January 21, 2025 • 35 mins
Unlock the secrets of successful rebranding and family business dynamics with our esteemed guest, Rory Krueger. Rory shares his transformative journey of steering a Missouri-based family-owned business from being a mechanical contractor to a company that resonates deeply with homeowners, embracing the charm of old-fashioned values. Discover how Krueger's strategic brand refresh, with elements like wood grain siding on their trucks, plays a pivotal role in reflecting their core values and enhancing community visibility. This episode promises to impart valuable lessons on creating a compelling brand story that not only captures the essence of your business but also forges lasting emotional connections with your customers.
Venture with us into the world of branding and operations investment, where we explore the powerful impact of consistent brand presentation and strategic marketing. Learn why branding is more than just aesthetics—it's the enduring face of your company. Additionally, we delve into the intricate workings of family-run businesses, sharing personal anecdotes and strategies for maintaining harmonious relationships while building wealth together. From defining clear roles to fostering mutual respect, gain actionable insights into navigating the unique dynamics of family business success. Whether you're aiming for a brand refresh or seeking robust business strategies, this episode is rich with insights to help fortify your business foundation.
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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 1 (00:00):
All right, what's up?
Lemonheads, welcome to anotherepisode of From the Yellow Chair
.
I'm Crystal and today I'msitting down.
I have to say he's one of mymost favorite yet ornery, yet
fun clients here at Lemon Seed.
I met him back in the day whenwe were working as a McWilliams
Son with Service Nation Guys somuch fun, a fun family, a fun
(00:24):
brand.
I can't wait for you to hearabout some of the cool things
that he's done there in Missouridoing cool things for the
heating, air conditioning andgeothermal world.
So grab a lemonade, settle in.
Let's discuss some cool waysabout brand refreshes, the
importance of strong brandidentity and even driving
success in both your businessand family.
Let's sip some lemonade.
(01:01):
All right, guys, listen, this isgoing to be quite the episode.
There's lots of attitude andpersonality on this call.
So let me just go ahead andtell you.
But Rory Kruger is no strangerto the Lemon Seed family Again,
one of our favorites around here.
But he had some great stuffgoing on and we just thought
he'd be a great episode guestfor us.
And I said hey, rory, so whatwould you like for me to call
(01:22):
you today?
What's your job title?
And he said head bottle washerat Kruger in Springfield
Missouri.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So I was like okay, almost got to do the dishes.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Absolutely so, roy.
Why should anyone listen towhat you have to say today?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You know, Crystal, it all comes down to.
You know, anything I'm going tosay it's already been said.
It's just whether or not it'srelevant.
We're a small, family-owned andoperated business in the
southwest corner of the state ofMissouri, but I've been in this
trade for 30 years.
I've rubbed the elbows withCharlie Greer, Ron Smith, Matt
Michelle, and it's thosecollective holes of time spent
(02:04):
with industry pillars.
And I cataloged it Mindy callsit my reams and reams of useless
information.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Well but, you guys have had good success there and
you and Mindy work in thebusiness together.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
We do, we do.
She is actually primary ownerhere.
A little known fact.
We're registered as a WBE orWomen in Business Enterprise.
Her father retired from one ofour local supply houses after 50
years in the heating and airconditioning department.
I actually knew him before Iknew her.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
I love that.
I love that for you guys.
Well, I love what you guys aredoing there.
I know you are pretty wellknown yourself in the industry.
You lead some leadership callsand company calls for Service
Nation and everybody thatlistens to this, listens to my
podcast, very often knows howmuch of a fan I am of Service
Nation just good businesscoaching all the way around.
(02:59):
So I thought today we couldtalk a little bit about the
power of a brand refresh.
So you know, I know that whenyou came to Lemon Seed, you guys
still had this great nameKruger, but you were really
looking for more of an identity,maybe something that really
differentiated you guys.
So what did you?
What kind of got you to a placeof thinking that you guys
(03:21):
needed to give it a fresh look?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, we had.
We had been around for 15, 20years at the time and Kruger was
certainly not a non-known name.
We had grown more by referralthan we had anything else.
We actually started business asa mechanical contractor.
Of course, when you saymechanical to a homeowner, that
doesn't vibe.
(03:44):
We would typically you know,you'd typically get phone calls
for automotive repair or RV airconditioning.
So it was just time to be ableto think about what in the world
of standing out, or what didour brand really, how did our
brand fit?
What we had become over 20years of being in business and
(04:06):
that was a great conversationwith yourself and Emily and, at
the time, mckenna.
It was what was Kruger, who wasit?
And not just a name, but whatwas their culture?
And it was old-fashioned values, old-fashioned service.
I think Mindy was the one,ultimately, who said what does
(04:27):
our brand look like?
And our brand looks like, ifyou envision a picture, was a
Norman Rockwell painting.
And that's where Emily, in thegraphic design side of you, your
partner in lemon seed, that'swhere she came up with with our
wood grain siding on our trucksfor our truck wraps and that's
become synonymous.
It's on our uniforms.
It's on our uniforms.
It's everything we've done.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
We've got our, you know, herma wood grain siding
there, so well, and you knowbranding is storytelling, just
using, you know, the visual sideof like truck wraps and logos
and uniforms and things likethat.
But, like you hit on two reallycool points.
So number one is like how doesyour brand make people feel and
does it reiterate what you areactually, as a company, doing
(05:10):
internally?
And if you again, people thatlisten to me quite often know I
can really get on my soapboxabout these shelved, like
pre-created brands that I seelike people just turning out
right now and I love a goodstory.
So, yes, visually branding issuper important.
How it looks and how it readsand all of those things are very
(05:30):
important.
But at the end of the day and itsounds kind of corny, you know,
not everybody jumps on boardwith this, but a brand is how
you are, how are people engagingwith it, like in their everyday
environments, and so does itmake them feel nostalgic, which
is that whole Norman Rockwellreference that you made, or is
(05:50):
it more of you know?
Do you want to be consideredinnovative and edgy?
And so I really was proud ofyou guys because you really took
a step back and was like, okay,how do we really want to make
people feel about our company.
So, I'll be honest, limit Seedsdesign team we can make
anything look great.
We just want to make peoplefeel about our company.
So, I'll be honest, lemonside'sdesign team we can make
anything look great.
We just want to have like somemotion behind it.
You know, some energy and somethoughts and you guys took your
(06:11):
time.
Some contractors will rebrand,like build up a new brand in you
know three weeks, but you guysreally thought through it and
took a lot of time to kind ofmake your decisions.
But I think that that's becausey'all, naturally, are thinking
past a pretty logo, you know,and it really had to reflect who
you guys are.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That is so true, crystal, because again, people
do they.
Oh well, this is cool, it'sneat, it's flashy.
You know nothing against themascots that are out there,
because a mascot will a mascot.
If it fits your brand, then itfits.
If it does not fit your brand,don't try and force the mascot
thought process.
And we did, we tried, and that'swhere you said, we took our
(06:54):
time really back and forth injust what was it, what fit?
And then ultimately it was thelemon, you know the, the lemon
seed vibe, with the wood grainsiding.
Um, our tagline, um, much tomckenna's chagrin, stuck which
was keep calm, call krugercom.
Uh, and it fit, and it went onthe side of the truck and it fit
(07:18):
the wrap and it fit the brandand it fit everywhere else.
Um, it's just easy to have thatflow.
Um, because I think again,people sometimes they get caught
up in flashy or catchy and thenor trendy, very trendy.
Uh, you know one of the groupsI moderate for, um service
nation and people going throughbrand refresh there, and it was,
(07:42):
you know, one of them is beingworked on it, uh, worked on a
little bit, um, and it was likeif you put that on the side of a
van and the van drives down theroad at 65 miles an hour.
Can you read it?
Because if you can't read it,which his graphic design that he
was showing me, you couldn'thave read and it was just like I
won't be able to read it.
I won't be able to see it.
I won't remember it, um,because that's what you've got.
You've got two to five able tosee it.
(08:02):
I won't remember it, um,because that's what you've got.
You've got two to five secondsto see the side of a truck, or
to see a billboard, or to see anad mobile.
Um, and so many times it's itagain.
It's trendy, it's, it's somefancy script.
You know font, um, and it'sjust like, sometimes simple or
(08:23):
it's a better plan, it's justlike sometimes simpler is a
better plan.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And again, you know our job I feel like our job is
marketing people and is brandingpeople, is to collaborate.
Ok, so the best brands normallyare just they're not always,
they don't always look theprettiest.
So, you know, our job is tocollaborate and literally pull
(08:45):
that story out.
So every single person, everysingle contractor, has some sort
of story, some sort of hook intheir life that we can connect
to, to build a brand around Oneof the.
I have two stories that I tellquite often.
One of them is you know, we hada client comes on board and I'm
like, oh, this is a unique name, so tell me where you got this.
And so I mean, it was, it wasunique enough that I'm like did
you grow up on that street, didyou?
(09:10):
You know what?
Where did you get this name?
And he goes, oh, just, randomname generator.
So I was like random namegenerator.
So, you know, we had toliterally go curate a story
around something that wasn'teven indicative of that person,
that person's history, theirlifestyle, nothing.
And then right now I'm workingwith a business consultant that
helps contractors when they'regetting ready to sell their
businesses, and so he reachedout to us to help him refresh
(09:32):
and I said, well, tell me alittle bit about it.
And so I was like, oh, okay, sowe're going to focus on
adventure.
And you know, he looked at mefor a minute and he said I've
never thought of it that way.
I'm like this guy does a bunchof cool stuff.
So, you know, when you'rebuilding a new brand as I keep
going back to that wood grainthat you mentioned it's little
things entwined in your storyand entwined in your look and
(09:55):
your logos and your truck wrapsthat people identify with.
Like you said, that wood grainpiece that those of us that
don't live there, we might havebeen like, oh, that's a unique
look, but it's what is it?
It's become your identifierthere.
It's what you guys are known.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I think it's really starting to separate you guys,
for yeah, I mean again, if, if,if somebody goes to our call
krugercom website, you'll seethat brand, you'll see the truck
wrap again and understand thateverything you see visually from
the Kruger brand you know is alemon seed concept and it wasn't
just an overnight process.
It was working with Emily,working with your creative
(10:31):
design team, to be able to go.
What does this look like?
And the tweaks, every littlepiece we've done yard signs or
the web banner that you'll seethe webpage Again.
How do we move some of thataround to make sure that the
brand continuity is all thereand that's you know, I think
people listening here.
(10:52):
If you're fearful of theinvestment in hiring, like a
lemon seed to do a brand refresh, don't be fearful because it is
a huge investment.
It is the face of your companythat will be forevermore.
And so you decide to findsomebody online who doesn't do
(11:13):
branding, who doesn't doanything else.
There are tons of thosewebsites I'm sure that I've
heard of that'll do logo design,but it's like where's their
success story?
And it doesn't take long tolook around Lemon Seed's website
and their portfolio of workdone and some of the iconic and
epic brands they have created.
So it is an investment that isso worth every penny.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Well, you know, what do you think on the investment
side?
So, of course, the investmentin building the brand.
But what about operationally?
What are some things that maybeyou guys had to do
operationally to prepare?
So I try to prepare ourcontractors like, OK, we have
checklists, we have a launchguide.
You know, we have all thesethings to try to help people.
And if you're changing yourcompany name, that's a whole
different ballgame.
(11:59):
But let's just say you're likea lot of people and you're just
going to refresh everything.
Where did you and Mindy start?
Was it wrapping vehicles?
Was it uniforms?
And like what was thatinvestment?
Kind of looking like.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Yeah, so are you asking the dollars and cents
question?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
No, you don't really have to.
I'm more looking in a grandscheme of things, like you know,
cause this is what a lot ofcontractors will tell me, like
oh, I have to wrap every vehicle, you know and you don't.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah, that's just it.
Okay, so guided me in the rightdirection here.
So when, when we, when we firststarted, like I said, we were a
mechanical um and and westarted back in the in the
nineties, early, two thousandsum, you know, wraps weren't a
thing.
Uh, the, the branding that wesee today wasn't a thing, um.
So what did we do?
Do?
It actually started with ourprinter of all places, and they
(12:47):
did my business cards.
They were a blue linen businesscard with a foil embossed logo
on them which was actually justTiffany ITC font.
But they did that.
And then, so what did we do?
We said, well, let's just buy ablue truck.
And so I did.
I went and bought a blue truckand then my sign guy said I can
do that.
You know, today you go buy awhite truck and you wrap it, but
(13:12):
you wrap the entire thing.
I think the infamous Matt andMichelle said anything but a
white truck, I don't care whatcolor it is, please do not drive
a white truck with your name onthe side of it.
And so it was.
So it was wrapped, the wholething.
And so the iconic blueobviously people can't see my
shirt here, but my blue with theKruger logo has been Kruger
blue since day one, um and and.
(13:43):
So we incorporated that in awrap, um, and and it, just so
that the investment was the wrap, because that's the outward
visual.
Um, you know, uh, my son, whoalso now works here, uh, um, you
know, he says people don't seewhere I live, but they see what
I drive.
So they may not see your shop,they may not see your website,
but they may.
They're going to see your truckand they're going to see your
truck parked in your neighbor'sdriveway.
(14:03):
They're going to see your truckparked at the grocery store,
hopefully at the mall.
It's shopping time, guys, whynot take the vehicle and park it
in a prominent place so thatpeople can see your brand coming
and going?
But that was the investment,and it was.
It was an investment inuniforms and getting everybody
on board, but it didn't happenall at once and it doesn't have
(14:23):
to, and I think that's people'sagain.
You get a little nervous aboutoh, I've got to do all of this
at once.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
You don't, yeah, and a lot of people.
You know this sounds very harsh, but it's just the truth of it.
Odds are, I can tell you.
So I see plenty of largerevenue producing companies that
have terrible logos.
Okay.
So, contrary to what mostmarketers kind of want to put
out in the streets here, Ifirmly believe that marketing is
just a tool in your bag oftricks to be a successful
(14:54):
operator.
What really moves needles andwhat really differentiates
companies is operators Peoplethat are operating companies,
that are building efficientprocesses, that are driving
revenue, that are taking care oftheir team, that are putting a
good brand out there a goodlittle combination of those
things.
And so sometimes we getparalyzed with the idea that we
can't refresh our look because,well, my grandpa did this and
(15:18):
he's known us for 50 years,correct?
But sometimes a refresh of thebrand reinvigorates the brand
and it adds a whole nother.
Just buzz around your town witha new look and a new feel.
People that do mascots.
I always ask one question Ifyou're going to do a mascot,
you're going to be activelyinvolved in physically being a
(15:39):
part of things.
So if you're going to add amascot but you're not willing to
go be in Christmas parades andbe at downtown festivals and
celebrate sports teams winningand be silly and be fun and take
that mascot out into the public.
It's really not worth creatingthis character, because we're
creating a character that reallyhelps people identify closer
with your brand.
So if they never interact witha character, it's kind of a mute
(16:01):
point.
So I always encourage peoplelike you said, not every company
is perfect for a mascot.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
No, it's not.
And again.
But you go back to the brandstory and that's you know.
We had the pleasure of hangingout in Charlotte at a summit
earlier this year and that wasone of my opening discussions
with the group is is what isyour brand story?
Where did you start?
What's your foundation?
Because people will buy you.
They will buy the story longbefore they buy the box, will
(16:36):
buy the story long before theybuy the box.
But we get so focused on theoval or the choo-choo or the
whatever else it is.
It's about the box and the boxis really an inanimate object.
So it's really buying the brand.
But that starts with that story.
So set down, where did youstart?
How did you get going?
That's relevant to so manypeople, and especially in
today's age.
I mean you can order an 85 inchbig screen television, have it
(16:57):
delivered in 48 hours or less toyour front door.
Now, there's no personality inthat, there's no surface in that
, it's just the worldwide web.
But you know it's like I didn'tlike to tell the story and it
says on May 22nd 1927, mygrandfather, frank Kubik,
stepped foot on Ellis Islandfrom Czechoslovakia at the age
of 16.
He put himself through collegeat Notre Dame, graduated the top
(17:18):
of his class and went toIndiana University to do his
degree in medicine.
So I'm sitting here as asecond-generation person from
somebody who immigrated fromanother country, and I'm sitting
here on this podcast being ableto hang out with you.
It's a story and everybody hasone, so let's create your brand
story.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Absolutely and tell it you know and not be afraid of
it.
So you know, I love that andwe're passionate about branding.
But then you have to take thatbrand and you have to actually
implement it and start doingthings with it.
And so you know remember thoseof you that are listening so
much of your actual market isnot even in the consideration
phase of using your services.
So people don't need us all thetime for heating and air
(18:02):
conditioning, plumbing,electrical roofing, whatever
we're doing.
Those of us that are in the homeservice, we live a long game
right.
We are constantly runningmarathons to keep up with people
in our market, just for thatone time that they need us or
those couple of times that theyneed us.
And so lots of tools, lots oftechniques, but that brand makes
it either make your life easieror harder.
(18:23):
If you have a good brand, itmakes your life a lot easier
when it comes to just doingthings to keep you top of mind.
When you have a terrible brandor a very low interest brand of
things that don't have a lot ofpersonality, it's just harder.
You have to work harder to keepup with people that have a cool
look or whatever's going on.
So it's just an encouragement tocontractors.
(18:44):
Like, most of the time probably75 to 80 percent of the time
that I talk to new contractorsthey need to refresh their brand
.
I mean, you know why?
It's because you got startedright.
A lot of you got started justby being a good technician,
decided to go out on your own.
You didn't want to think aboutit, so you called it.
You know crystals, heating andair conditioning, and now you're
a $5 million company like, uh,I probably should do something
(19:06):
different than this and uh, soyou know, don't be afraid of it.
So I love that story and Ithink it's really the refresh
has really worked well for youguys.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Well, good, good.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Anything you regret or something you might would
have done different.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
You know I wish it had happened faster, as we've
talked about.
It didn't take.
It took a while and it waspainful, particularly on you
guys, because it's it's one ofof those things I knew when we
saw the brand come together Iknew that was it.
But we went through someradiations of what we wanted.
(19:44):
We went down the mascot routeand nothing stuck.
It wasn't sticking and so itwas some of the things we had
done, because don't think thatbecause you're doing a brand
refresh, that means throw outthe baby with the bathwater.
You can keep good stuff if youhave good stuff.
And the reality is, as Crystal,you well know, there are a lot
(20:07):
of people that don't have goodstuff.
It's just what they'recomfortable with.
Right For us.
We don't have a maintenanceprogram.
We don't have a maintenanceprogram.
We don't have a service program.
We don't have a spring or falltune-up program.
We have the Kruger ConciergeService Program.
Why?
Because people want to be takencare of like family and if
you've ever stayed at a goodhotel with a concierge that
(20:27):
takes care of those little needsthe restaurant reservations,
the show tickets that'simportant to people Again, and
then that was part of our brandstory was we're just going to
take care of you like family,and so we didn't throw it away.
We kept it and it's workedreally well and people go.
I like that, you know.
It makes me feel comfortable.
It's a differentiator.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
It's a differentiator .
So you know, maintenance clubsare used for consistent business
, and so you guys created just adifferent take on that.
And so there's lots of again.
This is.
It reiterates the point evenmore.
Every single company I don'tcare what anybody tells you,
every single company has theirown unique, like a fingerprint,
their own unique place in themarket.
It's just about discovering itand honing in on it and learning
(21:23):
from it and then using yourmarketing and branding skills to
then be a great operator.
It really is a great way to todifferentiate yourself with a it
.
Just again I go back to, this isa process that is a marathon,
not a sprint.
So some people are well.
And now I'll tell you anotherthing.
When you find entrepreneursthat know what they're doing,
they've had really good success.
They can start from there,start opening all kinds of stuff
.
So you know, if the, let's say,they rebranded a heating, air
conditioning and they sold it,the next thing you know they're
offering they're opening theirown plumbing, electrical roofing
, landscaping, pest control.
(21:44):
Because once you learn thestrategy of top of mind
awareness and you figure outcashflow to do that, you'll see
them just popping up things andall of a sudden they're $5
million in their second year ofbusiness and people are like I
just don't know how peoplereally push their revenue and
I'm like it's an operator thing.
It's a good understanding ofhow to push and motivate, so
(22:06):
it's very interesting.
So, okay, another thing I wantedto step into which is this is a
little different is you guyshave a geothermal push.
We do Okay, so it's just alittle different and so
sometimes I always am likeheating and air conditioning and
things like that.
But the geothermal side how doyou guys educate clients?
(22:26):
How have you coached your team?
What do you think you have todo a little differently to keep
geothermal education up?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, so we've come at the geothermal or ground
source heat pump world simplyfrom an energy savings
standpoint.
Is there an environmentalstandpoint?
750 trees saved, one fossilfuel car taken off the road?
Absolutely, we've been at thisover 20 years so we have
certainly become the predominantplayer in Southwest Missouri.
(22:54):
We have a multitude of othercompanies who are brand aware in
Springfield who make referralsto us for geo because it is a
specialty and it is somethingthat takes a specific skill set.
I will challenge any HVACcontractor out there that they
too can be a geothermal expert,because it is not rocket science
, it's just a specific skill setand training to do that.
(23:17):
But what it's done is it'sisolated us into that high
performance world of HVAC and soit is ductwork testing, it is
blower door testing, it is airleakage testing.
It's all of those things thatrevol revolve around, you know,
a total energy portfolio in ahome and when you say, hey, I'm
going to live in a, in a 3500square foot house and I have a
(23:40):
sub $100 a month total electricbill, and then your neighbor who
lives in the exact same housegoes my bill is four to $600.
You know, we're saving.
We're saving a ton of moneybecause it's positive cash flow,
it's just a money saving thingand it's a life cycle thing for
us.
So it's there's no outdoorunits with geothermal, so, um,
(24:02):
you can put your deck anywhere,you can have your master bedroom
door anywhere.
Uh, and people once they seethat it's just kind of like oh
this is great.
I'm building building onacreage and that's the last
thing I needed was a place tostick my crazy air conditioner
outside.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So yeah, yeah, and I just think like I like the
unique side of that, mainlybecause you know it just takes
intentionality of making surethat you're promoting those
products.
You know correctly that you'reeducating customers but also
like educating your own team onthe traditional side of HVAC but
then of course the geothermalside, and I know sometimes it
can be challenging when I'mknowing my notes here.
(24:37):
It said that you helped installthis in like one of these huge
house.
There was some kind of littlestory.
You had to go along with this.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Well, so we're southwest Missouri.
A little bit south of us it's alittle town called Branson.
In between, there is one of the10th largest homes in the world
.
It's took over 72,000 squarefeet, which is the size of your
average Walmart super center, bythe way.
But the gentleman who built thehome had a technology for a
(25:09):
reinforced, insulated ICF blockthat could withstand bomb blasts
.
Is where the technology camefrom.
But then they thought about thatand he said well, what about a
school?
What about a school in TornadoAlley?
What about health centers?
What about buildinginfrastructure that is
potentially subject to damage?
(25:29):
Well, the reality is is he hadbuilt this product, but he
didn't have it in application.
You know, you've got it on adrawing board.
And so he said well, why don'twe just build a living
laboratory and demonstrate whatthe possibility is of this
product?
So that's what he did, and sohe built the Pensmore Castle is
(25:50):
the name of the property,pensmore and he said I want to
do this and I want to heat andcool it really efficiently too.
It is very ultra insulated,obviously, and so we heat and
cool all of that space with only40 tons of geothermal.
But it was an engineering feata lot of piping, a lot of
(26:12):
pumping a lot of pumps, I shouldsay but ultimately, you know,
it turned out to be a very greatproject to work on.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I love that.
Well, you know I'm a fan ofBranson.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yes, my little.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
East Texas heart loves Branson, Missouri.
I call it Jesus Vegas.
It is it is, and my kids loveit.
So I tell this story quiteoften.
We were out in the middle ofthe ocean on a beautiful cruise
going to Costa Maya and there'smy kids in a hot tub little you
know, fake drinks in their handsand they're like Mom, when are
we going to Branson again?
(26:45):
And I'm like, oh my gosh, youknow, but my kids love sight and
sound theater.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
They love the racetracks.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
They are the little go-kart racing and stuff like
that.
So I have a heart for Branson,but beautiful country.
But I love that story toobecause you know I think it's
important that we tout sometimeslike some cool stuff that we've
done for our companies and forour products.
And you know I've talked to acouple of contractors that have
installed things in famouspeople's homes and you know
there's something kind of funlike your team can celebrate
that and it's a coolaccomplishment.
(27:15):
So, all right, rory, I'm goingto ask the last few questions,
and it's more about working inthe business with your family,
and you've mentioned a couple oftimes you've had a couple of
family members that work withyou.
You know, what do you think thesecret is?
To let's just stay married andworking together and then, just
like you know, building wealthtogether.
(27:37):
What does that look like foryou guys?
Maybe some tips and advice.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Well so good friends of mine, justin Kristen Dees,
they wrote a book.
You know.
Well so good friends of mine,justin Kristen Dees, they wrote
a book.
(28:01):
You know, when your BusinessPartner Is your Spouse Obviously
that's a newer bookes theoffice side and she oversees the
financial side and the dispatchside, working with CSRs, and
it's very much we stay in ourlanes.
It doesn't mean that we don'tdiscuss everything as a family,
because we do, but it's verymuch.
This is my task, this is my job.
If I need advice or want adviceor want help, um, which I do,
(28:26):
um and encourage people to dothat, uh, you know, one of the
things I do, uh, you know, anannual basis is probably read
north of 40 books, um, and soit's, what do you spend in your
time with Um?
And?
And we share that openly andwith, even within our team, and
it's, you know, one of thesayings our team will say is a
year from now, two things willhave changed the people you
(28:46):
spent time with and the booksyou've read.
So choose the people very, verywisely.
And so it is.
It's being able to put thosepeople in the right seats in the
right bus and it works.
Does it work well all the time.
Nope, I think everybody wouldcall me a fool or a liar if I
said it worked well all the time.
Everybody would call me a foolor a liar if I said it worked
(29:06):
well all the time.
But it really did help to bevery decisive in what our roles
are at Kruger.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Well, and you know I say that.
You know I grew up working formy dad and my brother, my
grandpa, my aunt, and you know,you just have to understand
who's who.
Right, like you're saying.
You know who's who.
So people say you work for yourbrother.
Well, I don't have to be theboss.
Now, listen, anybody that knowsme knows I'm a little bossy, so
that's you know, not me talkingto him and bossy.
(29:33):
I know it shocks everyone, butliterally started the podcast so
I could talk to myself, but atthe end of the day, I had to
come to the conclusion that,like, trey was the boss and so
at the end of the day, I had totake yes or no.
(29:53):
He was collaborative, butsomebody had to be the final
decision maker.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
And so this concept that, oh, we can all collaborate
, and work together is a goodway to stall progress.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
So just kind of going in who's the boss and it
doesn't even matter.
People that chase titlesnormally can't earn them through
action.
So that's always a hard thingfor me, like if you've got to
tell me that you're the boss,you're probably not.
It's about earning, you know,the respect of each other.
But it still can take a toll.
I know one time Emily was eventelling me one time she said you
(30:18):
know one of the things that washard because she and her
husband had, you know, realgraphics, a print and design
company before she came over andworked with me at Limitsy.
And they still have realgraphics.
Just he runs that.
But she was telling me one time.
She said, man, a hardconversation is when your
husband is trying to decidebetween who's right or wrong me
or this other person, you knowand she's like those could be
(30:39):
some hard knots, but I thinkthey have really good respect
for one another and you know youhave to have a business mindset
.
It can be definitely achallenge, rory.
Anything else I always like toask this question too at the end
.
If there's a contractorlistening to this, that's very
much like they're new, they'regreen and they're ready to take
off with their business lessthan a million dollars.
(31:00):
What are a couple pieces ofadvice that you would give them?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I would give them the advice to sit down and write
your brand story out.
I would, second, pick up thebook the E-Myth by Michael
Gerber and read the E-Myth andmake sure you're not living the
E-Myth which is we'reentrepreneurs and we're doing a
technician's job and suddenly wehang a shingle and here we go
and then we get caught up inbeing a technician and trying to
(31:26):
run a business and we forget,oh, where that brand story was.
And we get busy and, like yousaid, sub-million bucks, and
that's where everybody getsstuck usually.
So, brand story e-myth to findyour focus and put some goals on
the wall.
Where are you going?
Because we wouldn't.
When we all drive with GPS now,we used to drive with these
(31:46):
things called atlases or maps.
Some of us are old enough toremember those.
But you didn't just get in thecar and head west.
That's a movie.
You had a destination and youknew how you were going to get
there.
So you're in a spot.
Now You're going to grow.
What does it look like in sixmonths?
What does it look like in ayear?
What does it look like in 18months?
And start planning that and youmight all again, we're all
(32:08):
contractors doing contract-ystuff.
Ask for help.
Find somebody to talk to.
You know a lot of groups, a lotof groups out there.
I've had a lot of luck withService Nation, but it's just
find a group.
Find somebody to mentor you, toguide you, because there are
people much like myself, who arean open book and saying I've
(32:30):
done that that didn't work well,this is what it did do, this is
why it worked well.
So, find some help.
And then, last and not least,know your numbers.
I cannot stress enough how manycontractors they.
They got money in the bank, butthey don't know how to price.
They don't know, uh, wheretheir cash position is.
(32:52):
They don't know wherebreak-even is for the year.
You start mentioning theirfinancials and they just blaze
over like a deer in theheadlights Um, but no, you have
to know your operational numbers.
There's just no way around it.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, math before marketing.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Math before marketing , exactly.
But how do you?
You know again, you can have agreat brand.
You can have a.
You can hire Lemon Seed.
They can do your brand refresh.
They can do your complete brand.
If you're sitting here going,you know what.
We've been in business for awhile and we're just not
succeeding.
A complete rebrand is not a badthing, and you may have the
cash to write that check, butyou better know how you got the
(33:27):
cash to begin with.
So we don't want to.
We don't want to have a greatbrand without the revenue goals
or knowing what you need to do.
So know your numbers.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Absolutely, and I love, note, knowing your numbers
.
Those are just key things.
Now that I look back, you know,like man, even when I started
limiting, like man, knowing ournumbers would have been a lot.
We should have known themdifferently and better.
And so you know, I just thinkthere's so much power in today's
episode, like little nuggetsthat we've been pushing out.
There are great for contractorsthat are just ready to go to
the next level, whether that'syou going from five to 10
(34:00):
million, 10 to 20 million,that's going from less than a
million to your first million,wherever you are, in the grand
scheme of things, these goodmarketing and business practices
that we talked about do notwaver, they do not change.
The scale just becomesdifferent.
You know.
So you know you should alwaysbe working on your brand.
You should always know yournumbers.
You should always be seekingwise counsel.
You should always be constantlyfocused on the business, not in
(34:23):
the business.
As much and so well.
Rory, thank you so much forvisiting with me today.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
No problem, thanks for having me.
It's always good to sit in yourlittle chair and drink some
lemonade.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Oh well, there we go.
There we go, and listeners.
If you've been thinking about arefresh for your brand or
exploring new ways to marketyour business, I encourage you
to visit LemonSeedMarketingcomand see how we can help you
strategize and build out a brandstory.
And also, don't forget to checkout Kruger and see their
awesome wood grain look thatthey've got going on and some of
the really cool things thatthey do.
(34:52):
So thank you for listening toFrom the Yellow Chair.
If you enjoyed this episode,leave us a review.
Make sure you're following us.
Thanks for sipping somelemonade.
We'll see you next time.
All right, what's up?
Lemonheads, welcome to anotherepisode of From the Yellow Chair
.
I'm Crystal and today I'msitting down.
I have to say he's one of mymost favorite yet ornery, yet
fun clients here at Lemon Seed.
I met him back in the day whenwe were working as a McWilliams
Son with Service Nation Guys somuch fun, a fun family, a fun
(00:24):
brand.
I can't wait for you to hearabout some of the cool things
that he's done there in Missouridoing cool things for the
heating, air conditioning andgeothermal world.
So grab a lemonade, settle in.
Let's discuss some cool waysabout brand refreshes, the
importance of strong brandidentity and even driving
success in both your businessand family.
Let's sip some lemonade.
(01:01):
All right, guys, listen, this isgoing to be quite the episode.
There's lots of attitude andpersonality on this call.
So let me just go ahead andtell you.
But Rory Kruger is no strangerto the Lemon Seed family Again,
one of our favorites around here.
But he had some great stuffgoing on and we just thought
he'd be a great episode guestfor us.
And I said hey, rory, so whatwould you like for me to call
(01:22):
you today?
What's your job title?
And he said head bottle washerat Kruger in Springfield
Missouri.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So I was like okay, almost got to do the dishes.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Absolutely so, roy.
Why should anyone listen towhat you have to say today?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You know, Crystal, it all comes down to.
You know, anything I'm going tosay it's already been said.
It's just whether or not it'srelevant.
We're a small, family-owned andoperated business in the
southwest corner of the state ofMissouri, but I've been in this
trade for 30 years.
I've rubbed the elbows withCharlie Greer, Ron Smith, Matt
Michelle, and it's thosecollective holes of time spent
(02:04):
with industry pillars.
And I cataloged it Mindy callsit my reams and reams of useless
information.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Well but, you guys have had good success there and
you and Mindy work in thebusiness together.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
We do, we do.
She is actually primary ownerhere.
A little known fact.
We're registered as a WBE orWomen in Business Enterprise.
Her father retired from one ofour local supply houses after 50
years in the heating and airconditioning department.
I actually knew him before Iknew her.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
I love that.
I love that for you guys.
Well, I love what you guys aredoing there.
I know you are pretty wellknown yourself in the industry.
You lead some leadership callsand company calls for Service
Nation and everybody thatlistens to this, listens to my
podcast, very often knows howmuch of a fan I am of Service
Nation just good businesscoaching all the way around.
(02:59):
So I thought today we couldtalk a little bit about the
power of a brand refresh.
So you know, I know that whenyou came to Lemon Seed, you guys
still had this great nameKruger, but you were really
looking for more of an identity,maybe something that really
differentiated you guys.
So what did you?
What kind of got you to a placeof thinking that you guys
(03:21):
needed to give it a fresh look?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, we had.
We had been around for 15, 20years at the time and Kruger was
certainly not a non-known name.
We had grown more by referralthan we had anything else.
We actually started business asa mechanical contractor.
Of course, when you saymechanical to a homeowner, that
doesn't vibe.
(03:44):
We would typically you know,you'd typically get phone calls
for automotive repair or RV airconditioning.
So it was just time to be ableto think about what in the world
of standing out, or what didour brand really, how did our
brand fit?
What we had become over 20years of being in business and
(04:06):
that was a great conversationwith yourself and Emily and, at
the time, mckenna.
It was what was Kruger, who wasit?
And not just a name, but whatwas their culture?
And it was old-fashioned values, old-fashioned service.
I think Mindy was the one,ultimately, who said what does
(04:27):
our brand look like?
And our brand looks like, ifyou envision a picture, was a
Norman Rockwell painting.
And that's where Emily, in thegraphic design side of you, your
partner in lemon seed, that'swhere she came up with with our
wood grain siding on our trucksfor our truck wraps and that's
become synonymous.
It's on our uniforms.
It's on our uniforms.
It's everything we've done.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
We've got our, you know, herma wood grain siding
there, so well, and you knowbranding is storytelling, just
using, you know, the visual sideof like truck wraps and logos
and uniforms and things likethat.
But, like you hit on two reallycool points.
So number one is like how doesyour brand make people feel and
does it reiterate what you areactually, as a company, doing
(05:10):
internally?
And if you again, people thatlisten to me quite often know I
can really get on my soapboxabout these shelved, like
pre-created brands that I seelike people just turning out
right now and I love a goodstory.
So, yes, visually branding issuper important.
How it looks and how it readsand all of those things are very
(05:30):
important.
But at the end of the day and itsounds kind of corny, you know,
not everybody jumps on boardwith this, but a brand is how
you are, how are people engagingwith it, like in their everyday
environments, and so does itmake them feel nostalgic, which
is that whole Norman Rockwellreference that you made, or is
(05:50):
it more of you know?
Do you want to be consideredinnovative and edgy?
And so I really was proud ofyou guys because you really took
a step back and was like, okay,how do we really want to make
people feel about our company.
So, I'll be honest, limit Seedsdesign team we can make
anything look great.
We just want to make peoplefeel about our company.
So, I'll be honest, lemonside'sdesign team we can make
anything look great.
We just want to have like somemotion behind it.
You know, some energy and somethoughts and you guys took your
(06:11):
time.
Some contractors will rebrand,like build up a new brand in you
know three weeks, but you guysreally thought through it and
took a lot of time to kind ofmake your decisions.
But I think that that's becausey'all, naturally, are thinking
past a pretty logo, you know,and it really had to reflect who
you guys are.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That is so true, crystal, because again, people
do they.
Oh well, this is cool, it'sneat, it's flashy.
You know nothing against themascots that are out there,
because a mascot will a mascot.
If it fits your brand, then itfits.
If it does not fit your brand,don't try and force the mascot
thought process.
And we did, we tried, and that'swhere you said, we took our
(06:54):
time really back and forth injust what was it, what fit?
And then ultimately it was thelemon, you know the, the lemon
seed vibe, with the wood grainsiding.
Um, our tagline, um, much tomckenna's chagrin, stuck which
was keep calm, call krugercom.
Uh, and it fit, and it went onthe side of the truck and it fit
(07:18):
the wrap and it fit the brandand it fit everywhere else.
Um, it's just easy to have thatflow.
Um, because I think again,people sometimes they get caught
up in flashy or catchy and thenor trendy, very trendy.
Uh, you know one of the groupsI moderate for, um service
nation and people going throughbrand refresh there, and it was,
(07:42):
you know, one of them is beingworked on it, uh, worked on a
little bit, um, and it was likeif you put that on the side of a
van and the van drives down theroad at 65 miles an hour.
Can you read it?
Because if you can't read it,which his graphic design that he
was showing me, you couldn'thave read and it was just like I
won't be able to read it.
I won't be able to see it.
I won't remember it, um,because that's what you've got.
You've got two to five able tosee it.
(08:02):
I won't remember it, um,because that's what you've got.
You've got two to five secondsto see the side of a truck, or
to see a billboard, or to see anad mobile.
Um, and so many times it's itagain.
It's trendy, it's, it's somefancy script.
You know font, um, and it'sjust like, sometimes simple or
(08:23):
it's a better plan, it's justlike sometimes simpler is a
better plan.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
And again, you know our job I feel like our job is
marketing people and is brandingpeople, is to collaborate.
Ok, so the best brands normallyare just they're not always,
they don't always look theprettiest.
So, you know, our job is tocollaborate and literally pull
(08:45):
that story out.
So every single person, everysingle contractor, has some sort
of story, some sort of hook intheir life that we can connect
to, to build a brand around Oneof the.
I have two stories that I tellquite often.
One of them is you know, we hada client comes on board and I'm
like, oh, this is a unique name, so tell me where you got this.
And so I mean, it was, it wasunique enough that I'm like did
you grow up on that street, didyou?
(09:10):
You know what?
Where did you get this name?
And he goes, oh, just, randomname generator.
So I was like random namegenerator.
So, you know, we had toliterally go curate a story
around something that wasn'teven indicative of that person,
that person's history, theirlifestyle, nothing.
And then right now I'm workingwith a business consultant that
helps contractors when they'regetting ready to sell their
businesses, and so he reachedout to us to help him refresh
(09:32):
and I said, well, tell me alittle bit about it.
And so I was like, oh, okay, sowe're going to focus on
adventure.
And you know, he looked at mefor a minute and he said I've
never thought of it that way.
I'm like this guy does a bunchof cool stuff.
So, you know, when you'rebuilding a new brand as I keep
going back to that wood grainthat you mentioned it's little
things entwined in your storyand entwined in your look and
(09:55):
your logos and your truck wrapsthat people identify with.
Like you said, that wood grainpiece that those of us that
don't live there, we might havebeen like, oh, that's a unique
look, but it's what is it?
It's become your identifierthere.
It's what you guys are known.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I think it's really starting to separate you guys,
for yeah, I mean again, if, if,if somebody goes to our call
krugercom website, you'll seethat brand, you'll see the truck
wrap again and understand thateverything you see visually from
the Kruger brand you know is alemon seed concept and it wasn't
just an overnight process.
It was working with Emily,working with your creative
(10:31):
design team, to be able to go.
What does this look like?
And the tweaks, every littlepiece we've done yard signs or
the web banner that you'll seethe webpage Again.
How do we move some of thataround to make sure that the
brand continuity is all thereand that's you know, I think
people listening here.
(10:52):
If you're fearful of theinvestment in hiring, like a
lemon seed to do a brand refresh, don't be fearful because it is
a huge investment.
It is the face of your companythat will be forevermore.
And so you decide to findsomebody online who doesn't do
(11:13):
branding, who doesn't doanything else.
There are tons of thosewebsites I'm sure that I've
heard of that'll do logo design,but it's like where's their
success story?
And it doesn't take long tolook around Lemon Seed's website
and their portfolio of workdone and some of the iconic and
epic brands they have created.
So it is an investment that isso worth every penny.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Well, you know, what do you think on the investment
side?
So, of course, the investmentin building the brand.
But what about operationally?
What are some things that maybeyou guys had to do
operationally to prepare?
So I try to prepare ourcontractors like, OK, we have
checklists, we have a launchguide.
You know, we have all thesethings to try to help people.
And if you're changing yourcompany name, that's a whole
different ballgame.
(11:59):
But let's just say you're likea lot of people and you're just
going to refresh everything.
Where did you and Mindy start?
Was it wrapping vehicles?
Was it uniforms?
And like what was thatinvestment?
Kind of looking like.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Yeah, so are you asking the dollars and cents
question?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
No, you don't really have to.
I'm more looking in a grandscheme of things, like you know,
cause this is what a lot ofcontractors will tell me, like
oh, I have to wrap every vehicle, you know and you don't.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah, that's just it.
Okay, so guided me in the rightdirection here.
So when, when we, when we firststarted, like I said, we were a
mechanical um and and westarted back in the in the
nineties, early, two thousandsum, you know, wraps weren't a
thing.
Uh, the, the branding that wesee today wasn't a thing, um.
So what did we do?
Do?
It actually started with ourprinter of all places, and they
(12:47):
did my business cards.
They were a blue linen businesscard with a foil embossed logo
on them which was actually justTiffany ITC font.
But they did that.
And then, so what did we do?
We said, well, let's just buy ablue truck.
And so I did.
I went and bought a blue truckand then my sign guy said I can
do that.
You know, today you go buy awhite truck and you wrap it, but
(13:12):
you wrap the entire thing.
I think the infamous Matt andMichelle said anything but a
white truck, I don't care whatcolor it is, please do not drive
a white truck with your name onthe side of it.
And so it was.
So it was wrapped, the wholething.
And so the iconic blueobviously people can't see my
shirt here, but my blue with theKruger logo has been Kruger
blue since day one, um and and.
(13:43):
So we incorporated that in awrap, um, and and it, just so
that the investment was the wrap, because that's the outward
visual.
Um, you know, uh, my son, whoalso now works here, uh, um, you
know, he says people don't seewhere I live, but they see what
I drive.
So they may not see your shop,they may not see your website,
but they may.
They're going to see your truckand they're going to see your
truck parked in your neighbor'sdriveway.
(14:03):
They're going to see your truckparked at the grocery store,
hopefully at the mall.
It's shopping time, guys, whynot take the vehicle and park it
in a prominent place so thatpeople can see your brand coming
and going?
But that was the investment,and it was.
It was an investment inuniforms and getting everybody
on board, but it didn't happenall at once and it doesn't have
(14:23):
to, and I think that's people'sagain.
You get a little nervous aboutoh, I've got to do all of this
at once.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
You don't, yeah, and a lot of people.
You know this sounds very harsh, but it's just the truth of it.
Odds are, I can tell you.
So I see plenty of largerevenue producing companies that
have terrible logos.
Okay.
So, contrary to what mostmarketers kind of want to put
out in the streets here, Ifirmly believe that marketing is
just a tool in your bag oftricks to be a successful
(14:54):
operator.
What really moves needles andwhat really differentiates
companies is operators Peoplethat are operating companies,
that are building efficientprocesses, that are driving
revenue, that are taking care oftheir team, that are putting a
good brand out there a goodlittle combination of those
things.
And so sometimes we getparalyzed with the idea that we
can't refresh our look because,well, my grandpa did this and
(15:18):
he's known us for 50 years,correct?
But sometimes a refresh of thebrand reinvigorates the brand
and it adds a whole nother.
Just buzz around your town witha new look and a new feel.
People that do mascots.
I always ask one question Ifyou're going to do a mascot,
you're going to be activelyinvolved in physically being a
(15:39):
part of things.
So if you're going to add amascot but you're not willing to
go be in Christmas parades andbe at downtown festivals and
celebrate sports teams winningand be silly and be fun and take
that mascot out into the public.
It's really not worth creatingthis character, because we're
creating a character that reallyhelps people identify closer
with your brand.
So if they never interact witha character, it's kind of a mute
(16:01):
point.
So I always encourage peoplelike you said, not every company
is perfect for a mascot.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
No, it's not.
And again.
But you go back to the brandstory and that's you know.
We had the pleasure of hangingout in Charlotte at a summit
earlier this year and that wasone of my opening discussions
with the group is is what isyour brand story?
Where did you start?
What's your foundation?
Because people will buy you.
They will buy the story longbefore they buy the box, will
(16:36):
buy the story long before theybuy the box.
But we get so focused on theoval or the choo-choo or the
whatever else it is.
It's about the box and the boxis really an inanimate object.
So it's really buying the brand.
But that starts with that story.
So set down, where did youstart?
How did you get going?
That's relevant to so manypeople, and especially in
today's age.
I mean you can order an 85 inchbig screen television, have it
(16:57):
delivered in 48 hours or less toyour front door.
Now, there's no personality inthat, there's no surface in that
, it's just the worldwide web.
But you know it's like I didn'tlike to tell the story and it
says on May 22nd 1927, mygrandfather, frank Kubik,
stepped foot on Ellis Islandfrom Czechoslovakia at the age
of 16.
He put himself through collegeat Notre Dame, graduated the top
(17:18):
of his class and went toIndiana University to do his
degree in medicine.
So I'm sitting here as asecond-generation person from
somebody who immigrated fromanother country, and I'm sitting
here on this podcast being ableto hang out with you.
It's a story and everybody hasone, so let's create your brand
story.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Absolutely and tell it you know and not be afraid of
it.
So you know, I love that andwe're passionate about branding.
But then you have to take thatbrand and you have to actually
implement it and start doingthings with it.
And so you know remember thoseof you that are listening so
much of your actual market isnot even in the consideration
phase of using your services.
So people don't need us all thetime for heating and air
(18:02):
conditioning, plumbing,electrical roofing, whatever
we're doing.
Those of us that are in the homeservice, we live a long game
right.
We are constantly runningmarathons to keep up with people
in our market, just for thatone time that they need us or
those couple of times that theyneed us.
And so lots of tools, lots oftechniques, but that brand makes
it either make your life easieror harder.
(18:23):
If you have a good brand, itmakes your life a lot easier
when it comes to just doingthings to keep you top of mind.
When you have a terrible brandor a very low interest brand of
things that don't have a lot ofpersonality, it's just harder.
You have to work harder to keepup with people that have a cool
look or whatever's going on.
So it's just an encouragement tocontractors.
(18:44):
Like, most of the time probably75 to 80 percent of the time
that I talk to new contractorsthey need to refresh their brand
.
I mean, you know why?
It's because you got startedright.
A lot of you got started justby being a good technician,
decided to go out on your own.
You didn't want to think aboutit, so you called it.
You know crystals, heating andair conditioning, and now you're
a $5 million company like, uh,I probably should do something
(19:06):
different than this and uh, soyou know, don't be afraid of it.
So I love that story and Ithink it's really the refresh
has really worked well for youguys.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Well, good, good.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Anything you regret or something you might would
have done different.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
You know I wish it had happened faster, as we've
talked about.
It didn't take.
It took a while and it waspainful, particularly on you
guys, because it's it's one ofof those things I knew when we
saw the brand come together Iknew that was it.
But we went through someradiations of what we wanted.
(19:44):
We went down the mascot routeand nothing stuck.
It wasn't sticking and so itwas some of the things we had
done, because don't think thatbecause you're doing a brand
refresh, that means throw outthe baby with the bathwater.
You can keep good stuff if youhave good stuff.
And the reality is, as Crystal,you well know, there are a lot
(20:07):
of people that don't have goodstuff.
It's just what they'recomfortable with.
Right For us.
We don't have a maintenanceprogram.
We don't have a maintenanceprogram.
We don't have a service program.
We don't have a spring or falltune-up program.
We have the Kruger ConciergeService Program.
Why?
Because people want to be takencare of like family and if
you've ever stayed at a goodhotel with a concierge that
(20:27):
takes care of those little needsthe restaurant reservations,
the show tickets that'simportant to people Again, and
then that was part of our brandstory was we're just going to
take care of you like family,and so we didn't throw it away.
We kept it and it's workedreally well and people go.
I like that, you know.
It makes me feel comfortable.
It's a differentiator.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
It's a differentiator .
So you know, maintenance clubsare used for consistent business
, and so you guys created just adifferent take on that.
And so there's lots of again.
This is.
It reiterates the point evenmore.
Every single company I don'tcare what anybody tells you,
every single company has theirown unique, like a fingerprint,
their own unique place in themarket.
It's just about discovering itand honing in on it and learning
(21:23):
from it and then using yourmarketing and branding skills to
then be a great operator.
It really is a great way to todifferentiate yourself with a it
.
Just again I go back to, this isa process that is a marathon,
not a sprint.
So some people are well.
And now I'll tell you anotherthing.
When you find entrepreneursthat know what they're doing,
they've had really good success.
They can start from there,start opening all kinds of stuff
.
So you know, if the, let's say,they rebranded a heating, air
conditioning and they sold it,the next thing you know they're
offering they're opening theirown plumbing, electrical roofing
, landscaping, pest control.
(21:44):
Because once you learn thestrategy of top of mind
awareness and you figure outcashflow to do that, you'll see
them just popping up things andall of a sudden they're $5
million in their second year ofbusiness and people are like I
just don't know how peoplereally push their revenue and
I'm like it's an operator thing.
It's a good understanding ofhow to push and motivate, so
(22:06):
it's very interesting.
So, okay, another thing I wantedto step into which is this is a
little different is you guyshave a geothermal push.
We do Okay, so it's just alittle different and so
sometimes I always am likeheating and air conditioning and
things like that.
But the geothermal side how doyou guys educate clients?
(22:26):
How have you coached your team?
What do you think you have todo a little differently to keep
geothermal education up?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, so we've come at the geothermal or ground
source heat pump world simplyfrom an energy savings
standpoint.
Is there an environmentalstandpoint?
750 trees saved, one fossilfuel car taken off the road?
Absolutely, we've been at thisover 20 years so we have
certainly become the predominantplayer in Southwest Missouri.
(22:54):
We have a multitude of othercompanies who are brand aware in
Springfield who make referralsto us for geo because it is a
specialty and it is somethingthat takes a specific skill set.
I will challenge any HVACcontractor out there that they
too can be a geothermal expert,because it is not rocket science
, it's just a specific skill setand training to do that.
(23:17):
But what it's done is it'sisolated us into that high
performance world of HVAC and soit is ductwork testing, it is
blower door testing, it is airleakage testing.
It's all of those things thatrevol revolve around, you know,
a total energy portfolio in ahome and when you say, hey, I'm
going to live in a, in a 3500square foot house and I have a
(23:40):
sub $100 a month total electricbill, and then your neighbor who
lives in the exact same housegoes my bill is four to $600.
You know, we're saving.
We're saving a ton of moneybecause it's positive cash flow,
it's just a money saving thingand it's a life cycle thing for
us.
So it's there's no outdoorunits with geothermal, so, um,
(24:02):
you can put your deck anywhere,you can have your master bedroom
door anywhere.
Uh, and people once they seethat it's just kind of like oh
this is great.
I'm building building onacreage and that's the last
thing I needed was a place tostick my crazy air conditioner
outside.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So yeah, yeah, and I just think like I like the
unique side of that, mainlybecause you know it just takes
intentionality of making surethat you're promoting those
products.
You know correctly that you'reeducating customers but also
like educating your own team onthe traditional side of HVAC but
then of course the geothermalside, and I know sometimes it
can be challenging when I'mknowing my notes here.
(24:37):
It said that you helped installthis in like one of these huge
house.
There was some kind of littlestory.
You had to go along with this.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Well, so we're southwest Missouri.
A little bit south of us it's alittle town called Branson.
In between, there is one of the10th largest homes in the world
.
It's took over 72,000 squarefeet, which is the size of your
average Walmart super center, bythe way.
But the gentleman who built thehome had a technology for a
(25:09):
reinforced, insulated ICF blockthat could withstand bomb blasts
.
Is where the technology camefrom.
But then they thought about thatand he said well, what about a
school?
What about a school in TornadoAlley?
What about health centers?
What about buildinginfrastructure that is
potentially subject to damage?
(25:29):
Well, the reality is is he hadbuilt this product, but he
didn't have it in application.
You know, you've got it on adrawing board.
And so he said well, why don'twe just build a living
laboratory and demonstrate whatthe possibility is of this
product?
So that's what he did, and sohe built the Pensmore Castle is
(25:50):
the name of the property,pensmore and he said I want to
do this and I want to heat andcool it really efficiently too.
It is very ultra insulated,obviously, and so we heat and
cool all of that space with only40 tons of geothermal.
But it was an engineering feata lot of piping, a lot of
(26:12):
pumping a lot of pumps, I shouldsay but ultimately, you know,
it turned out to be a very greatproject to work on.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I love that.
Well, you know I'm a fan ofBranson.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yes, my little.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
East Texas heart loves Branson, Missouri.
I call it Jesus Vegas.
It is it is, and my kids loveit.
So I tell this story quiteoften.
We were out in the middle ofthe ocean on a beautiful cruise
going to Costa Maya and there'smy kids in a hot tub little you
know, fake drinks in their handsand they're like Mom, when are
we going to Branson again?
(26:45):
And I'm like, oh my gosh, youknow, but my kids love sight and
sound theater.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
They love the racetracks.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
They are the little go-kart racing and stuff like
that.
So I have a heart for Branson,but beautiful country.
But I love that story toobecause you know I think it's
important that we tout sometimeslike some cool stuff that we've
done for our companies and forour products.
And you know I've talked to acouple of contractors that have
installed things in famouspeople's homes and you know
there's something kind of funlike your team can celebrate
that and it's a coolaccomplishment.
(27:15):
So, all right, rory, I'm goingto ask the last few questions,
and it's more about working inthe business with your family,
and you've mentioned a couple oftimes you've had a couple of
family members that work withyou.
You know, what do you think thesecret is?
To let's just stay married andworking together and then, just
like you know, building wealthtogether.
(27:37):
What does that look like foryou guys?
Maybe some tips and advice.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Well so good friends of mine, justin Kristen Dees,
they wrote a book.
You know.
Well so good friends of mine,justin Kristen Dees, they wrote
a book.
(28:01):
You know, when your BusinessPartner Is your Spouse Obviously
that's a newer bookes theoffice side and she oversees the
financial side and the dispatchside, working with CSRs, and
it's very much we stay in ourlanes.
It doesn't mean that we don'tdiscuss everything as a family,
because we do, but it's verymuch.
This is my task, this is my job.
If I need advice or want adviceor want help, um, which I do,
(28:26):
um and encourage people to dothat, uh, you know, one of the
things I do, uh, you know, anannual basis is probably read
north of 40 books, um, and soit's, what do you spend in your
time with Um?
And?
And we share that openly andwith, even within our team, and
it's, you know, one of thesayings our team will say is a
year from now, two things willhave changed the people you
(28:46):
spent time with and the booksyou've read.
So choose the people very, verywisely.
And so it is.
It's being able to put thosepeople in the right seats in the
right bus and it works.
Does it work well all the time.
Nope, I think everybody wouldcall me a fool or a liar if I
said it worked well all the time.
Everybody would call me a foolor a liar if I said it worked
(29:06):
well all the time.
But it really did help to bevery decisive in what our roles
are at Kruger.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Well, and you know I say that.
You know I grew up working formy dad and my brother, my
grandpa, my aunt, and you know,you just have to understand
who's who.
Right, like you're saying.
You know who's who.
So people say you work for yourbrother.
Well, I don't have to be theboss.
Now, listen, anybody that knowsme knows I'm a little bossy, so
that's you know, not me talkingto him and bossy.
(29:33):
I know it shocks everyone, butliterally started the podcast so
I could talk to myself, but atthe end of the day, I had to
come to the conclusion that,like, trey was the boss and so
at the end of the day, I had totake yes or no.
(29:53):
He was collaborative, butsomebody had to be the final
decision maker.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
And so this concept that, oh, we can all collaborate
, and work together is a goodway to stall progress.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
So just kind of going in who's the boss and it
doesn't even matter.
People that chase titlesnormally can't earn them through
action.
So that's always a hard thingfor me, like if you've got to
tell me that you're the boss,you're probably not.
It's about earning, you know,the respect of each other.
But it still can take a toll.
I know one time Emily was eventelling me one time she said you
(30:18):
know one of the things that washard because she and her
husband had, you know, realgraphics, a print and design
company before she came over andworked with me at Limitsy.
And they still have realgraphics.
Just he runs that.
But she was telling me one time.
She said, man, a hardconversation is when your
husband is trying to decidebetween who's right or wrong me
or this other person, you knowand she's like those could be
(30:39):
some hard knots, but I thinkthey have really good respect
for one another and you know youhave to have a business mindset
.
It can be definitely achallenge, rory.
Anything else I always like toask this question too at the end
.
If there's a contractorlistening to this, that's very
much like they're new, they'regreen and they're ready to take
off with their business lessthan a million dollars.
(31:00):
What are a couple pieces ofadvice that you would give them?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I would give them the advice to sit down and write
your brand story out.
I would, second, pick up thebook the E-Myth by Michael
Gerber and read the E-Myth andmake sure you're not living the
E-Myth which is we'reentrepreneurs and we're doing a
technician's job and suddenly wehang a shingle and here we go
and then we get caught up inbeing a technician and trying to
(31:26):
run a business and we forget,oh, where that brand story was.
And we get busy and, like yousaid, sub-million bucks, and
that's where everybody getsstuck usually.
So, brand story e-myth to findyour focus and put some goals on
the wall.
Where are you going?
Because we wouldn't.
When we all drive with GPS now,we used to drive with these
(31:46):
things called atlases or maps.
Some of us are old enough toremember those.
But you didn't just get in thecar and head west.
That's a movie.
You had a destination and youknew how you were going to get
there.
So you're in a spot.
Now You're going to grow.
What does it look like in sixmonths?
What does it look like in ayear?
What does it look like in 18months?
And start planning that and youmight all again, we're all
(32:08):
contractors doing contract-ystuff.
Ask for help.
Find somebody to talk to.
You know a lot of groups, a lotof groups out there.
I've had a lot of luck withService Nation, but it's just
find a group.
Find somebody to mentor you, toguide you, because there are
people much like myself, who arean open book and saying I've
(32:30):
done that that didn't work well,this is what it did do, this is
why it worked well.
So, find some help.
And then, last and not least,know your numbers.
I cannot stress enough how manycontractors they.
They got money in the bank, butthey don't know how to price.
They don't know, uh, wheretheir cash position is.
(32:52):
They don't know wherebreak-even is for the year.
You start mentioning theirfinancials and they just blaze
over like a deer in theheadlights Um, but no, you have
to know your operational numbers.
There's just no way around it.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, math before marketing.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Math before marketing , exactly.
But how do you?
You know again, you can have agreat brand.
You can have a.
You can hire Lemon Seed.
They can do your brand refresh.
They can do your complete brand.
If you're sitting here going,you know what.
We've been in business for awhile and we're just not
succeeding.
A complete rebrand is not a badthing, and you may have the
cash to write that check, butyou better know how you got the
(33:27):
cash to begin with.
So we don't want to.
We don't want to have a greatbrand without the revenue goals
or knowing what you need to do.
So know your numbers.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Absolutely, and I love, note, knowing your numbers
.
Those are just key things.
Now that I look back, you know,like man, even when I started
limiting, like man, knowing ournumbers would have been a lot.
We should have known themdifferently and better.
And so you know, I just thinkthere's so much power in today's
episode, like little nuggetsthat we've been pushing out.
There are great for contractorsthat are just ready to go to
the next level, whether that'syou going from five to 10
(34:00):
million, 10 to 20 million,that's going from less than a
million to your first million,wherever you are, in the grand
scheme of things, these goodmarketing and business practices
that we talked about do notwaver, they do not change.
The scale just becomesdifferent.
You know.
So you know you should alwaysbe working on your brand.
You should always know yournumbers.
You should always be seekingwise counsel.
You should always be constantlyfocused on the business, not in
(34:23):
the business.
As much and so well.
Rory, thank you so much forvisiting with me today.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
No problem, thanks for having me.
It's always good to sit in yourlittle chair and drink some
lemonade.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Oh well, there we go.
There we go, and listeners.
If you've been thinking about arefresh for your brand or
exploring new ways to marketyour business, I encourage you
to visit LemonSeedMarketingcomand see how we can help you
strategize and build out a brandstory.
And also, don't forget to checkout Kruger and see their
awesome wood grain look thatthey've got going on and some of
the really cool things thatthey do.
(34:52):
So thank you for listening toFrom the Yellow Chair.
If you enjoyed this episode,leave us a review.
Make sure you're following us.
Thanks for sipping somelemonade.
We'll see you next time.
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