October 21, 2025 • 20 mins
Ever wonder why some home service brands feel trustworthy before they even quote the job? We pull back the curtain on three simple, overlooked moves that stack trust fast: a brand ecosystem audit, a hyperlocal micro influencer network, and a documentary-style install video that shows the work, the manners, and the finish line.
First, we map every place your brand lives in the real world—fleet wraps, uniforms, CSR tone, on-hold music, reviews, email signatures, invoices, social, and signage. Then we prioritize the fixes that signal care: clean, consistent trucks; technicians who look and speak on brand; and responses that turn reviews into SEO. This isn’t a rebrand; it’s a punch list that makes every touchpoint feel the same, so your neighbors recognize you and risk feels lower before your tech arrives.
Next, we ditch celebrity influencers for people your market already trusts: the realtor who knows every street, the PTA organizer who mobilizes a school, the youth coach everyone thanks on Saturdays. We outline a simple value exchange—swag, gift cards, or a free maintenance plan—in return for honest posts about real experiences. No scripts, just authenticity and accountability. If something misses, we fix it and learn. That’s how local word of mouth scales without feeling bought.
Finally, we show how to film a relatable behind-the-scenes install. Choose an average home, capture van loading, protective prep, cleanup, walkthroughs, and a calm voiceover from your sales lead. These story-driven videos beat coupon graphics because they demonstrate care and craft. Then repurpose everywhere: your website and YouTube, short social clips, recruiting, and weekly series like Meet the Crew Monday and Service Story Saturday.
If you’re ready to tighten your brand, activate real neighborhood advocates, and tell stories that convert, we’ve got your back. Subscribe for more practical growth playbooks, share this with a fellow owner who needs a slow-season plan, and drop a review to tell us which tactic you’ll start first.
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From the Yellow Chair is powered by Lemon Seed, a marketing strategy and branding company for the trades. Lemon Seed specializes in rebrands, creating unique, comprehensive, organized marketing plans, social media, and graphic design. Learn more at www.LemonSeedMarketing.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
What's up, Lemon Heads?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom The Yellow Chair.
I'm Crystal.
And as most of you know, thispodcast is brought to you by
Lemon Seed Marketing, which is amarketing and strategy branding
company for home services.
All of my friends that are doingH5 Plumbing Electrical Landscape
Pest Control Roofing, we arehere for it and to give you
(00:21):
guidance and strategy on how toutilize your entire marketing
budget and build those brands.
So today I'm talking to you.
I'm Rodden Solo, me and JasonDeRulo.
We're riding solo today, talkingabout three marketing things
that maybe you haven't reallythought of and why you should.
So let's jump into it.
Let's dip some lemonade.
(00:53):
All right.
So here are three things.
I had to write them down, sodon't judge me, but here are
three things that I think youcould really focus on to have a
killer 2026, especially whenhonestly, guys, weather is not
our friend.
Those of us that are living thelife of great, it's beautiful
outside.
We can actually sit outside andenjoy the weather.
(01:15):
Shout out to my Texas and peoplein the south.
But honestly, at the end of theday, anytime your slow season
comes around or your shoulderseason and you can actually look
up a little bit, these are threethings that are just unique
opportunities that I think youcan implement.
Um, and it really would helppush the limits, build your
brand, do it healthy.
Um, and it's easier to do in theoff season or in a slower season
(01:36):
than it is to do in the buckwild, wild west of top
seasonality, right?
So let's jump into it.
Number one, I want to call thebrand ecosystem audit.
So I'm calling it that becausewhat I want you to do is take a
deep look into your business andwhere your brand shows up.
Where does your brand show upcustomer-facing places that
(01:59):
maybe you haven't thought about?
So here's what we're gonna do.
That's not Crystal's naturalthing to do.
I want you to take yourmarketing strategy and I want
you to set it to the side.
And I want you to think aboutall of the ways that your
potential customers and yourexisting customers, your friends
and your family actuallyinteract with your brand every
day.
What does it look like?
Is it on par for what you'rewanting to exude from your
(02:20):
brand?
Or have you let things getsloppy?
Do you have different brandingall over the place?
What are we talking about here?
Right.
So let's get, let's, let's talkdeeper about some of those
pieces.
So let's talk about trucks,right?
So right now would be a reallygood opportunity to take an
inventory of all of your trucks,the wraps that are on those
trucks, and schedule out whenmaybe you need to refresh those
(02:40):
wraps.
Is it just a hood problem?
Is it a backdoor problem?
Like, man, I have this truckthat's been riding around with
the back window replaced thatreally needs the wrap replaced.
So now is a good time to spendor listen, delegate, delegate
for leadership, delegate someoneto lead the charge of going
through an inventory of all ofyour vehicles and what the wraps
(03:00):
look like.
So again, if you've recentlyupdated your brand, if you did
it intentionally and you'reslowly but surely rolling
through brands and wraps, um,but now's a good time to go look
at each of those and decide isthe hood a good representation
or is it all cracked and dried?
Um, you have partial wraps onsome things, but then you
replaced a door and now thewrap's missing, right?
(03:21):
Really unfortunately, when ourwraps look clunky and messy and
disproportionate anddiscombobulated, what I think it
does is it makes it that's thereaction that it gives.
I know that it's like I'm tryingto be able to afford this
crystal.
Um, but what I want to tell youis now is the time to decide
when you can get it done.
What gets planned should getdone.
So say, you know what?
(03:42):
I can't afford to wrap thatvehicle right now, but it's the
first one I'm gonna wrap inJanuary.
I'm gonna rewrap that one.
So trucks is one.
Uniforms is another one.
Um, inspect what you expect.
Make sure that your guys arewearing what you want them to
wear.
So remember, if your guy showsup and let's say he's an
installer and it's 137,000degrees in the attic, and so he
pulls off his shirt that yougive him, but underneath it is a
(04:05):
like Budweiser, have a butt onme, or it's 420, let's smoke
weed somewhere, um, gettingdrunk, you know, or it's like
naked women on it, or you know,something offensive.
So can we make sure now is agood time to roll through that
uniform process?
Make sure do you have updateduniforms for everyone?
(04:26):
Is anyone really low?
Is it time to reorder?
Take a look at their pants, theyhave pooky all over their pants.
Like again, this is just a timeto take a good view of when they
knock on the door to install, tosell, to service um whatever
they're doing.
Do they look at the level thatthey're about to ask for an
investment?
So am I about to sell you a$20,000 system looking like I
(04:49):
rolled out of the bed, smokedthree cigarettes, and down two
white monsters on my way there?
Um, or do I look professional,polished, and on brand?
So that's another one.
So trucks, uniforms.
Um, the other one is the texttone of voice.
This was interesting to me.
Um, as I was kind of rollingthrough here, like now might be
a really good time to reiterateyour expectations of how your
(05:12):
team interacts with the public.
Okay, I know this sounds alittle silly, but again, it's
another time to say, hey, we areknown as the friendly plumber.
We need to be uh ding, ding,ding, friendly.
All right.
So we are known as this veryfamily-based company.
So we need to be shaking handsand talking correctly and being
kind and generous and with allof our time and effort and
(05:35):
energies.
Like it depends on, because thisis why I tell you guys, a brand
is so much deeper than a logo.
Listen, you need a rock starlogo.
That's why we have a wholeentire team dedicated to
bringing your brand to life in alogo, right?
But a logo is not your brand.
A brand is the emotions that youevoke when people aren't
talking, when you aren't in theroom, right?
(05:56):
So when people are talking aboutyou, people see your stuff,
people experience your brand.
How what does it make them say,feel, hear, do?
What is what are all thosethings?
So the way that yourtechnicians, the way your CSRs,
the way your trucks look, theway their uniforms look, all of
those things impact the customerjourney, whether we like it or
not.
And yes, you know, people can belike, well, they're just a
(06:17):
little direct.
They can be direct and you'lllose business, or they can be
direct and kind.
So there's a difference, right?
So we can't allow some of ourteam members to be like, sorry,
this is just who I am.
Well, unfortunately, it's notbased on culture, right?
So when you start laying downlaws around culture, but now is
the time to do this brand audit,right?
(06:37):
What about looking at youron-hold music?
What does the average personhear when they call your
business?
If you have a jingle, hello, askthem to make it into your
on-hold music.
Your on hold music could also belike, hi, thank you for calling
Crystal's Heating and Air.
This is Crystal.
I'm so thankful that you choseus today.
If you don't mind, please hold.
Our team is working diligentlyto get to you as soon as
possible.
(06:58):
Or is it elevator music?
Or is it something like you'rerattling off 50 offers, right?
So there's there's a rhyme orreason to what you do.
Just make sure you'reintentional that your on-hold
music is appropriate.
It's on brand.
It's another opportunity tospeak to people and remind them
that you're thankful for them.
You're thankful for themchoosing your company, even the
(07:18):
even the rough ones, you'rethankful, right?
Uh, also, now's a good time togo double check all of your
reviews.
Are you checking reviews onevery single platform and
responding um well?
Are you responding with SEO inmind?
Are you responding kindly anddirectly and on brand?
Or are you just here?
I'm here to set them straight.
I'm here to tell these peoplethat they are the problem.
(07:41):
Again, you're welcome to do it,but you're also opening yourself
up to the consequences of thosebehaviors.
So just a reminder there.
Also, your emails that are goingout right now.
Do you have a nice email header?
What about your emailsignatures?
Is everything up to date and onbrand?
Right.
So I'd love for you to make alist of those things and just
start double checking.
This might be a couple of hoursof work, just double checking
(08:03):
that everything is on brand.
And then what's not and what youneed to update, it's making a
plan of action, right?
You eat an elephant and a cookiethe same way, one bite at a
time.
So this might be veryoverwhelming at first,
especially those of you that aregoing through a relaunch of a
brand or something.
You might need to be like, oh mygosh, I have this whole list of
things.
Are my invoices updated?
You know, you might be missingsomething, but invoicing,
(08:25):
uniform, truck reps, emailsignatures, on hold music, your
social media channels, youremail headers, are those all
correct?
Um, what about have you updatedyour, you know, you moved
businesses?
Is all of your signage updated?
Your, you know, stop puttingthings off and be intentional
about those things.
So that's number one.
Where is your brand live?
What all is it doing?
(08:46):
And you don't need to reinventeverything.
You just need to plan consistentlittle seeds in those three to
five key areas to make sure thatyou are watching things get back
in line and keeping your brandon point.
Remember, um, becauseconsistency with your brand
being out there builds so muchtrust, it's faster than any ad
(09:09):
can do.
Just seeing you out therelooking on brand, your trucks,
your uniforms, your people, yoursocials, all of it being on
brand, they don't just buy aheating and air conditioning or
a plumbing system or a new roof.
They're buying from youspecifically, right?
They're buying from yourcompany.
And so when your brand messagingand your brand look looks very
(09:30):
consistent across all of thosechannels, literally every touch
point of the customer journey isfeeling the same way and on
trend.
It turns your company intosomething recognizable, a
trustworthy neighbor they candepend on, not just another HVAC
plumbing electrical company,right?
So come on, guys, we can do it.
(09:52):
Brand audits, right?
Number two, and this one's alittle tricky, but it's kind of
a little fun.
Like I'm kind of here for it.
It's a micro influencerneighborhood networker.
Oh my gosh, such a fancy wordfor hey, you're a busy mom that
uses our services.
Will you please talk about it?
Will you please talk about it?
So let me tell you a littlestory about myself.
I hate political signs, I hatethem mainly because I just avoid
(10:14):
confrontation.
Okay, like I don't like it.
Um, I don't love when um I wantto make a stand on something and
I know that other people aregonna have a strong opinion, but
I've gotten better as I'vegotten older.
Um, so used to, I would havenever posted about a company.
Now I'm like, let me tell youwho did good things.
And I'll be honest, I'm muchhigher to post about a good
experience that I had than Ihave a bad experience.
(10:36):
But what we do here is thatinstead of paying for these
national influencers and allthese TikTok stars and all these
big names, guys, get hyper localwith a micro influencer plan.
Okay, so what you do is reachout to that local realtor, the
guy that everybody knows thatmakes good barbecue, the PTA mom
(10:56):
that's always are, you know,always not arguing, not arguing,
no offense, PTA moms, organizingis a better word, who is always
organizing the schoolfundraisers, right?
The youth sports coaches, thethe people, the movers and the
shakers of your area, and askthem to share their authentic
experience with your company.
Now, listen, those of you thatdon't have an authentic
(11:18):
experience, and those of youthat your experience is
terrible, you need to beprepared for that.
So, what I recommend that you dois build a neighborhood insider
like referral program thatbasically is where local people
that advocate for your business,you give them perks, whether
it's swag, it's gift cards, it'shey, I will give you a free year
(11:40):
of our pest control service orour um maintenance contract.
If you will just promote, take apicture of the hey, I'm so glad
I had crystals heating and airout here today.
Um, they really got me working,my system working better.
I noticed a high electric bill.
That's all you need them to dois post about, man, John, my
technician was so great.
Um, Crystal on the phone wasfantastic.
(12:01):
I love this company and whatthey do.
I love their membership program.
And in return, you give it tothem for free.
Y'all, this is just smartmarketing, right?
This is smart marketing.
This is not abusing.
Well, I'm not gonna pay peopleto talk about me.
Well, don't.
But what I'm telling you is ithappens all the time.
And I would tell them, I wantyour authentic experience.
So, hey, Nora, you're myneighbor.
(12:23):
You're a mover and shaker in thecommunity.
You're a you're a prominentHispanic female and uh our
market's very Hispanic, and Iknow that that culture trusts
each other more than they trustmaybe an outsider.
So, mine, Nora, here's what I'dlike to offer you.
If you would, I'd love to giveyou a free year of our services,
but I want your authenticfeedback.
If you love everything we do,would you please share that on
(12:45):
your social channels and justwith your friends group?
And if you don't enjoy it, willyou please call me so that I can
work on how to make ourexperience better?
But in return, all I'm lookingfor is your honest feedback and
your opinion.
Y'all, and that's the truth andnothing but the truth.
Now, if you're gonna be mad whenthey call you and say, I didn't
like what happened, I felt likeyou were I was being sold to.
I felt like your guy was lookingfor problems.
(13:06):
He wasn't very thorough.
He ran over my dog.
Like whatever happens, right?
There is an issue with that.
But home service decisions arehyper local and they're also
trust-based.
People do business with who theylike, know, and love.
And you need people that arepaying attention, that others
trust in your market and otherstrust in these little
neighborhoods and these littleschool districts.
(13:28):
You need those people.
Identify a few of them, reachout to some friends and families
like that are close to youfirst.
Test it out, see what rewardmotivates them the most, and
then go for it.
But like when you build it, um,this is for authentic
storytelling.
I want to tell you the wholetruth here.
This is not for me to send you ascript of what to say.
(13:49):
I want your authentic storyabout what it was like working
with crystals heating and air orwith crystals roofing or
Tiffany's pest control, right?
I want you to think that way.
And then third, last but notleast, y'all are gonna hate
this.
But y'all, if you could do alittle social media content that
is like a behind the scenes, solike a documentary style video
(14:11):
showing who you are and how yougo the extra mile.
Think about if you could justpay, find someone in your market
and say, hey, we are doing aninstall at a relatively nice
house, like your average home.
So do not make this video of ahouse that can be featured on
MTV cribs.
You need it to be relatable,right?
So do not go pick the nicest,fanciest six-bedroom, 10,000
(14:33):
square foot mansion.
That's not a brag moment.
That's very intimidating topeople.
You need to go pick a modest,traditional home in your market.
And you need to call a localcompany that will come and make
a video for you.
And you need to tell yourinstaller team that you want
this to be very authentic, butthey need to be on their Ps and
Q's.
Booty, you know, booties ontheir feet, rolling out carpet,
(14:55):
parking correctly, cleaning upthe trash.
And then you tell thatvideographer, this is what I
need for you to do for me fromstart to finish.
Meet us here while we load thevan, drive with us, where show
where we park, show that weknock on the door, show that we
remove the old system, show thatwe remove all the trash, show
that we install it, show that webring the homeowner into their
(15:15):
thermostat to look at it, showthat we then go back outside and
show the contractor or show thehomeowner how good of a
contractor we are, show where weclimb up in the attic and make
sure that the ductwork iscorrect.
Have a voiceover done by thesales guy, right?
Show the installer shaking handswith the homeowner.
Those videos will go way furtherthan another video.
(15:37):
Hey, we 10% off for veterans,right?
They want, we as consumers craveunderstanding and like a little
insight into things that wedon't normally get to have
insight to right.
So, my thought here is that youschedule a couple of these
during your slower season sothat your team can take their
(15:58):
time.
They're not dripping sweat,honestly.
It's a lot more of anaesthetically pleasing thing.
Get approval from the homeowner,and then you need to send that
homeowner like a hundred dollargift card and a fun little
basket that says, please goenjoy a date night.
Thank us, thank you for lettingus video you and your install at
your home.
Guys, freaking gold.
(16:19):
Gold.
Um, because people don't fall inlove like with graphics and
stuff like that, they fall inlove with stories, right?
Stories where people go, oh mygosh, this is lovely.
That's why when you give awaythings like this is so cool,
it's heartwarming, and it's sofreaking easy to do if we could
just make time for it.
(16:39):
It also humanizes you, yourcompany, your brand, your
people.
And then honestly, people loveto see other people.
Now, listen, people don't alwayscelebrate other people.
There's a difference, but theylove to see other people,
especially like them.
That's why I'm harping on you.
Do not go do the most bougiehouse you have in your market,
get a little bit moretraditional, right?
Um, but feed content to everychannel that you have.
(17:02):
Put that video on your website,put it on your YouTube channel,
uh, cut it up into little piecesusing Opus clips to um share
little pieces on your socialmedia channels.
Share the whole thing on socialmedia channels, make it into a
recruitment ad.
Don't you work for want to workfor a company that values our
work like this?
Don't you want to do businesswith a company that goes the
(17:23):
extra mile like this?
The problem is some of you don'tgo the extra mile.
So you need to look at what thatwould be to go the extra mile,
right?
So a couple of things that youcould do with that is create a
recurring like Meet the CrewMonday.
Um, so basically every Mondayyou do a fun video about Juan or
John or Blake or Crystal orwhomever is on your team and let
(17:46):
them meet you a service storySaturday.
So a Saturday post.
Like you really need to watchwhen things perform good, but
and use it to show the brandvalues that you have in action.
Use voiceovers that make thingslook really good, not just talk
about here we are doing aninstall of a three-ton unit over
here in this subdivision andthis Jimmy, you know.
(18:06):
No, we need it to beprofessional, clean, and not
over the top.
But hey guys, you are goingbehind the scenes with crystals
heating and air today as weinstall this four-ton system on
this beautiful home in the CrownColony subdivision.
And this is our install team ofBlake and Susan, and they are a
(18:27):
rock star team.
I'm gonna let you watch a littlebit as they pack up their van
and get headed over to the hometoday.
Here they are now unloading.
As you can tell, we always makesure we love to park where you
can still get in and out becausewe're gonna be there for a
couple of hours, making surethat we do a fantastic install.
But here you see Blake and Susanreally making sure that
(18:47):
everything is ready, greetingthe homeowner, letting them know
that their system is ready to beinstalled.
We're gonna be removing theirold one, period.
But you get the point, right?
This is us walking and listen,we're mesmerized by it because
we're telling a story.
If you can tell a story, this isthe home of the Lovelace family.
They are so excited to begetting this new unit.
This unit was over 20 years old.
(19:08):
They are tired of paying highelectric bills.
They are choosing to install aArmada, our personal brand of
unit in their home.
They've installed a Wi-Fithermostat.
Guys, they are really makinggreat moves to lower those
interest, lower those electricbills.
And honestly, they just reallywant to be able to make it cool
before they get home.
Their kids do a lot of sports,and so this is an exciting time
(19:30):
for them to be able to, hey, goahead and cool the house down
before we get home and go tosleep.
So, guys, this could be yourfamily.
Make sure you reach out toCrystals Heating and Air by
clicking the link below.
So, yes, I just probably paidtwo or three, 400 bucks for them
to go out and video a couple ofthese, but then I'm gonna reuse
that content and live it, liveit up.
So, guys, those are three thingsthat I think y'all might be
(19:52):
overlooking.
Three cool marketing things thatyou could launch, you could do,
you could investigate, you couldinvest in over your shoulder
season to make sure that you'renot missing anything.
Think outside the box, guys.
And as always, if you need astrategy, if you need to build
your brand, if you don't knowwhat the heck you're doing and
you just want to gain controlover your marketing, Lemon Seed
(20:12):
is your marketing advocate andstrategist and brand
coordinator.
We'll help you get this all setup and get going.
We would love to do a freeconsultation call with you.
So make sure you email us athello at lemonseedmarketing.com.
Guys, thank you so much forsipping lemonade with me this
Tuesday.
I hope you have a great day.
What's up, Lemon Heads?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom The Yellow Chair.
I'm Crystal.
And as most of you know, thispodcast is brought to you by
Lemon Seed Marketing, which is amarketing and strategy branding
company for home services.
All of my friends that are doingH5 Plumbing Electrical Landscape
Pest Control Roofing, we arehere for it and to give you
(00:21):
guidance and strategy on how toutilize your entire marketing
budget and build those brands.
So today I'm talking to you.
I'm Rodden Solo, me and JasonDeRulo.
We're riding solo today, talkingabout three marketing things
that maybe you haven't reallythought of and why you should.
So let's jump into it.
Let's dip some lemonade.
(00:53):
All right.
So here are three things.
I had to write them down, sodon't judge me, but here are
three things that I think youcould really focus on to have a
killer 2026, especially whenhonestly, guys, weather is not
our friend.
Those of us that are living thelife of great, it's beautiful
outside.
We can actually sit outside andenjoy the weather.
(01:15):
Shout out to my Texas and peoplein the south.
But honestly, at the end of theday, anytime your slow season
comes around or your shoulderseason and you can actually look
up a little bit, these are threethings that are just unique
opportunities that I think youcan implement.
Um, and it really would helppush the limits, build your
brand, do it healthy.
Um, and it's easier to do in theoff season or in a slower season
(01:36):
than it is to do in the buckwild, wild west of top
seasonality, right?
So let's jump into it.
Number one, I want to call thebrand ecosystem audit.
So I'm calling it that becausewhat I want you to do is take a
deep look into your business andwhere your brand shows up.
Where does your brand show upcustomer-facing places that
(01:59):
maybe you haven't thought about?
So here's what we're gonna do.
That's not Crystal's naturalthing to do.
I want you to take yourmarketing strategy and I want
you to set it to the side.
And I want you to think aboutall of the ways that your
potential customers and yourexisting customers, your friends
and your family actuallyinteract with your brand every
day.
What does it look like?
Is it on par for what you'rewanting to exude from your
(02:20):
brand?
Or have you let things getsloppy?
Do you have different brandingall over the place?
What are we talking about here?
Right.
So let's get, let's, let's talkdeeper about some of those
pieces.
So let's talk about trucks,right?
So right now would be a reallygood opportunity to take an
inventory of all of your trucks,the wraps that are on those
trucks, and schedule out whenmaybe you need to refresh those
(02:40):
wraps.
Is it just a hood problem?
Is it a backdoor problem?
Like, man, I have this truckthat's been riding around with
the back window replaced thatreally needs the wrap replaced.
So now is a good time to spendor listen, delegate, delegate
for leadership, delegate someoneto lead the charge of going
through an inventory of all ofyour vehicles and what the wraps
(03:00):
look like.
So again, if you've recentlyupdated your brand, if you did
it intentionally and you'reslowly but surely rolling
through brands and wraps, um,but now's a good time to go look
at each of those and decide isthe hood a good representation
or is it all cracked and dried?
Um, you have partial wraps onsome things, but then you
replaced a door and now thewrap's missing, right?
(03:21):
Really unfortunately, when ourwraps look clunky and messy and
disproportionate anddiscombobulated, what I think it
does is it makes it that's thereaction that it gives.
I know that it's like I'm tryingto be able to afford this
crystal.
Um, but what I want to tell youis now is the time to decide
when you can get it done.
What gets planned should getdone.
So say, you know what?
(03:42):
I can't afford to wrap thatvehicle right now, but it's the
first one I'm gonna wrap inJanuary.
I'm gonna rewrap that one.
So trucks is one.
Uniforms is another one.
Um, inspect what you expect.
Make sure that your guys arewearing what you want them to
wear.
So remember, if your guy showsup and let's say he's an
installer and it's 137,000degrees in the attic, and so he
pulls off his shirt that yougive him, but underneath it is a
(04:05):
like Budweiser, have a butt onme, or it's 420, let's smoke
weed somewhere, um, gettingdrunk, you know, or it's like
naked women on it, or you know,something offensive.
So can we make sure now is agood time to roll through that
uniform process?
Make sure do you have updateduniforms for everyone?
(04:26):
Is anyone really low?
Is it time to reorder?
Take a look at their pants, theyhave pooky all over their pants.
Like again, this is just a timeto take a good view of when they
knock on the door to install, tosell, to service um whatever
they're doing.
Do they look at the level thatthey're about to ask for an
investment?
So am I about to sell you a$20,000 system looking like I
(04:49):
rolled out of the bed, smokedthree cigarettes, and down two
white monsters on my way there?
Um, or do I look professional,polished, and on brand?
So that's another one.
So trucks, uniforms.
Um, the other one is the texttone of voice.
This was interesting to me.
Um, as I was kind of rollingthrough here, like now might be
a really good time to reiterateyour expectations of how your
(05:12):
team interacts with the public.
Okay, I know this sounds alittle silly, but again, it's
another time to say, hey, we areknown as the friendly plumber.
We need to be uh ding, ding,ding, friendly.
All right.
So we are known as this veryfamily-based company.
So we need to be shaking handsand talking correctly and being
kind and generous and with allof our time and effort and
(05:35):
energies.
Like it depends on, because thisis why I tell you guys, a brand
is so much deeper than a logo.
Listen, you need a rock starlogo.
That's why we have a wholeentire team dedicated to
bringing your brand to life in alogo, right?
But a logo is not your brand.
A brand is the emotions that youevoke when people aren't
talking, when you aren't in theroom, right?
(05:56):
So when people are talking aboutyou, people see your stuff,
people experience your brand.
How what does it make them say,feel, hear, do?
What is what are all thosethings?
So the way that yourtechnicians, the way your CSRs,
the way your trucks look, theway their uniforms look, all of
those things impact the customerjourney, whether we like it or
not.
And yes, you know, people can belike, well, they're just a
(06:17):
little direct.
They can be direct and you'lllose business, or they can be
direct and kind.
So there's a difference, right?
So we can't allow some of ourteam members to be like, sorry,
this is just who I am.
Well, unfortunately, it's notbased on culture, right?
So when you start laying downlaws around culture, but now is
the time to do this brand audit,right?
(06:37):
What about looking at youron-hold music?
What does the average personhear when they call your
business?
If you have a jingle, hello, askthem to make it into your
on-hold music.
Your on hold music could also belike, hi, thank you for calling
Crystal's Heating and Air.
This is Crystal.
I'm so thankful that you choseus today.
If you don't mind, please hold.
Our team is working diligentlyto get to you as soon as
possible.
(06:58):
Or is it elevator music?
Or is it something like you'rerattling off 50 offers, right?
So there's there's a rhyme orreason to what you do.
Just make sure you'reintentional that your on-hold
music is appropriate.
It's on brand.
It's another opportunity tospeak to people and remind them
that you're thankful for them.
You're thankful for themchoosing your company, even the
(07:18):
even the rough ones, you'rethankful, right?
Uh, also, now's a good time togo double check all of your
reviews.
Are you checking reviews onevery single platform and
responding um well?
Are you responding with SEO inmind?
Are you responding kindly anddirectly and on brand?
Or are you just here?
I'm here to set them straight.
I'm here to tell these peoplethat they are the problem.
(07:41):
Again, you're welcome to do it,but you're also opening yourself
up to the consequences of thosebehaviors.
So just a reminder there.
Also, your emails that are goingout right now.
Do you have a nice email header?
What about your emailsignatures?
Is everything up to date and onbrand?
Right.
So I'd love for you to make alist of those things and just
start double checking.
This might be a couple of hoursof work, just double checking
(08:03):
that everything is on brand.
And then what's not and what youneed to update, it's making a
plan of action, right?
You eat an elephant and a cookiethe same way, one bite at a
time.
So this might be veryoverwhelming at first,
especially those of you that aregoing through a relaunch of a
brand or something.
You might need to be like, oh mygosh, I have this whole list of
things.
Are my invoices updated?
You know, you might be missingsomething, but invoicing,
(08:25):
uniform, truck reps, emailsignatures, on hold music, your
social media channels, youremail headers, are those all
correct?
Um, what about have you updatedyour, you know, you moved
businesses?
Is all of your signage updated?
Your, you know, stop puttingthings off and be intentional
about those things.
So that's number one.
Where is your brand live?
What all is it doing?
(08:46):
And you don't need to reinventeverything.
You just need to plan consistentlittle seeds in those three to
five key areas to make sure thatyou are watching things get back
in line and keeping your brandon point.
Remember, um, becauseconsistency with your brand
being out there builds so muchtrust, it's faster than any ad
(09:09):
can do.
Just seeing you out therelooking on brand, your trucks,
your uniforms, your people, yoursocials, all of it being on
brand, they don't just buy aheating and air conditioning or
a plumbing system or a new roof.
They're buying from youspecifically, right?
They're buying from yourcompany.
And so when your brand messagingand your brand look looks very
(09:30):
consistent across all of thosechannels, literally every touch
point of the customer journey isfeeling the same way and on
trend.
It turns your company intosomething recognizable, a
trustworthy neighbor they candepend on, not just another HVAC
plumbing electrical company,right?
So come on, guys, we can do it.
(09:52):
Brand audits, right?
Number two, and this one's alittle tricky, but it's kind of
a little fun.
Like I'm kind of here for it.
It's a micro influencerneighborhood networker.
Oh my gosh, such a fancy wordfor hey, you're a busy mom that
uses our services.
Will you please talk about it?
Will you please talk about it?
So let me tell you a littlestory about myself.
I hate political signs, I hatethem mainly because I just avoid
(10:14):
confrontation.
Okay, like I don't like it.
Um, I don't love when um I wantto make a stand on something and
I know that other people aregonna have a strong opinion, but
I've gotten better as I'vegotten older.
Um, so used to, I would havenever posted about a company.
Now I'm like, let me tell youwho did good things.
And I'll be honest, I'm muchhigher to post about a good
experience that I had than Ihave a bad experience.
(10:36):
But what we do here is thatinstead of paying for these
national influencers and allthese TikTok stars and all these
big names, guys, get hyper localwith a micro influencer plan.
Okay, so what you do is reachout to that local realtor, the
guy that everybody knows thatmakes good barbecue, the PTA mom
(10:56):
that's always are, you know,always not arguing, not arguing,
no offense, PTA moms, organizingis a better word, who is always
organizing the schoolfundraisers, right?
The youth sports coaches, thethe people, the movers and the
shakers of your area, and askthem to share their authentic
experience with your company.
Now, listen, those of you thatdon't have an authentic
(11:18):
experience, and those of youthat your experience is
terrible, you need to beprepared for that.
So, what I recommend that you dois build a neighborhood insider
like referral program thatbasically is where local people
that advocate for your business,you give them perks, whether
it's swag, it's gift cards, it'shey, I will give you a free year
(11:40):
of our pest control service orour um maintenance contract.
If you will just promote, take apicture of the hey, I'm so glad
I had crystals heating and airout here today.
Um, they really got me working,my system working better.
I noticed a high electric bill.
That's all you need them to dois post about, man, John, my
technician was so great.
Um, Crystal on the phone wasfantastic.
(12:01):
I love this company and whatthey do.
I love their membership program.
And in return, you give it tothem for free.
Y'all, this is just smartmarketing, right?
This is smart marketing.
This is not abusing.
Well, I'm not gonna pay peopleto talk about me.
Well, don't.
But what I'm telling you is ithappens all the time.
And I would tell them, I wantyour authentic experience.
So, hey, Nora, you're myneighbor.
(12:23):
You're a mover and shaker in thecommunity.
You're a you're a prominentHispanic female and uh our
market's very Hispanic, and Iknow that that culture trusts
each other more than they trustmaybe an outsider.
So, mine, Nora, here's what I'dlike to offer you.
If you would, I'd love to giveyou a free year of our services,
but I want your authenticfeedback.
If you love everything we do,would you please share that on
(12:45):
your social channels and justwith your friends group?
And if you don't enjoy it, willyou please call me so that I can
work on how to make ourexperience better?
But in return, all I'm lookingfor is your honest feedback and
your opinion.
Y'all, and that's the truth andnothing but the truth.
Now, if you're gonna be mad whenthey call you and say, I didn't
like what happened, I felt likeyou were I was being sold to.
I felt like your guy was lookingfor problems.
(13:06):
He wasn't very thorough.
He ran over my dog.
Like whatever happens, right?
There is an issue with that.
But home service decisions arehyper local and they're also
trust-based.
People do business with who theylike, know, and love.
And you need people that arepaying attention, that others
trust in your market and otherstrust in these little
neighborhoods and these littleschool districts.
(13:28):
You need those people.
Identify a few of them, reachout to some friends and families
like that are close to youfirst.
Test it out, see what rewardmotivates them the most, and
then go for it.
But like when you build it, um,this is for authentic
storytelling.
I want to tell you the wholetruth here.
This is not for me to send you ascript of what to say.
(13:49):
I want your authentic storyabout what it was like working
with crystals heating and air orwith crystals roofing or
Tiffany's pest control, right?
I want you to think that way.
And then third, last but notleast, y'all are gonna hate
this.
But y'all, if you could do alittle social media content that
is like a behind the scenes, solike a documentary style video
(14:11):
showing who you are and how yougo the extra mile.
Think about if you could justpay, find someone in your market
and say, hey, we are doing aninstall at a relatively nice
house, like your average home.
So do not make this video of ahouse that can be featured on
MTV cribs.
You need it to be relatable,right?
So do not go pick the nicest,fanciest six-bedroom, 10,000
(14:33):
square foot mansion.
That's not a brag moment.
That's very intimidating topeople.
You need to go pick a modest,traditional home in your market.
And you need to call a localcompany that will come and make
a video for you.
And you need to tell yourinstaller team that you want
this to be very authentic, butthey need to be on their Ps and
Q's.
Booty, you know, booties ontheir feet, rolling out carpet,
(14:55):
parking correctly, cleaning upthe trash.
And then you tell thatvideographer, this is what I
need for you to do for me fromstart to finish.
Meet us here while we load thevan, drive with us, where show
where we park, show that weknock on the door, show that we
remove the old system, show thatwe remove all the trash, show
that we install it, show that webring the homeowner into their
(15:15):
thermostat to look at it, showthat we then go back outside and
show the contractor or show thehomeowner how good of a
contractor we are, show where weclimb up in the attic and make
sure that the ductwork iscorrect.
Have a voiceover done by thesales guy, right?
Show the installer shaking handswith the homeowner.
Those videos will go way furtherthan another video.
(15:37):
Hey, we 10% off for veterans,right?
They want, we as consumers craveunderstanding and like a little
insight into things that wedon't normally get to have
insight to right.
So, my thought here is that youschedule a couple of these
during your slower season sothat your team can take their
(15:58):
time.
They're not dripping sweat,honestly.
It's a lot more of anaesthetically pleasing thing.
Get approval from the homeowner,and then you need to send that
homeowner like a hundred dollargift card and a fun little
basket that says, please goenjoy a date night.
Thank us, thank you for lettingus video you and your install at
your home.
Guys, freaking gold.
(16:19):
Gold.
Um, because people don't fall inlove like with graphics and
stuff like that, they fall inlove with stories, right?
Stories where people go, oh mygosh, this is lovely.
That's why when you give awaythings like this is so cool,
it's heartwarming, and it's sofreaking easy to do if we could
just make time for it.
(16:39):
It also humanizes you, yourcompany, your brand, your
people.
And then honestly, people loveto see other people.
Now, listen, people don't alwayscelebrate other people.
There's a difference, but theylove to see other people,
especially like them.
That's why I'm harping on you.
Do not go do the most bougiehouse you have in your market,
get a little bit moretraditional, right?
Um, but feed content to everychannel that you have.
(17:02):
Put that video on your website,put it on your YouTube channel,
uh, cut it up into little piecesusing Opus clips to um share
little pieces on your socialmedia channels.
Share the whole thing on socialmedia channels, make it into a
recruitment ad.
Don't you work for want to workfor a company that values our
work like this?
Don't you want to do businesswith a company that goes the
(17:23):
extra mile like this?
The problem is some of you don'tgo the extra mile.
So you need to look at what thatwould be to go the extra mile,
right?
So a couple of things that youcould do with that is create a
recurring like Meet the CrewMonday.
Um, so basically every Mondayyou do a fun video about Juan or
John or Blake or Crystal orwhomever is on your team and let
(17:46):
them meet you a service storySaturday.
So a Saturday post.
Like you really need to watchwhen things perform good, but
and use it to show the brandvalues that you have in action.
Use voiceovers that make thingslook really good, not just talk
about here we are doing aninstall of a three-ton unit over
here in this subdivision andthis Jimmy, you know.
(18:06):
No, we need it to beprofessional, clean, and not
over the top.
But hey guys, you are goingbehind the scenes with crystals
heating and air today as weinstall this four-ton system on
this beautiful home in the CrownColony subdivision.
And this is our install team ofBlake and Susan, and they are a
(18:27):
rock star team.
I'm gonna let you watch a littlebit as they pack up their van
and get headed over to the hometoday.
Here they are now unloading.
As you can tell, we always makesure we love to park where you
can still get in and out becausewe're gonna be there for a
couple of hours, making surethat we do a fantastic install.
But here you see Blake and Susanreally making sure that
(18:47):
everything is ready, greetingthe homeowner, letting them know
that their system is ready to beinstalled.
We're gonna be removing theirold one, period.
But you get the point, right?
This is us walking and listen,we're mesmerized by it because
we're telling a story.
If you can tell a story, this isthe home of the Lovelace family.
They are so excited to begetting this new unit.
This unit was over 20 years old.
(19:08):
They are tired of paying highelectric bills.
They are choosing to install aArmada, our personal brand of
unit in their home.
They've installed a Wi-Fithermostat.
Guys, they are really makinggreat moves to lower those
interest, lower those electricbills.
And honestly, they just reallywant to be able to make it cool
before they get home.
Their kids do a lot of sports,and so this is an exciting time
(19:30):
for them to be able to, hey, goahead and cool the house down
before we get home and go tosleep.
So, guys, this could be yourfamily.
Make sure you reach out toCrystals Heating and Air by
clicking the link below.
So, yes, I just probably paidtwo or three, 400 bucks for them
to go out and video a couple ofthese, but then I'm gonna reuse
that content and live it, liveit up.
So, guys, those are three thingsthat I think y'all might be
(19:52):
overlooking.
Three cool marketing things thatyou could launch, you could do,
you could investigate, you couldinvest in over your shoulder
season to make sure that you'renot missing anything.
Think outside the box, guys.
And as always, if you need astrategy, if you need to build
your brand, if you don't knowwhat the heck you're doing and
you just want to gain controlover your marketing, Lemon Seed
(20:12):
is your marketing advocate andstrategist and brand
coordinator.
We'll help you get this all setup and get going.
We would love to do a freeconsultation call with you.
So make sure you email us athello at lemonseedmarketing.com.
Guys, thank you so much forsipping lemonade with me this
Tuesday.
I hope you have a great day.
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