Plumbing & HVAC Hustle Podcast

HookAgency.com

Guests on leadership, sales, and marketing. HVAC and Plumbing podcast for the growth-mode HVAC and Plumbing business owners, leaders and business development teams.

  1. 3D AGO

    $10M HVAC CEO Back in the Trenches: What He Found

    Guest: David Katz – HVAC business owner / operator Guest Links: Website: https://trioheatingandair.com/ This episode breaks down what actually happens when a home service company grows from $5 million to $10 million+, and why getting there fast can make the business feel dramatically harder before it gets easier. It explains how rapid growth exposes weaknesses in structure, process, labor management, warehouse systems, cash flow controls, and leadership capacity, and why many owners who say they “don’t want” to scale are often really dealing with limited belief or a lack of clarity on how to do it. The episode dives into one of the biggest mistakes operators make while trying to level up: copying systems from much larger companies before they fit the current stage of the business, which creates a “Frankenstein” operation full of mismatched processes, extra meetings, awkward communication, and unnecessary work. It also unpacks a major leadership lesson learned through painful experience—owners cannot solve every problem from the office, and at a certain point they need to put their boots on, get back into the field, and come as close to the real problem as possible before trying to fix it. The conversation goes deeper into what that looks like in practice, including discovering that an apparent install problem was actually a warehouse problem, implementing vendor-managed inventory to simplify operations, and learning that many tools small companies assume are “too advanced” can actually work much earlier than they think. It also covers the emotional side of scaling: recruiting top talent over years instead of days, showing appreciation intentionally, creating more fun inside the company, protecting team morale during stressful financial moments, and recognizing that leadership at this level is not just about numbers but about stability, energy, and trust. Overall, this is a tactical and honest episode for contractors who want to grow without blindly copying bigger players, and who need to hear what scaling really costs before they chase it.

    43 min
  2. MAR 25

    AI Voice & Followup for Home Services (w/ Sameday AI + 'Rusty Bricks')

    Guests: Aaron Cooper – Founder, Same Day AI Johnny Smokes – Guest personality / Next Level Trend Guest Links: Website: https://www.gosameday.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samedayai/ This episode breaks down the real debate around AI voice answering for HVAC, plumbing, and home service companies—not the hype version, but the practical question every contractor actually cares about: will it book more jobs than the alternatives. It explains why the market is suddenly flooded with AI answering tools, why many of them feel like glorified voicemail systems, and what separates platforms that merely sound polished from ones that actually improve booking rate, dispatch efficiency, and customer communication. The conversation dives into Same Day AI’s origin inside real home service operations, why booking performance matters more than demo quality, and how the system is built not just to answer calls but to adapt to dispatch capacity, communicate with technicians, handle schedule changes, and reduce the communication breakdowns that happen even in strong offices. It also explores where AI voice does and does not fit right now, including after-hours call handling, overflow protection, dispatch board automation, and specific workflows where a contractor may prefer AI over voicemail or overworked CSRs. Beyond the technology itself, the episode gets into deeper concerns contractors have—warmth, lag, pricing transparency, customer trust, CRM integration, and whether homeowners actually respond well to AI conversations when urgency is high. The bigger takeaway is that contractors should stop evaluating voice AI purely by whether it “sounds human” and start judging it by whether it actually protects expensive leads, improves booking rate, and creates measurable operational leverage inside the business.

    39 min
  3. MAR 18

    From $5M to $12M Fast: Call The Whale’s Explosive Formula

    Guest: Kenny Byrne Jr. – Founder, Brands Service Partners / Call the Animals Guest Links: Facebook: Kenny Byrne Jr. Text: 860-436-7678 This episode breaks down the real formula behind scaling an HVAC company from $5 million to $12 million fast, and why the jump is almost never about one magic marketing tactic it is about hiring the right people, training them relentlessly, and building consistent systems that remove guesswork from every stage of the customer experience. It explains why most owners get stuck because they stay trapped in the truck, hire reactively, undercharge, and never build the kind of recruiting message that attracts the “happy, productive professionals” they actually want around them. The episode dives into how Kenny Byrne approaches hiring, why he looks for directness, tech comfort, and social proof before someone ever gets an interview, and why one bad apple can poison an entire team. It also unpacks the role of technical training in real scale, including why inconsistent training creates weak technicians, callbacks, low tickets, and frustrated installers, while consistent twice-weekly training creates better diagnostics, clearer customer communication, stronger option selling, and more profitable work. The discussion goes deeper into what gives technical founders an unfair advantage, why knowing the systems inside and out helps simplify training and leadership, and how that knowledge becomes a superpower when managing multiple companies at once. It also explores the most common bottlenecks at different revenue stages, from the owner-operator who cannot get out of the truck to the $3–7 million company that lacks a repeatable sales process and leaves too much money on the table. Ultimately, this episode is a blueprint for contractors who want to scale through recruiting, process, technical mastery, leadership development, and a training culture that actually compounds over time.

    35 min
  4. MAR 11

    What Makes Sales Follow Up Successful? (Words + Tone)

    Guest: Ryan Fenn – Founder, CHIIRP Guest Links: Website: https://www.chiirp.com This episode breaks down how home service companies can radically increase booked jobs by treating follow-up as a conversion system, not an afterthought, and why the winners in 2026 won’t be the companies generating the most leads they’ll be the ones converting the highest percentage of the leads they already have. It explains CHIIRP’s rebuilt platform relaunch and the shift from complicated drip-campaign setup to outcome-focused AI agents that handle specific missions like converting Angi leads, rehashing estimates, reviving dead leads, and optimizing timing and copy automatically based on what’s proven to work. The episode shows why tiny wording changes can unlock massive conversion lifts, then delivers real examples of high-performing follow-up messages rooted in millions of texts: start with an engagement question, write like a real human (casual and conversational), add light playfulness to trigger replies, stay empathetic without guilt (no cortisol spikes), be persistent without sounding robotic, and even give prospects permission to say no to force clarity and responses. It also covers how systematic A/B testing turns follow-up into an improvement loop, and why iMessage “blue bubble” automation can meaningfully increase response rates by removing “STOP to opt out” friction while enabling richer media like photos, higher-quality video, and voice notes. Overall, this is a tactical blueprint for getting more revenue from the same marketing spend by building follow-up as a measurable, optimized, always-on engine.

    36 min
  5. MAR 4

    From Plumber Apprentice to $100/M a Yr Home Service Biz

    Guest: Alan O’Neill – CEO, Abacus Plumbing (Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical) Guest Links: Website: https://abacusplumbing.net/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abacusplumbing This episode traces how Alan O’Neill went from a plumbing apprenticeship in Dublin to building a $100M+ home services business in the U.S., and why the trades are one of the most underrated wealth-and-impact vehicles in the country. It breaks down the rigor gap between European and U.S. apprenticeship systems, how early leadership opportunities accelerated his career, and why steady, disciplined growth can outperform chaotic “rocket-ship” scaling when you’re building something meant to last. The episode also explains how private equity can become a growth accelerator when used correctly, including what it unlocks when expanding into new trades, why adding HVAC was a turning point, and how “multiple exits” actually work when you roll equity forward instead of relying on earn-outs. It dives into a real definition of success that goes beyond money—changing family trees by turning overlooked apprentices into six-figure tradespeople and future business owners—plus practical leadership lessons on staying calm under stress, handling accountability without destroying relationships, and protecting your family from the emotional volatility of entrepreneurship. Finally, it closes with a direct challenge to the industry: stop only marketing the trades to each other and start going into high schools to show young people what’s possible, because the opportunity gap is massive and the demand is only growing.

    37 min
  6. FEB 25

    What is The Value of Views? Plumbing Influencer Shares

    Guest: Leon Garrett – Owner, Kenco Plumbing & Drains (New Hampshire) Guest Links: Website: https://www.kenconh.com/ Instagram / TikTok / YouTube / Facebook: @KencoPlumbingNH This episode breaks down how a fast-growing plumbing business can use short-form content as real business leverage, not vanity metrics, and why views become a form of currency when they translate into relationships, credibility, and brand opportunities. It covers Leon Garrett’s path into the trades, how content creation became a serious growth lane once Kenco launched, and what actually changes when you start getting consistent traction—brand partnerships, event invites, creator collaborations, and long-term relationships that open doors outside your local market. The episode dives into what makes content perform in the trades (satisfying visuals, strong first-three-second hooks, repeatable formats, and smart “remix” strategies), why reposting and re-cutting winning footage is a cheat code most contractors ignore, and how to balance content with fieldwork by building processes and getting help capturing better angles on real jobs. It also tackles the reality of negative feedback, staying authentic without getting derailed by comments, and why disciplined consistency beats chasing viral spikes. Overall, this is a tactical roadmap for plumbers who want to build visibility that compounds into reputation, opportunity, and long-term business advantage.

    50 min
  7. FEB 18

    Green-fielding a New Market as an HVAC + Plumbing Company

    Guest: Blain Clement – Operations Manager, Preferred Home Services (Greenville, SC) Guest Links: Website: https://gopreferred.com This episode breaks down what it actually takes to greenfield a brand-new HVAC and plumbing market and scale fast without collapsing under the pressure, using Preferred Home Services’ Greenville launch as a real blueprint. It covers how a failed acquisition led to starting from zero, why the earliest months are mentally brutal when call volume is inconsistent, and how that scarcity can ironically produce higher tickets by forcing technicians to slow down, build trust, and run better inspections. It explains the “promote-from-within” philosophy as a recruiting advantage for attracting A-players who aren’t job hunting, how opening internal roles to everyone builds meritocracy, and how clear advancement paths become a magnet for top talent. It also dives into leading teams when you’re not the technical expert in every trade, overcoming imposter syndrome through hiring the right people around you, and building respect through consistency, standards, and treatment of customers. On the marketing side, it unpacks what big-launch awareness actually looks like, billboards, TV, radio, wrapped trucks, and consistent messaging, plus why reputation (Google reviews), memberships, and cross-departmental selling are what convert awareness into predictable revenue. Finally, it closes with scrappy alternatives for smaller budgets, including “look the part” fundamentals, local relationship plays, and practical brand-awareness tactics that mimic bigger-budget strategies.

    38 min
  8. FEB 11

    3 Top HVAC Sales Mistakes (& How to Fix Them) w/ Jason Walker

    Guest: Jason Walker (J-Dub) – Founder, HVAC Masters of the Hustle Guest Links: Website: https://hvacmastersofthehustle.com This episode breaks down the most common HVAC sales mistakes that quietly destroy close rates, even for technicians and comfort advisors who think they are doing everything right. It explains why waiting until the end of the appointment to address objections guarantees price resistance, how failing to pull objections out early forces reps into defensive selling, and why price instantly becomes the enemy the moment it is presented without proper groundwork. The episode dives into the critical mistake of “telling instead of asking,” showing how technicians unintentionally trigger resistance by explaining problems rather than guiding homeowners to discover issues themselves through questions. It explores how presenting findings only at the end of a service call kills urgency, why packing up before presenting solutions signals a lack of confidence, and how small behavioral cues completely change homeowner perception. The discussion also covers why most reps fail to ask for the order, how silence without direction stalls momentum, and how cross-eliminating options helps homeowners confidently choose instead of defaulting to “email it to me.” The episode unpacks the massive role financing plays in closing higher-ticket jobs, why failing to lead with affordability creates fake price objections, and how reframing financing transforms resistance into relief. Finally, it explains why lack of accountability after training causes teams to regress, why repetition and role play matter more than one-time motivation, and how disciplined processes separate elite HVAC sales teams from everyone else.

    36 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Guests on leadership, sales, and marketing. HVAC and Plumbing podcast for the growth-mode HVAC and Plumbing business owners, leaders and business development teams.

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