The Home Service Expert Podcast

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Tommy sits down with Mark C. Winters, co-author of Rocket Fuel and author of the new book Visionary, to name the seat most founders never see: the integrator. They get into why four visionaries exist for every one integrator, why founders who sell rarely last a year, the 2017 hire that set Tommy free, and the one question every owner should answer before they ever think about selling.
Get Mark's book Visionary ⟶ https://visionarybook.com
Follow Mark C. Winters ⟶ https://markcwinters.com
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
00:43 - Mark's Origin Story
04:11 - Predictable Visionary Patterns
06:55 - Small Shops To $400M
08:20 - Is "Founder" A Risk?
09:40 - Why Founders Leave After The Sale
12:18 - Who Becomes The Integrator
16:10 - What Getting Stuck Looks Like
20:11 - Five Abilities To Break Ceilings
23:50 - Can Your Spouse Be The Integrator?
27:58 - The Seat Founders Can't See
31:15 - The Thankless Number Two
34:09 - The Three-Piece Puzzle
39:33 - The First Sign It's Failing
42:38 - Four Visionaries, One Integrator
43:34 - The Bottleneck At The Top
46:57 - The Ski Resort CEO
49:00 - How To Find Your Integrator
51:09 - The Hard Truth
55:01 - The One System To Install Now
1:02:40 - Would You Give It All Back?
1:08:48 - Where To Find Mark
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Tommy Mello sits down with two returning guests: Aaron Gaynor, founder of Eco Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Technicians, fresh off crossing $100 million and pacing $113M this year, and Zac Dearing, co-founder of Mantel, the AI-powered sales platform behind some of the sharpest shopping data in home services. No rehashed stories, just what is working right now: why recruiting beats leads, the new hire who sold $1M of HVAC in his first month, the labor burden number every tech should know, why 60 to 70% of deals are still alive after you leave the home, the 15% market share rule that tells you when to grow, and the marketing math that separates maintaining from grow-grow.
Follow Aaron Gaynor and Eco: https://geteco.com
Follow Zac Dearing and Mantel: https://usemantel.com
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
01:03 - Aaron's $100M Milestone And The New Headquarters
06:23 - Where Homeowners Spend Their Decision Time
08:46 - Two Years On Mantel: Eco's Close Rate Now
10:37 - 69% Shop For Pricing Online And Most Find Nothing
12:23 - The Options Formula And The Sunday Effect
14:55 - Recruiting Beats Leads: Who Not How
17:09 - The New Hire Who Sold $1M In One Month
18:46 - Loyalty, Labor Burden, And The 24% Line
24:33 - The One Truck Exercise And What A Call Really Costs
29:01 - Private Equity, Labor, And Who Really Benefits
34:04 - What Contractors Actually Adopt In AI
35:43 - Charging More Than The Average Bear
42:27 - Sales Is Not A Dirty Word
44:53 - Shopping Beats Selling
49:33 - When Homeowners Actually Read Your Proposal
51:31 - Buy Or Build: The Greenfield Answer
56:30 - Marketing Math: Maintain, Grow, Or Grow Grow
01:00:21 - The 15% Rule: When To Enter A New Market
01:06:30 - Closer Hats, Next Missions, And Final Advice
01:12:40 - Stop Assuming The Deal Is Dead
01:16:09 - The Apollo 11 Close
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Danny Morel built a Southern California real estate machine he describes as $1B a year in sales with 400 agents, then answered no to happy, in love, and loving his work in the same breath. One night the questions he'd been avoiding caught up with him, and he walked away to teach entrepreneurs how to heal instead. He and Tommy Mello get into why the drive you brag about might be the thing to fix, the energy ladder from shame to enlightenment, the 4:30 AM lie all over your feed, and the mentor's rule that ran a billion-dollar company on 20 hours a week: split your day in thirds, delegate everything else, and never trade your peace for the next milestone.
Get Danny's book Awaken Your Highest Self ⟶ https://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Your-Highest-Self-Stuck/dp/140199864X
More from Danny ⟶ https://dannymorel.com
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
03:10 - The Billion-Dollar Empire
03:40 - Three Questions He Feared
04:58 - Tommy Asks Them Back
06:14 - Loving Yourself First
08:37 - Tommy Opens Up
10:14 - Why Enough Is Never Enough
13:33 - From Judgment To Healing
15:48 - "You Learned To Be Driven"
17:41 - Fear And Victim Consciousness
20:20 - The Energy Ladder
23:13 - Bob Marley And Vibration
25:26 - Purpose Isn't Doing
30:17 - The 4:30 AM Lie
32:25 - The 20-Hour Rule
33:00 - A Day In Thirds
36:24 - Game-Changing Advice
41:08 - Life Happens For You
42:31 - The Book
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Can your techs close like a doctor prescribes? Jeremy Miner, founder of 7th Level and creator of NEPQ, the largest B2C sales training company in the world, joins Tommy Mello to break down why customers say "let me think it over" to salespeople but never to their doctor, the five tonalities that make prospects persuade themselves, how to seed doubt without pressure, the four types of people (wingers, dabblers, know-it-alls, and the committed to mastery), and why you probably don't need more leads, just better conversations. They get into recruiting people with a chip on their shoulder, the train station rule for growing teams, and the watch-write-rehearse path to actually mastering a skill.
Get Jeremy's NEPQ Black Book of Questions ⟶ text 480-637-2944
Learn more from Jeremy ⟶ https://7thlevelhq.com
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
01:18 - Why "7th Level"
02:40 - The One Skill That Rules Everything
05:03 - The Buy-Back Lens
07:31 - Creating Demand From Nothing
08:41 - "How Often" Beats "Do You Ever"
10:30 - The Zero-Cancellation Concept
13:05 - The 5 Core Tones
16:55 - Could He Sell Anything?
22:14 - Sales FOR People, Not TO People
23:41 - The Doctor Status Flip
25:50 - Deframe, Then Reframe
27:22 - The 4 Types Of People
34:38 - The Chip On Your Shoulder
38:50 - You Don't Need More Leads
39:26 - The Train Station Rule
43:29 - Songs Vs. Books
45:10 - Watch, Write, Rehearse
49:35 - Hiring People With The Chip
55:30 - The Final Round
01:10:20 - The NEPQ Black Book
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Are the AI layoffs about to reverse? Workplace futurist Alexandra Levit joins Tommy Mello to break down blunt force automation: why CEOs who replaced their teams with AI are about to want them back, how every AI rollout quietly creates six new jobs, and what the 95% failure rate on AI investments means for business owners. They get into why the skilled trades are the safest bet in America right now, the return to office mistake, learning agility as the number one career skill, and how owners should actually be investing in AI training.
Connect with Alexandra: https://alexandralevit.com
Make School Work: https://makeschoolwork.org
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
02:15 - What A Futurist Actually Does
03:44 - Is Every Desk Job Doomed?
04:32 - Six Jobs Per AI
08:07 - The Case For The Trades
12:51 - Blunt Force Automation
14:54 - The Rise Of Craftsmanship
18:14 - Building Learning Agility
21:10 - The 95% Problem
25:56 - AI's Energy Problem
29:19 - Cautiously Optimistic
32:05 - Psychology To Futurist
35:33 - Training AI To Oppose You
40:04 - Advice For Your 20s
43:10 - The RTO5 Mistake
44:51 - Flexibility That Pays
48:30 - Deep Talent Explained
51:30 - Simulations Beat Resumes
52:54 - The Training Gap
56:40 - Closing Thoughts
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