Podcast Summary: Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades

Episode: Missed Calls in HVAC for Contractors to Stop Killing Growth by Fixing Operations (with Crystal Williams)

Date: December 17, 2025
Hosts: Tersh Blissett & Josh Crouch (Skilled Trades Syndicate)
Guest: Crystal Williams (Lemon Seed Marketing)
Recording Context: Live at AHR 2025, Orlando, FL

Episode Overview

This episode zeroes in on an often overlooked growth killer in HVAC and home service companies: missed calls and the operational gaps that allow them. Marketing strategist Crystal Williams of Lemon Seed Marketing joins hosts Tersh Blissett and Josh Crouch to break down the complex interplay between marketing, branding, operations, and the smart use of automation and AI. The lively discussion blends hard-won practical advice with stories from the field, offering contractors actionable insights to streamline marketing ROI, stop wasting leads, and build a brand that actually connects with customers—without losing the human touch.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Technicians vs Entrepreneurs: Knowing the Difference

• Many technically skilled business owners struggle to manage operations, pricing, and marketing, which limits growth.
• Crystal: “They’re fantastic technicians … but they have no idea how to run a business. So they’re just good at the art of replacing and fixing and installing heating and air conditioning. It really becomes a struggle for them because they don’t understand pricing and they don’t want to negotiate marketing and software.” (00:00 / 10:09)

2. The Cost of Missed Calls: Operational Blind Spots

• Missed calls remain a major growth bottleneck for contractors—even great marketing can't plug this operational hole.
• Crystal: “One thing that would help you grow your business is answering the phone. Just straight up answer the phone … I’m like, you are missing like 30 calls a day because people are trying to call you when they went home for lunch or whatever … and you’re just not answering, nor are you returning the calls.” (06:45 / 07:24)
• Josh: “ServiceTitan’s data … 17% of all calls are missed. That’s millions of calls over a couple months.” (07:04)

3. Marketing and Operations – A Necessary ‘Marriage’

• Marketing agencies often get unfairly blamed for “not enough leads,” when operational breakdowns (like missed calls and poor booking rates) are the real culprit.
• Crystal: “Marketing and operations have to be partners. They have to be married.” (07:41)
• Tersh: “What it ultimately boils down to is the operations process has not been optimized.” (08:21)

4. The Trap of Churn: Chasing Shiny Objects

• Be wary of switching digital providers or entire marketing teams after receiving a negative “audit”—consistency and partnership with current providers usually yield better results.
• Crystal: “We are not going to leave our digital provider just because another digital provider … wants your business and has told you everything that’s done wrong. You’re much better off working closer with your digital provider that you currently have … than you are completely and totally restarting all the way over.” (12:46)

5. Tactical Brand Building: Beyond ‘Pretty Logos’

• Branding is a long-term play; it is not just van wraps or new uniforms, but authentic storytelling that ties back to the company’s roots and community presence.
• Crystal: “Branding is a commitment … a long-term marriage. It needs to be taken very seriously … It’s not just a pretty truck and a pretty logo. You need to be telling a whole story.” (23:37 / 26:54)
• Crystal: “You can have a beautifully designed book cover and open that to blank pages … is your brand an actual story, or just a picture book?” (28:38)

6. Smart Automation & AI – Doing More with Less

• Real-world examples of leveraging AI and automation to syndicate reviews, repurpose content, and create consistent brand presence with minimal effort.
• Josh: “Google reviews go to all social media apps, syndicate them out … Five-star is synonymous with our name everywhere you stop.” (17:35)
• Tersh: “We use Castmagic, you upload one blog post or audio/video, and it gives you 30 prompts and content for all your socials just from one piece of content.” (18:03)

7. Community Involvement – The Secret Brand Builder

• Local youth sports team sponsorships, creative awards, and community events yield long-lasting ROI and deepen brand roots.
• Crystal: “To me—it’s gonna be weird—but I think it’s local sports teams, especially kids teams … Optimize these things: invite them to your location, have a mascot, take pictures, interview the little players, post on social media. The parents and grandparents all share your name, and it cost you fifty bucks.” (40:18)
• Tersh: “We created a massive chain as an MVP award for kids’ tournaments with our logo—it gets shared all over social.” (42:16)

8. Executing a Rebrand Without Confusing or Losing Customers

• Don’t suddenly “flip the switch”; involve current clients and employees with a staged rollout and let them feel like insiders.
• Crystal: “You’re much better off [doing a] soft launch before you announce to the community. Let your internal database feel privy to this secret.” (38:12)

9. Balancing Branding with Operations for Next-Level Growth

• Even $10M+ companies with weak brands might have grown on operational strength; pairing both is the unlock.
• Crystal: “So you got here with this terrible brand, you know, so imagine what you really could have done if you had a very memorable brand … when you partner together, that’s when you really see success.” (33:51)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Crystal (on missed calls):
  “Just straight up answer the phone … You’re missing like 30 calls a day … and you’re just not answering, nor are you returning the calls.” (07:04–07:24)

• Crystal (on operational vs marketing blame):
  “It is never their [digital providers’] fault. They never get the credit and always get the blame.” (12:09)

• Tersh (on tech-first business owners):
  “There’s a difference between a business owner, like a good, solid technician running a business, and an entrepreneur running a business.” (10:08)

• Crystal (on authentic branding):
  “You have to become a master storyteller of who you are as a company. … Branding is not just a logo and a van wrap—no, you don't. … Do you have a beautifully designed book cover with blank pages?” (26:54–28:38)

• Josh (on AI-powered content ops):
  “Google recognizes big brands. More people searching for your company name means you’re ranking higher for everything—it’s all connected.” (37:01)

• Crystal (on budget-friendly community impact):
  “Invite those little league teams over, take a photo, put it on social media—those parents and grandparents will share it everywhere.” (41:40)

• Crystal (on successful rebrands):
  “Let them [existing customers] feel like they’re privy to this secret you’ve been holding—‘We’re launching this to the public next Thursday, please help us celebrate…’” (38:12–39:06)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Technicians vs Entrepreneurs & Operational Gaps: 00:00–04:00, 10:00–11:00
• Impact of Missed Calls: 06:45–07:24, 07:04–08:24
• Marketing Ops Marriage: 07:41–08:44
• Provider Churn & Scare Tactics: 12:46–14:10
• Practical Branding, Storytelling & Authenticity: 23:17–29:20
• Automation & Content Syndication: 17:35–18:36
• Community Marketing ROI: 40:07–43:18
• Rebrand Rollouts/Customer Churn: 37:36–39:50

Actionable Takeaways

• Audit your call handling: Missed calls are missed revenue; stagger breaks; leverage AI or remote answering; track and improve booking rates.
• Integrate operations and marketing: Don't treat them as silos; smooth back-end processes multiply marketing ROI.
• Resist the urge to jump ship after every marketing “audit.” Play the long game with digital partnerships.
• Branding is storytelling: Lean into your authentic company history, mascots, and local flavor. Don’t settle for “trendy” but empty branding.
• Supercharge content with AI: Repurpose reviews, blog posts, and video/audio endlessly across platforms for exponentially more exposure.
• Get hyper-local: Invest in community activities—sports, events, award sponsorships—this is slow-burn, but it pays off.
• Rebrand with care: Bring team and loyal customers into the story—don’t surprise them, or risk confusion/churn.

Final Note

From missed phone calls plaguing even the best marketers, to leveraging AI for content and deeply rooting your brand in community, the conversation makes it clear: to grow a successful HVAC or home services business in 2025, operators must marry disciplined operations and authentic, story-driven marketing. Not only does this avoid leaky revenue buckets, but it ensures your brand sticks in customers’ minds long before—and after—they pick up the phone.