Double Your Profit Day #28 Beat Big Competitors with SMART Marketing Strategies

Summary

Podcast Summary: Owned and Operated – "Double Your Profit Day #28: Beat Big Competitors with SMART Marketing Strategies"

Host: John Wilson
Date: August 28, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, John Wilson dives deep into how small home service businesses—plumbing, electrical, HVAC—can use bold, aggressive marketing as a strategic weapon to beat larger, better-funded competitors. Drawing from personal experience and real market examples, John advocates for confident, data-driven marketing spend as a differentiator, arguing that the reluctance of bigger players to invest gives nimble businesses a real opportunity to capture market share and drive outsized growth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Outspending in Marketing

• John begins by recounting a pivotal moment: a large Private Equity (PE) firm bought out his market’s biggest competitor.
  • “We are going to outspend your competitors in sales and marketing and call this out very directly.” (01:10)
• Despite initial anxiety competing against a well-funded PE player, John’s business ultimately benefited because the PE firm cut their marketing investment dramatically — from 10% of revenue to just 5%.
  • “It ended up being one of the best things that has ever happened for our business.” (02:14)

2. Case Study: Market Share Advantage

• The new PE-backed competitor, focused on optimizing EBITDA, bought more companies but kept slashing budgets.
• John realized this was a strategic opening: while others were becoming conservative, he increased his own marketing spend.
  • “Looking at that and saying, if we invest in sales and marketing right now, we can take this market—like, we can win.” (03:20)

3. Marketing as an Investment, Not a Cost

• John stresses that marketing is a foundational asset for growth—not just an expense.
  • “Marketing is an asset and there is a big ROI attached.” (05:18)
• His firm currently allocates over $200,000 per month to marketing, consistently seeking new channels and tracking performance rigorously.
  • “Nowadays we spend 200 some thousand dollars a month on marketing, but we have continued to over-invest in there and continue to find ways to drive ROI.” (05:52)

4. Data-Driven Strategy: Tracking ROI Ruthlessly

• Every channel and campaign is carefully measured: cost per lead, lead quality, and channel ROI.
  • “As we make these investments, we have to ruthlessly track ROI. What is our ROI on this channel versus this channel? What’s our cost per lead here versus here?” (06:10)
• Good leads matter more than just lead volume; John encourages a strategic approach to metrics and channel evaluation.

5. Competitors' Reluctance Is Your Opportunity

• Many business owners simply lack the belief or experience to spend on marketing, making their hesitation an actionable advantage.
  • “Your competitor’s reluctance to spend is your opportunity. People just don’t know how to pull the trigger. They don’t know how to move to that next step and they also maybe don’t believe in it.” (07:15)
• John shares a personal anecdote about generational shifts in marketing attitudes:
  • “My dad didn’t believe in marketing before we bought the business. That was 10 years ago. He didn’t really understand why it mattered so he didn’t want to look that far into it.” (07:38)

6. Call to Action

• John wraps by encouraging owners to use this mindset as a lever for growth.
  • “Their reluctance to invest more and more money is your advantage. Like you can take advantage of that and you can blow up.” (08:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Marketing is an asset and there is a big ROI attached.” (05:18)
• “Their reluctance to invest more and more money is your advantage.” (08:02)
• “If we invest in sales and marketing right now, we can take this market—like, we can win.” (03:20)
• “People just don’t know how to pull the trigger.” (07:15)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:10 – Outspending competitors in sales and marketing
• 02:14 – PE firm acquisition becomes an unexpected opportunity
• 05:18 – Marketing as an ROI-driven asset
• 06:10 – Tracking ROI across every channel
• 07:15 – Competitors' hesitation as your advantage
• 08:02 – The core actionable takeaway

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Takeaway

John Wilson’s message is bold and clear: In moments when bigger competitors get cautious, small and mid-sized operators can surge ahead by investing in smart, ROI-driven marketing. Reluctance from larger players is a window for aggressive action—track every dollar spent, measure results, and do what others won’t. If you want to double your profit and dominate your market, outspend and outthink the competition.

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For more resources and episodes, visit Owned and Operated.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back to double your profit. In line with our last video talked a little bit on sales and marketing. We are going to outspend your competitors in sales and marketing and call this out very directly. Not just as strategic or non strategic but very directly. Let's outspend in sales and marketing. Back in 2018, a large PE firm came into our market and bought out the largest competitor. I remember being a little fearful. I'd never really competed against PE meaningfully and all I knew was a well funded competitor was coming to play ball. It ended up being one of the best things that has ever happened for our business. The reason is that PE firm, they decided they were going to cut their investment in sales and market. They took a 10% marketing budget that had been 10% for years and they decided that they need to optimize EBITDA and they took it down to five. They then bought a few more companies inside the area and they ran the same playbook and looking at that and saying if we invest in sales and marketing right now, we can take this market like we can win. We are massive investors into this space. Every time the market dips, every time there's a big scare. If there's tariffs, if there's Covid, we have outspent our competitors in marketing. When we're looking at new channels now, a lot of it is how can we spend the most. Marketing is an asset and there is a big ROI attached. Nowadays we spend 200 some thousand dollars a month on marketing but we have continued to over invest in there and continue to find ways to drive roi. So as we make these investments, we have to ruthlessly track roi. What is our ROI on this channel versus this channel? What's our cost per lead here versus here? How many leads and are they good leads? Finally, your competitor's reluctance to spend is your opportunity. People just don't know how to pull the trigger. They don't know how to move to that next step and they also maybe don't believe in it. My dad didn't believe in marketing before we bought the business. That was 10 years ago. He didn't really understand why it was mattered so he didn't want to look that far into it. Their reluctance to invest more and more money is your advantage. Like you can take advantage of that and you can blow up. If you like this video, make sure you like and submit.