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HVAC Masters of the Hustle
Episode 295- Clayton Edminister/ Royalty Tech
00:32:40
HVAC Masters Of The Hustle would like to welcome Clayton into the Hot Seat on Episode 295. Clayton is one of the Royalty Techs out of Sacramento Ca! Clayton talks about as a tech the importance it is to go back to the basics and to be consitent in...
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- [00:02]
A
This is H Vac Masters of the Hustle with your host, Jacob Money Maker. Looking at the city like I already own it. What is up? You are listening to H Vac Masters of the Hustle podcast and this podcast is brought to you by Nuva Thermostat. This is the thermostat that is made by the contractor for the contractor. You talk about personal branding, bringing your brand out front, protecting your client and making sure that your competitors don't take them out of your market, out of your hands, out of your database. I'm telling you, this is the hottest thermostat on the market and I am super excited because this upcoming January 1st off the first quarter of 2025 with myself, J Dev, H Vac Masters of the Hustle. I'm going to be traveling. There's about four speaking events that I got scheduled first quarter and I'm telling you I'm super excited because we are starting the year off in January 24th in Minnesota at Hook Agency and we got a great one day event, the H Vac Championship Summit. I am super excited. It's going to be a smaller group, right? There's not going to be 5001000 people. We are keeping it to 60 people, contractors all across the nation and it's already half sold out and is definitely going to be sold out here within the next couple weeks. But I just got to let you all know I am super excited to hang out with y'all to be able to start y'all 20, 25 year off with the bang. Also with that being said, I have a great guest. You know, we are going to be talking and getting into how he was introduced to H Vac. But just to let you all know, this is someone that was introduced as a podcast listener. He's an employee with Royalty Heating and Air. But I'm not going to tell the story. Let me go ahead and give Mr. Clayton administer a big old welcome. What is up brother?
- [02:44]
B
What is up? And thanks for having me.
- [02:47]
A
So you know you've been following the podcast so I mean you work with royalty now, but we'll get into that story before listening or, or working with royalty. First, let's get into the nitty gritty of how did you become a H Vac technician or someone to become in the trades of H Vac?
- [03:08]
B
Well, it's funny actually because I worked in automotive and and then that wasn't cutting it and I just started applying it random places and I ended up in industrial H vac and refrigeration and what year was that 2015. 16.
- [03:22]
A
2015. So here you are, and all of a sudden you get introduced to the H Vac industry. And what did you start out as?
- [03:32]
B
I started off as just brazing giant copper pipes together. Being a helper, being a grunt, being a gopher, go grab me this, go grab me that.
- [03:43]
A
What you learn. What was your big takeaway as a go? Because a lot of times now, right, you got people that are very prideful and they don't like to be told what to do or go grab this. Right. But you got to earn your stripes.
- [03:56]
B
Exactly.
- [03:56]
A
So talk about real quick, Clayton, earning your stripes and what you had to do to get from being a helper or a grunt or a gopher to the next level.
- [04:10]
B
So pretty much, you know, like, it was like, I actually learned this from automotive. My. My teacher told me this. He told us all this. Didn't matter how long we were in the school for. You don't know nothing. When you work with somebody, you're a sponge, absorb, do whatever he says and they will teach you. So I kind of took that and do my life in H Vac. And if I went to go grab a part, I would watch him install that part. Whether it was a float switch or the flu, like the b vent or 96 percenters, 80 percenters, we'd always just learn more and more. It's just one of those things, you know, you can't just jump in there and start doing what you want to do. You gotta. You gotta earn those stripes. Whether that's going and grabbing this tool bag, setting up the ladder, laying out the drop cloth, whatever it is, you know, you'll get there.
- [04:56]
A
Yeah. And so you going and being, you know, the gopher, being a technician, what was kind of like the learning curve for you to go from, you know, gopher installer to a technician?
- [05:11]
B
So you. I only was like, go for parts grab. Only for a little bit. It was mainly because the company I was with, they were getting short handed. So then I started helping out with install. And then after that, they're like, no, you're an install now. And then once they started doing installs, you know, I learned a lot more because now I was kind of just, oh, now I'm in the trenches. They threw me in there now. Now I'm underneath the houses. I'm doing the duct in the very back of the house. I'm doing the Hot Addicts. I'm going up on the roof. I'm learning all that. And then from there we would get a couple of new installs, it won't start up. Most of the technicians or I mean, the installers I'd work with be like, oh, it's okay, we got technicians for that. Well, I'm not going to sit there for 30, 20 minutes. So I started to figure it out on my own and then from there they asked me if I wanted to be a service tech. And I was like, of course I want to be a service tech.
- [06:01]
A
Okay, so. So continuing to move up, right? And then all of a sudden, one day. How'd you get introduced to H vac? Masters of the hustle. And how long ago was that?
- [06:14]
B
Oh, boy. I want to say that was like two, about two years ago or so. And I was just scrolling on YouTube and I clicked on it and I saw. I remember which one it was, but I was just like, nah, no way. And I clicked on it like, I'll watch it. And then I was like, oh, okay, I like this. Next, you know, I'm watching one episode, two episode, three episode, and it's like two in the morning and I got work in the morning and I'm watching it on my way to work.
- [06:40]
A
So you got hooked in, huh?
- [06:41]
B
I got hooked.
- [06:42]
A
Well, there you go. And then all of a sudden, I think you saw a video and you were like, holy, you're actually local here.
- [06:51]
B
I think. Yeah.
- [06:52]
A
How'd you find out that? I mean, because you were. You found me on social media and you were working for a company up the hill that was roughly about 30 minutes away. And it was like, holy crap. So that was how you and I really got introduced and got connected and everything like that. And then I ended reaching out just on social media. And I was like, hey, if there's anyone out there that is wanting to meet up, hang out, I'm gonna be at topgolf and I want to hang out with people and do whatever. And Clayton was one of them that showed up. And me and Clayton talked and Clayton, what was it that really made you take the leap of faith? Because I mean, at the end of the day, we're a brand new company over here at Royalty Heating in Air. A lot of people say that brand new companies typically fail, right? So what was it that made you go from established company after meeting me at topgolf to say, you know what, I feel like this is the right move to be a technician.
- [08:07]
B
So with the company I was working at, I discovered your seven step process, you know. Well, the company I was working with, they didn't like it because it takes too much Time when you get in, get out type of thing, you know, just kind of burning through calls, get in, get out. But it was okay during the slow season, right, that I was taking my time. And then summer came along and they were like, no, you can't do that. You can't do that, can't do that. And it was just a lot of that where it was kind of affecting my success, like not being able to use the process that helps me and the fact that it's a proven process. Like I told myself when I was driving shoes hopgolf, like I get offered a position, I'm taking it, you know, just because it's one of those, like, I took a process from you and it worked and it made me very successful in what I do. And it was to the point where.
- [08:57]
A
The owner reached out to you and said, man, what are you doing different than everybody else.
- [09:01]
B
Yeah, I know. She asked me what was helping me, me.
- [09:04]
A
And what did you say?
- [09:05]
B
I told her. Yeah, I told her. Jason Walker, HB Masters, the Hustle.
- [09:12]
A
That's the one, right? So. So Clayton and I, we sat down and, you know, a couple weeks passed and, you know, it was a good fit for, for him to come over as a technician. And something that I really enjoyed about Clayton was he already knows the process. He understands what the process is able to do if you're able to be consistent with it, which we'll talk about. But talk about Clayton, the transition now, you know, taking that leap of faith from going from a big discovered company that's been around for, you know, 30 plus, 40, 50 years in a well known market to coming over here.
- [09:54]
B
You know, it's kind of one of those, like, I like it because it keeps me busy and I get to like, I'm a service tech, but, you know, some days I'm grabbing flyers, I'm grabbing, you know, yard signs, we're having fun, we're going to events. I don't know, I enjoy it. I enjoy that part because I never got to do that part.
- [10:09]
A
See, I'm an introvert. I don't enjoy that part. I don't. I mean, as a new company, right, you have to go out there, you gotta grind, you gotta be different, you gotta go meet the community. And that's the big thing and that's something that we're doing with my team right now is how do you go out there and meet the community? You know, if there's no calls coming in, I still have my team come in, we're out there door knocking as A team. We're out there. We're having fun. My goal with the culture here at Royalty, I guess, before getting into what I want here at Royalty, you coming in, you've been at Royalty here for what, about a month now?
- [10:49]
B
I think about a month or so. Time flies.
- [10:51]
A
Time flies, right. So coming in, what have you noticed about the culture of maybe different companies or organizations that you've been a part of?
- [11:03]
B
We. We have a lot of fun. We enjoy what we do. We don't just go to work like, oh, I gotta go to work tomorrow. No, we make it fun. You gotta very upbeat. We're always joking around. We're always having fun.
- [11:16]
A
Like Dave in the office, right?
- [11:18]
B
Oh, yeah, good old Dave. Shout out today for the shirt.
- [11:22]
A
So. So you gotta have fun. You gotta be different. You gotta culture in. And that's one thing that I saw with Clayton was as bringing them in as a technician. I'm also on the road a lot as well. Right. So I also got to bring in people that I know are going to be trustworthy and understand that I could hold them accountable while I'm on the road and everything as well. And Clayton, you've been doing a great job being able to. To hold that role as a technician. And let me ask you a question. Going from summer, where everything's all good right now, we're starting to go. You're talking about playing different roles in a company sometimes going out there and marketing and doing door knocking and things like that. Talk about, why do you do that? Because me, I always did that within a company because I always understood Slow Season. Every single year came, right? And a lot of people are like, every year, they're surprised, you know, and to me, it's like every day I looked at myself that I was unemployed, you know, because I worked and I only made commission. Now your hourly plus commission over here at Royalty, but being someone that was only commission only, right? I had that mindset that every day I woke up, I had to eat right. I was unemployed every day. I had to go find opportunity. So that's what I'm hoping that I'm instilling with my crew here. But talk about your experience.
- [12:52]
B
Slow Season. I used to look down on slow Season. And then actually, as long as we get calls and of course, you know what I mean? But like, I love slow Season because we're able to spend time with our clients, get to know them, build a relationship, have fun. I don't know, I feel like it kind of gets your brain ticking a little more to get you thinking of ideas of what else can we do?
- [13:14]
A
Well, Clayton, one thing that you talked about was running a process, right? And taking your time and, you know, being able to take your time as well, you know? And one thing you talk about is the seven steps and the way that the seven steps work. So talk about real quick. What were you doing in your appointment before the seven steps and when you brought. What are the seven steps to you broken down, and when you were able to bring that to your process, what have you been able to see?
- [13:47]
B
So, like, before I discovered the whole process and the videos, it was just knock on the door, like, hey, my name is Clayton here, do your H Vac, whatever, right? Then they would take control of the call. Every single time. They would take me over to their thermostat or their filter. Like, oh, hey, I got my filters over here. I need you to put those up. And I got to be somewhere in like 45 minutes, so just let me know when you're done. That was always how it was, but that was also how a lot of my ride alongs went. Like, whenever I was training, they were like, that's how I was taught. And then my favorite part about when I figured it out, you know, other than just the success part, was actually seeing it. Because, you know, you do your door knock, then you ask, is it okay where I park? You know, you're slowing them down, kind of knocking down their barriers instead of letting them take control and tell you how it is. And then instead of the starting the thermostat, I like doing this where we start at the table, we do the comfort survey. I remember the first time I did it too. Super weird. I was like shaking. Like, oh, I don't even know I'm gonna ask them. Like, I'm at the table now. I don't even know I'm gonna ask them. And then I just kind of started going with it. It probably took me about like five. Five or so calls to like, kind of understand, like, okay, this is. This is how I got to do it every single time. And then, you know, from there, then I'm setting my expectations, my. How much time I'm going to be here for what they may have, may what they may want from me, you know, like what. What prompted today's appointment Is anything out of manufacturer's tolerances? That's something you like me to bring to your attention today? You know, the yes game, that Go.
- [15:27]
A
Effect, getting the expectations and everything. You know, one thing that I want to talk about, I wrote it down and I circled it and I can't read my damn handwriting first. Ah, don't you hate that when you scribble stuff down and you can't freaking read your own writing? Well, you know, let's talk about this, because I can't actually read this right here. Going inside the house, okay? You're talking about getting expectations and. And what prompted the appointment and taking control of the appointment. But also something that we talk about at Royalty, which you know is one of the reasons also why I brought you in to Royalty, is because as a technician, a lot of times people get tunnel vision, right? On the scope of the work or why they're there. But with Clayton and with the team and everything, what we talk about is looking at the full envelope, right? So looking at right now, especially just not systems, just not the tuneups, right? But looking at attic insulation, looking at the way that the ductwork is ran and strapped, looking at the way that the system design is looking at indoor air quality, looking at all these different things and building home solutions to homeowners. Because a lot of times homeowners aren't informed and educated about this stuff. So if we don't inform and educate them, what are they going to tell you? Yes or no, too, right? We got to give them something. And a lot of times, if you're consistent, this is what I teach my team is if you're consistent with just going over things and maybe, you know, you do it 10 times and out of the 10, three say yes. Well, you know, that's three a week that say yes. You times that by four. And each one of those are air scrubbers. That's $1500 of truck revenue times each one. That's a lot of different revenue that's coming in, right? So I want people to understand and explore the full envelope and opportunity of everything. So talk about as a technician, going in there looking at opportunity, regardless than just what the service ticket says.
- [17:44]
B
Oh, like we're doing just the furnace tune up or just the AC tune up. You know, we're always going to go through, we're going to take down that air filter, whether you have one or not. And that's to do our duck swab. We can do our duck swab. Lay that out. You know, that's just letting you know, is indoor air quality something that we should be bringing up? Of course, you know, you always want.
- [18:02]
A
To plant in the seed, right? And they could tell you no right there, hey, yeah, this is nothing that's important to me. Right? And that's Just step one. Step two is okay. Going and pulling out the blower assembly. So go ahead. I don't mean to over talk, but go for it.
- [18:18]
B
Yeah, you know, I used to do the whole, you know, you take a picture of the blower, they don't know what they're looking at. It's like you always say, you know, a confused mind will always tell you no. So when you pull it out and you disassemble it. Yeah, you disassemble it in front of them, get everything ready, you know, you're letting them touch it, see it, you're able to explain it and they're able to understand what you're explaining because you have what you're talking about in front of them.
- [18:43]
A
Talk about that. I mean, the importance rather than taking pictures. Okay. Because a lot of technicians that I see go out there and they're lazy technicians, right? And sometimes the homeowner says yes on it, but a lot of times they're going to tell you no when you take pictures. Because I see it, a lot of times technicians go in there, they take a picture of the blower wheel and, you know, the scroll cage and how dirty it is, and they go present it to the homeowner. And the homeowner's like, you know what? I'll just take care of it next time. Well, well, of course they're going to take care of it next time. You've already been out there for 45 minutes to an hour. Right. They don't want you there potentially longer, or they don't want to put more time on you, per se, or put more burden on you. So they always say, hey, I'll do it next time. But I promise you all, if you pull this, the blower wheel, you disassemble things, you put that capacitor that's outside manufacturer specs in their hand and let them test it and see what it's supposed to read at. And you bring them physically out there. The bigger the show. The bigger the what? The bigger the show. The bigger the what? Oh, Clayton.
- [19:52]
B
Bigger the dough.
- [19:54]
A
Oh, man. So. So Clayton, as you continuing to move forward, right, with. With what you've been doing everything like that, there's big goals, there's missions for you. You know, we're ending 20, 24. What are your goals, you know, ending the year for yourself? Personal business, whatever.
- [20:17]
B
Well, you know, so business wise, you know, I'm trying to bare minimum like two, try to get at least an installer, two a week. That keeps us all busy. We're all Happy, we're all having fun. And then family wise, you know, life wise, I want to have, want to end the year on good terms. You know, good Christmas, good holidays, and then, you know, set my goals for 2025. Because, you know, that's, that's a brand. That's January 1st. That's, that's day one new year.
- [20:49]
A
Right? Let's talk about that, Jan. I mean, so. And it's gonna happen quick, right? Halloween just happened. All of a sudden we're already November 3rd. November 3rd, that means what, three weeks, we got Thanksgiving, a month and a half, two months, we got Christmas, then we got New Year's, and all of a sudden we got January 1st, 2025, baby. And what does that mean for you? What does that mean for you and your team when you walk in? That means everybody has a clean slate. Everyone starts with zero. And everyone has a new opportunity of what is achievable. But you gotta be willing to sacrifice. You gotta be willing to write that down and understand what type of grind that looks like every single day, right? And that's something that I've always done, and that's something that we're actually doing with my team tomorrow and is I got my whole entire team coming in in the morning and we're going to sit down and we're going to start breaking down because this is the time that we got to start talking about what our expectations are as a company as a whole, right? And how many days a year is there if we work five days a week? Right. And how many opportunities, if we have two or three calls a day as technicians or one call a day or two or three or four or five, whatever those numbers are. And all of a sudden, when you're going through those numbers, not just you as the business owner or management, right. Needs to understand, but your team needs to understand what those daily numbers are. And they need to understand, well, you know what, if our daily number is, we'll say 13,000 or 15,000 or 100,000 or. Or 75,000. And you only do, you know, we'll say 15,000 and your daily number is 30,000. You only did half of it. Well, the day next day, that number doesn't go away, right? A lot of people say, oh, you know, out of sight, out of mind. Our next day is 15,000. Again, it starts over. Or 30,000. No, it goes to 45,000. If you don't end up hitting 45,000, you're behind, right? And that's when people start putting that stress on themselves. And they're like, man, first quarter sucks. But if you put that down and you understand what your daily goals are and the momentum that you guys are going, that's what is really. Sky's the limit. So going back to you, Clayton, what are your goals for 2025?
- [23:39]
B
2025 are definitely always, you know, higher. Higher closing rate, better myself, better. My process of, like, sticking to it, you know, because you got to stick to it. That's the thing.
- [23:52]
A
Consistency.
- [23:53]
B
You got to be consistent with it. And then, you know, also, not only that, but having fun doing the installs, getting into sim. I want to get Jordan onto the ductless mini split installs. Those are fun.
- [24:07]
A
Yeah. So bringing different type of installs in, you know, as we're moving into 2025. Right. A lot of things are changing. We're going to different regulations, refrigerant changes, things like that. And, you know, one thing that we're doing at royalty, too, is, yeah, we've only been in business for, you know, a couple months, four months now, since June. But we're also, as a newer company, we're getting on the rebate list. We're making sure that we're understanding what type of rebates are out there. So as a team, we could start talking about those rebates. We could start informing and educating, because what I found is our market. Even though they might be on, we'll say, like, the smud rebate list, if there's work that goes behind it, they don't want to do it. Right. So if you simply offer that, and you could get them a $3,000 rebate. Right now we got smud rebates going on in our market. If you do a remove seal and blow, you get $3000 back in rebates. So it's like, well, why don't you offer that? Be different than everybody else. Look at the full envelope of what. What the wants and the needs are, and inform and educate. You know, one thing that I want to talk about real quick is as a technician, Clayton, a lot of times people get depleted and defeated, okay? Especially when they look at, we'll say the CRM program. And, you know, service technicians have been out there for four years, and it's denial this, denial that, deny this part, deny this repair, deny this indoor air quality. And all of a sudden, they don't want to offer it, even though it needs to be offered, because they have already seen denial, denial, denial. Right. Talk about it as a technician standpoint, like, not hot. How to not be discouraged by. By Seeing that information. Right. Because we still need to gather the information, but we can't be discouraged, depleted, and defeated either.
- [26:15]
B
Yeah. See, I used to be, like, I would see it like, oh, man, they just say, no, no, no. Like, why the hell are we even out here? Like, why are they paying for our service to come out here when this system. This is bad, this is bad, this is bad. And it got to the point where I would just call up the other technicians, see if they remembered this call, and I'd send them the notes. Like, what did you do? Like, did you pull it out? Did you bring them out to the unit? Because it was almost like. I'd almost look at it kind of as, like, a challenge. Like, I'm not gonna leave here with, like, a no. Like, because you already know with those ones, they're going to keep denying the repair, and once it breaks, what's going to happen? They're going to be mad at us. It's broken. It's not working. Even though they denied it. But the other thing I found was just I always kind of enjoyed those calls after I kind of started, like, following up on the podcast and stuff more was because I would ask those uncomfortable questions at the table.
- [27:07]
A
How did it feel? I mean, obviously uncomfortable, but, I mean, go through them. Go through, like, the first time, like, you actually, like, tell me a story of, like, you being uncomfortable, being in an uncomfortable situation, asking those hearts questions.
- [27:22]
B
One of them was for. It was a blow. It was a blower motor capacitor. And I remember I pulled the blower motor out of the housing, and I pulled the capacitor out, and I set it on a towel on their table and asked them if they had a minute. And they're like, yeah. And they, like, came, like. And I saw it on their face, like, oh, no. What's going on? Like, this guy is actually telling me something's really wrong. And at first they're just like, what is that? And they're, like, kind of getting angry, getting a little, you know, kind of, like, frustrated with me. And I was like, well, you do know, like, we have brought this up before, right?
- [27:55]
A
Save you.
- [27:56]
B
Yeah. And I leave it just at that, because if you break the ice and you're not going to get the answer, I would sit there and I was asking, like, this is for your blower motor, your blower motors, your capacitor. You know, it's been brought up multiple times, like. And I've. I've even asked the. Right. And they'll just sit there kind of. And and like, they'll actually grab their paper invoices and they'll start going through it. And I think that, I don't know, I always enjoyed it. I think it's just because nobody really educated them enough. Like, pulled out the meter set on the table, put the part in their hand. So I think it's more or less a lot of people get discouraged with the. A lot of the no's. But I. I kind of look at it more as a challenge. Like, how are you going to overcome that no, It's a game.
- [28:40]
A
I mean, at the end of the day, I always say someone always wins, right? It's either the homeowner winning by you packing up and leaving and understanding what their no was. Right. Or you selling them whatever the solution of what they needed was.
- [28:58]
B
Exactly.
- [28:59]
A
And that's the thing is I look at this, is we do this two, three, four, five times a day. Okay. Homeowners only do this once, twice in their lifetime, maybe once, twice a year when we go do our service tune ups, right? So it's like you should, to me, win that battle more than 50 of the time. More than 50.
- [29:26]
B
Well, my favorite thing to always tell them was like, they'd always say no. That's the thing.
- [29:29]
A
Like, how many no's can you get?
- [29:31]
B
Just let them go in one ear and out the other. Unless.
- [29:33]
A
How many nose does it take to start until it starts getting uncomfortable?
- [29:37]
B
Typically, I don't know, about three, four. But I always ask them by the. When they say no, I try to.
- [29:43]
A
Get five no's, but you got to be creative on every no. And sometimes when you get no, you got to back them up to what I call my form and talk about family, occupation, recreational materials and bring them back to those common grounds of what you were talking about. Don't talk about business and then find something relatable. Right? And then ask for permission for the solution and ask for the order again. But you got to be creative when you ask for the order. You got to stay in the batter's box. I mean, I give a lot of really good objection training. Which you haven't been able to do much objection training with myself personally yet. But I'm really excited for Clayton's growth. I'm excited for him joining the royalty team. I mean, big things for. For royalty, especially if we continue to. To grow, get these amazing technicians, comfort advisors. We're continuing to grow, and I'm telling you, we're a force not to be reckoned with. I think I said that right.
- [30:50]
B
Mm.
- [30:51]
A
Right.
- [30:52]
B
Yeah.
- [30:52]
A
Can't mess with U.S. royalty, baby. So, Clayton, let me ask you. I got people watching this all across the nation. I got people listening to this all across the nation. You know, technicians, installers, comfort advisors, supervisors, owners, technicians, installers. What would you like for them to get out of this episode of H Vac Masters of the Hustle.
- [31:19]
B
Set five goals for yourself and meet them in less than a year. I think that's one of those things that a lot of people don't do, is they set goals. They say goals, but they don't actually write them down.
- [31:30]
A
What about taking action on them after writing them down?
- [31:34]
B
Well, taking action is actually writing it down first, not just saying it. That's true.
- [31:39]
A
Put it on paper.
- [31:40]
B
Put it on paper. Hold yourself accountable to it. Put it in your phone case, put it as your background photo and set goals for yourself.
- [31:49]
A
Absolutely. Well, you know, I absolutely love it, and I'm excited to see what Clayton's growth looks like. It 20, 25, I got some big goals for him. 60% closing. I got average ticket. We're going to have about 2500 as a technician. He's also going to be a selling technician. So when he does sell systems, he's going to have an average ticket. We'll say 18, five. And this is going to be consistent. He's going to hit some big numbers next year. Until next time. Y'all late. Because I'm a hustler. Yeah, I think we survive like.