Can video technology transform an entire industry? Join us as we explore this intriguing possibility with James Hatfield, the visionary Chief Revenue Officer at LiveSwitch. With his unique blend of entrepreneurial experience in both painting and tech, James shares his innovative journey from handling paintbrushes to tech solutions. Uncover how video technology is not only streamlining operations but also redefining customer interactions by enabling virtual estimates that save time and boost satisfaction. James reveals the competitive edge businesses can gain by embracing immediacy and convenience, meeting the modern consumer's expectations.
In our conversation, we also delve into the future-forward potential of QR codes and video calls to revamp traditional business practices. James provides practical strategies like recurring contracts and membership programs that harness tech to enhance efficiency and foster customer loyalty. Through compelling success stories, we highlight the revenue growth and enhanced client relations that these innovations bring. Whether you're in the painting industry or simply a tech enthusiast, this episode promises insights into maximizing business potential through strategic technological integration.
Get a LiveSwitch Demo here: https://book-a-demo.referral-factory.com/uDNrxESf
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Daniel, the founder of Bookkeeping for
Painters, and today I'm herewith James Hatfield, super
excited to have James on.
He is the chief revenue officerover at LiveSwitch and James
has a very unique background.
He was a painting businessowner.
He's been in the tech space andentrepreneur in that space as
(00:20):
well, and he's going to kind ofcombine these two experiences
and develop this really cooltechnology for video, and I'm
really excited to have him onthe podcast today to dive into
how you can use video in yourpainting business to streamline
operations, close more sales andmake customers more happy in
(00:42):
their experience working withyou.
So welcome to the podcast,james.
How's it going?
Great, daniel.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thanks for having me.
I love being on the paintingpodcast.
It's just full circle for me.
So I'm just so grateful to behere and talk to other painters
that are listening.
I have walked in your shoes andmany miles in your shoes, so
excited to talk a little bitabout some stories and
technology together today.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Good, yeah, it's crazy because you actually got
your entrepreneur start in thepainting space right and then
you went on to create sage worksand do big things, pretty
amazing things, but you actuallyget your start in running a
painting business right.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, yeah, my grandfather.
I owe it to him.
Unfortunately, his dad diedreally young and so he was the
oldest of many kids and had todrop out of high school and go
work at a tire shop.
And so when I came along, hisgrandson, he's like hey, you
know, what my dream is for youis you should paint the highway.
You'll always have a job.
That was his big dream, jamespaint the highway.
(01:41):
You know, could I come from thisbackground?
We didn't have anything, youknow, kind of farm boy kind of
thing, and, uh, he, that was hisdream.
And so I went well, I'm notgoing to paint the highway to
start, but how about we start bypainting houses?
I can do that.
And so, uh, I started paintingcompany there that way, knocking
on doors, I'm dating myself,but you know, I knock on doors
for cash and I get my cruisejobs and, um, want to walk
(02:02):
around through everything andran that for quite a long time
and I thought I should probablyget a college degree.
I might be good for me, and so Iput myself through business
school, uh, while running mypower washing company, and
transitioned to power washingfor painting.
We still did painting, but alsoadded on a power washing
company and uh was able toreally and I enjoyed it.
I love doing it and I alwaysloved the before and after.
I love the feeling of walkingon site to something that looks
(02:25):
terrible and then renewing itand making it wonderful, and
then be able to pay my team andactually pay for my living wages
as well as my college.
In that case it was great.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah yeah, that's awesome Sageworks.
And then you came back into thetech space with helping
painting businesses and similarbusinesses implement this new
video technology.
So could you walk me through?
Where can painting businessesleverage this type?
(02:57):
What are we talking about, whatdoes this actually do and how
can we actually improve ourpainting business with this
technology?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, I always like to start off with a story like
how did this come about?
So, yeah, we successfully did.
You mentioned a company calledSageworks.
One of my partners ran alandscaping company and we are
good at numbers.
So after college we kind ofunderstood the books and so we
created a technology that couldread your income statement and
balance sheet from yourbookkeeper and tell me, as a
painter, what does it mean like,and how do I compare to other
(03:24):
people?
That ended up being quite alarge company, uh.
And then we got back intotechnology.
We went into philanthropy for awhile, but we got into
technology here with video and,uh, at first it wasn't our
ambition to even be in homeservices to help out home
services.
I had more of a heart, andinitially I I still do for
safety and security.
(03:45):
And it started with schoolshootings.
We see so many of those acrossthe country now and it's really
heartbreaking and someone needsto do something about that.
Instead of arming all theteachers with AK-47s, which
we're not going to do, let's usethe phone in their pocket.
So I got the opportunity andthis sounds wild, but an
opportunity to reinvent the 911phone call with a chief of
police of Washington DC andInstead of you know the worst
(04:08):
part of your phone is the phoneright.
It's an ancient technologycalled telephony and you're
always like, can you hear me now?
But now you can get a text fromthe authorities.
You can tap the text, pointyour phone Cameras at the
situation and that can streamright to the police car so they
can see what they're drivinginto.
It's called situationalawareness.
And so I started talking to abunch of other guys in the fbi
(04:28):
and uh, finally, um thought, whoelse could use?
You know, tap a text, you're onwith video, no apps required.
Like, who could use this?
Well, I was introduced to areally formative guy in the
moving industry, like movingboxes, and I'm showing him our
stuff for emergency response.
He's like James, you have noidea what you have, and this
happened years ago, two and ahalf years ago.
(04:50):
Like what do you mean?
He's like we're going to usethis for virtual estimates.
Like the most expensive thing Ido as a business owner is I put
a guy behind the wheel of atruck, send him out to the
customer's house in the hope ofwinning the business.
First of all, they're notproductive behind the wheel.
Second, for me as a businessowner.
It costs me time, money, gas,wear and tear on the vehicle and
three, my guy better close thatdeal because if he doesn't he's
(05:12):
on to the next one and we canonly do about four to five per
sales guy per day.
He's like I'm just going to doit virtually and at least to do
the pre-qualification calls at aminimum so I can see what I'm
getting into before driving out.
And he was absolutely right.
And it's been amazing to seeall these home services start
adopting video technology intotheir business and it changes
(05:33):
the game for them.
And I've got plenty of storiesaround it.
But it's been exciting ajourney from the 911 phone call
now to helping our home servicecustomers.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, and this is something that's kind of been on
social media with differentpainting businesses
experimenting with doing remoteestimates or actually having the
homeowner walk around and kindof show what they want done on
their house so you can provide aproposal remotely, not even
(06:03):
having to go to their house anddo all this stuff, and so I
think this is a really cooltechnology.
Now I think most folks are usingthings like you mentioned, like
Zoom or other apps that are alittle bit harder to implement
than what you're saying thatLiveSwitch does, because it
sounds like LiveSwitch.
You literally just send them atext and then they just click
(06:24):
easily.
Just click a link in the textand it just like opens up and
then they can immediately startcommunicating with you and
showing you, as opposed to someother stuff.
You know you, you have to.
It's a little bit more of amore time to get them on it and
a little bit more headachesinvolved.
Can you walk through what thatprocess did like how easy it is
(06:47):
to actually get them, get yourpotential customer, if they're a
prospect, to actuallycommunicate with you using a
live switch?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think in the past we've used the
tools we had, right, we hadFaceTime, we had Zoom, and prior
to that we didn't have any ofthat.
We just had the phone in ourcar and clipboard.
But now, with video, and youknow, thanks to COVID or no,
thanks to COVID, I guess youknow we're all starting to use
video.
And you know customers you gotto think about the customer
experience.
It's not always just about youand your team and your sales
(07:20):
talent, but it's a lot of thecustomers experience you as a
professional.
What are they going to do?
Welcome to Amazon and Google.
Right?
Your customer is going to go toGoogle.
They're going to Googlepainters near me and they're
going to look at your ratings.
If you have five stars, guesswhat?
You're probably going to get aphone call, especially if you
have reviews and pictures andtestimonials on there.
They're going to call you or goto your website and fill out a
(07:42):
form, right?
What do you do from there?
A lot of times, what folks dois they just do a
pre-qualification call.
You get on a phone call.
You check to see if they havethe budget.
You check to see before you.
What you're trying to do islike is this person worth me
putting myself in a truck or mysales guy in a truck?
That's what we're doing, right?
And so then you've got toschedule it and uh-oh, you're
having a busy week.
(08:02):
You can't get your guy outthere for a week.
Well, you know what the customerdoes.
They go back to Google and theyfind the next painter, and they
try to, because what customerswant are five-star ranking.
How much is this going to costme and when can you start?
That sounds about right, right?
So now what you can do whenthat it's still, the meeting
still gets booked through, maybeusing facebook ads or you know,
(08:26):
again google, you still bookthat meeting.
But now, instead of asking acustomer to download an app and
they might like, maybe you'reusing facetime.
Well, not everybody has anandroid and it's not even tuned
up for remote assistance.
Facetime is tuned up forgrandma to watch the grandkids
blow up candles, not aprofessional painter or
salesperson to do remoteestimates.
(08:46):
And I'll tell you exactly why.
We did the reverse of aFaceTime call.
So when you do a FaceTime call,you see the other person large
and you small.
Well, people with crappyeyesight like myself I got big
goggles on can't see anything.
They have your prospect big,they see themselves big and you
small, because they're going towalk around the inside and the
(09:07):
outside of the house and walkyou around and you're going to
record, take pictures, andyou're going to do it from your
tablet, your phone or yourcomputer and you can see at
large.
You can take pictures ifthere's pre-existing damage or
you can just tell them again.
The human face has a higherclose rate than just talking on
the phone or tapping on akeyboard or talking to a robot.
Your robot's close rate israther low and blind bidding
(09:30):
leads to bad bids andunderbidding.
Right, you're just trying toget the money.
So by being able to use a realthird-party assistance
technology that's built for this, it is mind-blowing.
I'll give you one quick storyfrom last week.
Last week I'm dealing with abusiness, a painter, who owns
his own business.
He's in his first year ofbusiness and he's never done a
(09:52):
remote bid before.
Well, last week it was snowing,we had a lot of snow, it was
snowing and he was stuck inGeorgia, where they don't get a
lot of snow, and he had multiplebids.
One of those bids happened tobe one of the largest bids.
He's ever bid on a $25,000 job.
For him it was big.
He's a growing young company.
Well, he closed it virtuallyand he was hooked.
(10:16):
You got to taste the money.
Once you taste the money as anowner or a salesperson, you're
like I don't want to sit behinda windshield anymore.
If I can close it Now, itdoesn't mean you're going to
close them all you know viavideo.
But how many do you have toclose before you get addicted to
it?
Or doing after hours bidding,which we'll talk about later.
But it is as simple as sendingthe text.
They tap it, boom, instantlyconnect with video or third
(10:38):
party systems.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, I love it on multiple levels.
So on one level it's great forthe customer and you might have
some pushback with peoplewanting to do remote.
But I've talked to Eric over atPathfinder.
His painting business does alot of remote estimates, remote
(11:00):
estimates, actually all remoteestimates.
Now they just do that's allthey do.
And he said that you know thevast majority of folks are
pretty open to doing a videocall to do an estimate and so if
you're thinking like, oh,people might not want to do this
(11:21):
, I would challenge that ideabecause it seems like there have
been other painting businessesimplementing this and getting
customers, homeowners, toactually be totally open to this
technology and if you thinkabout it from their perspective,
it's a lot easier to just havelike, oh, just hop on my phone
and show you around, as opposedto like having to schedule a
(11:43):
time for you to come over andyou know they may have some.
Some folks might feel obligatedoh, I got to straighten things
up and all this stuff.
Like there.
It might be a little bit moreinvasive of a process as opposed
to just doing a video call andshowing you around the house.
So I think it actually seems tolend itself to be easier for
(12:08):
the customer and probably alsoquicker, I would argue, because
you can probably schedule thesethings a lot more quickly,
because you can kind of fit inthat time for yourself a lot
easier, because you're nothaving to travel back and forth
to different job sites.
So, because it's making iteasier for you to schedule it,
(12:30):
you could probably get out therequicker than you could if you
had to travel.
And so the ideal situation whenyou're working with a customer
is that as soon as they want youto be there, you show up on
their doorstep and you'reproviding a service.
Right, because the quicker youcan provide the service, the
more valuable it is.
So this technology is helpingyou get closer to that where
(12:53):
you're just able to provide thatquicker service.
So I think, on multiple levels,using something like this, like
this video technology, makingit easy, making it quick is
making your customers' liveseasier, and so it's just like a
really powerful tool that Ithink can really help out
(13:16):
painting businesses.
So it's exciting.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, it's no longer just a great idea, right?
This is actual reality.
The fact of the matter is, inthe age of Amazon, nobody likes
to wait.
I don't like to wait.
Do you like to wait?
I don't like to wait, I wanteverything now.
I'm going to apologize.
Your customers won't either,but they expect immediacy, and
we know that people want it nowbecause there's this little
thing called Amazon Prime, wherepeople pay extra to get the
(13:47):
packages faster.
They could just wait anothercouple of weeks and not pay for
Amazon Prime, but they pay forit.
It's just showing you humannature.
We've got no patience anymoreand it doesn't matter.
I mean, we can either rumbleabout it or we can kind of come
alongside it.
When somebody calls you, theyhave pushback right, like, oh,
I'm not sure, I want to do video, or go online and say, well, I
(14:07):
can book you for a week from now, and then you can wait around
for me and I can pull up mytruck and then, or I can just
give you a bid.
Now you know, we can literally,you just tap a text Uh,
everything that we do is superencrypted department of fencing
and our stuff, like you know,like this stuff is uber safe, uh
, for people.
And the other thing you guyshave to think about too is, a
lot of times, uh, when you gobid, you're during the day.
(14:29):
Uh, many times it's going to bea female.
Right, that's going to be there.
The wife will be there, andwomen and you know I'm not one
but I can imagine, because Ihave a wife uh having a big,
burly guy.
Usually my painters.
We're pretty tan because we'veusually my painters.
We're pretty tan because we'vebeen in the sun and we're pretty
strong because we lift ladders.
You know they come over.
There's a little bit.
(14:50):
You said tidy, sometimes it'sstraight up safety.
You know, and some of yourcustomers will appreciate that
you're giving this option andthey get to meet you first.
They get to see your face.
And and the other great thingis, do you have any painters on
staff that stink at sales?
I know I did.
I had some painters that didn'twant to talk to the customers
at all.
I had to remind them please atleast just wave at them or smile
or something.
They're paying your bills.
(15:12):
So now you can put your topsalesperson in the sales seat
every time, including yourselfand maybe you as the owner.
Maybe you hate doing salescalls.
Make sure that your sales guyyou start there letting them be
the first face they seevirtually, and then your
salesperson knows how to closeand they'll close virtually and
(15:32):
they'll be excited about that.
And every now and then they'llsay, look, this is a larger job
or a commercial job.
I'm going to do mypre-qualification call with
video and then go out there.
And then the other thing itprevents is crappy bids.
Have you ever driven out andthe person had no idea how much
a paint job costs?
And then you bid it and they'relike, oh, it's going to be that
much, and then they're thinkingI'm just going to do it myself.
What?
(15:53):
a waste of your time, right?
So those pre-qualificationcalls are huge for your time
savings and your selectivity ofyour customers.
You don't do work with all ofthem.
At least in the beginning youprobably do, but the more you
mature you start turning downthe wrong kind of business and
you know what those types are.
They usually start out withlike, oh, I'm going to have to
(16:14):
get five bids before you comeout, oh great.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So then, what are they going to do?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Oh yeah, this person said it's going to be this much
for the eaves and this much forthe garage and this much for the
paint.
And you're like, goodness, race, why don't I just do this for
free, right?
Why don't I become a nonprofit?
So it's going to protect you ina lot of different ways that
aren't always so you knowobvious.
I think at first.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, I think the the time savings can't be
understated.
I'm just like thinking through,you could probably do about six
estimates if you're doingtraveling from job site to job
site, maybe six estimates a day,but I feel like using something
like this, you could probablydo 12.
It's just your capacities.
(16:59):
I would guess it would bealmost double of what it would
be typically, which, like yousaid, give this technology to
your best salesperson and then,if it's you or whoever, and then
they can just kill it with justloading up their schedule with
(17:19):
estimates done remotely.
And I think you know, speakingto painting businesses that do
remote sales, they basicallyhave a similar sales process to
what they would do in person.
You're still doing all the samethings you would typically do.
You're just doing it on a videocall and it's just easier for
(17:40):
the customer, for you and betteron time for saving you a bunch
of time.
So it makes a lot of sense toat least start considering this
type of technology.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah, it does a few other things too that aren't
obvious as well.
It increases your radius, yourserviceable radius, where you
might not want to drive out forthe bid, but if you could win a
certain size deal, you wouldsend your crew, especially those
larger deals.
You also start to targetcertain neighborhoods that you
have always wanted to work inand you can send and put QR
codes.
We have QR code to video onyour flyers or door hangers and
(18:12):
you can target thoseneighborhoods.
And now not only do they get tosee your glossy door hanger or
mailer, there's a QR code thatsays, hey, start your bidding
process now, scan this and takea video.
So they can scan and take avideo and it's also good for
your after hours bidding.
You know those busy customersthat are working in the office
and can't be home until six orseven o'clock, when your
(18:33):
salespeople hate doing bids.
Now you can say, hey, look, whydon't I just send you a text or
send you a link and when youget home, go ahead and tap it,
walk around, tell us what youwant done and we'll look at it
that morning and give you a callback at your office and start
giving you a bid and let youknow if you missed anything.
So you're now increasing yourtime to sell and, finally,
(18:54):
you're allowing yourself to getstaff from anywhere.
Staffing is always a real painin the butt at times, right?
So now you could get some ofyour salespeople that don't even
live in the same state I knowit sounds crazy or the same
country.
If you've started to hear thingsabout people leveraging virtual
assistants, virtual assistantsare happy to be on video.
You can teach them how to bidand you can bid after hours,
(19:15):
during hours, even spillover,when your top salesperson is
busy.
Now that spillover call whenyou have that lead come in, can
go to your virtual assistant andit costs a third of the price
for salary.
So some other things to getgoing, especially if you're in a
high cost area of the country.
Maybe you're painting in thecity.
Now you can have yoursalesperson rural or even in a
lower cost state and have alower hourly wage.
(19:37):
So you start really protectingyour bottom line now as well,
because you have tools thatallow for this type of customer
experience.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And it also just increases your hiring pool.
If you're looking for the bestsalesperson, you're not limited
to who's around you in a 20 mileradius.
You now can look anywhere inthe world essentially for your
perfect salesperson.
So that's huge.
For your perfect salesperson.
(20:09):
So that's huge Cool.
Now we've been hitting on thesales process, but I feel like
there's probably some ways wecan improve just the overall
customer experience once you getthem to sign the contract.
What are the things we couldimplement?
This video technology?
What else would be great forimplementing in our painting
businesses?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
technology.
What else would be great forimplementing in our painting
businesses?
Yeah, let's talk a little bitabout the operational side as
well as just the customersatisfaction side how you can
really beef up your Googlebusiness as well and your stars
through video.
But first of all, what you cando is put a QR code on your
truck, either inside the truckor outside the truck, where your
team anybody on the team canscan the QR code and take a
video.
Let's say your team arrives onsite and they notice damage to
(20:48):
the gutters.
Prior to anything done, theycan go, scan that QR code, take
a video of any damage, anypre-existing issues, and cover
your backside right.
You can also have your techswatch the sales video, even at
2x speed, to see what was agreedupon.
That way they don't get thereand the homeowner's like, oh
yeah, they said the garage wasincluded as well.
Let me check the instant replay.
(21:09):
Nope, we're happy to paint yourgarage, but you're going to
need to pay for that and so itcan settle disputes or if
there's an issue.
You know I've had guys fall offladders, which is terrible, or
he shot the wrong color.
We the things everyonelistening knows I'm talking
about.
But anyway.
You guys can scan the QR codeand take a video for insurance
(21:30):
claims, any issues.
Then, as well as a happycustomer, you can do before and
after videos.
You can do customertestimonials, which Google
really loves.
Authentic, real, Because theycan tell that they're scanning
your photos by the way, they'rewatching the videos because
Google wants to have the mostauthentic experience.
They actually want a goodproduct and if you run a great
(21:52):
business, Google wants to moveyou up, even if you don't pay
for it.
They want to have a good searchexperience.
And also you're starting to popup in chat GPT, if you guys
didn't know that.
So AI is watching your business.
So anything where you can addgenuine pieces of media, like a
customer testimonial, is goingto really separate you in your
area when people look forpainters near me.
(22:15):
And then eventually, too,you'll have some follow-up where
something will happen, wherethere's an issue and the person
you're done, your crew, isoffsite and they call you and
say, hey, there's an issue andthe person you're done, your
crew is offsite and they callyou and say, hey, there's an
issue.
Well, now you can put your eyeson it first, right Before you
even agree to go out.
Try not to roll.
The most expensive thing you dois put one of your team members
(22:36):
in a truck or a car and drivethem out your time, wear and
tear, gas in the vehicle andhourly rates.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
So if you can solve a , yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
I mean it just this makes somuch sense to really look into
LiveSwitch, like not only forsales but for operations,
(23:03):
because there's just so manythings I'm just thinking through
, like for the handoff that youmentioned between sales and
operations, like on your workorder that you provide to your,
your crew to do the work youknow, you could include a link
of the of the sales call just incase that you know the crew
(23:23):
lead wants to look through.
And if, like you said, someonebrings something up like hey,
can you also paint this thing,and he can just, you know,
review just to make sure on thesales goal, was that actually
brought up?
And if not, then okay, that's achange order Because it just
makes things.
You're capturing those detailsthroughout the process.
(23:47):
It just makes things a lot moreeasy and straightforward when
you can just go back to thesource truth.
So that's, I love that part ofit too.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, and the other thing I want to really get
everyone thinking about and weleave a lot of money on the
table, and here's what happensis you're letting those leads
come in, you're booking thoseleads, you're getting the
business and you're on to thenext one.
You just move on Like you'rejust kind of like that's how you
do it.
You get the leads, you bid theleads, you do the work.
Now I want you to startthinking about recurring revenue
.
It's liquid gold for yourbusiness.
And how, as a painter, can youget recurring revenue?
(24:21):
A lot of home servicebusinesses will create
membership programs, platinumpackages, and when your painter
arrives on site and again,sometimes your painters stick at
selling or upselling you canhand that prospect a tablet like
an iPad and they can talk toyour customer success agent who
is going to check them out, talkabout the work and then start
(24:41):
upselling them.
Hey, while we're on, have youthought about the deck?
We could stain, we could sealyour deck.
Is there any interior paintingthat needs to be done?
Or vice versa, if there's aninterior, the exterior, the
exterior paint.
When's last time you painted?
Uh, let me introduce you to ourprotection plan, our platinum
plan, what you're going to geton the platinum plan is if you
purchase this and you guysdecide your pricing.
But let's say you charge 250 ayear for protection, what it
(25:04):
will get them is two things.
One, you're going to hand thema three by five or a bridge
magnet and you're going to havea qr code, your own qr code, to
say, anytime you need washing,painting, interior, exterior,
scan that qr code, walk aroundthe house, take a video, what
you need and it'll upload to us.
We'll watch it and call you andwe'll prioritize you on the
(25:25):
calendar, right, because you'rea platinum member.
So we're going to move you up,you know, uh.
But also, what we'll do is notbecause you want to give them
something when they pay 250.
Here's your qr code.
Put this on the fridge, right?
You literally want qr codes onproperty.
I don't want them using anyother painter or power washer,
ever, all right.
And then I also want themhaving guests come over say
(25:46):
what's this, this thing on thepaint, this protection plane
thing you got, and then also, ifyou really want to go one step
further, say, hey, what we'realso going to do is, when we're
in the area, every year we'regoing to, we're going to steal
your deck.
We're going to combine becausesealant was always so cheap.
I just put in hand and pressure, um, you know painters, and
then and we fill it up withsealant and then we can just
coat the deck.
But it gives you a chance tohave a guy boots on the ground.
(26:09):
You know, obviously you'regetting paid.
You get $250 a year and then areminder of like, hey, we just
sealed the deck Again.
Is there any other washingpainting interior, exterior
needs you need?
Or please let your friends knowabout us.
This is the kind of stuff whereyou can, as you get every new
customer, bring them in asrecurring revenue, bring them in
(26:29):
as voices, because they haveneighbors and neighbors when the
house looks beautiful, it's thenumber one chance to snag the
next neighborhood.
Draw circles around yourfavorite neighborhoods and hit
them with certain targets.
This is a way to really, whereyou know your biggest profit
margins are, invest in that,invest in those people that live
in that neighborhood or thatcommercial building.
And then my favorite thing iswhen I put people on recurring
(26:54):
deals in my power washingcompany.
We're going to come every year,especially the larger ones, the
apartment complexes, the lawfirms, and I'm just like look,
we got to protect the buildingsor property management companies
, and then we would just givethem even a sweet deal.
If you'll go ahead and pre-book, I'll even give you 5% off
every year and I want to put youon a protection plan.
See, all compounds are cash andthis is the kind of stuff if
(27:15):
you want to really crush thattop line this year you need to
be thinking about, and there'ssimple technology like a live
switch to help you with thesekinds of things.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I love the QR code idea.
Just having that QR code on thefridge whenever they have a
painting need just scanning itand then showing hey, we need
you know X, y, z painted orwe're having this issue.
That's amazing.
You get that and then that'sthe lead right there.
That's more work.
I love that.
That's awesome Cool.
(27:46):
Where can folks learn moreabout live switch?
What should folks do?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, two things.
One, go to our website,liveswitch,
l-i-v-e-s-w-i-t-c-hcom, and weare going to be able to find us
there and come directly to me,like if you go to our forum, you
fill out, just say I want totalk to James, because I love
talking to my people, so tospeak, because I'm you know
people, so to speak, becausethis is where I come from, and
so we can talk.
Like last guy I was on withjust the other day, we're
(28:14):
talking through all these otherideas that had nothing to do
with our technology.
It was just blocking andtackling how to bonus, how to
recruit, how to do X, y or Z.
So I'm happy to do that.
I've learned those lessons thehard way.
And when you start to reallythink about how you're going to
grow as a business owner or as asalesperson I'm not sure what
position you are as you listento this but put together your
(28:38):
board of directors.
Who sits on your board ofdirectors?
And it can be mastermind groups.
There's podcasts, kind of likethe one you're listening to
right now.
You're already a step aheadlistening to this podcast.
And then vendors and not thecheesy vendors that are just
trying to squeeze you for money,but vendors who are thoughtful.
I get in front of so manybusiness owners every week.
(28:58):
I have a collection of all thedo's and don'ts.
We even put on virtualconferences.
But I can be in your corner andbe part of your board of
directors that you want to buildout and add to, and that'll
always just save you.
That's just good practice.
No matter what you do is tohave that, that counsel to you.
But check us out on the website, ask for me, ask for James, and
you know we'll.
We'll sit down and we'll talkthrough this stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, definitely recommend go to live switchcom.
I'll also include a link in theshow notes as well.
This, this is really gamechanging technology.
So if you're interested, checkit out.
And is there any last thoughtsor anything you want to leave
with the audience before we letyou go today?
(29:42):
James?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
One.
I just want to say thank you,daniel, what you're providing
education-wise, you do this toeducate.
So thank you to you first andthank you to the listeners.
You guys are doing an honestjob, today's work.
You guys are out therebeautifying our country, our
assets, people's biggest asset,their homes, and so thank you
for the hard work you do.
I've done it before and itreally makes a difference for
(30:06):
people and protecting theirbiggest investment.
So thank you for the honestwork you do every day.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Thanks, James, and with that we will see you all
next week.
This is Daniel, the founder of Bookkeeping for
Painters, and today I'm herewith James Hatfield, super
excited to have James on.
He is the chief revenue officerover at LiveSwitch and James
has a very unique background.
He was a painting businessowner.
He's been in the tech space andentrepreneur in that space as
(00:20):
well, and he's going to kind ofcombine these two experiences
and develop this really cooltechnology for video, and I'm
really excited to have him onthe podcast today to dive into
how you can use video in yourpainting business to streamline
operations, close more sales andmake customers more happy in
(00:42):
their experience working withyou.
So welcome to the podcast,james.
How's it going?
Great, daniel.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thanks for having me.
I love being on the paintingpodcast.
It's just full circle for me.
So I'm just so grateful to behere and talk to other painters
that are listening.
I have walked in your shoes andmany miles in your shoes, so
excited to talk a little bitabout some stories and
technology together today.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Good, yeah, it's crazy because you actually got
your entrepreneur start in thepainting space right and then
you went on to create sage worksand do big things, pretty
amazing things, but you actuallyget your start in running a
painting business right.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, yeah, my grandfather.
I owe it to him.
Unfortunately, his dad diedreally young and so he was the
oldest of many kids and had todrop out of high school and go
work at a tire shop.
And so when I came along, hisgrandson, he's like hey, you
know, what my dream is for youis you should paint the highway.
You'll always have a job.
That was his big dream, jamespaint the highway.
(01:41):
You know, could I come from thisbackground?
We didn't have anything, youknow, kind of farm boy kind of
thing, and, uh, he, that was hisdream.
And so I went well, I'm notgoing to paint the highway to
start, but how about we start bypainting houses?
I can do that.
And so, uh, I started paintingcompany there that way, knocking
on doors, I'm dating myself,but you know, I knock on doors
for cash and I get my cruisejobs and, um, want to walk
(02:02):
around through everything andran that for quite a long time
and I thought I should probablyget a college degree.
I might be good for me, and so Iput myself through business
school, uh, while running mypower washing company, and
transitioned to power washingfor painting.
We still did painting, but alsoadded on a power washing
company and uh was able toreally and I enjoyed it.
I love doing it and I alwaysloved the before and after.
I love the feeling of walkingon site to something that looks
(02:25):
terrible and then renewing itand making it wonderful, and
then be able to pay my team andactually pay for my living wages
as well as my college.
In that case it was great.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah yeah, that's awesome Sageworks.
And then you came back into thetech space with helping
painting businesses and similarbusinesses implement this new
video technology.
So could you walk me through?
Where can painting businessesleverage this type?
(02:57):
What are we talking about, whatdoes this actually do and how
can we actually improve ourpainting business with this
technology?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, I always like to start off with a story like
how did this come about?
So, yeah, we successfully did.
You mentioned a company calledSageworks.
One of my partners ran alandscaping company and we are
good at numbers.
So after college we kind ofunderstood the books and so we
created a technology that couldread your income statement and
balance sheet from yourbookkeeper and tell me, as a
painter, what does it mean like,and how do I compare to other
(03:24):
people?
That ended up being quite alarge company, uh.
And then we got back intotechnology.
We went into philanthropy for awhile, but we got into
technology here with video and,uh, at first it wasn't our
ambition to even be in homeservices to help out home
services.
I had more of a heart, andinitially I I still do for
safety and security.
(03:45):
And it started with schoolshootings.
We see so many of those acrossthe country now and it's really
heartbreaking and someone needsto do something about that.
Instead of arming all theteachers with AK-47s, which
we're not going to do, let's usethe phone in their pocket.
So I got the opportunity andthis sounds wild, but an
opportunity to reinvent the 911phone call with a chief of
police of Washington DC andInstead of you know the worst
(04:08):
part of your phone is the phoneright.
It's an ancient technologycalled telephony and you're
always like, can you hear me now?
But now you can get a text fromthe authorities.
You can tap the text, pointyour phone Cameras at the
situation and that can streamright to the police car so they
can see what they're drivinginto.
It's called situationalawareness.
And so I started talking to abunch of other guys in the fbi
(04:28):
and uh, finally, um thought, whoelse could use?
You know, tap a text, you're onwith video, no apps required.
Like, who could use this?
Well, I was introduced to areally formative guy in the
moving industry, like movingboxes, and I'm showing him our
stuff for emergency response.
He's like James, you have noidea what you have, and this
happened years ago, two and ahalf years ago.
(04:50):
Like what do you mean?
He's like we're going to usethis for virtual estimates.
Like the most expensive thing Ido as a business owner is I put
a guy behind the wheel of atruck, send him out to the
customer's house in the hope ofwinning the business.
First of all, they're notproductive behind the wheel.
Second, for me as a businessowner.
It costs me time, money, gas,wear and tear on the vehicle and
three, my guy better close thatdeal because if he doesn't he's
(05:12):
on to the next one and we canonly do about four to five per
sales guy per day.
He's like I'm just going to doit virtually and at least to do
the pre-qualification calls at aminimum so I can see what I'm
getting into before driving out.
And he was absolutely right.
And it's been amazing to seeall these home services start
adopting video technology intotheir business and it changes
(05:33):
the game for them.
And I've got plenty of storiesaround it.
But it's been exciting ajourney from the 911 phone call
now to helping our home servicecustomers.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Yeah, and this is something that's kind of been on
social media with differentpainting businesses
experimenting with doing remoteestimates or actually having the
homeowner walk around and kindof show what they want done on
their house so you can provide aproposal remotely, not even
(06:03):
having to go to their house anddo all this stuff, and so I
think this is a really cooltechnology.
Now I think most folks are usingthings like you mentioned, like
Zoom or other apps that are alittle bit harder to implement
than what you're saying thatLiveSwitch does, because it
sounds like LiveSwitch.
You literally just send them atext and then they just click
(06:24):
easily.
Just click a link in the textand it just like opens up and
then they can immediately startcommunicating with you and
showing you, as opposed to someother stuff.
You know you, you have to.
It's a little bit more of amore time to get them on it and
a little bit more headachesinvolved.
Can you walk through what thatprocess did like how easy it is
(06:47):
to actually get them, get yourpotential customer, if they're a
prospect, to actuallycommunicate with you using a
live switch?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think in the past we've used the
tools we had, right, we hadFaceTime, we had Zoom, and prior
to that we didn't have any ofthat.
We just had the phone in ourcar and clipboard.
But now, with video, and youknow, thanks to COVID or no,
thanks to COVID, I guess youknow we're all starting to use
video.
And you know customers you gotto think about the customer
experience.
It's not always just about youand your team and your sales
(07:20):
talent, but it's a lot of thecustomers experience you as a
professional.
What are they going to do?
Welcome to Amazon and Google.
Right?
Your customer is going to go toGoogle.
They're going to Googlepainters near me and they're
going to look at your ratings.
If you have five stars, guesswhat?
You're probably going to get aphone call, especially if you
have reviews and pictures andtestimonials on there.
They're going to call you or goto your website and fill out a
(07:42):
form, right?
What do you do from there?
A lot of times, what folks dois they just do a
pre-qualification call.
You get on a phone call.
You check to see if they havethe budget.
You check to see before you.
What you're trying to do islike is this person worth me
putting myself in a truck or mysales guy in a truck?
That's what we're doing, right?
And so then you've got toschedule it and uh-oh, you're
having a busy week.
(08:02):
You can't get your guy outthere for a week.
Well, you know what the customerdoes.
They go back to Google and theyfind the next painter, and they
try to, because what customerswant are five-star ranking.
How much is this going to costme and when can you start?
That sounds about right, right?
So now what you can do whenthat it's still, the meeting
still gets booked through, maybeusing facebook ads or you know,
(08:26):
again google, you still bookthat meeting.
But now, instead of asking acustomer to download an app and
they might like, maybe you'reusing facetime.
Well, not everybody has anandroid and it's not even tuned
up for remote assistance.
Facetime is tuned up forgrandma to watch the grandkids
blow up candles, not aprofessional painter or
salesperson to do remoteestimates.
(08:46):
And I'll tell you exactly why.
We did the reverse of aFaceTime call.
So when you do a FaceTime call,you see the other person large
and you small.
Well, people with crappyeyesight like myself I got big
goggles on can't see anything.
They have your prospect big,they see themselves big and you
small, because they're going towalk around the inside and the
(09:07):
outside of the house and walkyou around and you're going to
record, take pictures, andyou're going to do it from your
tablet, your phone or yourcomputer and you can see at
large.
You can take pictures ifthere's pre-existing damage or
you can just tell them again.
The human face has a higherclose rate than just talking on
the phone or tapping on akeyboard or talking to a robot.
Your robot's close rate israther low and blind bidding
(09:30):
leads to bad bids andunderbidding.
Right, you're just trying toget the money.
So by being able to use a realthird-party assistance
technology that's built for this, it is mind-blowing.
I'll give you one quick storyfrom last week.
Last week I'm dealing with abusiness, a painter, who owns
his own business.
He's in his first year ofbusiness and he's never done a
(09:52):
remote bid before.
Well, last week it was snowing,we had a lot of snow, it was
snowing and he was stuck inGeorgia, where they don't get a
lot of snow, and he had multiplebids.
One of those bids happened tobe one of the largest bids.
He's ever bid on a $25,000 job.
For him it was big.
He's a growing young company.
Well, he closed it virtuallyand he was hooked.
(10:16):
You got to taste the money.
Once you taste the money as anowner or a salesperson, you're
like I don't want to sit behinda windshield anymore.
If I can close it Now, itdoesn't mean you're going to
close them all you know viavideo.
But how many do you have toclose before you get addicted to
it?
Or doing after hours bidding,which we'll talk about later.
But it is as simple as sendingthe text.
They tap it, boom, instantlyconnect with video or third
(10:38):
party systems.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, I love it on multiple levels.
So on one level it's great forthe customer and you might have
some pushback with peoplewanting to do remote.
But I've talked to Eric over atPathfinder.
His painting business does alot of remote estimates, remote
(11:00):
estimates, actually all remoteestimates.
Now they just do that's allthey do.
And he said that you know thevast majority of folks are
pretty open to doing a videocall to do an estimate and so if
you're thinking like, oh,people might not want to do this
(11:21):
, I would challenge that ideabecause it seems like there have
been other painting businessesimplementing this and getting
customers, homeowners, toactually be totally open to this
technology and if you thinkabout it from their perspective,
it's a lot easier to just havelike, oh, just hop on my phone
and show you around, as opposedto like having to schedule a
(11:43):
time for you to come over andyou know they may have some.
Some folks might feel obligatedoh, I got to straighten things
up and all this stuff.
Like there.
It might be a little bit moreinvasive of a process as opposed
to just doing a video call andshowing you around the house.
So I think it actually seems tolend itself to be easier for
(12:08):
the customer and probably alsoquicker, I would argue, because
you can probably schedule thesethings a lot more quickly,
because you can kind of fit inthat time for yourself a lot
easier, because you're nothaving to travel back and forth
to different job sites.
So, because it's making iteasier for you to schedule it,
(12:30):
you could probably get out therequicker than you could if you
had to travel.
And so the ideal situation whenyou're working with a customer
is that as soon as they want youto be there, you show up on
their doorstep and you'reproviding a service.
Right, because the quicker youcan provide the service, the
more valuable it is.
So this technology is helpingyou get closer to that where
(12:53):
you're just able to provide thatquicker service.
So I think, on multiple levels,using something like this, like
this video technology, makingit easy, making it quick is
making your customers' liveseasier, and so it's just like a
really powerful tool that Ithink can really help out
(13:16):
painting businesses.
So it's exciting.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, it's no longer just a great idea, right?
This is actual reality.
The fact of the matter is, inthe age of Amazon, nobody likes
to wait.
I don't like to wait.
Do you like to wait?
I don't like to wait, I wanteverything now.
I'm going to apologize.
Your customers won't either,but they expect immediacy, and
we know that people want it nowbecause there's this little
thing called Amazon Prime, wherepeople pay extra to get the
(13:47):
packages faster.
They could just wait anothercouple of weeks and not pay for
Amazon Prime, but they pay forit.
It's just showing you humannature.
We've got no patience anymoreand it doesn't matter.
I mean, we can either rumbleabout it or we can kind of come
alongside it.
When somebody calls you, theyhave pushback right, like, oh,
I'm not sure, I want to do video, or go online and say, well, I
(14:07):
can book you for a week from now, and then you can wait around
for me and I can pull up mytruck and then, or I can just
give you a bid.
Now you know, we can literally,you just tap a text Uh,
everything that we do is superencrypted department of fencing
and our stuff, like you know,like this stuff is uber safe, uh
, for people.
And the other thing you guyshave to think about too is, a
lot of times, uh, when you gobid, you're during the day.
(14:29):
Uh, many times it's going to bea female.
Right, that's going to be there.
The wife will be there, andwomen and you know I'm not one
but I can imagine, because Ihave a wife uh having a big,
burly guy.
Usually my painters.
We're pretty tan because we'veusually my painters.
We're pretty tan because we'vebeen in the sun and we're pretty
strong because we lift ladders.
You know they come over.
There's a little bit.
(14:50):
You said tidy, sometimes it'sstraight up safety.
You know, and some of yourcustomers will appreciate that
you're giving this option andthey get to meet you first.
They get to see your face.
And and the other great thingis, do you have any painters on
staff that stink at sales?
I know I did.
I had some painters that didn'twant to talk to the customers
at all.
I had to remind them please atleast just wave at them or smile
or something.
They're paying your bills.
(15:12):
So now you can put your topsalesperson in the sales seat
every time, including yourselfand maybe you as the owner.
Maybe you hate doing salescalls.
Make sure that your sales guyyou start there letting them be
the first face they seevirtually, and then your
salesperson knows how to closeand they'll close virtually and
(15:32):
they'll be excited about that.
And every now and then they'llsay, look, this is a larger job
or a commercial job.
I'm going to do mypre-qualification call with
video and then go out there.
And then the other thing itprevents is crappy bids.
Have you ever driven out andthe person had no idea how much
a paint job costs?
And then you bid it and they'relike, oh, it's going to be that
much, and then they're thinkingI'm just going to do it myself.
What?
(15:53):
a waste of your time, right?
So those pre-qualificationcalls are huge for your time
savings and your selectivity ofyour customers.
You don't do work with all ofthem.
At least in the beginning youprobably do, but the more you
mature you start turning downthe wrong kind of business and
you know what those types are.
They usually start out withlike, oh, I'm going to have to
(16:14):
get five bids before you comeout, oh great.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So then, what are they going to do?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Oh yeah, this person said it's going to be this much
for the eaves and this much forthe garage and this much for the
paint.
And you're like, goodness, race, why don't I just do this for
free, right?
Why don't I become a nonprofit?
So it's going to protect you ina lot of different ways that
aren't always so you knowobvious.
I think at first.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, I think the the time savings can't be
understated.
I'm just like thinking through,you could probably do about six
estimates if you're doingtraveling from job site to job
site, maybe six estimates a day,but I feel like using something
like this, you could probablydo 12.
It's just your capacities.
(16:59):
I would guess it would bealmost double of what it would
be typically, which, like yousaid, give this technology to
your best salesperson and then,if it's you or whoever, and then
they can just kill it with justloading up their schedule with
(17:19):
estimates done remotely.
And I think you know, speakingto painting businesses that do
remote sales, they basicallyhave a similar sales process to
what they would do in person.
You're still doing all the samethings you would typically do.
You're just doing it on a videocall and it's just easier for
(17:40):
the customer, for you and betteron time for saving you a bunch
of time.
So it makes a lot of sense toat least start considering this
type of technology.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah, it does a few other things too that aren't
obvious as well.
It increases your radius, yourserviceable radius, where you
might not want to drive out forthe bid, but if you could win a
certain size deal, you wouldsend your crew, especially those
larger deals.
You also start to targetcertain neighborhoods that you
have always wanted to work inand you can send and put QR
codes.
We have QR code to video onyour flyers or door hangers and
(18:12):
you can target thoseneighborhoods.
And now not only do they get tosee your glossy door hanger or
mailer, there's a QR code thatsays, hey, start your bidding
process now, scan this and takea video.
So they can scan and take avideo and it's also good for
your after hours bidding.
You know those busy customersthat are working in the office
and can't be home until six orseven o'clock, when your
(18:33):
salespeople hate doing bids.
Now you can say, hey, look, whydon't I just send you a text or
send you a link and when youget home, go ahead and tap it,
walk around, tell us what youwant done and we'll look at it
that morning and give you a callback at your office and start
giving you a bid and let youknow if you missed anything.
So you're now increasing yourtime to sell and, finally,
(18:54):
you're allowing yourself to getstaff from anywhere.
Staffing is always a real painin the butt at times, right?
So now you could get some ofyour salespeople that don't even
live in the same state I knowit sounds crazy or the same
country.
If you've started to hear thingsabout people leveraging virtual
assistants, virtual assistantsare happy to be on video.
You can teach them how to bidand you can bid after hours,
(19:15):
during hours, even spillover,when your top salesperson is
busy.
Now that spillover call whenyou have that lead come in, can
go to your virtual assistant andit costs a third of the price
for salary.
So some other things to getgoing, especially if you're in a
high cost area of the country.
Maybe you're painting in thecity.
Now you can have yoursalesperson rural or even in a
lower cost state and have alower hourly wage.
(19:37):
So you start really protectingyour bottom line now as well,
because you have tools thatallow for this type of customer
experience.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And it also just increases your hiring pool.
If you're looking for the bestsalesperson, you're not limited
to who's around you in a 20 mileradius.
You now can look anywhere inthe world essentially for your
perfect salesperson.
So that's huge.
For your perfect salesperson.
(20:09):
So that's huge Cool.
Now we've been hitting on thesales process, but I feel like
there's probably some ways wecan improve just the overall
customer experience once you getthem to sign the contract.
What are the things we couldimplement?
This video technology?
What else would be great forimplementing in our painting
businesses?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
technology.
What else would be great forimplementing in our painting
businesses?
Yeah, let's talk a little bitabout the operational side as
well as just the customersatisfaction side how you can
really beef up your Googlebusiness as well and your stars
through video.
But first of all, what you cando is put a QR code on your
truck, either inside the truckor outside the truck, where your
team anybody on the team canscan the QR code and take a
video.
Let's say your team arrives onsite and they notice damage to
(20:48):
the gutters.
Prior to anything done, theycan go, scan that QR code, take
a video of any damage, anypre-existing issues, and cover
your backside right.
You can also have your techswatch the sales video, even at
2x speed, to see what was agreedupon.
That way they don't get thereand the homeowner's like, oh
yeah, they said the garage wasincluded as well.
Let me check the instant replay.
(21:09):
Nope, we're happy to paint yourgarage, but you're going to
need to pay for that and so itcan settle disputes or if
there's an issue.
You know I've had guys fall offladders, which is terrible, or
he shot the wrong color.
We the things everyonelistening knows I'm talking
about.
But anyway.
You guys can scan the QR codeand take a video for insurance
(21:30):
claims, any issues.
Then, as well as a happycustomer, you can do before and
after videos.
You can do customertestimonials, which Google
really loves.
Authentic, real, Because theycan tell that they're scanning
your photos by the way, they'rewatching the videos because
Google wants to have the mostauthentic experience.
They actually want a goodproduct and if you run a great
(21:52):
business, Google wants to moveyou up, even if you don't pay
for it.
They want to have a good searchexperience.
And also you're starting to popup in chat GPT, if you guys
didn't know that.
So AI is watching your business.
So anything where you can addgenuine pieces of media, like a
customer testimonial, is goingto really separate you in your
area when people look forpainters near me.
(22:15):
And then eventually, too,you'll have some follow-up where
something will happen, wherethere's an issue and the person
you're done, your crew, isoffsite and they call you and
say, hey, there's an issue andthe person you're done, your
crew is offsite and they callyou and say, hey, there's an
issue.
Well, now you can put your eyeson it first, right Before you
even agree to go out.
Try not to roll.
The most expensive thing you dois put one of your team members
(22:36):
in a truck or a car and drivethem out your time, wear and
tear, gas in the vehicle andhourly rates.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
So if you can solve a , yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
I mean it just this makes somuch sense to really look into
LiveSwitch, like not only forsales but for operations,
(23:03):
because there's just so manythings I'm just thinking through
, like for the handoff that youmentioned between sales and
operations, like on your workorder that you provide to your,
your crew to do the work youknow, you could include a link
of the of the sales call just incase that you know the crew
(23:23):
lead wants to look through.
And if, like you said, someonebrings something up like hey,
can you also paint this thing,and he can just, you know,
review just to make sure on thesales goal, was that actually
brought up?
And if not, then okay, that's achange order Because it just
makes things.
You're capturing those detailsthroughout the process.
(23:47):
It just makes things a lot moreeasy and straightforward when
you can just go back to thesource truth.
So that's, I love that part ofit too.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, and the other thing I want to really get
everyone thinking about and weleave a lot of money on the
table, and here's what happensis you're letting those leads
come in, you're booking thoseleads, you're getting the
business and you're on to thenext one.
You just move on Like you'rejust kind of like that's how you
do it.
You get the leads, you bid theleads, you do the work.
Now I want you to startthinking about recurring revenue
.
It's liquid gold for yourbusiness.
And how, as a painter, can youget recurring revenue?
(24:21):
A lot of home servicebusinesses will create
membership programs, platinumpackages, and when your painter
arrives on site and again,sometimes your painters stick at
selling or upselling you canhand that prospect a tablet like
an iPad and they can talk toyour customer success agent who
is going to check them out, talkabout the work and then start
(24:41):
upselling them.
Hey, while we're on, have youthought about the deck?
We could stain, we could sealyour deck.
Is there any interior paintingthat needs to be done?
Or vice versa, if there's aninterior, the exterior, the
exterior paint.
When's last time you painted?
Uh, let me introduce you to ourprotection plan, our platinum
plan, what you're going to geton the platinum plan is if you
purchase this and you guysdecide your pricing.
But let's say you charge 250 ayear for protection, what it
(25:04):
will get them is two things.
One, you're going to hand thema three by five or a bridge
magnet and you're going to havea qr code, your own qr code, to
say, anytime you need washing,painting, interior, exterior,
scan that qr code, walk aroundthe house, take a video, what
you need and it'll upload to us.
We'll watch it and call you andwe'll prioritize you on the
(25:25):
calendar, right, because you'rea platinum member.
So we're going to move you up,you know, uh.
But also, what we'll do is notbecause you want to give them
something when they pay 250.
Here's your qr code.
Put this on the fridge, right?
You literally want qr codes onproperty.
I don't want them using anyother painter or power washer,
ever, all right.
And then I also want themhaving guests come over say
(25:46):
what's this, this thing on thepaint, this protection plane
thing you got, and then also, ifyou really want to go one step
further, say, hey, what we'realso going to do is, when we're
in the area, every year we'regoing to, we're going to steal
your deck.
We're going to combine becausesealant was always so cheap.
I just put in hand and pressure, um, you know painters, and
then and we fill it up withsealant and then we can just
coat the deck.
But it gives you a chance tohave a guy boots on the ground.
(26:09):
You know, obviously you'regetting paid.
You get $250 a year and then areminder of like, hey, we just
sealed the deck Again.
Is there any other washingpainting interior, exterior
needs you need?
Or please let your friends knowabout us.
This is the kind of stuff whereyou can, as you get every new
customer, bring them in asrecurring revenue, bring them in
(26:29):
as voices, because they haveneighbors and neighbors when the
house looks beautiful, it's thenumber one chance to snag the
next neighborhood.
Draw circles around yourfavorite neighborhoods and hit
them with certain targets.
This is a way to really, whereyou know your biggest profit
margins are, invest in that,invest in those people that live
in that neighborhood or thatcommercial building.
And then my favorite thing iswhen I put people on recurring
(26:54):
deals in my power washingcompany.
We're going to come every year,especially the larger ones, the
apartment complexes, the lawfirms, and I'm just like look,
we got to protect the buildingsor property management companies
, and then we would just givethem even a sweet deal.
If you'll go ahead and pre-book, I'll even give you 5% off
every year and I want to put youon a protection plan.
See, all compounds are cash andthis is the kind of stuff if
(27:15):
you want to really crush thattop line this year you need to
be thinking about, and there'ssimple technology like a live
switch to help you with thesekinds of things.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I love the QR code idea.
Just having that QR code on thefridge whenever they have a
painting need just scanning itand then showing hey, we need
you know X, y, z painted orwe're having this issue.
That's amazing.
You get that and then that'sthe lead right there.
That's more work.
I love that.
That's awesome Cool.
(27:46):
Where can folks learn moreabout live switch?
What should folks do?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, two things.
One, go to our website,liveswitch,
l-i-v-e-s-w-i-t-c-hcom, and weare going to be able to find us
there and come directly to me,like if you go to our forum, you
fill out, just say I want totalk to James, because I love
talking to my people, so tospeak, because I'm you know
people, so to speak, becausethis is where I come from, and
so we can talk.
Like last guy I was on withjust the other day, we're
(28:14):
talking through all these otherideas that had nothing to do
with our technology.
It was just blocking andtackling how to bonus, how to
recruit, how to do X, y or Z.
So I'm happy to do that.
I've learned those lessons thehard way.
And when you start to reallythink about how you're going to
grow as a business owner or as asalesperson I'm not sure what
position you are as you listento this but put together your
(28:38):
board of directors.
Who sits on your board ofdirectors?
And it can be mastermind groups.
There's podcasts, kind of likethe one you're listening to
right now.
You're already a step aheadlistening to this podcast.
And then vendors and not thecheesy vendors that are just
trying to squeeze you for money,but vendors who are thoughtful.
I get in front of so manybusiness owners every week.
(28:58):
I have a collection of all thedo's and don'ts.
We even put on virtualconferences.
But I can be in your corner andbe part of your board of
directors that you want to buildout and add to, and that'll
always just save you.
That's just good practice.
No matter what you do is tohave that, that counsel to you.
But check us out on the website, ask for me, ask for James, and
you know we'll.
We'll sit down and we'll talkthrough this stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, definitely recommend go to live switchcom.
I'll also include a link in theshow notes as well.
This, this is really gamechanging technology.
So if you're interested, checkit out.
And is there any last thoughtsor anything you want to leave
with the audience before we letyou go today?
(29:42):
James?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
One.
I just want to say thank you,daniel, what you're providing
education-wise, you do this toeducate.
So thank you to you first andthank you to the listeners.
You guys are doing an honestjob, today's work.
You guys are out therebeautifying our country, our
assets, people's biggest asset,their homes, and so thank you
for the hard work you do.
I've done it before and itreally makes a difference for
(30:06):
people and protecting theirbiggest investment.
So thank you for the honestwork you do every day.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Thanks, James, and with that we will see you all
next week.
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