Podcast Summary: To The Point - Home Services Podcast

Episode: New Leadership That Helped Scale Abacus from $30M to $100M

Host: Chris (RYNO Strategic Solutions), Chad Peterman
Guest: Tony Patino, President of Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical
Date: December 2, 2025

Episode Theme:

Exploring how new leadership from outside the industry ignited massive growth at Abacus, scaling the company from $30 million to over $100 million.
The discussion focuses on leadership transition, scaling strategies, industry misconceptions, technology adoption, recruiting, and expanding service lines.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Tony Patino’s Non-Traditional Path to Abacus

• Background:
  • Started in retail out of high school; held various management roles since age 24. (05:47)
  • Transitioned from retail to Aramark (uniform services, GM for Houston market), then led a moving company, learning both operations and sales. (06:54)
• Recruitment to Abacus:
  • First recruited in 2016 for a GM role—didn't get the job, but stayed engaged. (09:34)
  • 18 months later, recruited for a divisional leadership role and joined in 2017. (09:34)
  • Entered with no prior home services experience: “I said, Alan, I’m not a plumber, man. I don’t know anything about plumbing. He said, ‘I don’t need you to be a plumber...I need you to come in and help me build this business and help me scale it.’” (11:21)

2. Leadership Transition & Earning Trust

• Challenge:
  • Faced skepticism as an outsider, especially from plumbers loyal to founder Alan O’Neill.
• Approach:
  • “You got to park your ego and title...you gotta be genuine and have humility...I’m here to help you, not boss you around.” (16:22)
  • Focused on building individual relationships, listening to field teams, and understanding their goals and pain points.
• Early Wins:
  • Personally led the rollout of ServiceTitan, translating tech to trade-friendly workflows.
  • Became the go-to resource for tech questions, establishing credibility quickly. (18:57)

3. Simultaneous Scaling Initiatives

• Within First Year:
  • Oversaw company move to a new facility.
  • Rolled out ServiceTitan across the teams.
  • Assumed leadership of a new electrical division, in addition to plumbing.
  • Quote: "Within the first year...all this stuff is happening simultaneously." (21:12)
• Leveraging Technology:
  • Used ServiceTitan rollout to solve pain points and drive efficiency, demonstrating value to teams otherwise skeptical of new tech. (22:29)

4. Overcoming Growing Pains & Internal Pushback

• Managerial Structure:
  • Relied on strong managers to shield him from technical pushback—focused on operations, strategy, and people. (23:29)
  • Promoted from within, also brought in some of his own experienced managers.
• The “Dumb Questions” Advantage:
  • “I had the benefit of being the guy from the outside so I could ask the dumb questions...” (24:53)

5. Launching and Scaling New Service Lines

• Electrical Division:
  • Built up from $1M to nearly $20M. (24:53)
• Water Treatment:
  • Initially struggled; split off into a dedicated division with its own sales/install team.
  • Hired an industry expert (from Culligan) to lead—separate from plumbing at first, then integrated as plumbers saw success. "We had to separate it because we just weren't getting traction by just trying to keep it inside our plumbing group." (28:30)
• Generators:
  • Initially deprioritized until core electrical was "humming."
  • Launched as its own specialty vertical after market demand and storm events in 2023.
  • “Overnight it became a... separate vertical for us in both Houston and Austin.” (29:53)

6. Recruiting and Sales Leadership Evolution

• Need for Sales Leadership:
  • Identified in 2021/2022 when growth plateaued and sales process lacked consistency across trades.
  • First outside sales leader hire was a cultural mismatch and didn’t last. “If they don’t fit, they don’t fit. You gotta move quickly. And we pivoted pretty quickly.” (33:27)
  • Second hire, an industry insider, was a home run—brought strong people, built culture, and standardized sales processes.
• Communication is Key:
  • Transparent with teams about changes and “the why” behind decisions to avoid rumors and speculation. (36:21)
  • “When you don’t come in front of everybody and tell them...then they start speculating.” (36:21)

7. Cross-Selling, Membership Growth, and Unified Brand

• Membership Model Overhaul:
  • Merged separate memberships for plumbing/HVAC/electrical into an all-inclusive “VIP” monthly membership.
  • “Our membership base...was in silos. We had three different core memberships… only a thousand homes had us for all three trades... So we rolled out ‘VIP’... a single price, all your maintenance throughout your house.” (42:14)
  • Huge driver for cross-selling and higher revenue per customer.
• Incentivizing Cross-Trade Leads:
  • Created spiff/referral programs and app-based referral tool for techs to generate cross-trade leads.
  • “Every lead on Google continues to cost more and more. My cost per lead is just basically the spiff that I pay the technician.” (41:06)

8. Scaling Mindset & Knowing When to Expand

• Measured Approach:
  • “Let’s get really good at what we do best... let’s not try to outreach...because then you get distracted.” (48:28)
  • Focuses on making sure each vertical is running efficiently and profitably (“blocking and tackling”) before layering in new lines. (48:28)
• Champion for Each New Division:
  • Found success by hiring/appointing “the right person” to champion and lead each specialty—someone skilled but flexible who could adapt to Abacus culture. (50:46; 52:01)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On being an industry outsider:
  • "I’m a student of the game. That’s...one of the secrets to success in any industry you get into—be a continual learner." (05:10)
• Earning trust:
  • "You have to park your ego...I’m here to help you. I truly am vested in your best interest as a leader. My job is to lead people, not boss people around." (16:22)
• Scaling with tech:
  • “Learning ServiceTitan was the easy part...learning how to bring some of this stuff to the trade, that was probably where I found myself early on.” (21:26)
• Sales process breakthrough:
  • “We didn't have a real defined sales process. As big as we were...every trade was doing their own thing. We didn't have an Abacus system, if you will.” (40:10)
• Cross-selling:
  • “Now the plumber's...looking at an electrical panel...now we have an opportunity for our rehash team...now we, we cross-train our sales team to be...VIP salesmen.” (42:14)
• On hiring leaders:
  • “We try to do our best to find out: Is this person, do they have the humility? Are they hungry? Are they humble, hungry, and smart?...They have to be smart—I mean, people smart.” (54:02)
• Company name origin:
  • “He wanted something that was yellow page friendly...aba for abacus...‘You can count on us.’ That’s our tagline.” (57:00)

Timestamps for Major Topics

• Tony’s Background & Recruitment to Abacus – 05:10–11:21
• First Days/Earning Team’s Trust – 12:51–16:22
• Tech Rollout & Early Scaling Moves – 18:57–21:26
• Managing Pushback & Building Management Team – 23:19–24:53
• Expansion into New Trades & Water Treatment – 24:53–30:00
• Hiring for Sales Leadership & Process Building – 33:27–40:10
• Cross-Selling Memberships & VIP Model – 41:06–43:55
• Strategic Expansion & Picking New Verticals – 48:28–50:46
• Hiring for Culture Fit & Smart Leadership – 54:02
• Origin of ‘Abacus’ Name – 57:00

Takeaways for Listeners

• Outsiders can succeed in the trades—if they lead with humility, are relentless learners, and build genuine relationships.
• Technology adoption and streamlined processes are key for scaling, but change must be championed with empathy for the “boots on the ground.”
• Strategic, measured expansion—only moving to new divisions or trades when core operations are running efficiently—prevents distraction and ensures sustainable growth.
• Cultural fit and communication are crucial when hiring leaders from outside or inside: move quickly if it's not working, and be transparent with your team at every step.
• Membership/cross-sell programs and a unified brand win customer loyalty, multiply revenue opportunities, and lower acquisition costs.

Final Memorable Moment

• On his leadership journey:
  "I had to have humility when I came in here... I had to park my ego... I'm going to learn this business. I'm going to learn these people. And I had a constant drive to learn." — Tony Patino (54:02)

For any home service company considering a leadership transition, new trade launch, technology project, or simply wanting to grow, this episode is packed with actionable insights “to the point.”