Latest / The Home Service Heartbeat Podcast / Protecting The Home That Protects You ft. Jamie Donaldson of Donaldson Home Services

Transcript

Protecting The Home That Protects You ft. Jamie Donaldson of Donaldson Home Services · The Home Service Heartbeat Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the Home Service RP Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Joe Crossera, and today I'm excited to be joined by Jamie Donaldson from Donaldson Home Services in London, Ontario, where they specialize in protecting the home that protects you.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Jamie, thank you so much for joining us today.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: We're thrilled to have you on the show.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Happy to be here.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Jamie, why don't we start by sharing a little bit about how you got started in the service industry and what led to your leadership role here at Donaldson Home Services?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I guess uh long story short, uh when I was a lot younger, I worked at a factory and we had uh guys come in one day and basically say, hey, the factory is uh bankrupt and everybody's lost their jobs.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it dumped 250 people into a city of about 6,000.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And uh obviously not a lot of jobs there to pick up, so I looked around to see what was available, and the trades piqued my interest.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been doing uh HVAC now, uh licensing gas and refrigeration for 25, 26 years.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been in it for a bit, and um had a ton of uh variety as I was uh coming up in the trades, started with some small companies, moved to some larger ones, done everything from residential to commercial to industrial.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: You name it, I've probably done it at some point in time, and uh had an opportunity in 2013 to start the company that we run now, which uh is uh uh started Donaldson heating and air conditioning, and we've switched over to Donston Home Services as we've added some plumbing and renovation.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, definitely.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, I think I I come from the Midwest too, so I know what it's like to transition from I I worked at a factory when I was younger too, and of course uh I didn't stop working there because I shut down.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: They may have, but I stopped because I really enjoyed service more, like you probably do too as well.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the service is a great business to be in, but can you tell us a little bit about some of the biggest challenges you faced while you were growing and starting this company?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And how did you overcome it, Jamie?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest challenge I think growing uh as you grow a business is recognizing that uh what you need at different levels is is different.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: When you're a one-man operation out on the truck when I first started, uh I answered every phone call.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: I did all the billing, I did all the quoting, I had every contact point.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: So there was no confusion.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And um, as we've grown, we've had to learn different complexity.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not just learning once.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: It uh, you know, you grow to three or four guys and you have to learn different skill sets for that.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: You grow to eight or ten guys and you have to learn different skill sets again.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been an ongoing thing for us as we've grown.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: We've had to implement new processes to ensure that the the heart of the company, uh, the belief that we have and how we serve people doesn't get lost as we've grown.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: What uh service strategies would you say uh that you put in place to make sure that the customer in London, Ontario are happy that are crucial to grow a business like this uh that focuses on customers?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I like I said, I came from a larger corporation at one point in time and and everything was a number.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it was one of the things that really bothered me about it was uh, you know, you forget that at the end of that number there's a person, there's a home, um, there's an employee.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: It uh we really focus on making sure that the person comes first.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we changed kind of our mindset around this back in 2018-2019, and we really summed it up for our guys simply by the difference between a customer and a client.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that uh a customer, when you look at the definition is a transaction, it uh you do something for them, they give you something.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Typically, we perform a service, they give us money.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And a client, the definition in WebSource is somebody under the protection of.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when you look at your clients from that standpoint, where you're not here serving just a customer, it's not a transaction, it's somebody that's a long-term relationship that we're here to protect, we're here to take care of, we're here to support.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that really, even though it's a small thing, became a massive mindset change for our organization and how we approach people.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think um, I think a lot of times people are so involved with the technical aspect of a trade like the HVAC or plumbing trade that we forget that the people are more important than the actual pipes or uh uh furnace or air conditioning units or heat pumps that we're working with now.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, was there a key moment when you realized uh maybe a customer story that you can remember back in the legacy of Donaldson Home Services?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe a legacy customer who told you you were on track.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anybody you can remember or any story that comes to mind where it's like, uh, hey, you know what, Jamie, you might be honest.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: This is actually pretty good what you're doing here.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, can you tell us a story about a legacy client who might have told you you were on the right track here?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we had a few over the years.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it I distinctly remember one client, and and this isn't necessarily going to answer the question or be a comparison to what it is, but it it absolutely reinforced what we were doing.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we did a quote, and I was still pretty small at the time, might have been 2014, 2015.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And we quoted replacing a boiler for them.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but part of that was replacing the water lines in the house.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: We replaced a bunch of rads for them, so it was a fairly extensive job.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember when I sat down with a couple of guys that had working for me, we talked about how long it was going to take to do, we laid it out, you know, this is gonna be a 10-day or 12-day job.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I priced it accordingly, and and frankly, way lower than it probably should have been, but I was still learning at the time.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that job turned into the most nightmarish job we've ever done.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, every single joint that we installed, uh, we were using a tool that we had borrowed from a wholesaler, every single joint ended up having a nick in it because of the tool, which meant about 450 joints leaked in it.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it just the complexity of it was huge.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: We ended up being on that client's home almost two months.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um frustrating for them, frustrating for us.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of it all, I sat down and had a lengthy conversation with them, and I handed them a bill for exactly what I had quoted them for when we started.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it was important to me that that we held, and it's one of the guarantees that we can put in is that we're going to honor whatever the price is, that if we made a mistake, if we erred on something, it's it's gonna be something we're gonna take care of.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I ate a lot on that one.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: We lost a lot of money on it.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but at the end of the day, I took a situation that was really, really awkward and difficult to deal with, and ended up with a client that is a massive proponent of our company and still to this day is.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he has sent so many people to us over the years, not because we did a great job for him, we didn't.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: We screwed up, we made mistakes, but we owned it.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And because we owned it, he has sent person after person after person over the years.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got a lot of stories of people like that, not to that extent, not to that extreme, but over the years where we strive to do things well, we strive to do things right, but at the end of the day, we're human.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And and recognizing we're human and that we are humans interacting with humans, things go wrong.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, misunderstandings happen.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And when you step up, you do the right thing, you take the the onus on it, uh, that tends to come back to you tenfold.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I don't know if that answers what you're looking for.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think that's good.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good that's a great question because you know it shows you that uh this is not a get-rich quick scheme.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is a uh uh it's a grind, honestly.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: And uh there's a lot of good uh great victories and there's a lot of challenges too.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk a little bit more about that so people can kind of get a sense of what it's like to be in your growth business um and look at the current situation that are going on with uh new technologies and stuff like that.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: What are the biggest threats or challenges with being in this kind of a business?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: With truck, inventory, insurance, so many different like I would say if I had to do something, my worst enemy would be put them into this kind of a business.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: You got inventory, you got trucks, you got uh people in the office, you got uh different cultures, you got so many different uh things that that are trapped uh for a business like this.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: What are the biggest threats or challenges you would say for people in the home service industry today?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, you mentioned a lot of them.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's a ton of expenses that that a lot of people aren't aware of.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's a as you are, as you know, and most people know, things have not gone cheaper over the last few years.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So there's been some drastic changes in cost to how we operate and what we do.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: We see different approaches to the industry.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as you say, this isn't a grit rich get rich get rich quick theme.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a grind.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: We have to show up every day.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but there are some stuff out there that happens that unfortunately clients aren't aware of, and and part of what we do is protect them.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest thing for me though is sorry, Joe.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Go ahead, go ahead.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: So the biggest thing for me, the what we're constantly having to keep in mind and and push forward with is recognizing there's a general fear with people in in uh dealing with people in the home service industry.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many stories out there, there are so many things that people aren't sure of.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: We're coming in with information and and we're we're sharing um difficult answers or discussions with them with regards to their system sometimes.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we have to recognize people aren't just buying furnaces and air conditioners, they're buying relief from uncertainty.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they're trying to make sure that uh the information we're giving them is accurate, that the information we're giving them is real.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then being able to trust a trades company if a person comes through your home.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: We we we walk into people's most private areas.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's we're coming into their home.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they have to, by necessity, uh kind of drop their guard a little bit and allow us to come into the house.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a hard thing to do, and we have to respect that when we come out to people's places.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's uh let's see with today and today, as time has gone on, the uh the preoccupation with personal uh devices and uh video games and everything else has kind of uh turned people to be more isolated, I think, and not as connected.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: However, uh the most successful service we do is when we do connect with our clients.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's really we're kind of working against the grain uh of of the culture, not in of any particular area, but really of the whole world, which is really one where we're kind of so uh the looking intent of our screen in front of us, whether it's on an iPad or phone or TV, as opposed to a real person, which uh people, I think people lost the art of connecting with people.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's one thing it sounds like Donaldson puts a control.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: How much how much do you do with your team on focusing on trying to break through on that element to connect with the community?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: How important is that?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: It has been a constant uh succession of training over the last three, four years for sure.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, as you know, guys in the trades, we tend to be very uh tool-oriented.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're we work with our hands, we're not that social as a group.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh guys exiting the trades aren't typically um upbeat and talkative and chatty, and we don't connect well with people.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been really important that when we hire people, we hire people for that skill set.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I can teach absolutely anything from a technical standpoint.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: But being able to talk to people um and connect with people, showing empathy and uh recognizing the the situations that people are in.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: As you said, we spend way too much time on our screens now, and I'm just as guilty of that as anybody else, but it it creates an isolationist aspect.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: It also negativity sells, unfortunately.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: It uh so a lot of what we consume typically is things that put us on edge and and put our guard up.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to be able to recognize that that's where people are coming from.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And how do we how do we show empathy for the situations they're in and how do we grow that trust with them by being honest and upfront and and not violating that trust when it is given?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um tell me a little bit more about uh how would I know if um if I was looking for a job at uh Donaldson Home Services, or if I'm a consumer uh concerned about the kind of person that would come out to my home, tell me about some of the qualities you would look for and the kind of person that would be a good Donaldson Donaldson Home Service employee.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's a hard one to answer because it it really comes back to uh when we go when we go through our hiring process, we're looking for people with certain um, I'm gonna say morals.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: So but the problem is it's a difficult thing really to sit on because my morals are gonna be different than yours, different than the next person.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I've really built the company around caring, around protection, around doing the right thing, um, that we don't choose for clients.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Clients choose for themselves, it's their home, it's their property, and they have to do what's right for them.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we really focus on people that want to do the right thing, right?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: They they want to take care of the client, they want to show up when somebody needs something, they want to be that person that is able to affect change.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: And even if that change is just walking away from a house where they had no heat and now they have heat, or they have no cooling and now they have cooling.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's a a high that certain people get by doing that.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not about uh necessarily selling the biggest ticket item, although some people that's what they want.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's really about hey, I've done a good job, I've done the right thing, the client's happy with me.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we've really focused on that over the years.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: We've changed kind of the dynamic, um, but it's hard to explain because it really comes down to there is a gut feel to it.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we've learned to trust that feel over uh the last five, six years.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, well, no, both you and I come from an era where communication wasn't very good in the trades when we first started out.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: It'd be like you call up and you book a call with somebody, and then you just wait all day and hope they showed up, right?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about uh tell us about how the communication with Donaldson home services and uh if I was to hire you, the kind of communication I could expect uh throughout this client service experience.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about what I would be able to expect from you uh communicating with me as a client.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so when you first reach out to us as a client, um, first and foremost, you're gonna get somebody here.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we have uh our phones are answered 24 hours a day by somebody that works directly for us.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um pretty consistently.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so you're gonna get somebody from our community that knows what's going on in our community.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you talk about a suburb, we know where that suburb is.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um secondly, when we book, uh we book with two-hour arrival windows.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, as you said, I work for the guys where, hey, yeah, we'll be there Tuesday.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then you've got to sit there for two for the full day Tuesday hoping that they're gonna show off.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas with us, it's a two-hour arrival window.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to make sure that we're minimizing how much time you have to wait.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get a reminder notice when you book with us, it's gonna tell you clearly when we're gonna be there, the time window you're gonna be there.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: You get a text message from us before we come out, which tells you who your technician is, with a photo of the technician and a brief description about who they are so that you can be comfortable if the person shows up at your door is actually the person that should be there.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, when our guys come in through the door, um, our focus in the first few minutes is to find out what's actually going on.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of guys, and I can remember a story when I was uh renting from a place, they sent somebody out to take a look at my furnace, and I knock he knocked on the door, I opened the door, he goes, Yeah, here for the furnace, and he walked past me.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um it always stuck with me because at the end of the day, it's it's my home, it's our client's home, and our our focus at the start is hey, how are you?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what's going on with you?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on with your house?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: How can I help?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: We go through the process, we find out where the issue is, um, and then we come up and we give you all the options.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's really important to me that we talk about everything from and I say to my guys, that the number one option for absolutely everybody is they can do nothing.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're perfectly fine if that's what's right for you.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but then we offer everything.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: We offer a simple repair, we offer something that's a little more complex, and in a lot of cases, we'll offer replacement, not necessarily because it needs to be done, but because at the end of the day, it's not our place to decide what's right for you.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's our place to make sure that we share what you can do and give you a little bit of guidance and support and what it is that you want to do, but ultimately the decision is yours.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Once that's done, regardless of what the answer is, our answer is pretty straightforward.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great choice, and we're gonna help you achieve that because that's the right choice for you.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that process maintains all the way through with every interaction with us, and it shows up in our reviews on a pretty consistent basis about how amazing our guys are at at talking to them and and not being pushy.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think the number one comment in our reviews is how we aren't a forceful company.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: We don't push anything on anyone.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: We really focus on, hey, this is your house, it's your castle, so to speak, and what happens in your castle is completely up to you.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Now, how do you what's your approach to leadership uh in a growing organization?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I always say when you're dealing with uh plumbers and heating and air conditioning technician and salespeople and installers and then all the office staff, it's kind of like running a daycare a little bit.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's like sometimes uh I think adult people are like children in adult bodies, I always say, right?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: What's it like?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: What's your approach to uh leading a team of uh probably a very diverse uh team of people that have different needs with how's what's your approach to leadership, uh if you don't mind, Jamie?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: I no, it's not a problem at all.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: It um I I've I've been in businesses.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: I used to have the same kind of approach.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you're you're you're running a daycare and you've got your top of the room and you've got your newborn room and you've got all that.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um and there are some aspects of that.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's managing people in general.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: It it um people at the end of the day want to have need some direction, right?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um but over the years, how I've approached managing people has drastically changed.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: It it used to be that uh I had my idea how things should be done, and I was very forceful on this is how you need to do this.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't care what your opinion is, this is how I want it done, and that was the push.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's drastically changed.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um my approach to people now is is very much how I approach clients.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's about care, it's about empathy, it's about understanding.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: We have a uh saying here, and we've been using it for about eight, ten years, of being curious uh being curious first.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: So when something does go wrong, recognizing we're human, things happen, how can we help?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really our first comment when we try and deal with people is how can we help?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I've built a leadership team here over the years.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: I used to be, like I said, uh I was a one-man show with a lot of guys, and and at the end of the day, you can't manage 25 people with one person.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's just realistically to manage somebody, to understand somebody, to support somebody, you have to know them.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you can't if you're trying to run 25.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we built a leadership team around here that my job is and my wife's job, who is the co-owner here, is to take care of our managers and leaders and make sure they have the skill sets that they need and the training that they need in order to do the same for their guys.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And our focus really is how do we help you achieve your goals?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: How do we help you grow?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: How do we help you uh become who it is that you want to be and and a better person as part of the company, as part of society?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that that's uh it doesn't really have any clear-cut answer other than we care for people and we've been burnt over the years.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: We've had a couple of people burn us, and it's been very hard to to kind of maintain that belief in people and that uh people in in general want to do good, they want to do well.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And uh as long as you continue with that belief of people, it it gets real easy to support them and help them grow.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds like it's uh again, don't know if that answers the question, but I think it is.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think it does because it's a position of starting, you look at leadership as a position of not just serving your clients, but also serving your team, as opposed to uh the word boss probably doesn't go very well, doesn't go over very well at your place, it sounds like uh to me.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I mean it's
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a word I enjoy.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a word I enjoy.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: It it my wife's a lot better at it than I am.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, she uh she went to school to be a chiropractor.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: She went into the medical industry.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: And she went into the medical industry because she cares for people.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: I am we we are very much polar opposite.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: She is an extrovert that loves people.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: I am an introvert that frankly, give me a quiet corner of my office, I'm happy.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um but it it's allowed me to do the education and the learning that I've needed to make sure that we we can teach and grow and support the people under us.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: And my wife does that very well along with our leadership team.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Are there a lot of uh family members living working with you guys over there?
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Is is it a family?
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Would you say it's a true family?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's there's still a family business out there, would you say?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we are.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh my wife and I are are co-owners of it.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um our 10-year-old kid, uh as much as he's not out turning the ranches or anything, but he absolutely feels like he's part of the company.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's funny because we've got some bus ads going up.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: And every time we drive around, he sees one of our vehicles, one of the bus ads, it's there's our company, you know, that's that's our bus.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: We own that bus, right?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it it's fun to watch him grow and and become more and more engaged with what we do here as an organization.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to see what happens ten years from now when he decides where he wants to go.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, then you can you can uh let him take the reins, maybe, right?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: He can he can serve everybody like you're you got you and your wife are doing.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: What's your wife's name?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Anna.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Anna.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, tell tell Anna I said uh hi and tell much how much I respect the average she's making to go from uh manipulating uh spinal uh columns to uh manipulating profit manipulating uh plumbing trucks and things like that.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's still an adjustment, but it's a different kind.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a massive shift for her and obviously her career, but um I can I tell you, I I couldn't be more proud of somebody for how well she's taken that on.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: That uh that sounds like a great uh partnership.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh how do you balance the business efficiency where you know the it's gotta be a certain time is really pretty much all your company sells, the amount of time it takes to do things.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: But it's also the time it takes to connect with customers and create that connection between you and your clients.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: How do you uh what do you teach your team in terms of the uh balance of efficiency and get the work done and get out of here?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Versus, hey, let's stay there and connect a little bit.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: How do you balance that uh those two things which are kind of diametrically opposite, but somewhere you got to meet in the middle with those two things?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: How do you uh what do you teach your team on that part of it?
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's it's a tough balance, as you said.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: It it um as we've grown as an organization, we've had to come to a recognition that we have to charge accordingly.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're not by any means the cheapest guy in the country by by a long shot.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're not the most expensive either.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: But we we have to charge fairly for the time that we spend in the home because we do spend more time in the home.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um that being said, uh there's an old saying, there's a lot of old sayings in business, but there's an old saying in business, if you take care of your client, the client will take care of you.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we've learned is slowing down and taking that extra time.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um sometimes uh it's it's odd in the the service industry because we'll get phone calls from people that are just they're lonely.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: They'll have us come out and they'll pay us to do a maintenance, not because they necessarily want the work done, but because they want company.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it's worth taking that extra 15, 20 minutes to sit down with somebody and have a tea with them or have a coffee with them, have the conversation, create an experience for them that, yeah, I might not make a lot of money on that trip.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: I may even lose a little bit of money on that trip, but I tell you, the people they refer us to, the the choices that they make going down the road and when they do do repairs, when they do do replacements, we're the company they use.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: That really doesn't change because of the experiences that they've had with us in the past.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let's let's let's do a little bit of dreaming now and uh use our imaginations, Jamie.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: If we could uh project ourselves, let's say like when your your little guy is uh maybe running this thing when he's 30 years old, maybe 20 years from now.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what do you see the future trends if you want to be Jamie Nostradamus, if you will, to predict the future trends of the servers?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: What can the person people of uh London, Ontario expect, you think, in the future of the home service industry?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: And how are you preparing your team for some of those changes?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me some of the things you see that'll be a key factor the way service will be done in the future.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I think one of the big parts I'll talk about a couple of things that aren't going to really affect things.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: AI is an example.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many industries that are gonna be affected by AI, and and the trades I think is one that isn't.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: There are aspects of AI that we'll use to absolutely make things better, to to interact with people differently, but at the end of the day, you still need a person to come out to the home to do the install, to do the service, to do the repairs.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't feel that that's really gonna drastically change.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: That person is still gonna be important.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um but as we continue to advance in our industry, I think electrification is gonna become a massive thing.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh right now we're in the northern uh northern part of North America, obviously being Canada, it's it can get pretty cold up here.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: So natural gas is the predominant way that we're heating our homes.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think as uh 10, 15, 20 years from now, we're gonna see a shift away from that.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see a lot more heat pumps, a lot more uh low uh ambient uh time, sorry, a lot more low ambient systems that are gonna come in that that are more gauged for our climate.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're starting to see that now.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And trades guys are gonna shift away from being licensed gas technicians to being more crossed between refrigeration electricians.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's that I think is the direction the industry is gonna end up going over the next 20 years.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: That is a great, that's a great uh tip for everybody.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Keep that in mind.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: That I think the future is, I think I think the future is more personal comfort too, right?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: Personal uh things that are like everybody getting their own room can have their own temperatures and things like that, where uh used used to be uh it was kind of like we we imagined zoning, like pushing air, but I think that the terminal itself and things like that will be like I can imagine my light fixture being my air conditioning and heating and humidification system in some way.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't know how it'll be done yet, but I can imagine like is where's gonna come up with it?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, where's the register?
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's like no, it's just a light fixture.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: It does it does everything, it does everything.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: It monitors the carbon fixedly advancing, right?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, imagine your light fixture your or your your fan, your ceiling fan will be like the heating and air conditioning and the humidity and the carbon monoxide and fire protection, and it'll be everything.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, something in your room that will be innocuous would be like the the piece of art on the wall will be uh the thing that protects us from carbon monoxide and stuff like that.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's a there's a lot of cool things which I think uh are you know kind of dual purposed.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you uh I think sometimes that's what something's I sometimes I like, I do like to go on sometimes on like a a TikTok or something like that, just to see some of the crazy things that people imagine.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh you know, actually that's not that could actually happen, you know.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a bad idea.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about um I've always I've always kind of watch Europe to see what's happening over there.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, their costs of um, you know, natural gas and and fuel is much higher, so they tend to be a little more advanced from uh an efficiency standpoint.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it's interesting to watch stuff that they were doing 15, 20 years ago is the stuff that's becoming mainstream here in North America.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's always that that's where I tend to go is to what are they doing there and and what's coming.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Especially in Norway.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: Here are a lot of uh uh so many in a place like Norway, I think uh we we may see uh get a glimpse of the future and a lot of different things that they're doing over there.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I that's one of the things I've noticed of that.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: Not that not not that I'm not Norwegian or anything like that, but I I've heard some especially with like youth sports and stuff like that, how they involve uh the kids uh and everybody has like 93% of the youth is involved with sports because they encourage that.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas opposed to here in North America, it's like 40 or 50 percent uh are involved with that, you know.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're still stuck to our screens here, and and that that I think is something that's gonna shift over time.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think people are gonna come to more and more realize that the amount of time we sit in home interacting with screens, interacting with ourselves, isn't as healthy as we think it is.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I think you're gonna see a shift over 20 years, and that's not trades related, that's just society.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think we'll see a shift back into more social interactions, more sports, more get out there and and do things with other people.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think so too.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: How about this?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go back in time now.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Now we're in the future.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go back in time and let's uh imagine uh Jamie uh Donaldson traveling back to a young Jamie Donaldson when he was like 18 to 20 years old.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: What advice would you give your younger self if you could go back in time and give yourself some advice, Jamie?
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, I'm an introverted heart.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: Be honest, Jamie.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Be honest.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm an introverted heart, and I have had to learn a lot of lessons about how to socialize with people, how to interact with people, how to build connections.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I often think if I knew back then how to build friendships, how to build those relationships, how to connect with people, how to talk to people, um I'd be in a much different place now.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think that that's the lesson I wish if I had to go back and had an opportunity, that would be the conversation is hey, be be less afraid, be less less fearful of what other people might come back at and go ahead and be you and and let yourself connect with people that are similar to you.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: That you know the people that that matter are the people that are gonna accept you, right?
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and that was the lesson that took me a long time to to recognize.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Jamie, um first of all, let me just say uh how much I've enjoyed this uh interview with you today.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'll I'll ask I'll I'll ask a risky qu I'm gonna ask you a risky question.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: You've been on a lot of different uh interviews and podcasts and things like that.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: You sound like you've been around been around a little bit.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, how would you rate uh your experience on this podcast on a scale of one to five stars?
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: How many stars would you give it?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, five.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I I enjoy conversation with anybody that knows the industry and anybody that that understands how we approach people.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I very much have appreciated this.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you being on this.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I told you we're gonna have a good time today, didn't I, when I predicted it?
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: And was I right or was I right?
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's been great.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: Me too.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoyed it too.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Jamie, where can listeners in uh London, Ontario, or really anywhere, uh uh either learn more about interacting with you to learn about talking with you, or uh just uh, you know, using your services at Donaldson.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: What's the best way to do that?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: You can find us online at donaldsonheating.ca.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can call us at 419 or 519-439-4328.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you want to talk to me directly, reach out to me at jamie.donaldson at donaldsonheating.ca.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it sounds like you're just always walking around out there and just drop by the shop and say hi, right?
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: Just uh maybe you might even have a coffee, a hot coffee on the in the in the morning.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: You might have something on the coffee but a coffee pot going on there.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's the beauty being family owned.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I can pretty much guarantee either my wife or myself are here at all times.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone wants to stop in, we're here to chat.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that was another great conversation with my guest, Jamie Donelson.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Jamie, again, I really appreciate having you on the show.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you everyone else who is listening to this podcast until the end.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you've gained valuable insight from today's episode, we'd love for you to leave a rating or a review wherever you listen to podcasts.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: And if you know someone in the service industry or anyone who's looking to scale their career or business or hire a great service company in London, Ontario, send this episode their way and they'll be happy they got it.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, take one insight from today and put it into action.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: Let us know how it goes.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'd love to hear about your progress.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks again, everyone, for joining us.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll see you on the next episode of the Home Service Heartbeat Podcast.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Goodbye, everyone.