it and make sure that the people are using it and I think uh what I met when I met your people were people who are uh uh happy happily implementing the material that nobody was reluctant uh to implement it everybody was excited to implement it so that that does tell me about the leadership there between you and Von and what you guys are doing uh to inspire uh because it tells me that people because one of the hardest parts of in doing the training is the risk of if I do this am I going to be supported by my leadership team and I think that's really what uh the the team feels from you and Von which is that uh it's okay to try something and fail because you're gonna be right there to pick them back up and help them with getting back on track.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's kind of what I see would you you agree with that?
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_02: How do you feel about that?
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: I just wrote that down.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_02: That was it yeah am I am I gonna be supported in what I'm about to do that's a key piece of like emotional awareness there I really loved hearing that yeah and um yeah supported all the way and that was uh uh something you guys really encouraged us to do you're like leaders go first that was four years ago and uh we went oh that really makes a lot of sense but there's a lot of fear there there is there is it's not not easy but you know it's not always the thing you want to hear but it is the correct thing makes sense that's one thing to know Jack that was a great conversation uh with my friend Jack Harris again uh from best uh plumbing heating and cooling services in the Western panhandle of Nebraska I really appreciate you being on the show Jack it's really nice talk I really got a better sense of who you are and I'm really happy that we had a chance to meet today.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for being on the show.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you Joe I have a feeling we'll be bumping into each other sooner than later.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_02: I really hope so I definitely can't wait for that moment when we get to meet in person and shake hands.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and all the rest of you who are just listening to this podcast would like just too good for it's like we're just sitting at a trade show talking Jack it wasn't even a podcast it was just just having a conversation uh Jack thanks for uh everybody else who's listening to this though stank thanks for sticking with us to the end.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_02: If you gained value from today's episode we'd love for you to leave a rating or review whenever you listen to podcasts.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_02: And if you know someone who's in the service industry or anyone who's looking to scale their career or business send their episode send this episode their way and by all means if you're looking for a great plumbing and heating and air conditioning company in the western panhandle of uh Nebraska send this episode their way as well.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_02: If you take one key insight from today and put it into action let us know how it goes and we'll love to hear about your progress.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks again for joining us and we'll see you on the next episode of the Home Service Heartbeat Podcast.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_02: Goodbye everyone