Marketing Technicians, Not Services: The Named Personality Strategy

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0:41And today with me here, I have Ryan Reese, Marketing Director at Mechanical One, a renowned home repair and maintenance service provider in Central Florida that is known for its high quality service since launching in 2021. So how's it going, Ryan? It's a pleasure to have you here. Yeah, it's going good. Appreciate the invite and happy to be here. I'm glad. I'm glad. No, we're real excited, at least me on my side, to be having this episode today because you're the first home repair maintenance company that I'm talking to. So I'm actually pretty invested in the topic. I have a lot of, I'm originally from Venezuela and a lot of my friends have moved over to the United States.

1:19They're in Florida right now and they work in this type of industry. So I think this could be an episode that might cater to them as well. Oh, absolutely. We have a lot of our employees are specifically Venezuelan. A majority of them are Hispanic, South American. And so, you know, we're big on that. And so, yeah, we're full of that. No, that is so cool. And when I saw where the company is located, Central Florida, I actually I went to college in USF. So I lived in Tampa for a while. And as I mentioned, like people from my country, I think Florida is the top number one destination for everybody.

1:55And I can safely say before I was one year old, I was the baby that went most to Orlando and the Disney parks in the history of my country. It was crazy. So I would never leave. I came here from New York when I was like 12. And so I'm 32 now. So I'm mostly Floridian now that I am a New Yorker. So yeah, you're now a local in the Sunshine State. Okay, nice, nice. Okay, Ryan, so that we get a little bit more into the topic of the podcast, would you tell us a bit more about your experience as a marketing director with Mechanical One? What exactly it is that you guys do for anybody that isn't aware of what is home repair and maintenance, which is pretty self-explanatory, but just to give a bit of a deeper insight.

2:38Oh, for sure. So Mechanical One is a air conditioning, plumbing, gas and electrical company here in Central Florida, like you said. and Mechanical One started in the new construction industry. So we would work with home builders where, you know, as the properties are going up, that's when we're doing the installs of the air conditioning, the plumbing, the electrical, you know, before anybody is dwelling inside of the residence or even in the neighborhood. And so that was started in 2021. And then I came on board a few years later to be the director of marketing for their new residential repair and installation division.

3:16So this is just for one-off service calls. You know, your thermostat isn't working. Your AC went out. This is when you just call us and we come out and do the repair or we'll do a new install of a new unit. Or we can, you know, of course, anything electrical related or gas line related or plumbing related, we can do that as well. So I was one of the first team members for that division. And then we built out our sales team. And then, you know, we had new experienced residential technicians because they can be different from the new construction. Okay. When it comes to customer service, because new construction techs, you know, really don't deal with the customer.

3:52The home builder is the customer and they're working in an unoccupied home where, you know, first a home service that we provide, you know, of course, dealing with the customer, the homeowner is, you know, 90 % of the actual job. So, yeah, it's been about two years now since we started that division. and, you know, it's really taken off. We have the right people in place doing the right things. And of course, a lot of that has come from the marketing efforts that we've done. And so as marketing director, I basically oversee anything with the logo on it, I say. But we started off with what we called the Red Phone campaign.

4:28Okay. So that's an icon we have. I actually have it behind me there. And so this is the mechanical one Red Phone. And so we would say when your home's in the red zone, call the red phone because we partnered with Scott Hansen from the NFL network show NFL Red Zone. So he was actually an endorser who was in our TV spots. So we shot commercials with him and then we got those on the air. So I was in charge of that full production and then also buying the media time and airtime to get it on broadcast, streaming, radio, streaming audio. and then of course all the other things you know every other home service company does like google ads and reviews and online reputation management seo maintaining our website and all that and so that's basically in a nutshell kind of the history of it and what i do wow that is so cool man and i love the little punch line if you're in the red zone called the red phone and even ryan it's amazing and ryan from when you were telling me a little bit of your background i did have one question pop up, which is, I understand then that you are more in charge of the residential maintenance division rather than the new homes that people go into.

5:39Correct. We have a whole separate sales team that handles the acquisition of home builders like Lenar or KB Homes. We have a whole separate sales team that does their own golf tournaments and wining and dining and relationship building. And so they got that covered. That was the thing. Mechanical One kind of dominated the Orlando market when it came to that. That's when they were like, okay, we're ready to expand in a more residential arena where, of course, living in Florida, the competition is very high with air conditioning, you know, the heat and everything. Of course. And so it was tough, but I had my whole career specializing in home services marketing.

6:17And so that's how they got a hold of me. And they thought that I'd be the guy for the job. And so here I am. Nice, nice. And in terms of how you told me that, yes, having the maintenance person or the installer go to a home when it doesn't have anybody in there versus when you need to go into the residential place that has the family dwelling within the property. Did you have or did you face any issues in needing to market trust to the customers as they're inviting strangers into their home for repairs? Did you need to provide any type of, I don't know, certification or validation that this is a good person that's going to go to your house and help you out?

6:53Absolutely. I mean, that's customer trust is like the number one thing, especially after like the COVID era. You know, people got comfortable with like kind of distancing themselves and literally not letting people into their homes. It's true. Now that we're past that, it's everyone kind of had to come back to that normality, you know. And so trust is one of our number one values that we have. I mean, without it, we kind of don't have a business. OK. You know, we do all the normal things like background checks for our technicians and, you know, making sure they're driving records clean to drive our vans and all of that.

7:29But we're also big on, you know, getting reviews, not just for the company and the service, but also for them. So we encourage them to like, hey, have them mention you. And I tell them all the time, too, like, guys, like, we don't really make a product. What we're marketing is you. And you're the one that is literally going to be face to face with the customer. You're the one entering the home. You're the one performing the service. and then, you know, however your experience goes with that homeowner, you know, you can end up building a relationship with them because, you know, they liked you so much that they will request you and we've requested back.

8:09We've seen that a lot where it's like, hey, you know, I think I'm due for my biannual maintenance and I think it was Raphael who came out that one time. Can I see him again? Can he come? Because he was fantastic, you know, and that's what we aim for. When they're mentioning the technician by their first name, you know, because I always say, when people call us, they're probably not having the best day because they just got home from work. Maybe they walk into a wall of heat and they're like, you know, I just wanted to relax. And now I got to call somebody and figure this all out. And I also got to do it before my wife gets home because I don't want her to be upset and mad.

8:45And just making things worse, of course. Exactly. So they call us being like, hey, you know, I need somebody to come out here right now. And so we always got to alleviate that process and that pain point. Like, look, when they're your aunt and son, don't worry. We'll be out there. We'll take care of it. So, and sometimes when we even do new installs, we'll provide these portable units because somebody might be out of air for a day or two. And so we get these units that connect to a window and a wall outlet to where there's at least some central air conditioning happening where, you know, like, hey, you might want to go in your bedroom and, you know, close the door.

9:18We got this machine in there. You'll stay cool. We're going to get this installation taken care of. And then you should back up and running in no time. So it's all about building trust. That's the key. Wow. And I love that little extra step by giving them a near conditioning while the other one is being fixed. It really provides the customer with a top experience of what you guys offer, and it'll make them come back to you. So I think that's really smart. And it's very nice. Like, it happens to me, I worked in customer support for a while, and it was more online. But when people have an issue, they're not calling because they want to talk to you.

9:50They're calling to get it's solved. You got to know when and how to chat with these people. And Ryan, I know you mentioned that then you had commercials being broadcasted with the red phone. You had different campaigns. And in terms of your online marketing channels, has there been one that has worked best for you guys that you can say from the top of your head, like, hey, no, yeah, it was really expected that TikTok was the driver for conversions for us. I'm not sure if that's the thing, but just as an example. Yeah, I would say the one that really sticks out the most is one that I was hesitant of.

10:25Okay. And it makes sense when you look at it at face value, but maybe because, you know, I'm still renting an apartment. I'm not a homeowner. And I always have to take myself out of my own mind and place my brain in homeowner mode. Okay. We went on Nextdoor and, you know, that's where neighbors basically get together and can ask anybody have a recommendation for a landscaper because I just moved in, I'm down the street and I just moved here, I don't know anybody and I'd love to have a recommendation. And that's the kind of marketing like you can't buy, word of mouth. Exactly. I was just thinking like, cause we run ads on Nextdoor and you know, they get some traction and it's reasonably priced.

11:04We get a lot of impressions and clicks on the ads and whatnot, but what's best is when we're getting recommended without having to pay anybody or do anything where we can monitor a conversation of somebody asking, hey, anybody know a good AC company or plumber? Hey, I know Ryan at Mechanical One. He's great. You should give him a call. They helped me back out in 2024. And I would call them again. Here's his number. We had one time where somebody mentioned one of our operations managers and listed his personal phone number on there, not even like our office line. So the connection was so like less, you know, it wasn't as like plastic or phony.

11:46It was like, hey, call this buddy of mine, call Tim because he's great. And I always think to myself of like, man, I feel like I would want to look at reviews and I would want to look at, you know, I want to mentally qualify a company to come out. But, you know, I think what a lot of homeowners do is that they're so invested in their neighborhood, they're invested in their community and they trust their community. and therefore when people within it express, hey, you know, if you want honest, trustworthy work where they prioritize integrity, you should call this guy, here's his actual cell phone number and that's a guaranteed, I mean, that just, again, going back to the trust thing.

12:27So Nextdoor was one of those things that kind of caught me off guard with the organic stuff that we saw coming out of it. Okay. So we ramped up the pricing of the ads because it can retarget back to those people who've expressed our name or other triggers on the platform where they can be remarketed to. And so even if they don't go with that recommendation, at least we're staying in front of them. But I would say that's one. Of course, we do, you know, all things Google, but Google's so competitive and can get so expensive. And so, yes, that was a known one. But yeah, Nextdoor has been enlightening as well.

13:00So, yeah. No, that is so cool. And I've heard a lot from like different companies and different industries, but it's something that is happening, which is like consumer driven marketing, which they talk between themselves and they just vouch for the brand and they say, no, I love this one because of this and that. And that is more believable than any AI created generic advertising or just any logo you place anywhere. That is very cool. Well, it's influenced us since then, because I was like, how can we take this further? Okay. And so one thing that we haven't done it yet, we're going to be doing, and this is something I've done many times before in my career is What's better than a review and a recommendation is getting it on camera.

13:39And so like a video testimonial, but not like the traditional ones where you get it. Not like a commercial. Exactly. Like these days, people are trusting video shot, you know, horizontally or vertically on their smartphone. So I would love if just like, and it doesn't require a full production anymore where it's like, hey, Mrs. Jones, we just saw your Google review. Would you be able to shoot a video on your phone and, you know, give us permission to post this or something like that. Yeah, I plug basically, you know, we will even offer them like, hey, we will give you a free maintenance. We'll come out and check all your stuff.

14:14And so, you know, we don't ask them to do it for nothing. Of course. Because I just think that's the kind of thing where if you could actually hear it and see it, it would make an impact. It does. It does. And I feel like even myself, like individually and in my personal life, I fall more for that user generated content advertising of somebody just vouching for the brand or whatever they're using on their smartphone, like, hey, this is amazing. I would totally do this again, rather than those fully and perfectly produced videos of somebody just like the wind is blowing in their hair and it's too perfect.

14:44You know, it's like, I don't buy it. I don't buy it. And Ryan, have you thought about any marketing mistakes that you see other home service companies make when trying to attract customers online? I think one of the biggest mistakes is being everywhere just because. Like, for example, I've seen for years now, home services businesses and owners of those businesses get so frustrated with social media, for example. I worked at one company. It's funny you mentioned TikTok. He's like, hey, I just joined this TikTok thing and it's so much fun. It's amazing. My wife loves it too. Look at all these videos.

15:22And I posted a video, got 30 ,000 views in a week. And I'm like, oh, that's great. you know, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. And he's like, we need to make one right now. We need one. And I said, I don't think that's a good idea because are these people who see this? We're only local in Orlando. 30 ,000 of those people who saw your post local here or all over the world or all over the country. You know, how is it relevant to a local homeowner down the street? And this just sounds to me like more unnecessary work that's going to go nowhere. And you're going to get disappointed when we don't see anything from it because right now you're so excited about it.

15:58And so even with like Facebook and Instagram and a few others, it's like, you know, how come we're not getting any leads through Instagram? It's like, well, nobody's on Instagram to look at plumbing issues. It's true. You know, I'm on there to look at cat videos and see what my friends are doing on Saturday night and, you know, look at my friend's band and see how they're doing. The last thing I want to see is plumbing and electrical and HVAC. So let's be where the high intent is. So for example, like Nextdoor, people literally asking, they're intending to contact one of these companies, Google, you know, that guy at his thermostat, it's hot in my house, AC repair near me.

16:38He has the intent of finding us and requesting the service. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being on social media for these companies or even doing ads. It's just, I still think that it's more brand awareness. And I think people pour a lot of money into it when it's not relevant. Don't get me wrong. If I had a cosmetics business and I could ship globally, I would be on TikTok with influencer marketing and I'd be shipping stuff all over the world. No problem. Different model, different market, you know. So when it comes to home services, is everyone forgets the home part. And it's hyper-localism is the way to go.

17:17So I would rather even sponsor the local Christmas Day parade down the street in Bell Club where all those people go, oh, I've seen their vans before. You know what? I'm gonna remember them the next time I need one of their services. Where on TikTok, where people are just zooming through stuff and it might not even be relevant. And I don't even care if one video got 3 million views. I'd rather have three views that led to a call than 30 million that were just views. It doesn't matter. It's true. And so I say, like, don't be everywhere all at once. Where are the high intent people at? And just focus all your time, optimizations and resources into that because it can actually deliver results.

17:59That is so true. I had not seen it in that perspective, but now I can understand the experience you have in the industry, Ryan. That is cool. I totally agree. And the fact is that those inflated metrics, because I don't know, the video went viral because of a song that is sounding in, I don't know, let's say Thailand and you get three million views from Thailand. It's like, guys, we're in Orlando. So, right. It's all good. It might lead to something, but I totally get what you mean. And Ryan, how have you guys been able to stand out? Because as I mentioned, like I know my friends, they are in this type of industry in central Florida, in Florida in general.

18:35Florida is a state that a lot of hurricanes hit as well. So I imagine that there must be a lot of maintenance that must be required. But how do you guys differentiate yourself from other home maintenance brands and other people who are also doing the same thing as you guys? Yeah, that's a great question. And that's something we look at all the time because doing the same thing that everybody else can do. We have the same kind of vans. We use the same, you know, vendors sometimes. We use the same companies. And, you know, what makes us stand out? And I think that comes down to customer experience.

19:08So we made Google reviews part of the job process. It's in the job requirement now for our technicians, where it's just like anything else you do, the review is essential. So one of our Google accounts has 2 ,500 five-star reviews on it. And so where a lot of our competitors are still in like 300, or they're 4.7, or they're 4.3, or whatever. So that's just one aspect of it where it's really just performing a what we call a white glove service or something that you wouldn't really see as white glove, you know. And the way we stand out in other ways is like our marketing. You know, we went to the wall with hiring Scott Anson to be part of it.

19:51We had a Hispanic campaign because I know, you know, Central Florida has a large Hispanic population and community. So we actually had Lily Estefan be in our Spanish commercial. As you know, she's part of the Estefan family. She's had her show on Univision for years now. And so we went down to Miami and shot a spot with her and brought it back to Orlando. So we try to, you know, use familiar faces that people recognize. And the Spanish campaign we did was 100 % in Spanish. I didn't want to be bilingual. I'm like, let's literally speak these people's language and respect that and, you know, come to their territory.

20:27and you know to make that connection of authenticity is a big part of it we want to be authentic we want to be what you see on tv or on our website or wherever is what you actually are going to get when you call so it's really like we try to be as high quality as we can but also affordable because a lot of people might think like wow they have these you know big presenters in their commercials they're clearly expensive and we have an affordable maintenance plan we We offer financing options and we work with every customer on each type of like there's different AC units that cost differently. We can work on people's budgets.

21:05It's not that at all. The service is supposed to feel expensive, but it's not actually, you know, going to break the bank for you. So really just quality, authenticity and doing what we say we will. That's what we strive for. I love that. And also, I feel it generates a very, to call it like an organic trust, as we've been saying with the brand, that the people will be able to just rely on you guys and know that you're not overselling or underselling anything. You can abide to their budgets and whatever. That is very cool. Another question I do have is how do you guys manage marketing in terms of seasons?

21:42Because I imagine that in winter, air conditioning repairs might not be the main thing. So do you guys pivot depending on the time of the year? Or do you guys just have like a general type of marketing for that? It's funny you ask that. So this year, what we did was so on my team, I have a analytics and administrator. and she came to me with this where she took all of our database information and she ran it through AI and asked it all these questions of what is the most popular season for AC repair? What is the most popular season for new installation of a unit? And, you know, of course we all think everyone's getting their AC repaired during the summer.

22:24Everyone's, you know, not doing anything in the winter because, well, they can just open their windows. We were completely wrong because we had so much data it would take months for somebody to actually break it down in an excel sheet where we just plugged it into chat gpt and it gave us bad i mean we had an elaborate prompt that we used okay all this information that kind of was like an awakening of like so for example to your question there in winter that's when people are doing a lot of maintenances and new installations because they can go in the summer. Exactly. And people are doing new installations because, oh yeah, we can just open the windows for the day or two that it takes to do this.

23:04And we ran this thing all summer long and we've been meaning to update. We're so glad it didn't crap out during the summer. But now that we have this window of comfort, now we want to be able to do it. Okay. And a lot of repairs were done before the summer, not during it because they were preparing for the summer. And it shows that the homeowner is smarter than ever. With the internet and, you know, social media and tips and tricks and resources now, they know all about this stuff. Where back in the day, you know, a lot of it was education on our part. And they just didn't know anything about AC.

23:40So we're going to tell you when we're there. And I've listened to so many calls that like, no, this guy knows exactly the type of unit he has. He knows what a SEER rating is. He knows all the technical jargon. I'm like, wow. They know too much even. They do questions back. Yeah. And so we do fluctuate. I mean, of course, during the hotter months, you know, everyone's running their stuff 24 seven stuff can break and all that. But with the research that we did, we kind of refocused our strategies and we even did, you know, which area received the most AC repairs or this kind of service or whatever.

24:14And so now, like, for example, we do a direct mail. and so we're going to beat them to the punch next year of like we're going to try to predict their problems before it even happens of the type of season that area and then it was a service that they got they're almost going to look at like at this mail or be like how did they know i was right about the call about this that's going to be the goal so that's beautiful and i feel that's very important in every service level industry no matter if it's home or if you're just like a waiter but It's like predicting the needs of the consumer before they happen.

24:47That's what sets you apart because it's like you're psyching. It's how did you guys know? You feel spied on. You feel exactly. Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. But I get it, man. I love that strategy because I feel next year once it does happen and it hits, it's going to be great. Right. It'll work. Yeah, it will. Fingers crossed. And Ryan, I know we're almost at time, but I did want to ask you one final question. and it's for anybody who might be starting out with a company in the home service industry and it's if they had only one marketing dollar or let's just say a very small budget, where do you think they should spend that and why?