January 28, 2025 • 53 mins
Stephanie Postel, co-owner and COO of Anchor Heating and Cooling, takes us on an inspiring journey of branding and marketing success. In this episode, we uncover Stephanie's secrets to transforming her company into a thriving business in just three years. From her background in monogramming and embroidery to her experience as a Kappa Delta sorority member, Stephanie brings a unique perspective to the power of branding with pride and consistency. Join us as we explore the importance of establishing a strong brand presence, community involvement, and strategic marketing initiatives that have propelled Anchor Heating and Cooling to new heights.
Discover the keys to strategic branding and pricing from Stephanie's firsthand experience in the plumbing, heating, and air industry. Learn how setting appropriate pricing from the start allowed Stephanie and her partner to invest in branding, creating a cohesive and recognizable company image. We delve into the dual approach needed in marketing, combining continuous brand building with targeted lead generation. Stephanie also shares the power of leveraging social media platforms like TikTok to engage audiences and build a strong community presence. Uncover the impact of a simple yet effective $7 marketing concept that showcases the transformative power of well-planned marketing initiatives.
In this episode, we explore comprehensive marketing strategies and the importance of maintaining a strong brand presence and customer service strategy. Stephanie shares valuable lessons on creating structured marketing campaigns, drawing parallels between organizing children's spaces and developing successful marketing plans. She emphasizes the significance of living a company's mission and vision authentically, and the power of storytelling to build connections with communities. Discover how a clear plan, entrepreneurial spirit, and a willingness to take risks contribute to business growth and differentiation. Join us as we sip some lemonade with Stephanie and dive into the refreshing world of Lemon Seed Marketing.
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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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We'll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up, lemonheads ?
Welcome back to another episodeof From the Yellow Chair.
I am sitting down with the noneother lady in purple.
She's clutching her pearls.
So many of you already probablyknow who is on this episode,
from one marketer to another one.
I am so excited for thisepisode.
Trust me, you're going to wantto have a pen and paper, because
we roll ideas off like twocrazy people, and so we both
(00:24):
love marketing.
We're so both super passionateabout branding, marketing in
general, utilizing your brandand community involvement.
So it's sure to beaction-packed and filled full of
content.
So grab your lemonade, settlein.
As we discuss all thingsmarketing, let's sip some
lemonade.
(00:55):
All right, stephanie is in thehouse today.
Listen, and you guys know likeyou can probably hear it in my
voice.
I already know we met up at aservice time event recently and
had dinner and just.
We could have talked for hoursupon hours, and so we shut the
(01:17):
restaurant down and I got agreat dinner out of it.
It was so much fun to talkthrough there.
So, on the episode today isStephanie Postel.
She is the co-owner and COO ofAnchor Heating and Cooling there
in Charleston, south Carolina.
So I say this all the time.
Stephanie, this is how I startalmost all my episodes.
(01:38):
Why should anyone listen towhat you have to say?
Brag on yourself a little bit.
Tell us a little story about,kind of, how you guys got where
you are today.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, well, thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to be here withyou and to be able to share a
little bit.
You know, I normally there's alittle bit of backstory as far
as the two companies that I waswith before David and I started
Anchor.
But you know what?
(02:09):
This, or actually last week, wekind of closed that chapter,
which I'm very happy about, andwe've been running Anchor
Heating and Air for the lastthree years.
Actually, two days ago was ourthree year anniversary.
So we have been growing thisgreat little company.
(02:30):
Our first year we did a littleover a million 1.4 million we
did 2.8 million last year and weare going to finish up at six
and a half million this year.
We have, I believe, cementedour place in our community with
our marketing, with our giveback and all that kind of stuff.
And so you know should youlisten to us?
(02:52):
I don't know, but but I thatthat I can at least help people
that are getting started or areready to take their company to
the next level, and focusing onmarketing is so important.
So that's what I love andthat's what I think we can chat
(03:12):
about a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Perfect, absolutely Well.
So I always like to start witha good brand.
So, in all transparency here,lemon Seed did not do your brand
.
Stephanie is not a client ofLemon Seed, she just does great
things and there's power ingreat things.
I love this industry for acouple of reasons.
Number one I love collaboratingwith people that are creative
on their own and are just grittymarketers, and I just really
(03:36):
think Stephanie holds that seat,so I enjoy that.
But also I think there's powerin understanding, like as
vendors any of my vendor friendsthat are listening to this,
like you can, of every 50contractors that I've talked to
probably truly understand thepower of brand and start their
(04:13):
brand forward.
That's my theme for Lemon Seedis brand forward, meaning
everything we do is reflectiveof our brand and our brand story
, and I try to do it well forLemon Seed.
I try to do it well for myfamily's heating and air
conditioning and now pestcontrol and roofing companies,
because the importance here isthat people know who you are and
then you naturally will growthe business.
(04:35):
One of the best things you eversaid to me is Crystal, we don't
even do PPC and I'm like girl, Ilove it.
I love it so kind of tell mehow you got where you got, with
with your your new look and feel.
How did you end up with thispearl and this anchor and all
those concepts?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, well, you know, I think that over time I mean
I've owned other businesses Iprobably really comes from I
owned a monogramming andembroidery business for about
seven years and obviously that'sall about brand right.
So I got to see lots of otherpeople's brand.
I put their logos on everythingyou know t-shirts and hats and
(05:17):
all those kinds of things, and.
But I think my backgroundreally starts from you know your
standards and who you are andwho you want to show people you
are, and I always really tellthe story that this all goes
back to being in a sorority incollege and I was a Kappa Delta
at Clemson and one of the thingsthat, of course, they said to
(05:42):
us before we got to wear ourletters was, when you are
wearing your letters meaningthat's your brand the Kappa
Delta on your shirt you neededto look good.
You needed to not look like youjust rolled out of bed to go to
class.
You needed to when you're whichI didn't but if you're smoking,
(06:03):
you had to sit down.
You know you are always a hugerepresentative of the sorority
and stuck with me, you know Iwill say I'm all for.
You know, people beingcomfortable and all that kind of
stuff.
What you see here, like this,is always what I look like.
(06:25):
I don't care if we're going towork in the yard, I put makeup
on.
That's just my thing.
Because I think if I'm going tothe grocery store, what if I
see somebody and then they'relike, oh, you know, like, look
at her.
So that's kind of my where thatall started.
And when we started Anchor,where that all started, and when
(06:50):
we started Anchor, we knew thatwe were going to have a brand
and it would absolutely not bered and blue.
So, to be honest, our firstbrand because, if you know any
of our story, we really didn'tplan to start our company.
When we did, we had about atwo-week heads up because we
were fired from the company thatwe had grown and that we're
(07:10):
part owners in, and so.
But I told David I was like ourbackground was, you know,
obviously providing greatservice, and part of providing
great service is looking thepart.
And so even when we startedfrom, you know, two weeks notice
, we had an anchor that was in.
(07:32):
Our colors were black and teal,I mean so there.
I actually have.
You know, if you go back andlook on our old, our first
TikToks, our old brand is there.
But again, from the beginning,because we wanted to have
something different, we wantedto stand out, we had gray t
shirts with that logo on itAgain, but knowing that the
(07:55):
brand would look different whenwe did actual branding because I
did that myself, did thatmyself.
So you know in, like you said,in all honesty, I didn't know
you at the time or maybe thingswould have been different, but
(08:17):
we reached out to Dan Antonelli,who did our brand.
At that time there was a longwaiting list to get in and we
drove white trucks that had thatbrand on a sticker on them for
eight months, because I knew theimportance of branding and we
were not going to wrap trucks,have this, you know, invest in a
(08:38):
website, all of that kind ofstuff, knowing that our eventual
brand was going to be different.
And that hurt my heart Don'tget me wrong, because I can't
stand a white van.
But it was important becausewhen we started that, when we
got that actual brand, I knewwhat a difference that was going
(08:58):
to make and so, again, you haveto be dedicated to that,
because it's hard to not goahead and just say, well, it
just would be easier to havethat red and blue or just easier
to have something else.
I knew that a story had to comefrom our brand and we were able
to tell this whole story whenDan created the brand that he
(09:20):
did for us.
So that process, of course, andjust like you have, of him
asking us questions, getting toknow who we were and in our
brand, everything in it has ameaning, you know.
So my pearls I've been wearingpearls since I was 14, every day
(09:41):
, like literally you can go backand look at pictures from me
when I got those first pearlsand they were just I liked them.
I wore a necklace every day andit was my pearls.
So that obviously had to bepart of our brand.
I went to Clemson David and Ilove Clemson football, so
there's orange and purple in ourcolors.
(10:02):
Obviously.
You know people think thatAnchor is based on us living in
Charleston and while that's agreat tie in, it's actually
because we were in a reallyscary place when we left that
other company and we're jumpinginto starting our own.
And my sister sent me a quoteabout being anchored in God and
(10:25):
I looked at David and I said,here we're going to be anchor
heating and air, like that'swhere the name came from.
You know, it's nice that itties in to being in Charleston
and all that, but it's reallyabout about that.
So we have that quote actuallyon a mural in our training room.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Oh, gosh, I love yeah , I just love a story, and so
you know I'll be honest, likethe stories that you hear are
real.
And then you, then you look atthe graphics, right.
So graphics are a very vitalpart.
So please don't get my wordstwisted here like the way things
look, 1,000 percent matters waymore, a lot more than people
(11:05):
give it credit for.
But graphic design teams can doa better job of bringing a real
story to life than they canwith nothing to work with.
So so many times we get abusiness and they'll say, well,
I don't want to rebrand rightnow, I don't have the money for
it.
And I'm like, friend, you don'thave the money to not rebrand
right now Because there'snothing to work with.
(11:30):
So even though my last name isWilliam so it's not even this
grand, super interesting lastname and so if I was just called
Williams Heating and AirConditioning unless I worked
really hard to create a logothat had a mascot or something
in it, that name itself it'sjust another last name.
And there's so many last names,so many people are called their
last name, and then the serviceright, it's definitely,
(11:53):
definitely an issue, and so Ijust love anybody that comes to
this stage with a story.
I love the pearls.
I think it's very endearing.
I think that people connectwith that.
Maybe you didn't have pearlswhen you were growing up, but
you had something that you heldon to, so this just gives the
consumer there in Charleston, um, very much an idea of who you
(12:15):
guys are and what you do.
And so tell me this, so youknow, I'm assuming, I'm just
assuming here.
It didn't like you guys hadtons of money or like money
backing you, backing you up.
So when you guys decided to dothis rebrand, it was definitely
an investment.
And then how did you roll itout?
Did you do everything at once?
Did you streamline things?
(12:35):
What was y'all's thoughtprocess there?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, I mean, we didn't have a lot of money
getting started.
To be honest, we literally had$2,000.
So we went and, you know, didthat first install and just
reinvested the money back intoour business.
One thing I think it's alwaysfair to say is that you know we
did have the benefit of I was anoperations manager for a large
(13:00):
plumbing, heating and aircompany and so we knew the level
of service that we were gonnaprovide and we priced ourselves
appropriately from the beginning.
So I think that is importantfor people to know is that being
priced appropriately it givesyou freedom and being able to
(13:21):
then plan to brand right so youcan make a much better budget
when you're not affordable orcheap.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Oh, heating and air or whatever it is Right.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, it was on our roadmap that we were going to do
this branding, so so, yeah, Imean, I think that was what we
were looking forward to thewhole time.
And then when we got the newbrand, well then now everything
just matched Right and so ittook us to that next level.
But we really rolled everythingout on TikTok.
(13:56):
To be honest, that was one ofthe first places.
Of course, once we got all ofour logos and all of that stuff,
of course, once we got all ofour logos and all of that stuff,
we changed all of our socialmedia and we're able to then,
you know, work with our partner,rival Digital, to create an
amazing website.
But we actually put, we hadalready made our choice.
(14:26):
Always tell people that, becausedo not get too many people to
help you decide on your brand.
Girls say, yes, I mean workwith your brander, like let them
tell you you pick, maybe getone opinion from, like, your
best best friend or your mom ordad, but you don't need
everyone's opinion becauseeverybody doesn't have your
story or connection.
But once we chose, we actuallyput our choices on TikTok.
(14:46):
We let people see, you knowwhat they thought, which one
would be the best.
We got great engagement andthen, once we announced the one
that we chose, of course we hadit in the works to have our
trucks wrapped and everything,and after that it has just taken
off, right.
I mean, all of a sudden we hadhad, we had three trucks at that
(15:09):
point, but of course, like Isaid, they had a sticker on them
.
And all of a sudden we gotthose three trucks wrapped and
everybody were like oh my God,do you have like 10 trucks?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
now, where did y'all come from?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, we always say we're a, you know, 15 year
overnight success.
So it just seems like thatbecause all of a sudden when you
have that presence and thatbillboard, it makes all the
difference.
And then that just catapultsyou into being able to do the
(15:41):
things in the community and ofcourse you know.
Then you go into events andhaving your tent and everything
is branded.
You know, like you say, youalways see my purple, like we
are always branding, no matterwhere we are.
In fact I said it was.
It was funny.
David was just sitting in hereand I actually wore a green vest
(16:04):
today because it's Christmas,you know, or getting close to
the holidays, and I was like,wait a minute, I got to put this
purple sweater or a sweatshirton that I have in my drawer
because our brand is soimportant, like everything has
to match.
And then people know us theyeven in Charleston now, when
(16:25):
they see us at events, they'relike oh, always got the purple
on right.
So it's a constant reminder ofwho we are, what people see in
the community.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Well, I got to ride in the purple truck, yes, so you
know I go, I think through this, and so you know again, so many
people just waste anopportunity to understand the
importance of this and, like youknow, branding is something
that it takes a while, Like ittook a lot.
It took you wearing purpleevery single day.
(16:57):
It took you wearing pearlsevery single day and it took
that name anchor.
And, like you know, you guyshave very nice uniforms.
You know your vans are wrapped.
Everything is putting thatbrand out there.
(17:18):
So you know, we interact withour community all the time, with
people that are nowhere neareven in the consideration phase
of needing HVAC services.
Yet and so you're working.
You're working years ahead oftime, literally on brand
impressions, building up thatbrand awareness with these
clients and or with thesepotential people in your market,
(17:38):
and so it doesn't always cometo fruition super quickly.
So when you see all thesepeople chasing leads like we
need leads right now, I get it.
I truly do get it.
But in marketing there has tobe two different buses that
you're on.
One is this can sit, continue.
I cannot talk this morningcontinuously continuously drives
forward, pushing forwardthrough everything.
(18:01):
It just keeps driving.
The other one is like a littlesports car that you buy for fun
and you just start drivingaround when you want to get
leads right.
So there has got to be a bothof those things running.
Unfortunately, a lot ofcontractors lean heavy one way
or the other.
They're just like sitting backand they're doing nothing for
lead gen and waiting on results.
And there's companies that donothing for branding and they're
(18:22):
strictly doing lead gen.
They're like I don't know whyI'm only getting the tire
kickers Right, and I'm likebecause the science and the
thought processes behindmarketing are very, very
different.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
So another thing that Stephanie, I thought would be
great you know, and I'm obsessedwith it, I'm jealous, I didn't
think of it Is I saw your $7little I think it was $7 concept
, yes, and I was like genius.
I told her at lunch or dinnerthat night with she and David, I
said flipping genius, andlisten, it takes a lot to
(18:56):
impress me with a full geniusidea.
Dang, this was so good and whatI loved about it was it was
simple.
It incorporated e-commerce.
I loved that and it also wasvery well promoted ahead of time
.
So this was the trifecta right.
This was all.
Things were pumping at theright time altogether.
And also the success was what Ithink of success may not be
(19:19):
what you and David think ofsuccess, but you guys felt it
was very successful.
I just loved the buzz.
If anything, I don't care ifyou sold one actual certificate.
The buzz around it was prettyimpactful.
So I thought the listenersmight just want to hear, like,
how you came up with it, whatyou did, like, how you executed
it.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah, definitely, and I love to tell people about it.
I just and make sure you knowthat um, that people know all
the pieces and parts.
So I actually did work forContractor Commerce for seven
months while we were getting ourcompany up and running, so that
was a benefit to me, obviously,just to see the e-commerce side
(19:58):
and what it could do forcontractors, and so I just
wanted to say that part thatwe've gotten a lot out of that.
Not everyone does because theydon't brand it and market it
properly, but it has been agreat thing and it's on our
website and all of that.
So, that being said, the ideatruly.
(20:19):
You know, I like to take all themarketing credit, but this was
actually David's idea, becausewe have a great neighborhood
here in Charleston that we do alot of business in and they have
supported us like crazy and sowe love to give back to them.
And David said we should justmarket in that neighborhood and
we should just give them allfree service contracts, them all
(20:47):
free service contracts.
And I was like, well, that's agood idea, but how are we going
to do that, right, how are wegoing to see some results from
that?
And so for me.
I was like it was in July, Ithink, and it was Amazon Prime
Day was going on or about to goon and I said, well, what if we
did Amazon Prime Day?
But we did it for Anchor,because we want to make sure
(21:08):
that if we're offering thiscontract to people like, how are
they going to sign up, how arethey going to get it, how are we
going to make it work in ouroffice.
Yeah, so anyway we came up withAnchor Advantage Day and we
actually thought about it for alittle while and I couldn't get
the operational side to work forme, so so we drug our feet a
(21:29):
little bit, but then, once wegot it, all decided it was going
to be one day, and it was oneday.
It was October 30th.
You could get a seven dollarservice contract for the whole
year.
It is our service contract.
We did not strip it down oranything.
But the only way that you couldbuy the service contract is to
(21:50):
buy it online, because we havevery few CSRs and I didn't want
to overwhelm them while alsohaving to take on regular calls.
So we made it so that it's onour website.
They had to go buy it there,and for 24 hours only, and we
thought about that.
It was close to install time.
(22:12):
Now I don't know about everyoneelse out there, but my two worst
months are November andFebruary.
Always it's right before theholidays.
November, nobody wants to buyanything.
It's a short month.
It almost doesn't exist, right.
And then February is the sameway.
So we did this October 30th andwe decided to incorporate an
(22:34):
install aspect to it as well,and we decided we were going to
give away $2,000 coupons off ofan install.
But you can't give them awaybecause I needed to know who had
them, right?
So we decided to sell those forseven dollars as well.
And who wouldn't trade sevendollars to get two thousand
(22:56):
dollars off of a system?
So again, you had to buy thatin our store online.
And then that way we knew onewho had the service contract,
and then we could also reach outto schedule those people who
bought a coupon, becauseotherwise it would just be on
your website and anybody andeverybody could go download it.
(23:17):
But we couldn't track then whohad it, so we couldn't market to
them.
And the other thing is, youknow, just to be very honest, we
don't want to go in.
We we do a little bit ofdiscounting, but we didn't want
to go in.
We do a little bit ofdiscounting, but we didn't want
to go in and give somebody ourbest deal and then they pull out
another $2,000 off.
I mean, let's be honest, we'rein this business to make money,
(23:38):
not to give away systems.
That's a hobby not a companyright.
So that was our two offers $7service contract, seven dollars,
two thousand dollars off aninstall 24 hours only.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And we did the I love the urgency, yes, the sense of
urgency is very important.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yes, absolutely.
And then to do our marketing,our marketing.
So we did three days only onthe radio because we had done,
we had, we did one commercialthat, hey, anchor Advantage Day
is coming, you know, find outmore on our website.
(24:20):
We did an email campaign to allof our customers, we did a text
blast and that was it, andthose were all things that we
already have.
So we use Marketing Pro forService Titan.
That's where we sent out ouremail.
We use Chirp for our textmessaging, that's where we sent
(24:42):
out our text message.
And then we did, like I said,three days of radio, um, and
then we had a sign on ourwebsite, um, a pop-up, and that
was all the marketing we did forit, um, and it was a huge
success.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Okay.
So I want to hit on a couple ofthings that you said and I want
to expand on these things.
So, again, this is why Iflipping love, stephanie.
I love this because do you seehow like it was so thought out.
So I'm going to back up for aminute.
I'm going to give a littlestory.
So when my kids were like 12 and13 years old, like so they
would have been like 10 and 13,something along those lines I
(25:19):
would say go clean your room andthey would go in there and they
would kind of slap around at it.
But then I realized they neededa comprehensive plan.
So it overwhelmed them to thinkabout their room, because there
was trash, there was clothes,there was clean clothes, there
was dirty clothes, and so I cameup with this idea.
I was like you know, what I'mgoing to do is say we're
cleaning our rooms today,everybody go put your shoes up,
(25:41):
everybody go get your dirtyclothes, and like they would
have to come back to me, andeventually they kind of learned
how to curate a process and westruggle with this all the time.
Like I see this everywhere.
The idea of building out acomprehensive strategy to
accomplish a goal is verydaunting to a lot of people.
So it's very overwhelming tohave to think things through,
(26:03):
and I've learned that that'sactually a skill set of mine and
you too, so we live in thissame spot of I can conceptualize
what I want my end goal to beand then all the steps I have to
take to get there.
So I don't know if y'alllistened carefully here, but I
heard there was a mass mediastrategy.
So that's the new customeracquisition side, that's, you're
trying to reach new people.
And then you had an in-housemarketing plan of how do you
(26:27):
reach people multiple touchpoints between texting and email
marketing.
And then you had a social mediaplan, which is also new
customer acquisition andbranding cultivation.
So you had a strategy to getboth the new and existing
customers to take advantage ofthis plan.
And, guys, I'm going to tellyou, there was no fear of
(26:47):
spending money.
So they had this.
It didn't even sound like itcost you a ton of money.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Let me tell you yeah, you want to know that honestly,
we, and I should say we ran oneFacebook ad for three days.
It was $150.
My radio was already in myregular budget.
So I mean, let's say I spent$200 on that.
If you wanted to attribute thatthere.
I mean, let's say I spent $200on that, if you wanted to
attribute that there, I alreadyhave marketing pro, that's
(27:14):
already included, I already havethat's already included.
So literally, this wholecampaign costs us $300.
Like that's it.
It was using what we alreadyhave, that we were we use, but
we were just focused on this andthat that truly is all we spent
.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, and again I say this because I think the
important thing here tounderstand is money was not even
the first thing that youthought about about this.
You thought, OK, how do weaccomplish this?
How do we?
So another thing how do wecapitalize on something that's
going on in our environment,like Amazon prime day?
Right, so that was something,and this is why marketing is not
(27:55):
set it and forget it.
So, yes, this prime day come atthe same time.
Yes, it does.
But really like if you'rethinking that you can sit down
in October and plan all of 2025and literally click a button and
go, you know what this is goingto roll.
Perfectly, it will not.
It's going to disappointbecause it constantly needs, you
know, massaging to make itbetter, and so you know you play
(28:15):
off of that.
And then also, you had to picka product that you were
confident you can do.
So let me tell you, I canalready hear contractors.
I know what.
I would sell that for $7.
Well good, you did so, dondon't worry, you're not selling
it at full price or sevendollars at this point.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So you know that's what I tell people.
I'm like, yeah, you get peopleto call you and then you don't
close the deal.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
These people weren't going to call you anyway until
they heard this deal right so,and I'll tell you another thing
that I heard on here and uh,contractor commerce.
I will give them a shout out.
They they're great with lemonseed.
They'll be at our conferencecoming up at the end of January.
They're fantastic.
But I want to say this aboutcontractor commerce.
(28:59):
It is another example, and youalluded to this early on in the
conversation because you knew,you know the direction that I'm
going with this.
People will be like it didn'twork for me, and so I always say
tell me how you were promotingyour e-commerce.
So you go to these conferencesand everybody's pushing
e-commerce.
It's the wave of the future.
And then AI you gotta have allthese things going.
(29:20):
When really, I look back andI'm like friends most of you
guys, including me I have tolook at my own business.
At times.
You including me I have to lookat my own business.
At times you don't have thefoundational things figured out
first, and so e-commerce doesnot just have to be about
selling systems.
Is your site that's linked toyour?
Is your e-commerce site that'son your website?
(29:40):
Is it branded well and are youusing it for things?
And then are you actuallytelling people?
I do not think it's a magiclittle gnome that runs around
the Internet for your specifictarget market, begging for
people to choose it.
It has to be a part of amarketing strategy, yes, and so
it is so impactful.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
That's what I say about which I never understood,
but I, when I did contractorsuccess for contractor commerce
like contractor commerce doesnot generate leads, like it is
absolutely not.
I say it's a, it's a, it couldbe a lead closer, right, it can
make something really when, whensomebody gets to your website
(30:21):
now they have something to do,right, they're going to get a
quote, they're going to buy aservice contract Like that's the
value to me and contractorcommerce.
It gives you a tool that keepsyour marketing accountable right
, because now we know if ourmarketing agency is sending
people to our website, what arewe getting them to do when they
(30:44):
get there?
Because I can tell you, read isnot a good outcome.
I went to your website and Iread for 30 minutes all about
you, never going to happen,right.
But if I go to your websitebecause all of your Facebook,
all of your TikTok, all of yoursocial media, all of your email
says click here and get a quote,then when I want that and I go
(31:06):
there, I'm going to get a quote.
Or if I'm learning about yourservice contract, which there's
so many companies putting outtheir service contract, service
contract this is what I say.
We are marketing to people allthe time, not only between nine
and five, and, to be honest, ifI need maintenance at my house,
I'm at work from nine to five,so who can I not call when I'm
(31:29):
at work?
The person that I need to getmy service contract from.
But if I deliver that ad, to youor that commercial to you about
my service contract and you'rea nurse and you see it at two
o'clock in the morning becauseyou work an overnight shift, and
then you can click on thebutton and go buy the service
contract right then, and then Icall or text you tomorrow.
(31:52):
Now we've completed the sale.
You will never be able to dothat if somebody has to call you
.
I've said this a million timesI needed to go to the dentist.
I was like three months pastgoing to get my teeth cleaned
because I couldn't rememberuntil six o'clock at night to
call my dentist and my teethcleaned because I couldn't
remember until six o'clock atnight to call my dentist and
make an appointment and Icouldn't do it after.
(32:13):
I had to do it when they wereopen.
Thank God they've changed thatnow.
Right, but, but that's where welimit the people that we are
marketing to.
We're like we're only only callus and buy a service contract.
How stupid is that?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
right.
Well, we are 100% and we are so, like again, the customer
journey.
Guys, marketing is deep.
It is much deeper than likewell, I have the right PPC
company and my website looksgood.
It is so much deeper and I justfeel like we miss it so many
times we miss it.
But you know, the customerjourney.
(32:48):
What you're talking about herereminds me of like every
interaction with your company,like how many of you have ever
gone to a store.
So here's another good example.
You know my son and I, so my 15year old as of yesterday, my 15
year old and I go to checkoutat a store that has self
checkout.
So we're scanning the items andall of a sudden it says alert
(33:11):
on the screen that pops up, thatstop scanning.
And the guy walks over.
The young kid walks over to uschecking out and he says, yeah,
the camera system thinks y'allare stealing stuff.
Well, you know me.
I was like excuse me, right,excuse me first of all, sir, if
I'm gonna steal something, itwon't be this six dollar bag of
talkies chips for my 15 year old.
But I was like like, uh, okay.
And the guy was like yeah, so Idon't know like how many items
(33:33):
do y'all have over there?
And it was so flippant.
But I was so offended and I waslike I'm offended because I
knew I wasn't doing anythingwrong and it was like very, I
felt like we were making a sceneyou, my customer, if we're not
careful.
Our flippant attitude towardslike oh yeah, sorry we didn't
answer, sorry, we don't answerchat, sorry, you commented and
(33:56):
we didn't answer.
On social media, we appear thatwe don't care about that
business and I think it limitsevery single lead and every
single client.
We are grateful, we aregrateful, we are appreciative
and we're going to do our verybest.
Whether they are $5 company or$500 million company, we are
going to treat everyone with duediligence, respect and
(34:17):
timeliness and all of thosethings, and I just think people
see it.
When you're trying to protectyour brand, that includes being
available where they are.
It includes a solid CSRstrategy.
It includes our vans, our tech,our team looking good, our
messaging looking good and guys,some of you need to protect
that like your family shield,because we're just we're too
(34:41):
loose A lot.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Absolutely, but like that, that was a great
opportunity in this campaign,though, because that's why I had
to think through the e-commerceside of it, because I didn't
want these people that werereaching out to us we couldn't
answer the phone that day, so Iwould have overwhelmed our CSRs
and not provided this service tosomebody who may have been new
(35:07):
to us, right.
And here's the other thing Ilove the new customers that we
got and I'll tell you theresults in a second but it's
really also to our currentcustomers, because why do we
forget that those people havemultiple systems, or they have
mothers and fathers andgrandparents and neighbors that
(35:28):
need systems, right?
So definitely, this.
This campaign was certainlyabout the new customer, but we
also offered this to our currentcustomers because existing
members existing members canrenew 100 percent.
They could renew, extend theircontract, or it could be for new
(35:48):
.
They could renew, extend theircontract or it could be for new.
And that was a huge thing.
Just to say listen, payattention to our marketing,
because you never know whatwe're going to offer, right?
Because half the time existingpeople might be like, oh God, I
got another email.
Well, hey, if you miss this one, because that would have saved
you.
I mean, if you paid 195 lastyear, now you're paying seven.
(36:08):
Okay, I mean, that's a gooddeal.
So you, you, I mean, if youpaid one, ninety five last year,
now you're paying seven.
Ok, I mean, that's, that's agood deal.
So, so you know.
I mean, I think those are thekinds of things where I don't
care.
I want you to stay customers ofmine forever.
That's the whole point.
If I can pay, you can pay meseven dollars to do that, $7 to
(36:30):
do that.
I can't tell you how many morecustomers I don't have to go
spend $600 on to come in thedoor because I'm retaining the
people that I have currently.
And then you're happy with meif you're extending or renewing.
So I know you're going to tellsomebody the next time.
They need somebody, right?
So that's just the thoughtprocess we're so worried like to
your point about.
You know you're driving aroundthat sports car beeping through
(36:50):
everybody's neighborhood rightnow.
Well, you should have beendriving the van around six
months ago saying it doesn'tmatter when you come on, just
remember who we are when youneed us, right?
I just think that I get reachedout to at this time of the year,
like what are you doing to getleads coming in?
What do you mean?
I planned that six months ago,right?
(37:15):
Or I had at least a strategy.
I thought November's bad,here's what we're going to do.
And, to be honest, we hadanother strategy.
You know, past that day we hada nut.
We sent out a great direct mailpiece that followed up Anchor
Advantage Day, but it didn'thave the same offer on it
because Anchor Advantage Day,but it didn't have the same
offer on it because AnchorAdvantage was special and you
only could get that that day.
But that's the thing, like, youhave to have that follow up
(37:39):
that goes along with it.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
So, anyway, I love it .
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Yeah, one day, only 180 interactions.
Yeah, one day, only 180interactions.
So we sold 169 servicecontracts that were either
extended, renewed or new.
Actually, 37 new customers outof that brand new to anchor
(38:04):
Anchor, eleven two thousanddollar contract or eleven two
thousand dollar coupons weresold and in as a direct result
from Anchor Advantage Day, itwas over one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in in newbusiness.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
For me, yes, yeah.
So I'm telling you like, fromthis great, just brainstorming
idea, and you know, guys, like Itell you like marketing can be
fun without being like thisstressor that just wears you out
, you know.
So just encouragement ofthinking through your brand and
then carrying that brand,messaging through your offers,
(38:44):
which then leads right intogreat company culture and things
like that.
And I know that Stephanie ispassionate about company culture
as well.
And you know, I'm telling you,I know this steps on toes, but I
have talked to contractors thathave been at $2 million for 15
years, yeah, and they're like Idon't know why, it's my website
company, it's my.
And I'm like, no, no, it's not.
(39:06):
You want to see movers andshakers.
If marketers are taking creditfor it, they shouldn't be in
this grand scheme of things,because marketing is just in an
arsenal.
What operators you need?
An operator, you need someonewith an entrepreneurial spirit,
like, yes, I mean david, davidpaul still might be the best
technician and sales guy thatever walked over in toronto,
(39:27):
south carolina, but you knowwhat?
Evidently the two of y'alltogether are rockstar operators
and that is where you seecompanies that are moving and
growing and shaking and theyjust pass everybody else.
And literally the people thatare left in the dust are like
well, what are?
What are they doing different?
They must have private equitymoney.
No, they don't.
They just have a plan andthey're not scared.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Yeah, absolutely what if that failed?
Like what you know?
What if we didn't sell anythingthat day, you know?
But, but okay, if we didn't,then we'll just back up and do
something else, right?
I mean, I think that's thewhole thing.
That branding is like I love it, but it you have to have a
(40:11):
story about what you are doingand why you're doing it, right?
I mean, like I'm passionateabout this place, not because I
get to make a lot of money, butbecause all my people do Right.
I'm my David and I say all thetime like our, the, our measure
for success is going to be aboutwhat the people that work here
(40:33):
do not want, what we do, right,and I believe that.
So if that's not what youbelieve, figure out what you
believe.
If it truly is like you justwant to make more money, ok, I
think you'll be successful.
I don't think you'll be wildlysuccessful because it's only
your vision.
It's that that's not a mission.
And I can tell you that peoplenow I don't care how old they
(40:58):
are, you don't, you can't tellme it's 20 year olds or 30 year
olds or 40 year olds People wantto be connected to a mission
and the mission is notconditioning, it just isn't.
The mission is serving.
It is doing great things forpeople.
Now, the heating and airconditioning is the vehicle
Right.
When we do more heating and airconditioning work, we have more
(41:20):
other stuff that we get to do,and that success has turned into
us being able to give back toour community, and I mean
donations and support and all ofthat stuff.
And then I can connect that towhat my people are passionate
about, whether it's a militarydonation or it's somebody with
(41:41):
cancer, or it's a kid's littleleague or whatever that is.
Now I can say, listen, when wedo this good, then we have this
that we can do even better.
And so then, once they'recoming to me now and saying, hey
, I want us to do this charityand I'm going to lead it, okay,
(42:04):
right, I mean, that's all that Ican look at and say, well, that
makes me successful.
Now, right, because I couldlead us through wanting to be a
service-based company andserving.
But when they have jumped onthat now that makes a huge
difference and you will seepeople perform better because
(42:26):
they know what the end goal is.
And to me, that's the internalbranding that has to be done.
I think we do a terrible job ascontractors of saying we're
going to do this on the firstday, like we're mission vision,
blah, blah, blah on your firstday of onboarding, and then we
(42:47):
never talk about it again.
And then you're like I don'tknow why all these people can't
show up on time.
Well, because you're not agreat boss, because you are not
constantly reinforcing why we'recoming to work to do what we're
doing, right, and then if youpromise something you got to do,
I think you're muted.
Then we have to promise to dothings and we have to do them.
(43:10):
And that's the same thing, Iknow.
You know you said somethingabout our pro promise, but some
of that is also connected, likethat's an external promise, but
there's a part of that that'salso an internal promise and
that if David and I say we'regoing to do something like we've
been talking about this 401kall year, that we are going to,
(43:30):
we are going to be able toprovide a 401k for everybody,
well, guess what starts at thebeginning of the year 401k,
right, like those kinds ofthings.
You know, it's great to do ourexternal branding, but if your
people inside aren't on themission, you're not going to be.
It doesn't matter what you dooutside, right, they're not
(43:56):
happy, they're not staying there.
You got all this turnover.
The greatest compliment I gotvery recently and I've gotten it
more than once is how do youand David always find the best
people?
I like, I agree, like you know,but you, you know what?
I think that we have shown themthe mission over and over and
over again.
We, we carry out the mission.
And then they tell theirfriends hey, this is the real
(44:19):
deal over here, like they dowhat they say they're gonna do,
like we're spoiled, we getreally taken care of.
And and I would say to themyou're not spoiled, this is what
comes with doing a really greatjob.
And so you know, while that maylook like spoiled, ok, that's
good.
If that's what you want to be,I'm happy.
Well, you got to live it Right.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
So you have to live your mission, vision and core
values.
You have to live out the things.
You have to talk about them.
It has to really be in theirface that you are constantly
expecting them to.
You know, reflect what you'reputting out into the market.
So there's nothing, nothingworse than selling something
that you can't deliver on.
And so you know, when we'reputting all these cool ideas out
there and then we are not readyto delivery, like that becomes
an issue.
And so just making sure that we, you know we are doing
(45:04):
everything we can do.
Well, stephanie, I know you'vegiven so many fun thoughts and
ideas here.
If someone and I know you lovelike coaching, you love to be a
good supporter.
So if someone was like, oh mygosh, I love her, how do I talk
with her?
What's the best way for them toreach out to you?
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah, I mean, well, of course I'm on social media,
um, but of course, uh, you canum reach out to me by email,
which is spostell atanchorheatingandaircom.
I'm happy for you to send me anemail, send me a private
message on Facebook.
I'm, you know, marketers, asgood marketers always are.
(45:40):
I'm on Facebook, you know,making sure that we are getting
to everybody.
So, yeah, I mean, please feelfree to reach out.
I love, I love people that arepassionate about what they're
doing, but maybe they just don'thave the tools.
It's always helpful, I think,to hear it from another
contractor uh, I like the, uh,crystal, you do an amazing job.
(46:01):
I think there's always going tobe a gap between what you can
tell somebody to do and thenanother contractor who's like,
listen, if you're, if you'rechanging marketing companies
every year, it's you, not them,and so I can say that to
somebody right, like I can say Iknow they're only a partner to
(46:22):
me, and so if you're going to dowhat you say you're going to do
, you'll have results, and I'mhappy to help those people do
what you say you're going to do,you'll have results, and I'm
happy to help those people.
I always say I tell myself Imake a thousand dollars an hour.
So if I spend time with you,you better go do something that
(46:42):
I tell you to do, implementsomething, because I think we do
get so many like everybody'sgot all the ideas and y'all take
in the ideas, but then youdon't go do anything.
You've got to make a plan onhow you are going to make
something happen, because it'snot magic.
It absolutely is not magic, andsometimes you need help.
You know, marketing is my deal.
I love it.
It's not David's deal, right?
(47:03):
So David is great at putting inair conditioners and he's great
at being with people, but if wedidn't have each other, we
would never have been able totell anybody how great a job we
do.
So I think there's your owncheerleader 100 percent, 100
percent.
Well, I just there's a lot oftimes too are afraid to tell
(47:24):
everybody what we're doingbecause we see it as promotion
or whatever.
Listen, the community needs tosee you doing great things, and
so if you're not telling peoplethat you're doing great things
and giving back, sure, do youget some promotion out of it?
Absolutely, but people can seeinsincerity a mile away too, and
(47:46):
so I think they understand that, yeah, we're getting some
marketing out of it, but at thesame time it might encourage
somebody else to do the samething.
Speaker 1 (47:57):
Great.
The whole community, yes, andthere's power in learning from
those that are doing thingsdifferently than you.
So it isn't that if you go talkto Stephanie or you talk to any
other contractor and they giveyou these ideas of what's
working for them, it's abouttaking that data and or that
information, those ideas, thecollaboration, and then
manipulating that to fit like,okay, how can I take a lot of
(48:19):
this and push it so people getstirred up about this?
People are, like your company's, not any different than any
other company yes, they are.
Every single company is verydifferent, but the basic
principles of marketing andbranding, those things are the
same.
So you still have to take thefoundational principles of
marketing and branding and applythem to, yes, your company look
(48:42):
, feel and all those good pieces.
And so it's about learning fromothers and being exposed to
others so that you can, in turn,apply that to your business and
your brand and your businessmakeup.
So you know, it's about likelearning from others and being
exposed to others so that youcan, in turn, apply that to your
business and your brand andyour business makeup so that you
can continue to have an evenbetter brand building experience
and marketing experience foryour company, and so well,
Stephanie.
(49:02):
What is one piece of advice youwould give a new?
I already feel like I know it,but you know someone's brand new
less than a million dollars.
They're ready to get started.
What is the one thing you wouldtell them to do?
Speaker 2 (49:14):
Well beyond get ready to get branded, that is, of
course, the most important.
A couple of things, because Ican never answer just one Create
your story.
You know I tell people all thetime everybody has a story and
it doesn't have to be.
You know, I tell people all thetime everybody has a story and
it doesn't have to be.
You know, I trudged through thesnow when I was 13 and blah,
(49:35):
blah, blah.
It may not also be that yourfamily has always been in HVAC
or they've always been in thetrades.
Whatever it is.
You have to create some storyaround what's going on, and so
take the time to think about whoyou are and who you want to put
out there.
I think those things for me,because that gives you so much
(49:59):
then to be able to talk otherpeople into getting behind your
brand right when you get out inthe community.
Like, if you know who you are,then you can help other people
see who you are, who you want tobe, and then they can get in
with you and get to work onbuilding a company.
So obviously I think brandingis huge.
(50:21):
Other than that, get on socialmedia.
You have got to be out there youhave got to be out there, you
have got to be putting yourselfconsistently out there video,
video, video, um, you know, anddoing the little things um that
you're able to do to share thatstory.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
So absolutely, and again, it's just things that
people sleep on.
You know, if you're sittingback and you're just constantly
worried about your digitalpresence, that's probably the
first problem.
It's definitely a key piece.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
It is absolutely.
But that's the whole thing is.
I know I've spent less on thatside of it because I have a
great brand, and then when I goand pick up new pieces, those
pieces are even more successful.
We have not done direct mail,we just started direct mail.
(51:11):
In November we sold another 150.
It's more now, probably about150,000, based on that first
direct mail piece.
We never would have been ableto have that success if we
hadn't laid our brand strategydown first.
So another company would say, oh, direct mail doesn't work.
Well, yeah, red and blue doesnot work.
(51:33):
You're exactly right.
So if you're going out thereand you are in your mailbox and
you look like every othercompany that's out there, that
doesn't work.
But if you've laid down yourdifferent colors and who you are
and your mascot or whatever youchoose, then when you pick up
new pieces like that, all of asudden somebody is like oh yeah,
I heard them on the radio, sawthem on Facebook, blah, blah,
(51:55):
blah.
And then now that is moremeaningful to them.
So I just can't tell you, Iknow our budget.
Always if I show somebody ourbudget for marketing, they would
go like Google's, your whereyou spend all your money?
It is not, it Absolutely Not,and that's a whole nother, whole
(52:17):
nother podcast.
But still it's yes, I spendmoney.
Speaker 1 (52:23):
Well, and again, it's just a plan.
You have a plan and you have abrand, so automatically you're
well ahead of most contractors.
Well, guys, if you can't tell,we could talk about this forever
.
So we probably can start aseries called things you're
probably doing wrong inmarketing, and I know we might
sound a little.
I know we might sound a littlelike we know what we're talking
(52:46):
about here, but we see it.
Stephanie lives it every day.
I see it every day withcontractors that just don't get
branding and they get in theirown way.
So much Like sometimes you haveto look and see that you might
be the issue, but the good newsis there's great programs out
there, great support groups,business coaching groups,
companies like let me see, thatcan really help contractors.
(53:08):
And so, guys, thank you forlistening to another episode of
From the Yellow Chair.
I was so lucky to haveStephanie all the way from
Charleston, south Carolina, herein our virtual lemonade stand
today.
We love talking about marketing.
If Lemon Seed Marketing canhelp you with any of your
marketing strategy or branding,we would love to chat.
Friends and family talk free.
Visit us online atlemonseedmarketingcom and until
(53:29):
we see you next time, don'tforget to sip some lemonade.
What's up, lemonheads ?
Welcome back to another episodeof From the Yellow Chair.
I am sitting down with the noneother lady in purple.
She's clutching her pearls.
So many of you already probablyknow who is on this episode,
from one marketer to another one.
I am so excited for thisepisode.
Trust me, you're going to wantto have a pen and paper, because
we roll ideas off like twocrazy people, and so we both
(00:24):
love marketing.
We're so both super passionateabout branding, marketing in
general, utilizing your brandand community involvement.
So it's sure to beaction-packed and filled full of
content.
So grab your lemonade, settlein.
As we discuss all thingsmarketing, let's sip some
lemonade.
(00:55):
All right, stephanie is in thehouse today.
Listen, and you guys know likeyou can probably hear it in my
voice.
I already know we met up at aservice time event recently and
had dinner and just.
We could have talked for hoursupon hours, and so we shut the
(01:17):
restaurant down and I got agreat dinner out of it.
It was so much fun to talkthrough there.
So, on the episode today isStephanie Postel.
She is the co-owner and COO ofAnchor Heating and Cooling there
in Charleston, south Carolina.
So I say this all the time.
Stephanie, this is how I startalmost all my episodes.
(01:38):
Why should anyone listen towhat you have to say?
Brag on yourself a little bit.
Tell us a little story about,kind of, how you guys got where
you are today.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yeah, well, thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to be here withyou and to be able to share a
little bit.
You know, I normally there's alittle bit of backstory as far
as the two companies that I waswith before David and I started
Anchor.
But you know what?
(02:09):
This, or actually last week, wekind of closed that chapter,
which I'm very happy about, andwe've been running Anchor
Heating and Air for the lastthree years.
Actually, two days ago was ourthree year anniversary.
So we have been growing thisgreat little company.
(02:30):
Our first year we did a littleover a million 1.4 million we
did 2.8 million last year and weare going to finish up at six
and a half million this year.
We have, I believe, cementedour place in our community with
our marketing, with our giveback and all that kind of stuff.
And so you know should youlisten to us?
(02:52):
I don't know, but but I thatthat I can at least help people
that are getting started or areready to take their company to
the next level, and focusing onmarketing is so important.
So that's what I love andthat's what I think we can chat
(03:12):
about a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Perfect, absolutely Well.
So I always like to start witha good brand.
So, in all transparency here,lemon Seed did not do your brand
.
Stephanie is not a client ofLemon Seed, she just does great
things and there's power ingreat things.
I love this industry for acouple of reasons.
Number one I love collaboratingwith people that are creative
on their own and are just grittymarketers, and I just really
(03:36):
think Stephanie holds that seat,so I enjoy that.
But also I think there's powerin understanding, like as
vendors any of my vendor friendsthat are listening to this,
like you can, of every 50contractors that I've talked to
probably truly understand thepower of brand and start their
(04:13):
brand forward.
That's my theme for Lemon Seedis brand forward, meaning
everything we do is reflectiveof our brand and our brand story
, and I try to do it well forLemon Seed.
I try to do it well for myfamily's heating and air
conditioning and now pestcontrol and roofing companies,
because the importance here isthat people know who you are and
then you naturally will growthe business.
(04:35):
One of the best things you eversaid to me is Crystal, we don't
even do PPC and I'm like girl, Ilove it.
I love it so kind of tell mehow you got where you got, with
with your your new look and feel.
How did you end up with thispearl and this anchor and all
those concepts?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, well, you know, I think that over time I mean
I've owned other businesses Iprobably really comes from I
owned a monogramming andembroidery business for about
seven years and obviously that'sall about brand right.
So I got to see lots of otherpeople's brand.
I put their logos on everythingyou know t-shirts and hats and
(05:17):
all those kinds of things, and.
But I think my backgroundreally starts from you know your
standards and who you are andwho you want to show people you
are, and I always really tellthe story that this all goes
back to being in a sorority incollege and I was a Kappa Delta
at Clemson and one of the thingsthat, of course, they said to
(05:42):
us before we got to wear ourletters was, when you are
wearing your letters meaningthat's your brand the Kappa
Delta on your shirt you neededto look good.
You needed to not look like youjust rolled out of bed to go to
class.
You needed to when you're whichI didn't but if you're smoking,
(06:03):
you had to sit down.
You know you are always a hugerepresentative of the sorority
and stuck with me, you know Iwill say I'm all for.
You know, people beingcomfortable and all that kind of
stuff.
What you see here, like this,is always what I look like.
(06:25):
I don't care if we're going towork in the yard, I put makeup
on.
That's just my thing.
Because I think if I'm going tothe grocery store, what if I
see somebody and then they'relike, oh, you know, like, look
at her.
So that's kind of my where thatall started.
And when we started Anchor,where that all started, and when
(06:50):
we started Anchor, we knew thatwe were going to have a brand
and it would absolutely not bered and blue.
So, to be honest, our firstbrand because, if you know any
of our story, we really didn'tplan to start our company.
When we did, we had about atwo-week heads up because we
were fired from the company thatwe had grown and that we're
(07:10):
part owners in, and so.
But I told David I was like ourbackground was, you know,
obviously providing greatservice, and part of providing
great service is looking thepart.
And so even when we startedfrom, you know, two weeks notice
, we had an anchor that was in.
(07:32):
Our colors were black and teal,I mean so there.
I actually have.
You know, if you go back andlook on our old, our first
TikToks, our old brand is there.
But again, from the beginning,because we wanted to have
something different, we wantedto stand out, we had gray t
shirts with that logo on itAgain, but knowing that the
(07:55):
brand would look different whenwe did actual branding because I
did that myself, did thatmyself.
So you know in, like you said,in all honesty, I didn't know
you at the time or maybe thingswould have been different, but
(08:17):
we reached out to Dan Antonelli,who did our brand.
At that time there was a longwaiting list to get in and we
drove white trucks that had thatbrand on a sticker on them for
eight months, because I knew theimportance of branding and we
were not going to wrap trucks,have this, you know, invest in a
(08:38):
website, all of that kind ofstuff, knowing that our eventual
brand was going to be different.
And that hurt my heart Don'tget me wrong, because I can't
stand a white van.
But it was important becausewhen we started that, when we
got that actual brand, I knewwhat a difference that was going
(08:58):
to make and so, again, you haveto be dedicated to that,
because it's hard to not goahead and just say, well, it
just would be easier to havethat red and blue or just easier
to have something else.
I knew that a story had to comefrom our brand and we were able
to tell this whole story whenDan created the brand that he
(09:20):
did for us.
So that process, of course, andjust like you have, of him
asking us questions, getting toknow who we were and in our
brand, everything in it has ameaning, you know.
So my pearls I've been wearingpearls since I was 14, every day
(09:41):
, like literally you can go backand look at pictures from me
when I got those first pearlsand they were just I liked them.
I wore a necklace every day andit was my pearls.
So that obviously had to bepart of our brand.
I went to Clemson David and Ilove Clemson football, so
there's orange and purple in ourcolors.
(10:02):
Obviously.
You know people think thatAnchor is based on us living in
Charleston and while that's agreat tie in, it's actually
because we were in a reallyscary place when we left that
other company and we're jumpinginto starting our own.
And my sister sent me a quoteabout being anchored in God and
(10:25):
I looked at David and I said,here we're going to be anchor
heating and air, like that'swhere the name came from.
You know, it's nice that itties in to being in Charleston
and all that, but it's reallyabout about that.
So we have that quote actuallyon a mural in our training room.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Oh, gosh, I love yeah , I just love a story, and so
you know I'll be honest, likethe stories that you hear are
real.
And then you, then you look atthe graphics, right.
So graphics are a very vitalpart.
So please don't get my wordstwisted here like the way things
look, 1,000 percent matters waymore, a lot more than people
(11:05):
give it credit for.
But graphic design teams can doa better job of bringing a real
story to life than they canwith nothing to work with.
So so many times we get abusiness and they'll say, well,
I don't want to rebrand rightnow, I don't have the money for
it.
And I'm like, friend, you don'thave the money to not rebrand
right now Because there'snothing to work with.
(11:30):
So even though my last name isWilliam so it's not even this
grand, super interesting lastname and so if I was just called
Williams Heating and AirConditioning unless I worked
really hard to create a logothat had a mascot or something
in it, that name itself it'sjust another last name.
And there's so many last names,so many people are called their
last name, and then the serviceright, it's definitely,
(11:53):
definitely an issue, and so Ijust love anybody that comes to
this stage with a story.
I love the pearls.
I think it's very endearing.
I think that people connectwith that.
Maybe you didn't have pearlswhen you were growing up, but
you had something that you heldon to, so this just gives the
consumer there in Charleston, um, very much an idea of who you
(12:15):
guys are and what you do.
And so tell me this, so youknow, I'm assuming, I'm just
assuming here.
It didn't like you guys hadtons of money or like money
backing you, backing you up.
So when you guys decided to dothis rebrand, it was definitely
an investment.
And then how did you roll itout?
Did you do everything at once?
Did you streamline things?
(12:35):
What was y'all's thoughtprocess there?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, I mean, we didn't have a lot of money
getting started.
To be honest, we literally had$2,000.
So we went and, you know, didthat first install and just
reinvested the money back intoour business.
One thing I think it's alwaysfair to say is that you know we
did have the benefit of I was anoperations manager for a large
(13:00):
plumbing, heating and aircompany and so we knew the level
of service that we were gonnaprovide and we priced ourselves
appropriately from the beginning.
So I think that is importantfor people to know is that being
priced appropriately it givesyou freedom and being able to
(13:21):
then plan to brand right so youcan make a much better budget
when you're not affordable orcheap.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Oh, heating and air or whatever it is Right.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, it was on our roadmap that we were going to do
this branding, so so, yeah, Imean, I think that was what we
were looking forward to thewhole time.
And then when we got the newbrand, well then now everything
just matched Right and so ittook us to that next level.
But we really rolled everythingout on TikTok.
(13:56):
To be honest, that was one ofthe first places.
Of course, once we got all ofour logos and all of that stuff,
of course, once we got all ofour logos and all of that stuff,
we changed all of our socialmedia and we're able to then,
you know, work with our partner,rival Digital, to create an
amazing website.
But we actually put, we hadalready made our choice.
(14:26):
Always tell people that, becausedo not get too many people to
help you decide on your brand.
Girls say, yes, I mean workwith your brander, like let them
tell you you pick, maybe getone opinion from, like, your
best best friend or your mom ordad, but you don't need
everyone's opinion becauseeverybody doesn't have your
story or connection.
But once we chose, we actuallyput our choices on TikTok.
(14:46):
We let people see, you knowwhat they thought, which one
would be the best.
We got great engagement andthen, once we announced the one
that we chose, of course we hadit in the works to have our
trucks wrapped and everything,and after that it has just taken
off, right.
I mean, all of a sudden we hadhad, we had three trucks at that
(15:09):
point, but of course, like Isaid, they had a sticker on them
.
And all of a sudden we gotthose three trucks wrapped and
everybody were like oh my God,do you have like 10 trucks?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
now, where did y'all come from?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, we always say we're a, you know, 15 year
overnight success.
So it just seems like thatbecause all of a sudden when you
have that presence and thatbillboard, it makes all the
difference.
And then that just catapultsyou into being able to do the
(15:41):
things in the community and ofcourse you know.
Then you go into events andhaving your tent and everything
is branded.
You know, like you say, youalways see my purple, like we
are always branding, no matterwhere we are.
In fact I said it was.
It was funny.
David was just sitting in hereand I actually wore a green vest
(16:04):
today because it's Christmas,you know, or getting close to
the holidays, and I was like,wait a minute, I got to put this
purple sweater or a sweatshirton that I have in my drawer
because our brand is soimportant, like everything has
to match.
And then people know us theyeven in Charleston now, when
(16:25):
they see us at events, they'relike oh, always got the purple
on right.
So it's a constant reminder ofwho we are, what people see in
the community.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Well, I got to ride in the purple truck, yes, so you
know I go, I think through this, and so you know again, so many
people just waste anopportunity to understand the
importance of this and, like youknow, branding is something
that it takes a while, Like ittook a lot.
It took you wearing purpleevery single day.
(16:57):
It took you wearing pearlsevery single day and it took
that name anchor.
And, like you know, you guyshave very nice uniforms.
You know your vans are wrapped.
Everything is putting thatbrand out there.
(17:18):
So you know, we interact withour community all the time, with
people that are nowhere neareven in the consideration phase
of needing HVAC services.
Yet and so you're working.
You're working years ahead oftime, literally on brand
impressions, building up thatbrand awareness with these
clients and or with thesepotential people in your market,
(17:38):
and so it doesn't always cometo fruition super quickly.
So when you see all thesepeople chasing leads like we
need leads right now, I get it.
I truly do get it.
But in marketing there has tobe two different buses that
you're on.
One is this can sit, continue.
I cannot talk this morningcontinuously continuously drives
forward, pushing forwardthrough everything.
(18:01):
It just keeps driving.
The other one is like a littlesports car that you buy for fun
and you just start drivingaround when you want to get
leads right.
So there has got to be a bothof those things running.
Unfortunately, a lot ofcontractors lean heavy one way
or the other.
They're just like sitting backand they're doing nothing for
lead gen and waiting on results.
And there's companies that donothing for branding and they're
(18:22):
strictly doing lead gen.
They're like I don't know whyI'm only getting the tire
kickers Right, and I'm likebecause the science and the
thought processes behindmarketing are very, very
different.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
So another thing that Stephanie, I thought would be
great you know, and I'm obsessedwith it, I'm jealous, I didn't
think of it Is I saw your $7little I think it was $7 concept
, yes, and I was like genius.
I told her at lunch or dinnerthat night with she and David, I
said flipping genius, andlisten, it takes a lot to
(18:56):
impress me with a full geniusidea.
Dang, this was so good and whatI loved about it was it was
simple.
It incorporated e-commerce.
I loved that and it also wasvery well promoted ahead of time
.
So this was the trifecta right.
This was all.
Things were pumping at theright time altogether.
And also the success was what Ithink of success may not be
(19:19):
what you and David think ofsuccess, but you guys felt it
was very successful.
I just loved the buzz.
If anything, I don't care ifyou sold one actual certificate.
The buzz around it was prettyimpactful.
So I thought the listenersmight just want to hear, like,
how you came up with it, whatyou did, like, how you executed
it.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah, definitely, and I love to tell people about it.
I just and make sure you knowthat um, that people know all
the pieces and parts.
So I actually did work forContractor Commerce for seven
months while we were getting ourcompany up and running, so that
was a benefit to me, obviously,just to see the e-commerce side
(19:58):
and what it could do forcontractors, and so I just
wanted to say that part thatwe've gotten a lot out of that.
Not everyone does because theydon't brand it and market it
properly, but it has been agreat thing and it's on our
website and all of that.
So, that being said, the ideatruly.
(20:19):
You know, I like to take all themarketing credit, but this was
actually David's idea, becausewe have a great neighborhood
here in Charleston that we do alot of business in and they have
supported us like crazy and sowe love to give back to them.
And David said we should justmarket in that neighborhood and
we should just give them allfree service contracts, them all
(20:47):
free service contracts.
And I was like, well, that's agood idea, but how are we going
to do that, right, how are wegoing to see some results from
that?
And so for me.
I was like it was in July, Ithink, and it was Amazon Prime
Day was going on or about to goon and I said, well, what if we
did Amazon Prime Day?
But we did it for Anchor,because we want to make sure
(21:08):
that if we're offering thiscontract to people like, how are
they going to sign up, how arethey going to get it, how are we
going to make it work in ouroffice.
Yeah, so anyway we came up withAnchor Advantage Day and we
actually thought about it for alittle while and I couldn't get
the operational side to work forme, so so we drug our feet a
(21:29):
little bit, but then, once wegot it, all decided it was going
to be one day, and it was oneday.
It was October 30th.
You could get a seven dollarservice contract for the whole
year.
It is our service contract.
We did not strip it down oranything.
But the only way that you couldbuy the service contract is to
(21:50):
buy it online, because we havevery few CSRs and I didn't want
to overwhelm them while alsohaving to take on regular calls.
So we made it so that it's onour website.
They had to go buy it there,and for 24 hours only, and we
thought about that.
It was close to install time.
(22:12):
Now I don't know about everyoneelse out there, but my two worst
months are November andFebruary.
Always it's right before theholidays.
November, nobody wants to buyanything.
It's a short month.
It almost doesn't exist, right.
And then February is the sameway.
So we did this October 30th andwe decided to incorporate an
(22:34):
install aspect to it as well,and we decided we were going to
give away $2,000 coupons off ofan install.
But you can't give them awaybecause I needed to know who had
them, right?
So we decided to sell those forseven dollars as well.
And who wouldn't trade sevendollars to get two thousand
(22:56):
dollars off of a system?
So again, you had to buy thatin our store online.
And then that way we knew onewho had the service contract,
and then we could also reach outto schedule those people who
bought a coupon, becauseotherwise it would just be on
your website and anybody andeverybody could go download it.
(23:17):
But we couldn't track then whohad it, so we couldn't market to
them.
And the other thing is, youknow, just to be very honest, we
don't want to go in.
We we do a little bit ofdiscounting, but we didn't want
to go in.
We do a little bit ofdiscounting, but we didn't want
to go in and give somebody ourbest deal and then they pull out
another $2,000 off.
I mean, let's be honest, we'rein this business to make money,
(23:38):
not to give away systems.
That's a hobby not a companyright.
So that was our two offers $7service contract, seven dollars,
two thousand dollars off aninstall 24 hours only.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
And we did the I love the urgency, yes, the sense of
urgency is very important.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yes, absolutely.
And then to do our marketing,our marketing.
So we did three days only onthe radio because we had done,
we had, we did one commercialthat, hey, anchor Advantage Day
is coming, you know, find outmore on our website.
(24:20):
We did an email campaign to allof our customers, we did a text
blast and that was it, andthose were all things that we
already have.
So we use Marketing Pro forService Titan.
That's where we sent out ouremail.
We use Chirp for our textmessaging, that's where we sent
(24:42):
out our text message.
And then we did, like I said,three days of radio, um, and
then we had a sign on ourwebsite, um, a pop-up, and that
was all the marketing we did forit, um, and it was a huge
success.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Okay.
So I want to hit on a couple ofthings that you said and I want
to expand on these things.
So, again, this is why Iflipping love, stephanie.
I love this because do you seehow like it was so thought out.
So I'm going to back up for aminute.
I'm going to give a littlestory.
So when my kids were like 12 and13 years old, like so they
would have been like 10 and 13,something along those lines I
(25:19):
would say go clean your room andthey would go in there and they
would kind of slap around at it.
But then I realized they neededa comprehensive plan.
So it overwhelmed them to thinkabout their room, because there
was trash, there was clothes,there was clean clothes, there
was dirty clothes, and so I cameup with this idea.
I was like you know, what I'mgoing to do is say we're
cleaning our rooms today,everybody go put your shoes up,
(25:41):
everybody go get your dirtyclothes, and like they would
have to come back to me, andeventually they kind of learned
how to curate a process and westruggle with this all the time.
Like I see this everywhere.
The idea of building out acomprehensive strategy to
accomplish a goal is verydaunting to a lot of people.
So it's very overwhelming tohave to think things through,
(26:03):
and I've learned that that'sactually a skill set of mine and
you too, so we live in thissame spot of I can conceptualize
what I want my end goal to beand then all the steps I have to
take to get there.
So I don't know if y'alllistened carefully here, but I
heard there was a mass mediastrategy.
So that's the new customeracquisition side, that's, you're
trying to reach new people.
And then you had an in-housemarketing plan of how do you
(26:27):
reach people multiple touchpoints between texting and email
marketing.
And then you had a social mediaplan, which is also new
customer acquisition andbranding cultivation.
So you had a strategy to getboth the new and existing
customers to take advantage ofthis plan.
And, guys, I'm going to tellyou, there was no fear of
(26:47):
spending money.
So they had this.
It didn't even sound like itcost you a ton of money.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Let me tell you yeah, you want to know that honestly,
we, and I should say we ran oneFacebook ad for three days.
It was $150.
My radio was already in myregular budget.
So I mean, let's say I spent$200 on that.
If you wanted to attribute thatthere.
I mean, let's say I spent $200on that, if you wanted to
attribute that there, I alreadyhave marketing pro, that's
(27:14):
already included, I already havethat's already included.
So literally, this wholecampaign costs us $300.
Like that's it.
It was using what we alreadyhave, that we were we use, but
we were just focused on this andthat that truly is all we spent
.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Well, and again I say this because I think the
important thing here tounderstand is money was not even
the first thing that youthought about about this.
You thought, OK, how do weaccomplish this?
How do we?
So another thing how do wecapitalize on something that's
going on in our environment,like Amazon prime day?
Right, so that was something,and this is why marketing is not
(27:55):
set it and forget it.
So, yes, this prime day come atthe same time.
Yes, it does.
But really like if you'rethinking that you can sit down
in October and plan all of 2025and literally click a button and
go, you know what this is goingto roll.
Perfectly, it will not.
It's going to disappointbecause it constantly needs, you
know, massaging to make itbetter, and so you know you play
(28:15):
off of that.
And then also, you had to picka product that you were
confident you can do.
So let me tell you, I canalready hear contractors.
I know what.
I would sell that for $7.
Well good, you did so, dondon't worry, you're not selling
it at full price or sevendollars at this point.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
So you know that's what I tell people.
I'm like, yeah, you get peopleto call you and then you don't
close the deal.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
These people weren't going to call you anyway until
they heard this deal right so,and I'll tell you another thing
that I heard on here and uh,contractor commerce.
I will give them a shout out.
They they're great with lemonseed.
They'll be at our conferencecoming up at the end of January.
They're fantastic.
But I want to say this aboutcontractor commerce.
(28:59):
It is another example, and youalluded to this early on in the
conversation because you knew,you know the direction that I'm
going with this.
People will be like it didn'twork for me, and so I always say
tell me how you were promotingyour e-commerce.
So you go to these conferencesand everybody's pushing
e-commerce.
It's the wave of the future.
And then AI you gotta have allthese things going.
(29:20):
When really, I look back andI'm like friends most of you
guys, including me I have tolook at my own business.
At times.
You including me I have to lookat my own business.
At times you don't have thefoundational things figured out
first, and so e-commerce doesnot just have to be about
selling systems.
Is your site that's linked toyour?
Is your e-commerce site that'son your website?
(29:40):
Is it branded well and are youusing it for things?
And then are you actuallytelling people?
I do not think it's a magiclittle gnome that runs around
the Internet for your specifictarget market, begging for
people to choose it.
It has to be a part of amarketing strategy, yes, and so
it is so impactful.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
That's what I say about which I never understood,
but I, when I did contractorsuccess for contractor commerce
like contractor commerce doesnot generate leads, like it is
absolutely not.
I say it's a, it's a, it couldbe a lead closer, right, it can
make something really when, whensomebody gets to your website
(30:21):
now they have something to do,right, they're going to get a
quote, they're going to buy aservice contract Like that's the
value to me and contractorcommerce.
It gives you a tool that keepsyour marketing accountable right
, because now we know if ourmarketing agency is sending
people to our website, what arewe getting them to do when they
(30:44):
get there?
Because I can tell you, read isnot a good outcome.
I went to your website and Iread for 30 minutes all about
you, never going to happen,right.
But if I go to your websitebecause all of your Facebook,
all of your TikTok, all of yoursocial media, all of your email
says click here and get a quote,then when I want that and I go
(31:06):
there, I'm going to get a quote.
Or if I'm learning about yourservice contract, which there's
so many companies putting outtheir service contract, service
contract this is what I say.
We are marketing to people allthe time, not only between nine
and five, and, to be honest, ifI need maintenance at my house,
I'm at work from nine to five,so who can I not call when I'm
(31:29):
at work?
The person that I need to getmy service contract from.
But if I deliver that ad, to youor that commercial to you about
my service contract and you'rea nurse and you see it at two
o'clock in the morning becauseyou work an overnight shift, and
then you can click on thebutton and go buy the service
contract right then, and then Icall or text you tomorrow.
(31:52):
Now we've completed the sale.
You will never be able to dothat if somebody has to call you
.
I've said this a million timesI needed to go to the dentist.
I was like three months pastgoing to get my teeth cleaned
because I couldn't rememberuntil six o'clock at night to
call my dentist and my teethcleaned because I couldn't
remember until six o'clock atnight to call my dentist and
make an appointment and Icouldn't do it after.
(32:13):
I had to do it when they wereopen.
Thank God they've changed thatnow.
Right, but, but that's where welimit the people that we are
marketing to.
We're like we're only only callus and buy a service contract.
How stupid is that?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
right.
Well, we are 100% and we are so, like again, the customer
journey.
Guys, marketing is deep.
It is much deeper than likewell, I have the right PPC
company and my website looksgood.
It is so much deeper and I justfeel like we miss it so many
times we miss it.
But you know, the customerjourney.
(32:48):
What you're talking about herereminds me of like every
interaction with your company,like how many of you have ever
gone to a store.
So here's another good example.
You know my son and I, so my 15year old as of yesterday, my 15
year old and I go to checkoutat a store that has self
checkout.
So we're scanning the items andall of a sudden it says alert
(33:11):
on the screen that pops up, thatstop scanning.
And the guy walks over.
The young kid walks over to uschecking out and he says, yeah,
the camera system thinks y'allare stealing stuff.
Well, you know me.
I was like excuse me, right,excuse me first of all, sir, if
I'm gonna steal something, itwon't be this six dollar bag of
talkies chips for my 15 year old.
But I was like like, uh, okay.
And the guy was like yeah, so Idon't know like how many items
(33:33):
do y'all have over there?
And it was so flippant.
But I was so offended and I waslike I'm offended because I
knew I wasn't doing anythingwrong and it was like very, I
felt like we were making a sceneyou, my customer, if we're not
careful.
Our flippant attitude towardslike oh yeah, sorry we didn't
answer, sorry, we don't answerchat, sorry, you commented and
(33:56):
we didn't answer.
On social media, we appear thatwe don't care about that
business and I think it limitsevery single lead and every
single client.
We are grateful, we aregrateful, we are appreciative
and we're going to do our verybest.
Whether they are $5 company or$500 million company, we are
going to treat everyone with duediligence, respect and
(34:17):
timeliness and all of thosethings, and I just think people
see it.
When you're trying to protectyour brand, that includes being
available where they are.
It includes a solid CSRstrategy.
It includes our vans, our tech,our team looking good, our
messaging looking good and guys,some of you need to protect
that like your family shield,because we're just we're too
(34:41):
loose A lot.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Absolutely, but like that, that was a great
opportunity in this campaign,though, because that's why I had
to think through the e-commerceside of it, because I didn't
want these people that werereaching out to us we couldn't
answer the phone that day, so Iwould have overwhelmed our CSRs
and not provided this service tosomebody who may have been new
(35:07):
to us, right.
And here's the other thing Ilove the new customers that we
got and I'll tell you theresults in a second but it's
really also to our currentcustomers, because why do we
forget that those people havemultiple systems, or they have
mothers and fathers andgrandparents and neighbors that
(35:28):
need systems, right?
So definitely, this.
This campaign was certainlyabout the new customer, but we
also offered this to our currentcustomers because existing
members existing members canrenew 100 percent.
They could renew, extend theircontract, or it could be for new
(35:48):
.
They could renew, extend theircontract or it could be for new.
And that was a huge thing.
Just to say listen, payattention to our marketing,
because you never know whatwe're going to offer, right?
Because half the time existingpeople might be like, oh God, I
got another email.
Well, hey, if you miss this one, because that would have saved
you.
I mean, if you paid 195 lastyear, now you're paying seven.
(36:08):
Okay, I mean, that's a gooddeal.
So you, you, I mean, if youpaid one, ninety five last year,
now you're paying seven.
Ok, I mean, that's, that's agood deal.
So, so you know.
I mean, I think those are thekinds of things where I don't
care.
I want you to stay customers ofmine forever.
That's the whole point.
If I can pay, you can pay meseven dollars to do that, $7 to
(36:30):
do that.
I can't tell you how many morecustomers I don't have to go
spend $600 on to come in thedoor because I'm retaining the
people that I have currently.
And then you're happy with meif you're extending or renewing.
So I know you're going to tellsomebody the next time.
They need somebody, right?
So that's just the thoughtprocess we're so worried like to
your point about.
You know you're driving aroundthat sports car beeping through
(36:50):
everybody's neighborhood rightnow.
Well, you should have beendriving the van around six
months ago saying it doesn'tmatter when you come on, just
remember who we are when youneed us, right?
I just think that I get reachedout to at this time of the year,
like what are you doing to getleads coming in?
What do you mean?
I planned that six months ago,right?
(37:15):
Or I had at least a strategy.
I thought November's bad,here's what we're going to do.
And, to be honest, we hadanother strategy.
You know, past that day we hada nut.
We sent out a great direct mailpiece that followed up Anchor
Advantage Day, but it didn'thave the same offer on it
because Anchor Advantage Day,but it didn't have the same
offer on it because AnchorAdvantage was special and you
only could get that that day.
But that's the thing, like, youhave to have that follow up
(37:39):
that goes along with it.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
So, anyway, I love it .
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Yeah, one day, only 180 interactions.
Yeah, one day, only 180interactions.
So we sold 169 servicecontracts that were either
extended, renewed or new.
Actually, 37 new customers outof that brand new to anchor
(38:04):
Anchor, eleven two thousanddollar contract or eleven two
thousand dollar coupons weresold and in as a direct result
from Anchor Advantage Day, itwas over one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in in newbusiness.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
For me, yes, yeah.
So I'm telling you like, fromthis great, just brainstorming
idea, and you know, guys, like Itell you like marketing can be
fun without being like thisstressor that just wears you out
, you know.
So just encouragement ofthinking through your brand and
then carrying that brand,messaging through your offers,
(38:44):
which then leads right intogreat company culture and things
like that.
And I know that Stephanie ispassionate about company culture
as well.
And you know, I'm telling you,I know this steps on toes, but I
have talked to contractors thathave been at $2 million for 15
years, yeah, and they're like Idon't know why, it's my website
company, it's my.
And I'm like, no, no, it's not.
(39:06):
You want to see movers andshakers.
If marketers are taking creditfor it, they shouldn't be in
this grand scheme of things,because marketing is just in an
arsenal.
What operators you need?
An operator, you need someonewith an entrepreneurial spirit,
like, yes, I mean david, davidpaul still might be the best
technician and sales guy thatever walked over in toronto,
(39:27):
south carolina, but you knowwhat?
Evidently the two of y'alltogether are rockstar operators
and that is where you seecompanies that are moving and
growing and shaking and theyjust pass everybody else.
And literally the people thatare left in the dust are like
well, what are?
What are they doing different?
They must have private equitymoney.
No, they don't.
They just have a plan andthey're not scared.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Yeah, absolutely what if that failed?
Like what you know?
What if we didn't sell anythingthat day, you know?
But, but okay, if we didn't,then we'll just back up and do
something else, right?
I mean, I think that's thewhole thing.
That branding is like I love it, but it you have to have a
(40:11):
story about what you are doingand why you're doing it, right?
I mean, like I'm passionateabout this place, not because I
get to make a lot of money, butbecause all my people do Right.
I'm my David and I say all thetime like our, the, our measure
for success is going to be aboutwhat the people that work here
(40:33):
do not want, what we do, right,and I believe that.
So if that's not what youbelieve, figure out what you
believe.
If it truly is like you justwant to make more money, ok, I
think you'll be successful.
I don't think you'll be wildlysuccessful because it's only
your vision.
It's that that's not a mission.
And I can tell you that peoplenow I don't care how old they
(40:58):
are, you don't, you can't tellme it's 20 year olds or 30 year
olds or 40 year olds People wantto be connected to a mission
and the mission is notconditioning, it just isn't.
The mission is serving.
It is doing great things forpeople.
Now, the heating and airconditioning is the vehicle
Right.
When we do more heating and airconditioning work, we have more
(41:20):
other stuff that we get to do,and that success has turned into
us being able to give back toour community, and I mean
donations and support and all ofthat stuff.
And then I can connect that towhat my people are passionate
about, whether it's a militarydonation or it's somebody with
(41:41):
cancer, or it's a kid's littleleague or whatever that is.
Now I can say, listen, when wedo this good, then we have this
that we can do even better.
And so then, once they'recoming to me now and saying, hey
, I want us to do this charityand I'm going to lead it, okay,
(42:04):
right, I mean, that's all that Ican look at and say, well, that
makes me successful.
Now, right, because I couldlead us through wanting to be a
service-based company andserving.
But when they have jumped onthat now that makes a huge
difference and you will seepeople perform better because
(42:26):
they know what the end goal is.
And to me, that's the internalbranding that has to be done.
I think we do a terrible job ascontractors of saying we're
going to do this on the firstday, like we're mission vision,
blah, blah, blah on your firstday of onboarding, and then we
(42:47):
never talk about it again.
And then you're like I don'tknow why all these people can't
show up on time.
Well, because you're not agreat boss, because you are not
constantly reinforcing why we'recoming to work to do what we're
doing, right, and then if youpromise something you got to do,
I think you're muted.
Then we have to promise to dothings and we have to do them.
(43:10):
And that's the same thing, Iknow.
You know you said somethingabout our pro promise, but some
of that is also connected, likethat's an external promise, but
there's a part of that that'salso an internal promise and
that if David and I say we'regoing to do something like we've
been talking about this 401kall year, that we are going to,
(43:30):
we are going to be able toprovide a 401k for everybody,
well, guess what starts at thebeginning of the year 401k,
right, like those kinds ofthings.
You know, it's great to do ourexternal branding, but if your
people inside aren't on themission, you're not going to be.
It doesn't matter what you dooutside, right, they're not
(43:56):
happy, they're not staying there.
You got all this turnover.
The greatest compliment I gotvery recently and I've gotten it
more than once is how do youand David always find the best
people?
I like, I agree, like you know,but you, you know what?
I think that we have shown themthe mission over and over and
over again.
We, we carry out the mission.
And then they tell theirfriends hey, this is the real
(44:19):
deal over here, like they dowhat they say they're gonna do,
like we're spoiled, we getreally taken care of.
And and I would say to themyou're not spoiled, this is what
comes with doing a really greatjob.
And so you know, while that maylook like spoiled, ok, that's
good.
If that's what you want to be,I'm happy.
Well, you got to live it Right.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
So you have to live your mission, vision and core
values.
You have to live out the things.
You have to talk about them.
It has to really be in theirface that you are constantly
expecting them to.
You know, reflect what you'reputting out into the market.
So there's nothing, nothingworse than selling something
that you can't deliver on.
And so you know, when we'reputting all these cool ideas out
there and then we are not readyto delivery, like that becomes
an issue.
And so just making sure that we, you know we are doing
(45:04):
everything we can do.
Well, stephanie, I know you'vegiven so many fun thoughts and
ideas here.
If someone and I know you lovelike coaching, you love to be a
good supporter.
So if someone was like, oh mygosh, I love her, how do I talk
with her?
What's the best way for them toreach out to you?
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah, I mean, well, of course I'm on social media,
um, but of course, uh, you canum reach out to me by email,
which is spostell atanchorheatingandaircom.
I'm happy for you to send me anemail, send me a private
message on Facebook.
I'm, you know, marketers, asgood marketers always are.
(45:40):
I'm on Facebook, you know,making sure that we are getting
to everybody.
So, yeah, I mean, please feelfree to reach out.
I love, I love people that arepassionate about what they're
doing, but maybe they just don'thave the tools.
It's always helpful, I think,to hear it from another
contractor uh, I like the, uh,crystal, you do an amazing job.
(46:01):
I think there's always going tobe a gap between what you can
tell somebody to do and thenanother contractor who's like,
listen, if you're, if you'rechanging marketing companies
every year, it's you, not them,and so I can say that to
somebody right, like I can say Iknow they're only a partner to
(46:22):
me, and so if you're going to dowhat you say you're going to do
, you'll have results, and I'mhappy to help those people do
what you say you're going to do,you'll have results, and I'm
happy to help those people.
I always say I tell myself Imake a thousand dollars an hour.
So if I spend time with you,you better go do something that
(46:42):
I tell you to do, implementsomething, because I think we do
get so many like everybody'sgot all the ideas and y'all take
in the ideas, but then youdon't go do anything.
You've got to make a plan onhow you are going to make
something happen, because it'snot magic.
It absolutely is not magic, andsometimes you need help.
You know, marketing is my deal.
I love it.
It's not David's deal, right?
(47:03):
So David is great at putting inair conditioners and he's great
at being with people, but if wedidn't have each other, we
would never have been able totell anybody how great a job we
do.
So I think there's your owncheerleader 100 percent, 100
percent.
Well, I just there's a lot oftimes too are afraid to tell
(47:24):
everybody what we're doingbecause we see it as promotion
or whatever.
Listen, the community needs tosee you doing great things, and
so if you're not telling peoplethat you're doing great things
and giving back, sure, do youget some promotion out of it?
Absolutely, but people can seeinsincerity a mile away too, and
(47:46):
so I think they understand that, yeah, we're getting some
marketing out of it, but at thesame time it might encourage
somebody else to do the samething.
Speaker 1 (47:57):
Great.
The whole community, yes, andthere's power in learning from
those that are doing thingsdifferently than you.
So it isn't that if you go talkto Stephanie or you talk to any
other contractor and they giveyou these ideas of what's
working for them, it's abouttaking that data and or that
information, those ideas, thecollaboration, and then
manipulating that to fit like,okay, how can I take a lot of
(48:19):
this and push it so people getstirred up about this?
People are, like your company's, not any different than any
other company yes, they are.
Every single company is verydifferent, but the basic
principles of marketing andbranding, those things are the
same.
So you still have to take thefoundational principles of
marketing and branding and applythem to, yes, your company look
(48:42):
, feel and all those good pieces.
And so it's about learning fromothers and being exposed to
others so that you can, in turn,apply that to your business and
your brand and your businessmakeup.
So you know, it's about likelearning from others and being
exposed to others so that youcan, in turn, apply that to your
business and your brand andyour business makeup so that you
can continue to have an evenbetter brand building experience
and marketing experience foryour company, and so well,
Stephanie.
(49:02):
What is one piece of advice youwould give a new?
I already feel like I know it,but you know someone's brand new
less than a million dollars.
They're ready to get started.
What is the one thing you wouldtell them to do?
Speaker 2 (49:14):
Well beyond get ready to get branded, that is, of
course, the most important.
A couple of things, because Ican never answer just one Create
your story.
You know I tell people all thetime everybody has a story and
it doesn't have to be.
You know, I tell people all thetime everybody has a story and
it doesn't have to be.
You know, I trudged through thesnow when I was 13 and blah,
(49:35):
blah, blah.
It may not also be that yourfamily has always been in HVAC
or they've always been in thetrades.
Whatever it is.
You have to create some storyaround what's going on, and so
take the time to think about whoyou are and who you want to put
out there.
I think those things for me,because that gives you so much
(49:59):
then to be able to talk otherpeople into getting behind your
brand right when you get out inthe community.
Like, if you know who you are,then you can help other people
see who you are, who you want tobe, and then they can get in
with you and get to work onbuilding a company.
So obviously I think brandingis huge.
(50:21):
Other than that, get on socialmedia.
You have got to be out there youhave got to be out there, you
have got to be putting yourselfconsistently out there video,
video, video, um, you know, anddoing the little things um that
you're able to do to share thatstory.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
So absolutely, and again, it's just things that
people sleep on.
You know, if you're sittingback and you're just constantly
worried about your digitalpresence, that's probably the
first problem.
It's definitely a key piece.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
It is absolutely.
But that's the whole thing is.
I know I've spent less on thatside of it because I have a
great brand, and then when I goand pick up new pieces, those
pieces are even more successful.
We have not done direct mail,we just started direct mail.
(51:11):
In November we sold another 150.
It's more now, probably about150,000, based on that first
direct mail piece.
We never would have been ableto have that success if we
hadn't laid our brand strategydown first.
So another company would say, oh, direct mail doesn't work.
Well, yeah, red and blue doesnot work.
(51:33):
You're exactly right.
So if you're going out thereand you are in your mailbox and
you look like every othercompany that's out there, that
doesn't work.
But if you've laid down yourdifferent colors and who you are
and your mascot or whatever youchoose, then when you pick up
new pieces like that, all of asudden somebody is like oh yeah,
I heard them on the radio, sawthem on Facebook, blah, blah,
(51:55):
blah.
And then now that is moremeaningful to them.
So I just can't tell you, Iknow our budget.
Always if I show somebody ourbudget for marketing, they would
go like Google's, your whereyou spend all your money?
It is not, it Absolutely Not,and that's a whole nother, whole
(52:17):
nother podcast.
But still it's yes, I spendmoney.
Speaker 1 (52:23):
Well, and again, it's just a plan.
You have a plan and you have abrand, so automatically you're
well ahead of most contractors.
Well, guys, if you can't tell,we could talk about this forever
.
So we probably can start aseries called things you're
probably doing wrong inmarketing, and I know we might
sound a little.
I know we might sound a littlelike we know what we're talking
(52:46):
about here, but we see it.
Stephanie lives it every day.
I see it every day withcontractors that just don't get
branding and they get in theirown way.
So much Like sometimes you haveto look and see that you might
be the issue, but the good newsis there's great programs out
there, great support groups,business coaching groups,
companies like let me see, thatcan really help contractors.
(53:08):
And so, guys, thank you forlistening to another episode of
From the Yellow Chair.
I was so lucky to haveStephanie all the way from
Charleston, south Carolina, herein our virtual lemonade stand
today.
We love talking about marketing.
If Lemon Seed Marketing canhelp you with any of your
marketing strategy or branding,we would love to chat.
Friends and family talk free.
Visit us online atlemonseedmarketingcom and until
(53:29):
we see you next time, don'tforget to sip some lemonade.
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