March 25, 2025 • 35 mins
What if your most powerful marketing strategy isn't about generating leads or spending more on advertising, but simply showing genuine appreciation to your customers? This episode dives deep into the transformative power of gratitude marketing with Caleb Bates from To Your Success, exploring how thoughtful gestures of appreciation create emotional connections that turn one-time customers into lifelong advocates.
Our conversation reveals the fascinating origin story behind To Your Success – how founder Jim discovered that customers who purchased expensive motorhomes were more energized by the dozen cookies they received afterward than by the motorhome itself. This revelation sparked a business dedicated to helping companies express authentic gratitude through memorable gifts that engage multiple senses and create lasting positive associations.
We explore the psychology behind effective appreciation marketing, examining why surprise and delight are so powerful in creating brand loyalty. Caleb shares remarkable success stories of businesses whose simple thank-you gifts generated organic referrals when customers proudly displayed branded items in their communities. You'll learn why consistency matters in gratitude marketing and how to balance automation with authentic human connection.
As digital marketing becomes increasingly automated and impersonal, this episode reminds us that tapping into our fundamental humanity – through thoughtful gestures of appreciation – might be the most strategic differentiator available to home service businesses today. Whether you're looking to increase customer retention, generate more referrals, or simply build a brand that resonates on a human level, this conversation will transform how you think about marketing.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, Lemonheads ?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom the Yellow Chair.
I'm Crystal and y'all.
Today we are going to talkabout a game-changing marketing
approach, one that's not aboutmore noise and, honestly, not
even about spending a ton ofmoney.
It's not digital, so you knowI'm here for it.
Love my digital friends, buthonestly, I love this style of
(00:23):
marketing that we're going totalk about today.
We're talking with a companythat helps home service
businesses create lifelongcustomers through the power of
gratitude and appreciation.
So those of you that know meknow, in a world that is so fast
paced and how fast can you getevery single lead and is
everything automated to be ableto step back and talk through
just showing your customersgratitude and appreciation?
(00:46):
It is, I think, such a pro movethere.
So not only is this the nicegesture, but a really a
strategic move for really longterm business building.
So, guys, grab your lemonade,settle in, set your cruise
control or set your yourtreadmill treadmill, whatever
you're on set it for some wisdomso that we can hear how
(01:07):
gratitude driven marketing cantransform your business.
Let's sip some lemonade.
All right, guys, welcome calebbates from T-E-S.
Oh my gosh.
Listen, caleb.
I have to tell you, when I wasyou know many of my listeners
(01:30):
know I grew up in this industrystarted with my family's company
in a professional marketingrole back in 2014.
And one of the most strategicmoves we ever made was our
partnership with Two YearSuccess.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, I remember that .
Actually, Crystal, I mean youand I go way back to I think it
was 2016,.
You guys started using ourservices and you guys, I mean
McWilliams has just continued tojust take off.
I mean what a great company.
And now look at you justsharing all this great
information.
I'm excited to be here, thanksfor having me, and I can't.
(02:06):
I can't help but want somelemon heads.
Do you guys have lemon headsaround the office?
I mean, the last time I had onewas like I was like 12.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
We don't, but I'm like everybody asks us for those
like.
That needs to be a part of ourstrategy for sure, I think we're
going to have to get some mysix pack soft side cooler that.
I got, and then Go Time SuccessGroup, I sent them a referral
lead for one of my clients thatneeded to be coached and next
thing I know I opened up thisbox and I literally opened it on
camera and it was a soft sideof Go Time cooler with these
(02:37):
delicious cookies in it With thecookies and if you've never
been to a Service Nation, showyou.
guys are baking cookies on site.
Like it is your jam Like.
So not only my little marketingbrain, my branding brain gets
so excited because you guysreally own that cookie smell at
a show.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Oh yeah, that's part of the brand.
Um, it's a good way to entice,you know, it's like, it's like
you're just aware of us justbecause of the smell, right?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So it's a color for us, but at the end of the day,
something memorable.
So I am loving this concept ofjust gratitude.
You know I don't feel like weshow enough gratitude to just
people in our lives in general,but why um I?
Gratitude being the ultimatemarketing power move right.
(03:26):
But to your success was reallybuilt around this idea that
customer appreciation is morethan just like a call like
thanks for your business, likeit truly became like a strategic
part of how you continue tocultivate.
Every single time someonetrusts you with their home's
comfort.
Sounds kind of corny, but likewhat inspired to your success?
Like how did this even comeabout?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
That's a great question.
So a big picture is we arestill a family owned and
operated company and this goesback to my father-in-law, jim.
He started the business.
He was entrepreneurial inspirit.
I actually think someone'sspoken to him as a young man and
said one day, you're going toown a business, you're going to
run a company.
And that stuck with him for along time.
(04:10):
He sold motor homes for many,many years and he finally felt
led to step out later in life tostart his own company.
And what's funny is as hethought about the different
companies or businesses that hecould start.
You see, he's a very selflessperson.
(04:31):
He's never met a stranger.
He's always looking to buildothers up and help them be
successful, which was actuallythe birthing of the company name
to your success.
And he thought he's also acookie lover.
I mean, at his core he loves agood, freshly baked cookie.
And when he sold motorhomesthey would send a freshly baked
(04:51):
dozen cookies after this hugepurchase that a customer made
and he would get so muchfeedback from customers.
They were so energized and itwasn't the motorhome I mean,
they love the motorhome, theybought it, but they were talking
about that dozen cookies afterthe fact.
So this huge purchase and allthey can talk about is a dozen
cookies, that's what energizedthem and that stuck with him.
And when he thought aboutmaking other businesses
(05:13):
successful, he thought we let'smake, let's go this route First
off, you're hard pressed to findanybody that doesn't like a
freshly baked cookie.
And then let's try to make thisprocess more seamless for
businesses to say thank you.
Because he saw that innatepower of appreciation and
gratitude and what it does forcustomer relationships.
And so that's what birthed andinspired the idea at the
(05:36):
beginning.
And then he got involved in thetrades about six years into it
so that was about 20 years agonow and I had a really good
friend who was an HVACdistributor.
He said you need to try thisfor residential home services.
And at first we thought thatwas kind of a crazy idea because
he was selling still the motorhome companies and handicap
(05:56):
accessible vans, vehicle typesales.
But he said let's give it a go,let's try it, and it took off
because the home serviceindustry is powered by referrals
and strong branding andcustomer relationships and so
when you're entering someone'shome, I mean this is a piece of
(06:18):
their lives that you're goinginto and servicing, and so being
able to connect with customersin a relational way was the
perfect fit.
Since then, we've just gonedeep in the trades.
I mean this is we want to makeit as easy as possible and be
the best possible service tohelp.
You say thank you to yourcustomers and it just works.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, it does work.
It does work and it is, it is apower move.
So let me tell you, you know,from someone that really buggle
to encourage contractors tospend money, like I don't
struggle, like I tell everybodyI spend money for a living
(06:57):
because I do marketing, but ittakes me, you know, like I want
to say this $50, let me justcall it $50.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It's not even $50, but that's on the high end, yeah
that's super high end.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So most of the time, like you, are making an
intentional effort to engagewith someone that has trusted
you for a $18,000, heck, even a$5,000 install.
And I'm from back in the daywhen they had the literal
postcards in the box that askedfor the review.
So when the review came through, we loved our two-year success
(07:28):
reviews because it listen wecaught people when they were
feeling good, they had a cookie,so all of a sudden, their
reviews and their comments wereuber positive and uber
encouraging and so it reallygave us power when we went to,
like, promote those, thosereviews and things.
(07:48):
And so I love the concept of ofjust thinking of the cost
related to the install is sominimal and this is such an easy
thing Like this does not haveto be an over the top.
Let me go spend thousands ofdollars thanking somebody.
This was an interesting approachand it's so simple and it's so
(08:10):
endearing that people are not.
So I am a big fan of gift, withpurchases, so like, okay, buy a
new system with us and we'regoing to get you a TV, an iPad,
whatever it's going to be.
And people, a lot of times mycontractors will come back and
say, man, this client justwanted the money.
Like, hey, just give me the$500 you were going to spend on
(08:31):
the TV.
I don't think anyone goes.
You know what I want?
the $35 you spent on this cooleroff of my system, because it
appears and it is so endearingand genuine and authentic and
it's not over the top and theperceived value.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yes, well, we've had hundreds of thousands of gifts
every year that we send out.
We don't, we don't hear thatfeedback.
And the crazy thing is isbecause the contractor doesn't
have to send this.
As a business, you don't haveto thank your customer because
the transaction is over, andthat's the whole concept of
post-transaction.
A lot of legion and marketingand advertising is trying to get
(09:10):
the lead in the door, which isgood, but what gets lost in
translation and it has deepmarketing impact is after the
fact, after the sale, are weremarketing to our customer base
?
Because that's where customersaren't expecting it, and it
turns it into, instead of just alinear transaction, it turns it
into a repeating customer lifecycle where you're saying, hey,
(09:33):
we appreciate your business andwe want to be a continued
resource.
We look forward to serving youagain in the future, and then
you're trying to energize themwith something above and beyond
that keeps them coming back.
So a lot of potential here.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, just the element of surprise.
You know, it's just like youknow, even when you're even, you
know, in marriage or infriendships, and all of a sudden
you're like look at this littletoken of gratitude it is, it's
really an easy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I think it's.
I think it's really good thatyou mentioned personal
relationships.
Actually, you know, marriage,friendships, other family
relationships, you know youthink of a healthy relationship,
has I even think of myneighbors right We've got?
When you have a healthy humanrelationship, gratitude is
foundational to that and that'swhat typically energizes that
(10:25):
relationship.
It shows that you care aboutsomebody else.
It motivates them.
I mean, I think about even mychildren.
What's the best motivator tothem?
It's whenever I stop, get downon my knee and I say, hey, good
job feeding the dog this morning.
I appreciate you doing thatwith a good attitude.
You know, and they are, whatdoes that do it like breathes
life into them.
It inspires them to do thatagain.
(10:47):
And the things that work in ourpersonal relationships.
You can mirror a lot of that inyour business relationships
with your customer base.
Like, hey, how can I energizemy customer base?
How can I get them to talkabout me or do the same thing
again?
And you can take, you know,gratitude is a perfect example
of that, of saying, hey, we knowthat you could have chosen
(11:09):
anyone, but you trusted us andwe thank you and appreciate you
for that Again.
You know, we want to be aresource for you from here on
out.
And I I think, um, you know, wehave this five-star goal in life
of being a five-star company.
I mean, we have it, contractorshave it, you guys have it.
We all want to be five stars.
But what does that mean?
(11:30):
Well, it's actually what peoplehired us for in the first place
was to give five-star service.
That's what they're paying usfor, and so that's where their
expectation is.
So, when we deliver on fivestars, what have we done?
Well, we've really met theirexpectation, and they wouldn't
have hired us if they thoughtthey were going to get a
three-star experience.
So they're paying us for afive-star experience.
(11:50):
So what do we do?
We meet those expectations, buthow can we surpass those
expectations?
What can we engineer in advanceto say all right, when a
customer calls up, we're goingto not just meet their need, but
we're going to do somethingabove and beyond, even in the
phone call, to show that we care.
And then, when we go, step intheir house for the first time,
(12:13):
we're going to do somethingabove and beyond to show that we
care.
We want to connect.
And then, post-transaction, wedon't just want to collect the
check, we want to say thank youand express it in a way that
gives value and Crystal, I thinkthis is where people have an
opportunity.
It is to give value first.
(12:34):
That is one of the first stepsin building a strong
relationship with another personis to be the first one to make
the move to say, hey, I want toinvest in you, I want to invest
in this relationship.
And what happens is, as humans,at our core, we are reciprocal
in nature and that creates adesire to to reciprocate, and
(12:55):
it's kind of like I would say Ifeel like I owe you one if you
gave me something, but also Ithink it's just a very natural
desire to feel like man.
But also I think it's just avery natural desire to feel like
man, is somebody else investedin me?
I want to respond in turn withgratitude and say, hey, yeah,
well, yeah, can you guys comequote me on this?
Or actually, I do have a waterheater out in the garage too.
Please take a look at that aswell.
(13:16):
And you know, I think it setsthe stage whenever you're
connecting with peopleemotionally and going above and
beyond.
And you mentioned a key wordthat I think is really important
it's surprise.
And when we market to ourcustomers.
Surprise and delight is apowerful tool and feeling to
(13:39):
create in a customer, becausewhat it's actually doing is
releasing dopamine and the mindand you're saying, hey, I get
rewarded when I do this action.
So whenever I work with thiscompany, I'm not just going to
get my expectations met, there'sgoing to be some kind of reward
.
There's an association there ofa feeling um, surprise, delight
(14:03):
, um, some kind of novelty.
I love the branding you guys dobecause it's unique and what
people can do is they startassociating those feelings that
you create with the brand cues,like their color, their logo,
their font, the advertising thatthey're doing.
Those advertisements, thosecolors, those fonts start
(14:24):
conjuring up the feelings thatthey're doing.
Those advertisements, thosecolors, those fonts start
conjuring up the feelings thatthey remember about you and
their experience with you, andthat's powerful.
Whenever you're talking aboutreferrals and inspiring repeat
business is, you're creatingpowerful feelings that energize
your customer base for the longhaul.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah, and I'm just going to like there's a couple
of things you know.
Loyalty, customer loyaltydoesn't happen by accident.
Customer loyalty especially now, especially now that the
Internet is just full, likeeverybody has at their
fingertips access to so manythings.
And it takes.
You know it takes working reallyhard to develop customer
(15:03):
loyalty.
And so, by these little peaksof things that you do, these
little interactions and drops ofsunshine, if you will, that you
impart on your customers,really does build longevity with
that customer and loyalty.
That it's not transactional.
People don't feel like you'rejust another number, you're just
another person.
It's meaningful.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And here's why is when you look at and I would
encourage every company to dothis I just recently went
through and mapped out all ofour different touch points our
advertisements on the beginning,our lead gen, all the way
through to.
You know what are our touchpoints when a customer is sold
with us and how are we followingup with them after the fact,
(15:46):
and when you start mapping thisout for a contractor, that would
be our truck wraps, ourbillboards, our TV
advertisements, radioadvertisements and then during
the sale interactions, at everyphone call, every time we step
in the door, map out each of thetouch points where a customer
interacts with you and whatfeelings are you creating,
because your brand, at the endof the day, is the sum total of
(16:06):
how customers feel about you.
And when you are developingstrong feelings, here's what
happens.
You know everybody thinks aboutadvertising as just a way to
get new customers in the door.
But think about the remarketingimpact.
Whenever you talk about loyalty,crystal, you're talking about
people keeping you top of mindfor a long time, and so it's
(16:30):
cookies or whatever you do tothank your customers.
That's the energy, that's thefeeling you're creating.
But when they see youradvertising on that billboard
again after the fact whathappens, they're reminded of
that feeling.
They're still energized andthey you are taking up their
mind space so that when the timecomes that a family member
(16:50):
needs service or friend asks hey, who did you guys use recently?
You're the top of mind person.
And not only are you top ofmind, but they're actually
energized and delighted enoughwith you that they would
actually tell the story of theirinteraction with you.
They're not going to say, ohyeah, we just went to Google and
found whichever was the highestrated company and you know you
(17:11):
generated content, you know whatyou want.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Like, listen, all good deeds need to also serve a
secondary purpose a lot of times.
So you do.
You're sending cookies becauseyou're truly grateful.
You're sending a gift becauseyou want that customer to know
like thank you Because in thesea of choices, you chose us.
Like thank you for choosing us.
But at the other side of it,like it also should be done
(17:38):
strategically to continue tochurn those people where they're
either referring their friendsand family or they are coming
back to you for dual service.
So you replace their HVACsystem.
You mentioned this earlier.
You know.
Now, what about your roof?
What about your pest control?
What about your whatever elseyou offer plumbing, electrical,
and so how do you think thedifference between like just a
(18:00):
thank you and a memorable thankyou, like you know?
I know at the minimum I'm likehere at least saying thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
But what do you think that's a good start?
Yeah, the difference between athank you and a memorable thank
you.
Well, I think when it'sheartfelt, first off, that
there's no strings attached.
What we see a lot is there's somuch focus on literal ROI of
being able to say, when I saidthank you, I got three extra
(18:30):
sales out of that and I was ableto attribute that perfectly and
prove that perfectly.
But people can sense wheneveryou're saying, or like I said
thank you and I got a Googlereview out of that is you start
designing your thank you around,trying to get a proven result,
Like you know, hey, let's, let'sput a referral request in here
(18:55):
and let's try to say, hey, thankyou for your business.
If there's anybody you knowthat could use our services,
fill out this card and we'llgive you even more.
And so there's like a we'rewe're trying to push the rope.
We're trying to push actioninstead of pulling the rope
would be creating a brand that'sso delightful to interact with
that people naturally want totalk about you anyways, because
it was so different, it wasunique.
I mean, who gets a cookie giftin the mail or who you know,
(19:17):
whenever they're at a communityevent, is passing out snow cones
instead of lead forms.
You know it's like.
What ways can we really drivefeelings in people?
If we're focused on that first,the leads will come more
naturally because people want tojust organically talk about it.
So I think, as far as it beingmemorable a memorable thank you
(19:41):
you've got to incorporate againways to release dopamine and
make this fun.
You want to create feeling andmake this fun.
You wanna create feeling.
Feeling is memorable, A gift, asurprise, novelty.
Another thing, a strategy thatwe use, is food.
We think food is very strategicbecause it incorporates four of
the five senses.
I mean you feel it, you seefood, you smell it, you taste it
(20:05):
.
I mean it's like they're eatinga piece of your brand and
experiencing that.
And there's a lot ofassociation that happens with
celebration.
Think about, like, wheneveryou're celebrating a graduation
or some kind of anniversary orevent, what do you do at that
time?
You use food, you celebrate andshare food.
Or maybe you're trying to builda connection with a new
(20:26):
employee.
What do you do to bring thewalls down and build trust?
Or maybe you're trying to builda connection with a new
employee.
What do you do to bring thewalls down and build trust.
You're going to share lunch,You're going to connect over a
meal, and so food is.
I think, at the end of the day,we've got to remember our
humanity and that we are drivenby feelings and emotional
decisions.
And if we can drive goodfeelings into customers, that,
(20:46):
hey, we care about you and wewant to create this incredible
experience and it's not thatyou're saying that, but you're
actually doing it in little wayshere and there, that's what's
going to make the thank youmemorable.
And there's no strings attachedand it's unique and it shows
that you really do, you reallyare grateful, and I think that
(21:07):
strategy will pay off in thelong haul through the organic
referrals and the energy behindyour brand name in the community
.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, there's a lot of things that you have to
realize are impacted by by these, by this approach to things.
Approach to things.
Do you have a success story,Caleb, of anyone that maybe just
you saw transform theirbusiness through appreciation
marketing?
I mean, I know I spoke toMcWilliams earlier and we even
(21:37):
changed a little while.
We went from the soft-sidedcookie to a tumbler filled with
the cookies.
So we even moved our stuffaround.
But I know you've got someother success stories probably
that you could talk about alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
In fact, a sales manager justrecently reached out and they
had an internal Slack channelwhere they're chatting all of
their team.
And he chatted all of thesalespeople and said hey, we
just found out.
The tough thing is it's hard toknow exactly when you get an
organic referral.
And um, he's like hey, we justfound out that, um, one of the
(22:12):
sales was a doctor where whosold two systems.
And uh, he, when asked how didyou hear about us?
He said, well, I was.
I was, you know, at work andone of the nurses was carrying
around a little cooler bag withyour all's logo on it and I was
in need of a system.
And um, just asked the nurseabout you.
(22:33):
And so, come to find out, thisnurse had gotten a cookie cooler
gift and, uh, it had theirbranding on it and she's using
this functional item.
And that just started theconversation.
And so he said she was reallyhappy with you guys, um, and you
know, seemed like you guysprovide a great service.
And so here the company isinstalling two more systems, um,
(22:55):
from that organic, energizedreferral and we hear these
stories all the time Part ofwhat we sense from our customer
base is that everyone says theircustomers are so delighted by
receiving these gift packagesand they want to know how to get
more of them, and so we alwayslaugh.
(23:18):
I mean, the way to get anothergift package is have another
system install, right.
But these people are rewardedfor their business, for their
actions, and they love it.
And so another example is SimonSmart works.
He's the marketing director forRightway Heating and Cooling,
and he was sharing a testimonyof a man that reached out and
(23:40):
said you know, he loved thecookies.
Where can he get more of them?
Where can he get more of them?
And Simon was just saying atthe end of the day, this man's
water heater is in the garage.
He's not thinking about it, butthe memory of opening the gift
package with his family issomething that's going to stick
with him for a long time andit's associated with their brand
(24:04):
forever moving forward now thatmemory.
And so we hear all these littlesuccess stories of, basically,
companies creating advocates inthe community, and what you're
really building is the brandname in the community and what
is the energy behind that brand,you know, and so it's a
long-term strategy.
We just celebrated many, manyyears with John Betlam Heating
(24:27):
and Cooling, and they've done.
They're in the Northeast.
They've done thank you giftsfor a long time now.
It's part of their core brandand I think you see in these
companies that gratitude is astrategic, long-term strategy
and I'm not one to say that it'sa short-term.
You know you're just going tostart sending a couple of gifts
(24:50):
and that you're going to seeresults the next day.
This is one of many parts ofyour marketing strategy where
you are trying to make feelingsalong the way and energize your
customer base so that people areorganically talking about us
throughout the community.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, listen, there is a way that you get people
talking about you and you workhard behind the scenes to get
them to talk about you,naturally, like it's kind of
this very weird juxtaposition ofhey, I need you to talk about
me, but I can't really ask youto talk about me without looking
like I want you to talk aboutthem.
(25:30):
So I do these things and so Ilove these success stories
because really it's you buy intothe idea and as contractors we
miss this a lot of times.
When you look at differentvendor partners not even just
Gratitude Gifts, just any vendorpartner you really have to buy
into their secret sauce.
What is their why behind?
(25:51):
Why they think their product ortheir strategy works.
So if you're going to use acompany like Two Year Success,
you have to buy into thestrategy that is behind the gift
.
So you buy into that and youpush forward into that so that
we can make waves for our brand.
Not everybody's ready to do that.
I tell contractors all the timeI'm going to hurt your feelings
(26:13):
, you're not ready for this,you're not going to invest the
minute that you start telling methat it's not worth $30, if
we're bickering over $30 for aclient.
We're in the wrong headspace toreally utilize companies and
gratitude style strategies as apart of our overall marketing
plan and gratitude stylestrategies as a part of our
overall marketing plan.
And so sometimes you just haveto buy in and you have to go for
(26:35):
it, budget for it, and knowthat the outcome is not
necessarily measurable directlyin new customer acquisition.
Necessarily, you will see newcustomer acquisition from
referral, but this is along-term marathon brand
building approach and acultivation approach.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, yeah, and I think what I love about you guys
is you have the heart of ateacher and helping people
understand why these thingsmatter, why branding matters,
why consistency matters overtime, because, even though you
might not be able to have adirect attribution right away,
(27:13):
it is important for people tounderstand the long-term purpose
behind different marketingstrategies and understand the
collective vision, because I'vebeen there.
I mean, we went through arebranding almost 10 years ago
and it was.
It was very challenging for usto understand where, um, where
(27:36):
the strategy was, and it reallytook us back to our roots and we
thought, oh, we need somethingnew, we need something shiny, we
need, you know, direct,measurable results immediately.
And what has actually happenedwas, a few years after that
rebrand, we started realizing,wow, this is true, that we need
(27:58):
to go back to our roots, we needto focus on customer
relationships.
We need to do, you know, focuson, um, our core identity, and
and and, and.
Push that, so I um, and and andpush that, so I um, I need to
cut that line.
Lost my train of thought there.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I do it all the time.
That's how I saw it.
I was like I do it all the time, you're good, you're good, but
listen, let's.
Let's start with this, uh, thisone little thought.
Um, so, caleb, one thing I knowis that there is technology,
right, and so everybody isjumping into, uh, changing the
way that businesses is doing,are doing customer relations.
(28:40):
So I don't know about you, butyou turn on your social media
feed right now and it's like wecan automate this, we can AI
this, we can type this, we cando a.
Why take all your time back?
And I'm like, yes, because takeall of your time back, because
companies like me, I want tojust slide right in there and
have all this personalization.
And, yes, ai can trick peopleand make people feel like it's
personal.
(29:00):
People get smart and they startfiguring things out, and so I
will still be the company that'sencouraging you to do
thoughtful and truly human tohuman interactions.
But what do you think aboutthat?
How do you feel like technologymight be trying to steer
contractors away from this?
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Well, it's very powerful and very useful.
I mean, it can really help usautomate the process, but I do
see trends where we're losingtouch with our humanity when
we're trying to automateeverything and it becomes so
cold and impersonal.
And part of why it feels coldand impersonal and personal
crystal is because the thepurpose behind it.
(29:42):
People sniff it out.
Not only do they sniff out thefakeness, but they also sniff
out hey, you're trying to get meto do something.
It feels it can actually feelmanipulative at times, or like I
mean they, they sense it, theycan feel it.
Oh yeah, and you know, theother part of why it might feel
cold is there's nothing tangibleto it.
(30:03):
So, like you said, there's alot of digital efforts and, at
the end of the day, I mean wemean we're inundated with
digital marketing andadvertising all of the time, and
so something that's unique andstands out is going to be a lot
more memorable and you can useactual physical interaction as a
way to stand out, and so Ithink it's worth it, whether
(30:26):
it's sending a gift package orshowing up at a community event
and, like I said, being thefirst one to give value by
delighting people, giving themsome cotton.
I mean, I saw a company givingout cotton candy.
I thought that was a great idea.
Associate that with your brandcolors.
Give out cotton candy, put yourstickers on it.
You make it in people's photoalbums.
It's a memorable impact thatlasts forever with those people.
(30:49):
It's just a little piece ofinteraction, but you're
conjuring up those feelings.
So we can use automation tostreamline these efforts.
And I think the key isautomation can make it
consistent.
So, for instance, we'vedeveloped a lot of time and
effort into creating automationconnections with CRM software
(31:10):
like Service Titan, creatingautomation connections with CRM
software like Service Titan,field, edge, Housecall Pro,
where, when you complete a job,we can fully automate a freshly
baked gift package that's fullybranded.
So for that $30 to $40, notonly are you getting a
full-blown gift package, butyou're automating it and it's
easy for you.
And that's the key.
When you get busy during theheating or cooling seasons, you
(31:31):
have all this opportunity tocreate powerful customer
feelings, but you miss itbecause you're trying to just
take care of the customer.
So that's where automationcomes in, to create a workflow
that says hey, when we finishout a job, bake up a dozen
cookies and send it fresh, andthat's just going to happen like
clockwork, and so I thinkthere's a lot of opportunity
with automation.
At the same time, yeah,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Well, listen, what does to your success?
Have any cool things coming up,anything on the horizon or
anything that we should knowthat's coming up?
You know, I'd like to be thefirst one to know.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Yeah, absolutely so.
We're always working onthinking through new ways to
automate, new ways to help ourcustomers send gifts also to
like their employeesanniversaries or birthdays but
also really just doubling downon helping make it easier and
easier for them to automate totheir customer base, based on
different job types, differentdollar amounts, where even
(32:30):
membership renewals, differentways for them to say hey, we
appreciate our customers and wewant to look for a way to
delight them.
So that's what's in process forus is constantly hammering out
new ways to make it easier todelight customers.
So we have a lot of fun here.
I mean, it's pretty simple.
Our gift center is actually wejust finished it.
(32:52):
It's a large, looks like alarge, beautiful barn and it's
connected to our offices, whichis like a 1900 farmhouse.
So we're pretty down to earth.
We're just excited to bake somefreshly baked cookies and send
them and make people happy andassociate it with these
contractors' brands.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Well, absolutely Listen.
Businesses that thrive aboutgrowing and keeping a consistent
flow of business.
They understand that we don'tjust have buyers, people that
are purchasing.
These are true people and truecustomers.
And so giving the gift ofgratitude is so important.
And, caleb, this has been sucha good conversation, like I love
(33:32):
encouraging contractors toshift your mindset around
marketing.
That's not just a hamster wheelof lead generation and you know
getting in the boxing ring,that is digital, or you know
having to buy this expensivemass media campaign across your
county or across your area, butjust showing gratitude and and
making it more than just thatfeel good interaction, but like
(33:53):
a true growth strategy.
So you've given our listenersso much to think about.
Well, listen, what do you thinkpeople should do if they want
to learn more about you guys?
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yeah, absolutely Check out our website,
toyoursuccesscom, on our websiteto to your successcom, and we
would love to schedule a phonecall to discuss your current
marketing strategies and how itmight make sense or how, what
automation workflow we couldbuild out for you to target the
right customer at the right timeand send a freshly baked, fully
(34:27):
branded gift package after youcomplete a job.
So to your successcom.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
I love it, Caleb.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Absolutely Like.
This is wonderful to yoursuccess, is a powerful partner
for service nation.
I know that's how I met youguys.
Great, you know, just a greatpartnership there.
And so just a reminder from theyellow chair is a podcast that
supports limiting marketing,your source for full service
strategy, organization andbranding for home service
(34:57):
companies, and so caleb and histeam are such a great addition
to anyone's strategy.
So again, guys, thank you forlistening to another episode of
from the yellow chair.
We would love to get a reviewor a share.
Make sure you're liking all ofour social media channels.
Have a great rest of your week.
Uh, don't forget to keepsipping lemonade.
See you next time.
What's up, Lemonheads ?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom the Yellow Chair.
I'm Crystal and y'all.
Today we are going to talkabout a game-changing marketing
approach, one that's not aboutmore noise and, honestly, not
even about spending a ton ofmoney.
It's not digital, so you knowI'm here for it.
Love my digital friends, buthonestly, I love this style of
(00:23):
marketing that we're going totalk about today.
We're talking with a companythat helps home service
businesses create lifelongcustomers through the power of
gratitude and appreciation.
So those of you that know meknow, in a world that is so fast
paced and how fast can you getevery single lead and is
everything automated to be ableto step back and talk through
just showing your customersgratitude and appreciation?
(00:46):
It is, I think, such a pro movethere.
So not only is this the nicegesture, but a really a
strategic move for really longterm business building.
So, guys, grab your lemonade,settle in, set your cruise
control or set your yourtreadmill treadmill, whatever
you're on set it for some wisdomso that we can hear how
(01:07):
gratitude driven marketing cantransform your business.
Let's sip some lemonade.
All right, guys, welcome calebbates from T-E-S.
Oh my gosh.
Listen, caleb.
I have to tell you, when I wasyou know many of my listeners
(01:30):
know I grew up in this industrystarted with my family's company
in a professional marketingrole back in 2014.
And one of the most strategicmoves we ever made was our
partnership with Two YearSuccess.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, I remember that .
Actually, Crystal, I mean youand I go way back to I think it
was 2016,.
You guys started using ourservices and you guys, I mean
McWilliams has just continued tojust take off.
I mean what a great company.
And now look at you justsharing all this great
information.
I'm excited to be here, thanksfor having me, and I can't.
(02:06):
I can't help but want somelemon heads.
Do you guys have lemon headsaround the office?
I mean, the last time I had onewas like I was like 12.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
We don't, but I'm like everybody asks us for those
like.
That needs to be a part of ourstrategy for sure, I think we're
going to have to get some mysix pack soft side cooler that.
I got, and then Go Time SuccessGroup, I sent them a referral
lead for one of my clients thatneeded to be coached and next
thing I know I opened up thisbox and I literally opened it on
camera and it was a soft sideof Go Time cooler with these
(02:37):
delicious cookies in it With thecookies and if you've never
been to a Service Nation, showyou.
guys are baking cookies on site.
Like it is your jam Like.
So not only my little marketingbrain, my branding brain gets
so excited because you guysreally own that cookie smell at
a show.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Oh yeah, that's part of the brand.
Um, it's a good way to entice,you know, it's like, it's like
you're just aware of us justbecause of the smell, right?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So it's a color for us, but at the end of the day,
something memorable.
So I am loving this concept ofjust gratitude.
You know I don't feel like weshow enough gratitude to just
people in our lives in general,but why um I?
Gratitude being the ultimatemarketing power move right.
(03:26):
But to your success was reallybuilt around this idea that
customer appreciation is morethan just like a call like
thanks for your business, likeit truly became like a strategic
part of how you continue tocultivate.
Every single time someonetrusts you with their home's
comfort.
Sounds kind of corny, but likewhat inspired to your success?
Like how did this even comeabout?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
That's a great question.
So a big picture is we arestill a family owned and
operated company and this goesback to my father-in-law, jim.
He started the business.
He was entrepreneurial inspirit.
I actually think someone'sspoken to him as a young man and
said one day, you're going toown a business, you're going to
run a company.
And that stuck with him for along time.
(04:10):
He sold motor homes for many,many years and he finally felt
led to step out later in life tostart his own company.
And what's funny is as hethought about the different
companies or businesses that hecould start.
You see, he's a very selflessperson.
(04:31):
He's never met a stranger.
He's always looking to buildothers up and help them be
successful, which was actuallythe birthing of the company name
to your success.
And he thought he's also acookie lover.
I mean, at his core he loves agood, freshly baked cookie.
And when he sold motorhomesthey would send a freshly baked
(04:51):
dozen cookies after this hugepurchase that a customer made
and he would get so muchfeedback from customers.
They were so energized and itwasn't the motorhome I mean,
they love the motorhome, theybought it, but they were talking
about that dozen cookies afterthe fact.
So this huge purchase and allthey can talk about is a dozen
cookies, that's what energizedthem and that stuck with him.
And when he thought aboutmaking other businesses
(05:13):
successful, he thought we let'smake, let's go this route First
off, you're hard pressed to findanybody that doesn't like a
freshly baked cookie.
And then let's try to make thisprocess more seamless for
businesses to say thank you.
Because he saw that innatepower of appreciation and
gratitude and what it does forcustomer relationships.
And so that's what birthed andinspired the idea at the
(05:36):
beginning.
And then he got involved in thetrades about six years into it
so that was about 20 years agonow and I had a really good
friend who was an HVACdistributor.
He said you need to try thisfor residential home services.
And at first we thought thatwas kind of a crazy idea because
he was selling still the motorhome companies and handicap
(05:56):
accessible vans, vehicle typesales.
But he said let's give it a go,let's try it, and it took off
because the home serviceindustry is powered by referrals
and strong branding andcustomer relationships and so
when you're entering someone'shome, I mean this is a piece of
(06:18):
their lives that you're goinginto and servicing, and so being
able to connect with customersin a relational way was the
perfect fit.
Since then, we've just gonedeep in the trades.
I mean this is we want to makeit as easy as possible and be
the best possible service tohelp.
You say thank you to yourcustomers and it just works.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, it does work.
It does work and it is, it is apower move.
So let me tell you, you know,from someone that really buggle
to encourage contractors tospend money, like I don't
struggle, like I tell everybodyI spend money for a living
(06:57):
because I do marketing, but ittakes me, you know, like I want
to say this $50, let me justcall it $50.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
It's not even $50, but that's on the high end, yeah
that's super high end.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So most of the time, like you, are making an
intentional effort to engagewith someone that has trusted
you for a $18,000, heck, even a$5,000 install.
And I'm from back in the daywhen they had the literal
postcards in the box that askedfor the review.
So when the review came through, we loved our two-year success
(07:28):
reviews because it listen wecaught people when they were
feeling good, they had a cookie,so all of a sudden, their
reviews and their comments wereuber positive and uber
encouraging and so it reallygave us power when we went to,
like, promote those, thosereviews and things.
(07:48):
And so I love the concept of ofjust thinking of the cost
related to the install is sominimal and this is such an easy
thing Like this does not haveto be an over the top.
Let me go spend thousands ofdollars thanking somebody.
This was an interesting approachand it's so simple and it's so
(08:10):
endearing that people are not.
So I am a big fan of gift, withpurchases, so like, okay, buy a
new system with us and we'regoing to get you a TV, an iPad,
whatever it's going to be.
And people, a lot of times mycontractors will come back and
say, man, this client justwanted the money.
Like, hey, just give me the$500 you were going to spend on
(08:31):
the TV.
I don't think anyone goes.
You know what I want?
the $35 you spent on this cooleroff of my system, because it
appears and it is so endearingand genuine and authentic and
it's not over the top and theperceived value.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yes, well, we've had hundreds of thousands of gifts
every year that we send out.
We don't, we don't hear thatfeedback.
And the crazy thing is isbecause the contractor doesn't
have to send this.
As a business, you don't haveto thank your customer because
the transaction is over, andthat's the whole concept of
post-transaction.
A lot of legion and marketingand advertising is trying to get
(09:10):
the lead in the door, which isgood, but what gets lost in
translation and it has deepmarketing impact is after the
fact, after the sale, are weremarketing to our customer base
?
Because that's where customersaren't expecting it, and it
turns it into, instead of just alinear transaction, it turns it
into a repeating customer lifecycle where you're saying, hey,
(09:33):
we appreciate your business andwe want to be a continued
resource.
We look forward to serving youagain in the future, and then
you're trying to energize themwith something above and beyond
that keeps them coming back.
So a lot of potential here.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, just the element of surprise.
You know, it's just like youknow, even when you're even, you
know, in marriage or infriendships, and all of a sudden
you're like look at this littletoken of gratitude it is, it's
really an easy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I think it's.
I think it's really good thatyou mentioned personal
relationships.
Actually, you know, marriage,friendships, other family
relationships, you know youthink of a healthy relationship,
has I even think of myneighbors right We've got?
When you have a healthy humanrelationship, gratitude is
foundational to that and that'swhat typically energizes that
(10:25):
relationship.
It shows that you care aboutsomebody else.
It motivates them.
I mean, I think about even mychildren.
What's the best motivator tothem?
It's whenever I stop, get downon my knee and I say, hey, good
job feeding the dog this morning.
I appreciate you doing thatwith a good attitude.
You know, and they are, whatdoes that do it like breathes
life into them.
It inspires them to do thatagain.
(10:47):
And the things that work in ourpersonal relationships.
You can mirror a lot of that inyour business relationships
with your customer base.
Like, hey, how can I energizemy customer base?
How can I get them to talkabout me or do the same thing
again?
And you can take, you know,gratitude is a perfect example
of that, of saying, hey, we knowthat you could have chosen
(11:09):
anyone, but you trusted us andwe thank you and appreciate you
for that Again.
You know, we want to be aresource for you from here on
out.
And I I think, um, you know, wehave this five-star goal in life
of being a five-star company.
I mean, we have it, contractorshave it, you guys have it.
We all want to be five stars.
But what does that mean?
(11:30):
Well, it's actually what peoplehired us for in the first place
was to give five-star service.
That's what they're paying usfor, and so that's where their
expectation is.
So, when we deliver on fivestars, what have we done?
Well, we've really met theirexpectation, and they wouldn't
have hired us if they thoughtthey were going to get a
three-star experience.
So they're paying us for afive-star experience.
(11:50):
So what do we do?
We meet those expectations, buthow can we surpass those
expectations?
What can we engineer in advanceto say all right, when a
customer calls up, we're goingto not just meet their need, but
we're going to do somethingabove and beyond, even in the
phone call, to show that we care.
And then, when we go, step intheir house for the first time,
(12:13):
we're going to do somethingabove and beyond to show that we
care.
We want to connect.
And then, post-transaction, wedon't just want to collect the
check, we want to say thank youand express it in a way that
gives value and Crystal, I thinkthis is where people have an
opportunity.
It is to give value first.
(12:34):
That is one of the first stepsin building a strong
relationship with another personis to be the first one to make
the move to say, hey, I want toinvest in you, I want to invest
in this relationship.
And what happens is, as humans,at our core, we are reciprocal
in nature and that creates adesire to to reciprocate, and
(12:55):
it's kind of like I would say Ifeel like I owe you one if you
gave me something, but also Ithink it's just a very natural
desire to feel like man.
But also I think it's just avery natural desire to feel like
man, is somebody else investedin me?
I want to respond in turn withgratitude and say, hey, yeah,
well, yeah, can you guys comequote me on this?
Or actually, I do have a waterheater out in the garage too.
Please take a look at that aswell.
(13:16):
And you know, I think it setsthe stage whenever you're
connecting with peopleemotionally and going above and
beyond.
And you mentioned a key wordthat I think is really important
it's surprise.
And when we market to ourcustomers.
Surprise and delight is apowerful tool and feeling to
(13:39):
create in a customer, becausewhat it's actually doing is
releasing dopamine and the mindand you're saying, hey, I get
rewarded when I do this action.
So whenever I work with thiscompany, I'm not just going to
get my expectations met, there'sgoing to be some kind of reward
.
There's an association there ofa feeling um, surprise, delight
(14:03):
, um, some kind of novelty.
I love the branding you guys dobecause it's unique and what
people can do is they startassociating those feelings that
you create with the brand cues,like their color, their logo,
their font, the advertising thatthey're doing.
Those advertisements, thosecolors, those fonts start
(14:24):
conjuring up the feelings thatthey're doing.
Those advertisements, thosecolors, those fonts start
conjuring up the feelings thatthey remember about you and
their experience with you, andthat's powerful.
Whenever you're talking aboutreferrals and inspiring repeat
business is, you're creatingpowerful feelings that energize
your customer base for the longhaul.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah, and I'm just going to like there's a couple
of things you know.
Loyalty, customer loyaltydoesn't happen by accident.
Customer loyalty especially now, especially now that the
Internet is just full, likeeverybody has at their
fingertips access to so manythings.
And it takes.
You know it takes working reallyhard to develop customer
(15:03):
loyalty.
And so, by these little peaksof things that you do, these
little interactions and drops ofsunshine, if you will, that you
impart on your customers,really does build longevity with
that customer and loyalty.
That it's not transactional.
People don't feel like you'rejust another number, you're just
another person.
It's meaningful.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And here's why is when you look at and I would
encourage every company to dothis I just recently went
through and mapped out all ofour different touch points our
advertisements on the beginning,our lead gen, all the way
through to.
You know what are our touchpoints when a customer is sold
with us and how are we followingup with them after the fact,
(15:46):
and when you start mapping thisout for a contractor, that would
be our truck wraps, ourbillboards, our TV
advertisements, radioadvertisements and then during
the sale interactions, at everyphone call, every time we step
in the door, map out each of thetouch points where a customer
interacts with you and whatfeelings are you creating,
because your brand, at the endof the day, is the sum total of
(16:06):
how customers feel about you.
And when you are developingstrong feelings, here's what
happens.
You know everybody thinks aboutadvertising as just a way to
get new customers in the door.
But think about the remarketingimpact.
Whenever you talk about loyalty,crystal, you're talking about
people keeping you top of mindfor a long time, and so it's
(16:30):
cookies or whatever you do tothank your customers.
That's the energy, that's thefeeling you're creating.
But when they see youradvertising on that billboard
again after the fact whathappens, they're reminded of
that feeling.
They're still energized andthey you are taking up their
mind space so that when the timecomes that a family member
(16:50):
needs service or friend asks hey, who did you guys use recently?
You're the top of mind person.
And not only are you top ofmind, but they're actually
energized and delighted enoughwith you that they would
actually tell the story of theirinteraction with you.
They're not going to say, ohyeah, we just went to Google and
found whichever was the highestrated company and you know you
(17:11):
generated content, you know whatyou want.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Like, listen, all good deeds need to also serve a
secondary purpose a lot of times.
So you do.
You're sending cookies becauseyou're truly grateful.
You're sending a gift becauseyou want that customer to know
like thank you Because in thesea of choices, you chose us.
Like thank you for choosing us.
But at the other side of it,like it also should be done
(17:38):
strategically to continue tochurn those people where they're
either referring their friendsand family or they are coming
back to you for dual service.
So you replace their HVACsystem.
You mentioned this earlier.
You know.
Now, what about your roof?
What about your pest control?
What about your whatever elseyou offer plumbing, electrical,
and so how do you think thedifference between like just a
(18:00):
thank you and a memorable thankyou, like you know?
I know at the minimum I'm likehere at least saying thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
But what do you think that's a good start?
Yeah, the difference between athank you and a memorable thank
you.
Well, I think when it'sheartfelt, first off, that
there's no strings attached.
What we see a lot is there's somuch focus on literal ROI of
being able to say, when I saidthank you, I got three extra
(18:30):
sales out of that and I was ableto attribute that perfectly and
prove that perfectly.
But people can sense wheneveryou're saying, or like I said
thank you and I got a Googlereview out of that is you start
designing your thank you around,trying to get a proven result,
Like you know, hey, let's, let'sput a referral request in here
(18:55):
and let's try to say, hey, thankyou for your business.
If there's anybody you knowthat could use our services,
fill out this card and we'llgive you even more.
And so there's like a we'rewe're trying to push the rope.
We're trying to push actioninstead of pulling the rope
would be creating a brand that'sso delightful to interact with
that people naturally want totalk about you anyways, because
it was so different, it wasunique.
I mean, who gets a cookie giftin the mail or who you know,
(19:17):
whenever they're at a communityevent, is passing out snow cones
instead of lead forms.
You know it's like.
What ways can we really drivefeelings in people?
If we're focused on that first,the leads will come more
naturally because people want tojust organically talk about it.
So I think, as far as it beingmemorable a memorable thank you
(19:41):
you've got to incorporate againways to release dopamine and
make this fun.
You want to create feeling andmake this fun.
You wanna create feeling.
Feeling is memorable, A gift, asurprise, novelty.
Another thing, a strategy thatwe use, is food.
We think food is very strategicbecause it incorporates four of
the five senses.
I mean you feel it, you seefood, you smell it, you taste it
(20:05):
.
I mean it's like they're eatinga piece of your brand and
experiencing that.
And there's a lot ofassociation that happens with
celebration.
Think about, like, wheneveryou're celebrating a graduation
or some kind of anniversary orevent, what do you do at that
time?
You use food, you celebrate andshare food.
Or maybe you're trying to builda connection with a new
(20:26):
employee.
What do you do to bring thewalls down and build trust?
Or maybe you're trying to builda connection with a new
employee.
What do you do to bring thewalls down and build trust.
You're going to share lunch,You're going to connect over a
meal, and so food is.
I think, at the end of the day,we've got to remember our
humanity and that we are drivenby feelings and emotional
decisions.
And if we can drive goodfeelings into customers, that,
(20:46):
hey, we care about you and wewant to create this incredible
experience and it's not thatyou're saying that, but you're
actually doing it in little wayshere and there, that's what's
going to make the thank youmemorable.
And there's no strings attachedand it's unique and it shows
that you really do, you reallyare grateful, and I think that
(21:07):
strategy will pay off in thelong haul through the organic
referrals and the energy behindyour brand name in the community
.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, there's a lot of things that you have to
realize are impacted by by these, by this approach to things.
Approach to things.
Do you have a success story,Caleb, of anyone that maybe just
you saw transform theirbusiness through appreciation
marketing?
I mean, I know I spoke toMcWilliams earlier and we even
(21:37):
changed a little while.
We went from the soft-sidedcookie to a tumbler filled with
the cookies.
So we even moved our stuffaround.
But I know you've got someother success stories probably
that you could talk about alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
In fact, a sales manager justrecently reached out and they
had an internal Slack channelwhere they're chatting all of
their team.
And he chatted all of thesalespeople and said hey, we
just found out.
The tough thing is it's hard toknow exactly when you get an
organic referral.
And um, he's like hey, we justfound out that, um, one of the
(22:12):
sales was a doctor where whosold two systems.
And uh, he, when asked how didyou hear about us?
He said, well, I was.
I was, you know, at work andone of the nurses was carrying
around a little cooler bag withyour all's logo on it and I was
in need of a system.
And um, just asked the nurseabout you.
(22:33):
And so, come to find out, thisnurse had gotten a cookie cooler
gift and, uh, it had theirbranding on it and she's using
this functional item.
And that just started theconversation.
And so he said she was reallyhappy with you guys, um, and you
know, seemed like you guysprovide a great service.
And so here the company isinstalling two more systems, um,
(22:55):
from that organic, energizedreferral and we hear these
stories all the time Part ofwhat we sense from our customer
base is that everyone says theircustomers are so delighted by
receiving these gift packagesand they want to know how to get
more of them, and so we alwayslaugh.
(23:18):
I mean, the way to get anothergift package is have another
system install, right.
But these people are rewardedfor their business, for their
actions, and they love it.
And so another example is SimonSmart works.
He's the marketing director forRightway Heating and Cooling,
and he was sharing a testimonyof a man that reached out and
(23:40):
said you know, he loved thecookies.
Where can he get more of them?
Where can he get more of them?
And Simon was just saying atthe end of the day, this man's
water heater is in the garage.
He's not thinking about it, butthe memory of opening the gift
package with his family issomething that's going to stick
with him for a long time andit's associated with their brand
(24:04):
forever moving forward now thatmemory.
And so we hear all these littlesuccess stories of, basically,
companies creating advocates inthe community, and what you're
really building is the brandname in the community and what
is the energy behind that brand,you know, and so it's a
long-term strategy.
We just celebrated many, manyyears with John Betlam Heating
(24:27):
and Cooling, and they've done.
They're in the Northeast.
They've done thank you giftsfor a long time now.
It's part of their core brandand I think you see in these
companies that gratitude is astrategic, long-term strategy
and I'm not one to say that it'sa short-term.
You know you're just going tostart sending a couple of gifts
(24:50):
and that you're going to seeresults the next day.
This is one of many parts ofyour marketing strategy where
you are trying to make feelingsalong the way and energize your
customer base so that people areorganically talking about us
throughout the community.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, listen, there is a way that you get people
talking about you and you workhard behind the scenes to get
them to talk about you,naturally, like it's kind of
this very weird juxtaposition ofhey, I need you to talk about
me, but I can't really ask youto talk about me without looking
like I want you to talk aboutthem.
(25:30):
So I do these things and so Ilove these success stories
because really it's you buy intothe idea and as contractors we
miss this a lot of times.
When you look at differentvendor partners not even just
Gratitude Gifts, just any vendorpartner you really have to buy
into their secret sauce.
What is their why behind?
(25:51):
Why they think their product ortheir strategy works.
So if you're going to use acompany like Two Year Success,
you have to buy into thestrategy that is behind the gift
.
So you buy into that and youpush forward into that so that
we can make waves for our brand.
Not everybody's ready to do that.
I tell contractors all the timeI'm going to hurt your feelings
(26:13):
, you're not ready for this,you're not going to invest the
minute that you start telling methat it's not worth $30, if
we're bickering over $30 for aclient.
We're in the wrong headspace toreally utilize companies and
gratitude style strategies as apart of our overall marketing
plan and gratitude stylestrategies as a part of our
overall marketing plan.
And so sometimes you just haveto buy in and you have to go for
(26:35):
it, budget for it, and knowthat the outcome is not
necessarily measurable directlyin new customer acquisition.
Necessarily, you will see newcustomer acquisition from
referral, but this is along-term marathon brand
building approach and acultivation approach.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Yeah, yeah, and I think what I love about you guys
is you have the heart of ateacher and helping people
understand why these thingsmatter, why branding matters,
why consistency matters overtime, because, even though you
might not be able to have adirect attribution right away,
(27:13):
it is important for people tounderstand the long-term purpose
behind different marketingstrategies and understand the
collective vision, because I'vebeen there.
I mean, we went through arebranding almost 10 years ago
and it was.
It was very challenging for usto understand where, um, where
(27:36):
the strategy was, and it reallytook us back to our roots and we
thought, oh, we need somethingnew, we need something shiny, we
need, you know, direct,measurable results immediately.
And what has actually happenedwas, a few years after that
rebrand, we started realizing,wow, this is true, that we need
(27:58):
to go back to our roots, we needto focus on customer
relationships.
We need to do, you know, focuson, um, our core identity, and
and and, and.
Push that, so I um, and and andpush that, so I um, I need to
cut that line.
Lost my train of thought there.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I do it all the time.
That's how I saw it.
I was like I do it all the time, you're good, you're good, but
listen, let's.
Let's start with this, uh, thisone little thought.
Um, so, caleb, one thing I knowis that there is technology,
right, and so everybody isjumping into, uh, changing the
way that businesses is doing,are doing customer relations.
(28:40):
So I don't know about you, butyou turn on your social media
feed right now and it's like wecan automate this, we can AI
this, we can type this, we cando a.
Why take all your time back?
And I'm like, yes, because takeall of your time back, because
companies like me, I want tojust slide right in there and
have all this personalization.
And, yes, ai can trick peopleand make people feel like it's
personal.
(29:00):
People get smart and they startfiguring things out, and so I
will still be the company that'sencouraging you to do
thoughtful and truly human tohuman interactions.
But what do you think aboutthat?
How do you feel like technologymight be trying to steer
contractors away from this?
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Well, it's very powerful and very useful.
I mean, it can really help usautomate the process, but I do
see trends where we're losingtouch with our humanity when
we're trying to automateeverything and it becomes so
cold and impersonal.
And part of why it feels coldand impersonal and personal
crystal is because the thepurpose behind it.
(29:42):
People sniff it out.
Not only do they sniff out thefakeness, but they also sniff
out hey, you're trying to get meto do something.
It feels it can actually feelmanipulative at times, or like I
mean they, they sense it, theycan feel it.
Oh yeah, and you know, theother part of why it might feel
cold is there's nothing tangibleto it.
(30:03):
So, like you said, there's alot of digital efforts and, at
the end of the day, I mean wemean we're inundated with
digital marketing andadvertising all of the time, and
so something that's unique andstands out is going to be a lot
more memorable and you can useactual physical interaction as a
way to stand out, and so Ithink it's worth it, whether
(30:26):
it's sending a gift package orshowing up at a community event
and, like I said, being thefirst one to give value by
delighting people, giving themsome cotton.
I mean, I saw a company givingout cotton candy.
I thought that was a great idea.
Associate that with your brandcolors.
Give out cotton candy, put yourstickers on it.
You make it in people's photoalbums.
It's a memorable impact thatlasts forever with those people.
(30:49):
It's just a little piece ofinteraction, but you're
conjuring up those feelings.
So we can use automation tostreamline these efforts.
And I think the key isautomation can make it
consistent.
So, for instance, we'vedeveloped a lot of time and
effort into creating automationconnections with CRM software
(31:10):
like Service Titan, creatingautomation connections with CRM
software like Service Titan,field, edge, Housecall Pro,
where, when you complete a job,we can fully automate a freshly
baked gift package that's fullybranded.
So for that $30 to $40, notonly are you getting a
full-blown gift package, butyou're automating it and it's
easy for you.
And that's the key.
When you get busy during theheating or cooling seasons, you
(31:31):
have all this opportunity tocreate powerful customer
feelings, but you miss itbecause you're trying to just
take care of the customer.
So that's where automationcomes in, to create a workflow
that says hey, when we finishout a job, bake up a dozen
cookies and send it fresh, andthat's just going to happen like
clockwork, and so I thinkthere's a lot of opportunity
with automation.
At the same time, yeah,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Well, listen, what does to your success?
Have any cool things coming up,anything on the horizon or
anything that we should knowthat's coming up?
You know, I'd like to be thefirst one to know.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Yeah, absolutely so.
We're always working onthinking through new ways to
automate, new ways to help ourcustomers send gifts also to
like their employeesanniversaries or birthdays but
also really just doubling downon helping make it easier and
easier for them to automate totheir customer base, based on
different job types, differentdollar amounts, where even
(32:30):
membership renewals, differentways for them to say hey, we
appreciate our customers and wewant to look for a way to
delight them.
So that's what's in process forus is constantly hammering out
new ways to make it easier todelight customers.
So we have a lot of fun here.
I mean, it's pretty simple.
Our gift center is actually wejust finished it.
(32:52):
It's a large, looks like alarge, beautiful barn and it's
connected to our offices, whichis like a 1900 farmhouse.
So we're pretty down to earth.
We're just excited to bake somefreshly baked cookies and send
them and make people happy andassociate it with these
contractors' brands.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Well, absolutely Listen.
Businesses that thrive aboutgrowing and keeping a consistent
flow of business.
They understand that we don'tjust have buyers, people that
are purchasing.
These are true people and truecustomers.
And so giving the gift ofgratitude is so important.
And, caleb, this has been sucha good conversation, like I love
(33:32):
encouraging contractors toshift your mindset around
marketing.
That's not just a hamster wheelof lead generation and you know
getting in the boxing ring,that is digital, or you know
having to buy this expensivemass media campaign across your
county or across your area, butjust showing gratitude and and
making it more than just thatfeel good interaction, but like
(33:53):
a true growth strategy.
So you've given our listenersso much to think about.
Well, listen, what do you thinkpeople should do if they want
to learn more about you guys?
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yeah, absolutely Check out our website,
toyoursuccesscom, on our websiteto to your successcom, and we
would love to schedule a phonecall to discuss your current
marketing strategies and how itmight make sense or how, what
automation workflow we couldbuild out for you to target the
right customer at the right timeand send a freshly baked, fully
(34:27):
branded gift package after youcomplete a job.
So to your successcom.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
I love it, Caleb.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Absolutely Like.
This is wonderful to yoursuccess, is a powerful partner
for service nation.
I know that's how I met youguys.
Great, you know, just a greatpartnership there.
And so just a reminder from theyellow chair is a podcast that
supports limiting marketing,your source for full service
strategy, organization andbranding for home service
(34:57):
companies, and so caleb and histeam are such a great addition
to anyone's strategy.
So again, guys, thank you forlistening to another episode of
from the yellow chair.
We would love to get a reviewor a share.
Make sure you're liking all ofour social media channels.
Have a great rest of your week.
Uh, don't forget to keepsipping lemonade.
See you next time.
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