Podcast Summary

Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service

Episode: How CallRail's Call Tracking and AI Transformed STUFF Junk Removal's Revenue with Scott Patterson
Hosts: Tersh Blissett & Josh Crouch
Guest: Scott Patterson, CEO of STUFF Junk Removal
Date: November 26, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the vital role of technology, call tracking, and artificial intelligence in the home services industry, spotlighting how Scott Patterson transformed STUFF Junk Removal's marketing ROI and operational efficiency using CallRail. Scott shares his entrepreneurship journey from commercial real estate to junk removal and how rapid tech adoption (VoIP, call tracking, and AI features) fueled growth in a highly competitive, low-barrier industry.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scott Patterson's Journey to Junk Removal

• Former commercial real estate broker for 10 years; sparked into junk removal by a colleague frustrated with high junk removal fees.
• Launched business during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking advantage of a unique market opening when most competitors were shut down.
• Restarted the business completely in 2022: New name, brand, trucks—lost all previous reviews and customer lists, started from zero again.
  • Quote: “Basically I was restarting a business that I already knew what I wanted the business to look like and what it needed to look like. So major advantage there.” — Scott (05:50)

2. Market Realities of Junk Removal

• Extremely low barrier to entry (“anyone with a trailer can compete”). Constant stream of new competitors.
• Collaborates and refers business even to direct competitors—emphasizes abundance rather than scarcity mindset.
  • Quote: “You can't have a famine mindset. There's tons of business out there.” — Scott (06:59)
• 25% of customers are repeat, but most are new—so ongoing customer acquisition is critical.

3. The Fiery Reality of Advertising Without Tracking

• Early advertising spend was “like lighting money on fire”—no clarity on which efforts drove actual business (09:04, 09:26).
• Sourced crucial mentorship from a top junk franchisee—learned to analyze P&Ls and advertising efficiency.
  • Quote: "All advertising works. If you spend enough money on a certain form of advertising, it will work. ...Now, it may not work well enough that you're profitable." — Scott paraphrasing Alex Hormozi (10:29)

4. Networking & Mentorship

• Networking was essential for business growth, including finding mentors unexpectedly through service vendors.
  • Quote: “The golden nugget is to find someone who has been where you want to go. That is the gold nugget.” — Josh (12:16)

5. The Turning Point: Implementing Call Tracking & CallRail

• After months of expensive, directionless digital ads, Scott sought precise call tracking.
• Used basic VoIP and tracking with early platforms, but found them unreliable. Moved to CallRail for reliability and advanced features.
  • Quote: “It was so worth it because we were spending thousands of dollars a month on ads. ...this is just a cost of doing business. And I, I, I literally have to understand it.” — Scott (23:06)

Deep Dive: Powerful Features & Practical Benefits of CallRail

A. Dynamic Number Swapping & Source Tracking

• Each website visitor is shown a unique number, allowing precise tracking of customer acquisition sources—down to keyword, ad, landing page, and more.
  • Quote: “I can see exactly what keyword you guys searched, what landing page you hit...what was the journey between them in their head going, I need junk removal to them becoming a customer.” — Scott (24:16)

B. Advertising Accountability and ROI

• CallRail reveals discrepancies between "leads" sold by third parties and actual bookings/sales.
  • Quote: “It allowed me to basically call the bluff on some of those companies and go, hey, you act like you're serving me up all these customers. You gave me a hundred leads, only five of them turned into customers.” — Scott (27:06)

C. AI Summaries & Keyword Tagging

• AI-generated call summaries make reviewing staff performance easy and highlight coaching opportunities.
• Identifies call trends and problematic leads—e.g., callers seeking “free” pickups.
  • Quote: “The summaries are great... look for coaching opportunities and ways to maximize his sales ability is amazing.” — Scott (31:06)
  • Quote: “In my world, the word free is something that...I want to eviscerate from our marketing.” — Scott (31:41)
• Uses keyword data to refine ad campaigns, e.g., setting “free” as a negative keyword in GoogleAds to eliminate non-paying leads (34:36).

D. Missed Call Text-Back Automation

• Instant text response for missed calls leads to more customer engagement and bookings, prevents potential customers from going to competitors (38:16).
  • Quote: “If we miss a call, it instantly sends a text message to the person who called.” — Scott (38:16)
  • “I have gotten so many responses to that text message where people go, thanks so much... So at least they know that I'm attentive, I'm there, I'm ready to help...” — Scott (38:30)

E. Call Answering Competitive Secret

• Mystery-shopped 10 local competitors: only 3 answered; 2 followed up late; 5 never responded (36:36). Proves power of prompt response systems.

F. Ease of Adoption & Support

• CallRail is “dummy proof”—easy to set up, excellent support, and seamless porting of existing business phone numbers.
  • Quote: “CallRail makes it so easy. It is dummy proof. And on top of that, their support is incredible.” — Scott (41:50)

G. Incremental Gains Mentality

• Adopting small but meaningful automations creates compounding improvements in business outcomes.
  • Quote: “No silver bullet, just 100 golden BBs. ...[These] are incremental things that will improve my booking rate, my revenue.” — Scott quoting Hormozi (40:50)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “It's like lighting money on fire if you're not careful.” — Scott (00:00, 09:04)
• “If your job may not be replaced by AI, but it'll be replaced by somebody who knows how to use AI.” — Scott (02:01)
• “You can make a website and make it look like you're a legit company and you're just a guy.” — Scott (08:19)
• “As long as there's money in the checking account, we're good.” — Josh (13:35)

Key Timestamps

• [02:46] – Scott's path from real estate to junk removal
• [05:35-06:59] – Splitting with business partner and rebranding; competitor relationships
• [09:04] – Early advertising struggles, need for tracking
• [11:32-13:12] – Finding a mentor; importance of networking
• [23:02] – Transition to CallRail & initial reasons
• [24:16] – Dynamic source tracking explained
• [27:06] – Using data to hold lead-gen partners accountable
• [31:06, 31:41] – Impact of AI summaries & keyword analysis
• [34:36] – Refining marketing using call data
• [36:36] – Secret shopping competitors: only 3 of 10 answer!
• [38:16, 38:30] – Missed call text-back in action

Final Takeaways

• Track Every Dollar: “If you’re not tracking, you’re lighting money on fire.” Use tools like CallRail to know precisely what's working.
• Incremental Automation Wins: Small automations—like missed call text backs—build significant competitive edges over time.
• Leverage AI Wisely: AI-driven call analysis saves time, provides insights, and sharpens sales/marketing effectiveness.
• Mindset Matters: Abundance- and mentorship-minded leadership set the stage for long-term growth.
• Answer the Damn Phone: Prompt, personal response to customer inquiries is still a massive differentiator in home services.

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Summary by Service Business Mastery Podcast Summarizer — Episode covers up to [43:17].