Episode #320- Tyler Pinder

Summary

HVAC Masters of the Hustle

Episode #320: Tyler Pinder
Date: October 13, 2025
Host: JDubMoneyMaker (Jason)
Guest: Tyler Pinder, Selling Technician at Fast Air (Florida)

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, JDubMoneyMaker welcomes back Tyler Pinder, a standout selling technician from Fast Air in Florida. The conversation centers on accountability—both personal and peer-to-peer—in the HVAC trades, maintaining the right mindset during slow seasons, practical sales advice, the importance of customer interaction, and building company culture. Tyler shares candid stories from the field, practical techniques, and actionable insights for HVAC professionals striving to level up their careers and teams.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Tyler’s Role and Journey (03:59, 05:06)

• Progression: Since first appearing on the podcast (Episode #198), Tyler moved into call-by-call management before returning to the field for customer interaction, which he missed.
• Customer Focus: Tyler values genuinely solving problems for customers, whether discovered at the outset or during the call.
  • "It’s a real good feeling when you can sit down with somebody and give them solutions for whatever problem they’re going through." — Tyler (05:20)

---

Accountability: Personal & Peer-to-Peer (06:09, 21:50)

• Definition:
  • "Accountability to me is going to be holding yourself to a specific standard... Are you worth the money that you’re charging?" — Tyler (06:09)
• Process: Tyler follows a strict diagnostic and communication process on every call, emphasizing consistency even if the system seems new or simple.
• Peer Review: Fast Air implements regular peer reviews where technicians examine each other’s data (photos, notes) from past jobs, promoting transparency and shared high standards.
  • "We go around the room to each technician and we say, pick a call... and the goal is holding that other technician accountable." — Tyler (22:26)
• Results:
  • After just one week of peer review meetings, data capture (photos, notes, recommended estimates) increased by 95%.
• Team Response: The process is positive, constructive, and helps keep everyone accountable without hard feelings.
  • "Team doesn’t want to be in the spotlight, right? The only guy in the room that didn’t take pictures...he’s got to answer for it." — Tyler (24:43)

---

Mindset & Overcoming Slumps (08:08, 11:53)

• Burnout Experience: Tyler describes his burnout and resulting slump after long hours in management and a challenging season.
• Mindset Shift Technique:
  • Tyler uses a "problem tree," mentally hanging up personal problems before entering a call to ensure each customer gets fresh energy and attention.
    • "Why am I punishing the customer with bad service because of how I’m feeling?" — Tyler (09:16)
• Advice for Others:
  • "Stop thinking with your wallet...Be consistent..." — Tyler (12:07)

---

Sales Approach, Objections & Urgency Creation (12:56, 16:28, 17:12)

• Not Money-First: Tyler stresses focusing on customer needs, not commission.
• Option Building: Always offer full, clear lists—critical, recommended, and nice-to-haves—without skipping maintenance plans, surge protection, or upgrade options.
• Objection Handling:
  • Example: Overcoming a "home warranty" roadblock by connecting deeper with customer needs and showing added value through Fast Air’s offerings.
  • "When you hear that objection, you just got to do what Tyler does. Ask those pain points..." — JDub (19:46)
• Urgency in Slow Seasons:
  • Stay consistent and proactive about budget conversations upfront to keep the process transparent and close deals, even in shoulder season.

---

Customer Interaction & Gathering Reviews (14:00)

• Reviews as Revenue Drivers:
  • Tyler’s approach is not to directly ask for reviews unless he’s confident he’s delivered fast, fair, and friendly service.
  • Customers specify techs by name in reviews, driving future sales.
    • "If you’re a commission-based technician, think about the opportunities you can get from your name being mentioned over and over and over again." — Tyler (15:24)

---

Avoiding Call Prejudgment & Maximizing Every Opportunity (26:35, 27:23)

• Don’t Judge by Appearances:
  • Both Tyler and JDub share times they’ve misjudged a customer’s willingness to invest, only to be surprised.
• Relationship-First:
  • Tyler learned from Jason that making genuine connections—regardless of immediate sales cues—often leads to the biggest wins.

---

Communication, Training, and Team Culture (21:50, 43:55)

• Role Play, Meetings, and Feedback:
  • Fast Air does weekly Tuesday meetings (sometimes Fridays too), focusing on skills, objection handling, and peer accountability.
• Positive, Supportive Environment:
  • Compassion, not robotic expectations, drives retention and performance.
    • "It’s got to operate like a non-dysfunctional family...compassion goes a really long way with creating a good culture." — Tyler (43:55)
• Management Tips:
  • Know your team’s personal goals.
  • Help them through slumps individually.
  • Foster open and constructive feedback.

---

Goal Setting & Financial Motivation (36:57, 37:39, 39:59)

• Personal Goals:
  • Tyler sets daily and annual income goals, breaking them down into achievable per-call targets.
    • "I don’t want to make less than $2,000 a day. I don’t want to leave my house for less than two grand." — Tyler (37:52)
  • If he exceeds targets early, he continues at the same pace, knowing tough days will come.
• No Income Cap:
  • Both host and guest reiterate: in HVAC sales, “the cap is yourself.”
• Tracking and Group Alignment:
  • Management knows team and individual financial goals, aligning company targets accordingly.

---

Tales from the Field (32:12, 33:11)

• Most Memorable Call:
  • Tyler recounts a late-night call at a hoarder’s home with ominous signs, sending his mom the address out of concern for safety—an example of the unpredictability and grit needed in the industry.
• Dealing with Difficult Situations:
  • Tyler keeps calm, de-escalates, and focuses on completing the job, demonstrating professionalism in high-stress moments.

---

Vision for the Future (46:42)

• Five-Year Outlook:
  • Operating his own AC company (not in the field), investing in property, and creating a legacy for his newborn daughter.
    • "I want something, a legacy, that I can leave her." — Tyler (46:42)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Accountability:
  • "Are you worth the money that you’re charging? I have to hold myself accountable, follow the process that we put in place, every single step." — Tyler (06:09)
• On Peer Accountability:
  • "We do a peer review system... the goal is holding that other technician accountable for the photos that were required on the job." — Tyler (22:26)
• On Mindset Shift:
  • "Don’t punish the customer with bad service because of how I’m feeling." — Tyler, quoting his mentor Dustin (09:16)
• On Forgetting the Wallet:
  • "Stop thinking with your wallet. That’s huge, man... Be consistent." — Tyler (12:07)
• On Building Culture:
  • "It’s got to operate like a non-dysfunctional family... Compassion goes a really long way with creating a good culture." — Tyler (43:55)
• Field Story:
  • "I thought I was going to get murdered. It almost doesn’t sound real, man..." — Tyler (32:12)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:59 — Tyler’s recent career progression and why he loves fieldwork
• 06:09 — Tyler’s definition and application of accountability
• 08:08 — Burnout, slumps, and the “problem tree” strategy
• 11:53 — Mindset advice for techs facing challenges in slow seasons
• 12:56 — Sales list structure and consistent offerings
• 14:00 — Gathering reviews and their impact on sales
• 16:07 — Personal and company goal-setting
• 17:12 — Overcoming the “home warranty” objection
• 21:50 — Weekly communication and peer accountability meetings
• 26:35 — Addressing technician prejudgment and missed opportunities
• 32:12 — Wildest field call: the hoarder house story
• 36:57 — Setting goals and tracking progress
• 43:55 — Building culture and why it’s foundational
• 46:42 — Tyler’s five-year personal and professional vision

---

Final Takeaways

• Accountability, consistency, and a customer-centric mindset are key to success in HVAC.
• Building a supportive, communicative, and transparent team culture is just as important as technical skills.
• Success in the field comes from genuinely caring about people, continuous self-improvement, and not prejudging opportunities.
• The future is bright for ambitious HVAC professionals who are willing to own their space, embrace feedback, and set clear goals.

---

Host JDubMoneyMaker sums it up:

“Our job is to hyperfocus on relationship before business...our goal is to make them happy, right? To exceed, not meet, but exceed their expectations every single time.” (30:06)

Closing advice from Tyler:

“You got to own your space inside the customer’s home...let’s own that closet, own out there by the condenser...own the space.” (48:02)

---

An energizing episode for HVAC professionals looking to up their game, improve their team, and move toward becoming a master of the hustle.

Transcript

[A]

Every successful home service business needs effective marketing. The kind that drives new leads and keeps your current customers coming back. That's where mailshark comes in. They strategically analyze your market and help target the right homes using postcards, magnets, plastic mailers, and even letters. Powerful formats that truly make your marketing different from your competitors. Their ROI dashboard brings complete transparency to your marketing, showing exactly how your direct mail is performing so you can make smarter, data driven decisions. Whether you want to send all of your marketing at once or spread it out widely, mailshark has a plan that fits your schedule and your budget. Best of all, they handle everything for you and there are never any subscription fees just done for you. Direct mail that works. If you're ready to grow, mailshark is the direct mail partner that delivers.

[B]

This.

[C]

Is H Vac Masters of the Hustle with your host, J Money Maker.

[B]

Looking at the city like I already own it.

[C]

Yeah, I'm a hustler cuz I'm a hustler, yeah. What is up? You are listening to H Vac Masters of the Hustle podcast and here's your host, J D Moneymaker. And welcome to episode 320. And yes, that's what I said, y'. All. 320 consecutive episodes weekly and have not missed an episode. And I am super excited because I am here to bring the Spartan the beast out and it is my job, my duty and my obligation to bring that beast out. And we have a great episode, a great podcast that we're going to be talking about. I have a great individual that's going to be in the hot seat that is going to be dropping bombs and I'm super excited. Before we get him in the hot seat, there's a couple things I want to talk about. The first one is the first sponsor, Nuva Thermostat. This podcast is brought to you by Nuva Thermostat and I'm telling you all, Royalty Heating and Air has been using nuva for the last year, year and a half. And I'm super excited because what is it? Brand recognition? It's owning your brand inside the house and making it very transparent to the homeowner and easy to schedule appointments and also retaining your clients as well so your competitors don't come in and what, snatch them up, right? So nuva Thermostat is the best thermostat on the market. If you guys have questions about it, reach out to me at jdub@h vacmastersofthehustle.com as well as this podcast is brought to you by Mel Shark. And let's talk about Mel Shark. You talk about owning your market. Well, hey, royalty Heat in an air. We are owning our market. Why? Because we are dominating one neighborhood at a time. And that's what Mel Shark does is it allows you to get in front of the community one neighborhood at a time. And that's what they're doing. And we're rocking and rolling and I'm super excited to continue this roll in. Let's go ahead and welcome the one, the only, Mr. Tyler Pender. Brother man. Well, it is not your first time being on the podcast. You've been on the podcast. It was probably about a year and a half ago.

[B]

I think it was in the 1002s.

[C]

Yeah, I think it was 198. It was right before we hit 200. And there's a lot of information that was dropped and a lot of bombs that was dropped from you on that episode. And you are a technician or a selling technician located in Florida out there at Fast Air. And what you've been doing is not just making a splash, but making a freaking tsunami. Right. You're very good at what you do. You're hyper focused on growth. And that's why I want to bring you to the podcast for the second time. Because your first time, you dropped so much value information. I had so many people reaching back saying, man, who's this Tyler kid?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. No, I've learned a lot since then, too. I've been. Been on. Been on a grind. I took a step up, actually, and did call by call management and had kind of my finger on the pulse of everything that was going on inside of the company. And then I recently stepped back to go back out in the field because I just missed customer interaction.

[C]

Customer. I mean, that's really important, right? Especially if you're a field guy. That customer interaction, talk about the importance of. Because that's what made you want to go back in the field. That's something that you thrive on.

[B]

Yeah, it was just the genuine feeling of helping somebody solve a problem. Whether it was a problem they knew about, that they elaborated to me at the start of the call, or was a problem that we uncovered throughout the call, maintenance or service call. It was just. It's a real good feeling when you can sit down with somebody and give them solutions for whatever problem they're going through.

[C]

So this episode, one thing that I want to talk about and you and I talked about, and it's something that's important, especially of the trades of H Vac is talking about Accountability. And one thing you were talking about is you want to hit it in two directions is accountability, but also peer to peer accountability as well. So before we talk about peer to peer accountability, what does accountability mean to Tyler?

[B]

Accountability to me is going to be holding yourself to a specific standard. Right. A lot of times I walk into a call, walk into a house, and I ask myself at the start of the call, you know, are you worth the money that you're charging? Right. Are you going to give a good enough experience today to ask for that option, that top option? I have to hold myself accountable, follow the process that we put in place, every single step, even if it's a one year old air conditioner and I'm like, there's, you know, no need to check static, it's a 2019 house, whatever. No, I got to hold myself accountable to the process that I put in place. Follow every single step, every single time, and give the customer what they deserve.

[C]

So let's talk about your process. What, what does your process look like when you're inside the house?

[B]

So I run and we all run a, an airflow model, which essentially means we're going to check static pressure. Step one, after, you know, you get inside the house, I. A lot of thermostat questions, you know, I like a lot of thermostat questions.

[C]

How important is it asking questions? I mean, I mean, as a technician, it's super crucial.

[B]

If you don't ask questions, you're never going to get real answers. If you just are on a call the whole time waiting for the customer to open up and, and give you the information that you're looking for, it's never going to happen.

[C]

And one thing that you and I've been talking about, I had the opportunity to go out to Florida, it was what, about two and a half months ago, and did some ride alongs with you and the team and everything like that. And the conversation that we were having at that time was, you know, hey, I'm in a slump. Right. Your mindset also wasn't where you wanted it to be and I think you were really losing the drive.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So talk about the mindset shift, right? And the accountability that maybe you might had to take or our conversation that we had because now between, you know, two and a half months ago to today of what happened yesterday or what's been happening, right. There's been a big shift. So let's talk about that because a lot of people, I think, are listening in to this podcast right now and the shift between summer to Fall, I think a lot of people might be having that situation or those obstacles or those challenges. And I think this is something that a storm you just went through. And I think you're probably a good person to elaborate more on it, for sure.

[B]

You know, I was definitely toward, towards the end of summer dealing with some summer burnout. I was also coming off the back of doing, like I said, call by call management. So I was seven days a week, 16, 18 hours a day on the phone with 11 technicians. So it was all day long. I'm trying to resolve issues and talk to customers and handle customer complaints. That was very tiresome. And then shifting back into the field for a while there, I was just looking for the easy way out call, right? I was just looking for how can.

[C]

I get in.

[B]

The lay down. Yeah, I was really, I was really hunting for lay downs. If it was like a new, a new system maintenance, I wasn't really doing a whole lot of the process, which in my opinion is unacceptable. And so I suffered for it. You know, I mean, the customers can read it on your face when you're, when you, when you don't want to be there, right? And then also I was running a lot of new system service calls, warranty calls, and it hit a point where I was getting pretty frustrated with it and I had to kind of stop. And I talked to my mentor, also the owner of Fast Air. I talked to Mr. Dustin and after about three sentences, and he's like, man, you've been doing this for 10 years. This is nothing new. This is something you're gonna go through every, every year. A thought came into my head and it was, don't punish the customer. Why am I punishing the customer with bad service? Because of how I'm feeling, right? So I started using what I call a problem tree, which, which is really simple, right. I have a imaginative tree on my dash in my van and when I pull up to the call, I physically will grab, right? I'll physically grab any problem I'm having. And personal life, I'm upset about the last call. And I'll hang it on a branch, right? That take all these problems, let's put them over there. We're going to grab a fresh branch, a fresh leaf and go in and let's figure out what problems we can put on this leaf for this customer. And just doing that, just that every single call, walking in with a just totally open mind and fresh mindset, it was amazing. I mean, I went on like a three week, couldn't close a water Bottle, you know, streak hit to last week, I think I did like 72,000 in, in Florida right now. I think the high this week was 78, 76.

[C]

So what, so you were able to find this mindset shift. You were able to, to go in there and home in and really find out. So talk to someone listening to the podcast right now, that's like, Tyler, I don't know man. I've been going through these obstacles and challenges the last two months. I even started sucking in summer. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

What do you tell that individual that maybe, or maybe they didn't even have a summer? Right. A lot of people I'm talking to right now, Tyler, summer didn't show up. Right. So how are they supposed to keep motivated when going into off season and shoulder season?

[B]

Stop thinking with your wallet. That, that's huge, man. If you walk in and you're just thinking about, man, what options am I going to present here? What problems am I going to find on the equipment and how much is that going to be and what's my commission going to be on that? I mean it's, you're not going to close anything, you're not going to make any money there. You're going to get paid the base minimum pay, whatever your company is structured at. Stop thinking with your wallet. I mean that, that's, that's huge. And don't, don't give up. Be consistent, you know, if in your recommended list. I'm a three list person, you know, critical recommend, near future and maybe a nice to have in your recommended list. Be consistent with what you're offering. Maintenance plan on every single recommended list. Surge protection. If they don't have it, talk about it. Why don't you have surge protection? Compressor start assist.

[C]

What was your goal at the beginning of January of 2025 as we're entering the last quarter, are you structured to hit what your goals are?

[B]

This year was a little different for me, Jason. I didn't really have a target revenue goal. I had a company wide one. Right. Because I was driving revenue for the entire company, which was definitely a much more aggressive goal than what my personal goals were. I think my personal goals, once I hopped back into a van wasn't really pushing revenue. It was how many 5 star reviews can I get? How many maintenance customers can I get? Fast air at the end of this year? How many people can I make smile? That was my goal this year.

[C]

How many have you done so far?

[B]

I haven't counted, but if you go and look at our reviews on Google, it's hard to find my name not mentioned at least every other comment.

[C]

So let's talk about that because Google reviews and testimonials are something really big, right? Especially homing in right now, growth of companies. I mean, you guys are doing a great job at Fast Air with reviews, but like you said, you being one of the top technicians, being able to gather those reviews. I go out to a lot of companies and a lot of techs don't get reviews. So talk about what do you do, how do you do it, why do you do it?

[B]

You know, I don't, I don't. I'm not the guy that asked for the review either at the end of the call. Recently I've. The last couple of weeks, or at least the last week, I've kind of have some closing statements that I'll use now which I just think are catchy and I'll, you know, I'll ask them, hey, was I, was I fast? Was I fair? Was I friendly? If they say yes to all three, can you write that in a review for me? I'll ask that. But, but they have to answer yes to all three, right? Had I offer fast service? Because it's our name, Fast Air, had it been friendly and had it been fair? If I don't get all three of those, I don't, I don't think I deserved a five star review that day. Five stars are massive, man. I get a lot of customers that will call in asking for maintenance, asking for a service call and they've read the reviews and they'll specifically ask for technicians that pop up in reviews more. So if you're a commission based technician, right, Think about the opportunities you can get from your name being mentioned over and over and over again. Hey, Tyler was great. Hey, Tyler was on time. Tyler was fair, Tyler was honest. Tyler didn't try and sell us stuff we didn't need. Those customers are reading that and they're calling in and they're asking for specific technicians now. Mm.

[C]

Now, as you continue to, to get those testimonials and, and those reviews and everything, now we're sitting in the last quarter, right? So now I'm gonna ask you this question a little bit different because we might talk it out right now. What is your goal for the last quarter now that you are in the field?

[B]

I would like to do. So was October, I'd like to do minimum half a million to maybe, maybe 750 in the last quarter, which is tough coming into the heating season. But I just have to kind of change what my angle is and what I'm looking at on the call, it's.

[C]

Not really changing the angle of what you're looking at. It's staying consistent with it. But now with the changing of the seasons, we got to create urgency because urgency is not there. Right. And then we got to find a way to be able to not be fearful, to ask the money and budget questions up front. So when we do present solutions, everything's affordable. Right. That door should be closed. But let me ask you, I think you're really good at closing the doors when you're presenting options to protect your price. Talk about overcoming objections and having those conversations and those hard conversations when maybe you're at the close.

[B]

Yeah. So I had one recently, actually, on Tuesday home. We were kind of chatting at the air handler. She's been using a home warranty company for repairs. They've, they've cut out safety switches, they've bypassed float switches. They've done all this kind of stuff that I don't particularly agree with. And her position in it was, I'm not going to replace this air conditioner until it completely fails because I have a home warranty. Right. Fair. Sure. I asked her how her experience was with those contractors that were coming out that they're sending out. She didn't like them. I said, so when this air conditioner inevitably does fail again and you call your home warranty company, do you think they're going to send me? Are they gonna send somebody you don't like, you don't trust? And that obviously is okay with bypassing important safety features of your air conditioner? And a light bulb went off into her head. Right. I asked her, I said, is the air conditioner the only reason that you still have a home warranty on this house? Her answer was yes. Okay, what if I can get you an air conditioner that has a 10 year part warranty, 10 year labor warranty, 10 years of maintenance at an affordable monthly payment. Would you cancel your home warranty company then? Because you don't even. You're not waiting around for it to break anymore. It's just covered. She said, yeah. Asked her what a comfortable monthly payment was. She told me anywhere from 150 to 200 bucks a month, which is probably.

[C]

What she's paying for the warranty.

[B]

Exactly. So, I mean, we, we sat down, we went over her options for what was available, what rebates are available, how long the rebate is available for, and inevitably she, she picked a really good.

[C]

Air conditioner, See, and that's what I want to talk about is staying inside that batter's box, right? Like, you weren't able. You weren't willing to give up just because that small challenge or obstacle you weren't depleted and defeated. A lot of times I hear people start packing up their things, right? Oh, warranty. Oh, man. Or they say warranty at the beginning. Right. But the technician. As the technician, we gotta realize they're calling us out here for a reason. So even if they have warranty, why are they calling you out? They don't like warranty. They didn't like their experience. I have not met, okay, one person that has had a good experience with warranty. Not one in 15 years of me doing this. If anyone has, please comment it in the. The comments below. I've never heard of anyone getting a free system. I've never heard of anyone enjoying the technicians that they bring out. I've never heard anyone enjoying the process of a repair because it's always, oh, I got to go back and get it approved, and then we got to order it, and then we got to wait for it to come in, and then we got to do this. Right. So, I mean, at the end of the day, when you hear that objection, you just got to do what Tyler does. Ask those pain points. Right. But you're asking questions where it drove the homeowner to the conclusion to realize, well, you know what, Tyler? You're smart. I've. I haven't liked the experience. I didn't like this. And you're having them tell you.

[B]

That'S.

[C]

What makes you an elite technician.

[B]

Yeah. And, you know, at the door, I just asked her, you know, hey, we're here to do a maintenance. Right. Walked over to the thermostat. This is a temperature that you keep it at all year long. Yes. Okay. Awesome. Power bills have been. Okay. Happy with the power bills. You know, two thumbs up. Yes. Awesome. All the rooms in the house. Cool. Pretty consistently, I'm trying to assume good things about the house because she's. Eventually I'm gonna get to one where she's like, eh, that bedroom over there, you know that. That one stays hot, but that's because the sun's always shining on it. Okay, awesome. Cool. And also, my condenser is really loud. When it starts up, it makes a really loud clanking noise. Awesome. I'll make sure I put some extra attention on that today, see if we can't get to the bottom of that. Let's keep going. Right? I don't. I don't jump on. Oh, your room's hot. Let me jump up in your attic right now and start poking. No, I want the full picture. What's the real reason you called me out here today? You're a first time customer on a maintenance. How'd you hear about us? Why am I here? I need to know that so I can solve a problem for you.

[C]

Absolutely. I want to ask this because this is something that's important because you're a great communicator. How often are you training? Communication skills. How often are you training? And also something that we were just talking about is the accountability aspect of everything as well. So what are you and the team doing to make sure you're also holding each other accountable?

[B]

Yeah. So we do weekly meetings on Tuesdays and we, we were every Tuesday. Every single Tuesday.

[C]

Doesn't matter. Every Tuesday. Bam team.

[B]

And sometimes Fridays as well. If there's something that we can uncover in a meeting that we feel like it needs a bit more time to be addressed or specific technicians, you know, are having issues with. Objection. Handling or how to build options or indoor air quality. I'll come in for an extra hour on a Friday morning and we'll just go over it. But a problem that we noticed in the last 90 days was data capture, right. Pictures, notes, that kind of stuff. Within our CRM we use Service Titan. So it was kind of a pain point for us where we're getting some, some negative reviews. We have no way to combat them because we don't have the physical evidence to say, hey, we did our job, right? So the idea came about, let's do a peer review system on Tuesday morning. We're going to cover the baseline, whatever we need to cover that's important. And the rest of the meeting, 45 minutes of the meeting. We pull up the board from Monday or from Friday and we go around the room to each technician and we say, pick a call, random call. Hey, Johnny, you pick a call, he'll say, oh, I want Gabriel. Gabriel, the technician with Mrs. Customer. And we go through the entire call, right. And the goal of isn't looking at revenue, how much money was generated, which is, you know, important as well, but really what it is is holding that other technician accountable for the photos that were required on the job. Right. The estimates that were provided. If there were any estimates to make by looking at all the photos together, we can decide and figure out was there any opportunity here that was missed? Right. Where was your static pressure reading? Why is there no picture of it? Where's your picture? Your refrigerant pressures like that's standard stuff. After one week, 95%. 95% more data has been captured from one of those meetings. So next week we're going in and we're going to shift a little bit. This is going to be a peer review, but we're going to pull five star reviews, pull the customer's name, go to the call and dive into why did we earn a five star review from this call? Right. What is Johnny doing different?

[C]

What have you found since you've been doing that that it's been able to do with the team?

[B]

Well, the team doesn't, doesn't want to be in a spotlight, Right. They don't want to be in the hot seat. The only guy in the room that didn't take pictures of his call and left, you know, he was there for 30 minutes and left with 59 bucks because he's got to answer for it.

[C]

So what we've done is now we're holding to a higher standards of accountability.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Right. Well, I love that y' all are doing that. And you know, that's a conversation that we had when we were out there was what's getting fallen through the cracks? Right. Because as a technician and, and I get it right, we run three calls a day, five days a week. That's 15 opportunities. And you times that by four weeks. That's a lot of opportunities in a month where all of a sudden we went to Bob and Betty's house and maybe we gave an estimate or options on a repair and we didn't happily involve them. And then we put it in our CRM service titan or house call pro, whatever it is. And all of a sudden, two weeks later, out of sight, out of mind, what happened to Bob and Betty? You know, technician doesn't remember. So the fact that y' all are holding the team accountable. Accountable weekly and going through that and highlighting, right. Putting that person on a pedestal in the hot seat is something that I think that's very, very well and very. Being transparent, right? That's what it is, it's transparency.

[B]

And so far, no one's, no one's had any hard feelings about it. You know, it's not all, believe it.

[C]

Or not, there's, it's all how you approach it.

[B]

Yeah, there's not really many technicians that are getting called out either. You know, you go into the call, you're like, you did a wonderful job. You took 48 photos and 10 videos on this call and you walked away with a $4,000 IQ ticket. Good job. Right? Did you get a five star, though, off that call. That's what I want to know next week.

[C]

Why do you feel like technicians are always in their own head?

[B]

Oh, man, you know, are you talking about in our own head as far.

[C]

As having issues just like prejudging calls? We're always in our own head, right? We're always.

[B]

Go to a lot of houses every year. You know, I go to 2,500 houses a year. So a lot of times I look at the neighborhood or, you know, I've been in the same area for a long time. I look at the neighborhood and I'm like, oh, that's a mobile home park. You know, financing options are limited, you know, and you just can't. I've been so surprised walking into some of these neighborhoods that I thought was going to be a zero dollar call, and I've walked out with 20 grand.

[C]

I'm guilty of it too, right? Prejudging calls, walking in there, you're in a hoarder house and you're like, man, I'm gonna try to get the hell out of here as quickly as I can because A, they ain't gonna want to do it, B, they ain't got the money for it, and C, I don't want to be here any longer. And we prejudged that. And all of a sudden I had the most expensive sale of my life with the hoarder. And she paid straight cash.

[B]

Jason, I have a. A really good example that actually you were with me on the call. We were in a mobile home park. We got there, it was for a free estimate. And the gentleman, he was pretty live right now, where I would have went in straight to. What can you afford a month? This, that and the other. Right. Basic stuff. You spent a good 25 minutes just talking to him as a person, asked him all the questions about his life, got a lot of information out of him that even if it wasn't important to a sale being made, it was important to you to know, who am I talking to? Who am I dealing with here? And that call resulted in, I think it was a $16,000 air conditioner that mindful. He didn't pay for it, someone else did. But because he had that interaction with you and then after the fact, with me doing project planning, he felt so comfortable and so confident in us that he was our. I mean, he was. He was the guy that really closed the deal.

[C]

Now when I was out there and I did those ride alongs, you know, I got the opportunity to get in the trenches with you. Would you get out of the ride along? When I was in the trenches. And what makes, what makes the training different? Because you've gone to a lot of different trainings.

[B]

The, the humility of it, man. It wasn't the process that you're running and the information that you're getting, it's very natural, right? It's because you care, you care about talking to people. You like talking to people. You want to know who you're, who you're talking to. What are their, what are they like? What's their life like? Can we, can we make this experience today feel like I'm talking to somebody in a publix, right? Or that the grocery store down here pub? Yeah. Can I make this experience like I'm asking an old lady for her, you know, a recipe to make a cake. And in a lot of other trainings that I've done, it's, it's very. Almost feels like. I hate to say this, but it's all tactics, right? It's what questions can you ask in the specific order that are going to push your customer towards a sale or towards this decision?

[C]

And I don't think you need any of that. You just care about the individual in front of you, right? And genuine. And like you said, when I am out there, okay, I preach this so much about taking the blinders off. And yes, we're out there to, to fix something or, or there's a reason why. But our job is to hyperfocus on relationship before business and let that individual know that's in front of us, that we care, we hear them, and our goal is to make them happy, right? And to exceed, not meet, but exceed their expectations every single time. And that's what I want that individual to know is because this interaction, human to human interaction, is something that's special, right? And who knows what that individual might be going through. And I'm telling you all, no one has the plans, right? Or, or some people do, but it's not like your typical person that's like, oh yeah, I've been saving for my H VAC system, right? It's out of sight, out of mind. So when you go out there for an estimate or a diagnostic or a tune up, right? You gotta be very genuine and sincere to that individual.

[B]

Yeah. And there's, there's something more to be said about that too. It has to be genuine, right? If you don't like sports, don't start talking about sports and acting like it is.

[C]

Like, don't.

[B]

Because they're gonna, they're Gonna hit a point where they ask you a question and you fumble it. And they're like, this guy's lying to me. I don't trust him anymore. And you just lost all that work because you're being fake.

[C]

They know you're being fake too.

[B]

I like cars. So if I go to a customer's house that has a car, it's a real conversation. I want to talk about your car, I want to talk about what you've done to it, and I'm going to share some of my experiences with that as well. And we're gonna have a great time and we're going to resolve some problems for you today. But that is secondary to the relationship that I want to build with you. Right. I've made a lot of friends running service calls that I still talk to their customers that are friends.

[C]

Now, Tyler, what's the craziest? That you've been doing this for a decade now, right?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

What's the craziest thing that you encountered on a call?

[B]

Oh, okay.

[C]

It could be anything.

[B]

Yeah, so there's one that, that really sticks out to me. I thought I was going to get murdered. It almost doesn't sound real, man. But I ran a service call and no one would answer the door, right? And I was told by the dispatch it was an elderly woman. So I'm kind of like worried about her now, you know, she's not answering the door. She called for a service call. The yard's a mess. I can already kind of. I'm prejudging, right? Yards a mess. It kind of looks like maybe this is a hoarder house situation. I'm like, well, let me. Let me walk around the corner of the house and see if I can at least spot the condenser. As I get to the corner of the house, I hear a little old lady say, hello. Hello. And I'm like, where is she? Is she in the woods? Where's this lady? She's talking to me through those old wind out windows, right? She's talking to me through a gap.

[C]

Basement?

[B]

No, well, we don't have basements, but yeah, she's talking me through this little tiny gap and she's like, oh, you can come around the back through the pool. Pool area and you can get in. Walk around the back of the pool area. It's a swamp, the pools. I mean, I'm pretty sure there's an alligator in there I didn't want to check out. Slid the sliding glass door open and it was like the worst episode of hoarders. You ever seen. Seriously, it was, it was horrible. And mind you, I'm not there to judge them. I'm there to fix their air conditioner. So I walk in, right? I'm like, hello? Hello, you know, where are you? And she cracks this bedroom door open this far, right? This far. And all you can see is this woman's toenail stick out past the door like two inches. And then like a white. Really, really dirty. I don't know if it was blood, like, nightgown at the bottom. So immediately I'm super nervous. I don't know what's going on. I was like, there's no way this is real. Like, I'm waiting for. Wait for camera guys to pop out. She says, the cards up on the mantle, right? Cards up on the mantle. The fireplace. I'm sorry about the state of the house. I had tenants. Whatever, whatever. I had to find the air, the air handler myself. It was in the, the attic. And the whole time I'm in there, I'm looking around for like, other tool bags, you know, I'm like, whose veto pro pack am I going to find in here? You know, like, who else has been murdered in this house trying to fix this lady's air conditioner? I texted my mom the address I was at. If you don't hear me in 45 minutes, because I could. I'm pretty quick. 45 minutes, no matter what it is, send the cops. Because I'm not, you know, I'm not alive anymore. We got her running, right? Thank goodness. It was some stuff on the outdoor unit, but that was one that was nerve wracking. You know, it was. It was pretty late at night. It was just. I really thought I was gonna get killed in that house. Did not. Did not feel comfortable in there.

[C]

Did not feel comfortable in there.

[B]

No.

[C]

And that's why I got my CCW and I got my gun.

[B]

I do, I do too. But, you know, it's. I don't really take it into people's houses too often.

[C]

I don't take it in houses unless I'm in like. Okay, might be a little. I've been to houses where dudes are like, drunk as.

[B]

Yep.

[C]

You know, and they're angry because they have to change out their system. And. And you know, your, your technician was there three hours prior, and they got three hours of drinking under them. Right. And you're like, all right, yeah, I've.

[B]

Got, I've got those too. But I'm pretty good at de escalating. I. I essentially just asked for their for their wife. Where's your caretaker? You know, because you don't really want to fight me in your front yard because you're not gonna have air conditioning when I leave regardless. So what's the point?

[C]

Right? What's the point now, Tyler, as we're going towards all the holidays and the seasons, right. People withhold buying, which a lot of times fearful for technicians and everything like that. You seem to be able to put a good mindset and a good head on your shoulders for what's coming. Right. Talk about real quick. And I know that you haven't really been in the position to set goals and we talked about it a little bit, but for the people that are out there, I mean, you've set goals last year and things like that because you're in a different position.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Talk about the importance of rolling into January, right. 20, 26, the importance of understanding your numbers as a technician and what you want to perceive, to make. Because I'm a big believer that there's no cap in this industry. Okay. The cap is yourself. And you're a young technician. And I think a lot of people in this industry need to hear from young guys like you of what's possible. So can you kind of just talk about what you've been able to achieve as being in a role where you are and then how important it is to set goals rolling into the new year?

[B]

Yeah, it's. You have to have numbers in your head. Right. And that goes back to kind of a self worth thing for me, which is, you know, how much money am I? Do I feel like I'm worth per day?

[C]

I don't number.

[B]

I don't want to make less than $2,000 a day. I don't want to leave my house for less than two grand. I don't. And I've been really consistent until this year with the, with the change of a position for a while there. Took me out of the game during the peak season, but I had a goal when I was 20, I don't know, 26, to double my income every single year. That was a goal. Right. I was making $30,000 a year as an installer. The next year I did 60. Next year I did 120, and then I plateaued a little bit. Right. So getting over that hump, you have to, you have to kind of standardize your practices, standardize what you're presenting, standardize your options to a point where you can predict what your income is, build urgency, whether that's rebates, Right. Manufacturer rebate. Ends Monday, whatever that is. And has to be truthful, you know, whatever you're off, whatever you're offering, at least if she calls back on Tuesday, I mean, whatever. But having that monetary goal set and breaking it down to literal day by day, call by call, right? I run five calls a day. For me to make $2,000 a day, I have to average $20,000 in revenue a day at a 10%, you know, commission structure on a sale. So I know if I have five calls, I've got to close one or I've got to do some. Some nice IAQ tickets in between. I also understand, right, that not every day I'm going to do that. So if I hit 20k on my second call in the morning, I'm not shutting down saying, ah, take all my calls off me. I want to go home. I hit my goal for the day. What about tomorrow? Right? Let me go to this next three calls I have on my board. Give the same effort. Maybe I'll cover tomorrow and the next day. So if I do have a bad day, I'm okay. I'm fine. I hit my goal. I exceeded my goal.

[C]

And I love that you're mentioning that because a lot of people think that if I don't hit my daily goal or my daily number, the number goes away. No, no, no, it doesn't. It makes it more challenging because it rolls over to the next day. Right. And that's even something that I'm telling my dispatchers, too. I'm like, hey, this is because you guys are the quarterback of the team, right? If our daily revenue goal and our daily revenue goal here at royalty heat, and there is. We want to hit $8,000 in revenue. Revenue every day. So. So as a company, right, if we don't hit that $8,000 of revenue, well, that doesn't just go away. We have to make sure that, okay, if we hit four, well, that means four goes to the next day, which makes it more challenging because now we're going from eight to what, 12? Yep. And if we get it zero that day, that 12 doesn't get deleted. That carries on to the next day. And now you add eight to that, and now we're at what, 18, 19. So, I mean, it doesn't go away. So I really had to make it important to my team at royalty to understand, at least as my dispatchers, that y' all got to understand the roadmap. You got to understand the game plan, the strength and weaknesses of the employees and technicians and dispatch for profit.

[B]

Yeah. For dollars, for Dollars. And, and, and to that note, I think to any, anyone out there that's listening, that's in a management position, whether it's service manager, call by call manager, you know, any general manager. It's. It's really important to get your technicians and your team's personal goals on paper. Right start of the year. I sat down with the entire team and we, our numbers have fluctuated a little bit as far as how many people work here and whatever, but our, our technicians goals was 16 million. We add them all up, it was 16 million, magically. That was also the company's goal prior to that conversation happening. So it told us that everyone's on the same page as far as what the, what the goals were for the year for revenue. It's important in a management role to pay attention to what your techs are doing. Right. If they're having a slump week, talk to him. Take them out of lunch. Right. Figure out how. How can I help you get back on track to meet your goal? Because you're in it. That's gonna help me meet my goal, which is gonna help make the owner meet his goal. It's got to be a full, full circle ecosystem here for everybody to win.

[C]

How do you get everyone to win? How do you get everyone to buy in?

[B]

Money. Money, man.

[C]

Money motivates.

[B]

Money is the, the main motivator here. So, I mean, if you, you all.

[C]

Have a young team too, I say the average age over there at Fast.

[B]

Air is what, 30 something? 32.

[C]

They're like 32, 33. Right. So y' all got a young team. A lot of hustlers, a lot of grinders, a lot of people that are hungry. Right. And competitors. You guys got some competitors that, that like to compete?

[B]

Yeah, we did. We did. We pay more than them. So other guys left and came over. So if you want talent, you got to buy talent, man. I mean, that's, that's the industry we're in. If you want talent in your business, you got to buy it.

[C]

You got it. You got to pay the best Right. Culture to do it. Yep. And I know y' all don't have a hard, a challenging time hiring anybody because of your culture. Right. And y' all and Dustin's been able to create a great culture. Talk about the importance of creating culture. Because if you create culture, your people take care of your clients. Your clients are taken care of. Which. If your clients are taken care of. Right. That's the whole goal and mission.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. It's got to operate like a non Dysfunctional family. Right? So your technicians, everybody in the business is not a robot. Right. We're all humans. We all have lives. I think compassion goes a really long way with creating a good culture in a business. If I was to call on Monday morning, right, at 8:30, I'm already 30 minutes late to my first appointment and say, hey, I had something come up. I just need the day. I'm not going to get cussed out, not going to get written up. Right? There's compassion there. I'm not even gonna get questioned as to what's going on. I need a doctor's note. Hey, no problem. You take care of what you need to take care of. We're still here. Thank you for letting us know. And then they're gonna manage, they're gonna delegate and move all the calls and do whatever they have to do, vice versa to that. I also think the meetings are really important to building culture. Cannot be all doom and gloom, right? You can't beat everybody down to a pulp and then expect them to leave in the morning happy and go do a great job and treat your customers fair. So we've found that constructive criticism and giving direction and making sure that everybody in that room and that team understand that we're all looking out for each other and I want the best for you. And I want the best for you is the way you want the best for me. I had a technician today who mistakenly got a text from whether it was a customer or CSR that a customer of mine was wanting to move forward with a project. Okay, he's off, he's out of town. He called me, he said, hey, Tyler, just want to let you know I got a text message. Wasn't for me, but your custom, your Mrs. Customer, Betty sue or whatever, she. She wants you to give her a call. She's ready to move forward with the project. Right. If that's a disgruntled guy, he just, you know what I mean? And that's lost revenue because I didn't get the message. It was lost. So culture is huge. Take your guys out to lunch sometime, man. Let them know you care when you're doing on call schedules. Maybe. Maybe shoot a text message and ask if anyone has any family plans or birthdays coming up this month. Right? So you can create your own call schedule around your team. That's huge too.

[C]

Absolutely. I gotta ask you, as we're ending the podcast, Tyler, important question. I really want you to think about this K kid. Where do you think you're gonna be in five years? Like what does Tyler's life look like if you vision and dream five years from now?

[B]

Probably running an air conditioning company, but as an operator, not as a. Not as an in the field technician. And then investments, property. Right. I have a long term plan on that. I have a newborn now, so I want something, a legacy that I can leave her. So it's time, you know, to kind of stop. Stop building crazy things in my garage. It costs a lot of money. And start investing that money smartly so that my. My kid doesn't have to work as hard as I did.

[C]

Absolutely. Well, I just gotta say congratulations to you, your future. Thank you for jumping on a podcast and being a guest for all the listeners out there, because you are an individual. That also, I mean, I always say I could learn from anyone. Right? But watching your journey, because I've known you for several years, right, We've been watching each other on social media, but you've influenced me as well. Just watching your journey and just the head that you have on your shoulders and just being a great human being and being able to also reach out to me and celebrate your wins, even your losses, too. So I just want to tell you thank you for allowing me to be able to mentor you in some way to help level you to the next level.

[B]

So thank you, Jason. And one last thing before I go to everybody out there listening. You got it. You got to own your space. You got to own your space inside the customer's home, right? You got to own that closet. You got to own out there by the condenser when they're. When their kid kicks a soccer ball over by the condenser and you go over there and. Or the customer goes and picks it up, what are they looking at? Own the space.

[C]

Absolutely. I love it. Well, until next time, y'. All. Tyler, it was a great honor. I can't wait to see what this podcast does and all the people that it hits and just brings them to the next level. Until next time, late.