The Huge Insider

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, JC Chanowsky, founder of Patriot Illumination, shares his journey from pressure washing and Navy service to building a $1.2 million Christmas light installation business in Wilmington, North Carolina. JC candidly unpacks the lessons he learned since entering the holiday lighting space in 2016—emphasizing the importance of training, coaching, hiring early, and building systems for growth. He dives into practical sales strategies for service pros looking to add Christmas lights to their offerings, like leveraging existing customer databases, delivering emotional experiences, and never underestimating the power of persistence in landing commercial clients. With anecdotes, real numbers, and tactical advice, JC’s story is a blueprint for turning a seasonal service into a thriving business. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling to seven figures, this episode delivers actionable insights for home service pros looking to win the holidays—and their market. Show Notes Featured Guest JC Chanowsky – Founder of The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup The Huge Insider Podcast Downloadable Action Guide Foundations Platform Trial Offer Huge Mastermind Info Page Huge Foundations Facebook Group Transcript:  What's up everybody? My name is JC Chanowsky with Patriot Illumination in Wilmington, North Carolina, and I've been asked to talk about Christmas lights and share my story and experiences in the Christmas light industry. And if you're listening to this, then maybe you're either. Currently a Christmas light installer or considering doing it. And I wanted to just talk to you about some of the wins and struggles that we've experienced since we started doing the Christmas light install business in 2016. And when I started it, I actually attended a trade show. It was for pressure washing. Probably the one, like the huge that you should be attending. And I'll say that I didn't know that this was a service or an option. And 2016 social media was probably a little bit different wasn't as robust and. And everybody's face like it is now. So you really needed to get out there and make yourself vulnerable and talk to people and find information a little bit differently than we do today. But I was grateful for attending this event and I will say that it transformed and changed the future of my business. I was, running a pressure washing business while working full-time with the Navy. So it was really like a, not really a hobby, but it wasn't a full-time commitment. So 2016, started Christmas lights got a little bit of knowledge about it, but didn't get my hand dirty, didn't get training, was able to install a couple houses, and then finally got to do some training the year after that, which highly recommend if you're, looking to install Christmas lights or even if you are currently installing Christmas lights, have never been to a formal training. Being able to see how others are able to install differently, maybe more efficiently will really change the way you view things. We only know what we know and if. I taught myself how to do something, then that's the way I'm gonna do it until somebody shows me a better way. So that's why firm believer on constantly getting yourself out there, attending trainings, talking to people, networking 'cause. We don't wanna reinvent the wheel, but if there's easier, faster, safer, smarter ways to do things, then I'm all about it. And we're gonna jump on board and go ahead and do that. Got the training done 2019, and 2019 I went full-time. I stopped working full-time in the Navy, so I went full-time into pressure washing full-time into Christmas lights. Got my first. Coach Pat Clark was my coach, attended Sales Boost and joined Conquer what used to be Conquer. I don't know what it's now, but without those three things that happened all at once. Literally I think this was January, I signed up for Conquer Sales Boost and had Pat as my coach. I probably wouldn't be having this conversation with you today. Because who knows what path I would've been down. I was on the path of destruction, of knowing only what I know, and that is the best way to do things. That is a completely different mindset from my thought process today. But grateful for that opportunity to, be coached by, one of the greatest in the industry is Pat Clark. And like I said, I went all into my business. I started hiring people, stopped doing everything myself. I got outta my way and made plenty of mistakes along the way. I'll tell you that, that's don't sit here and listen to this and think that he did it right the first time because that's not the case. I did have fun doing it and I do have plenty of things. I look back and I'm like, that was stupid. But the Christmas light thing, it was just. It was a perfect fit for me. I loved Christmas lights. I loved installing lights at my house. So it was an easy transition, had fun doing it. And I think I'm a little different than most business owners in the fact of how much I love Christmas lights. Like they call me Mr. Christmas because I'm. Always out there in a Christmas jacket, having fun. I love hiring people and getting the right team. We've had incredible success with hiring people throughout the years especially seasonal helpers. And we've able to scale our company up to $1.2 million. And I'll say that, let's just say we started in 2019. That's when I went full time. I think at that time I was like. $125,000. So to go from 1 25 and 19 to 1.2 in 2023. In a small area, we have about 350,000 population within an hour rate drive. So obviously we did things right and I'm not gonna say we did everything right, like I stated earlier, but we had fun doing it. We're able to grow it and been grateful to be able to share the story with a lot of other business owners out there's so that they can have success and fewer pains than I experienced, to be successful one, you need to be vulnerable. And listen and just get outta your way because sometimes we think we know everything. And that was May, 2018. Like I didn't wanna listen to anybody. I knew everything. And how quickly I realized I was wrong. And once I was able to stop getting in my way and start doing the things that other successful entrepreneurs already doing, that's when we really grew. And again. To get to seven figures as quickly as we did was a huge accomplishment, not just by myself. It was because of my team and I hired the right people and I didn't hold back from thinking, what if we don't get the jobs? What if the typical what if the economy's bad and if you, what if things you're gonna continue to hold yourself back from things you could be doing today. My best piece of advice for you is one, get the training. The training is so vital and if you've got the training, go get more training and then train again. I can't tell you how many times I've been to different training events. I've been a trainer for Christmas light companies. I've trained probably. I don't know, 700 different companies in group settings and one-on-one settings. And every time I go to a training to train people, I learn from them. Even if they're not currently installing lights, they've got great marketing methods and tactics out there, sales techniques. So there's always room for improvement no matter where you're at. So I definitely recommend get the training, hire the right people, waiting till the last minute to hire an admin, to hire a, installer technician, whatever you wanna call 'em, is the worst thing to do. You want to plan ahead, and I see this as a big struggle is that they wanna wait till November when they're busy. And that point, you're busy, you don't have time to train. I wanna project for future growth. And if you're thinking about doing lights, let's say. First year, $50,000. If you're second, third year, like two 50, $300,000 is awesome. I had one guy who I was able to coach one-on-one, and he did 200, I think it was $27,000 his first year, did install on lights, didn't start installing lights until November. That's not the case for everybody. He was in a wonderful market and had marketing dollars to spend, so it was an easy transition for him with his current business that he was in. So it worked out great for him. He learned a lot, made a lot of mistakes as well. But having those numbers for first years absolutely incredible. You gotta have fun doing this. This is not the. For everybody. It's very fast paced. We have roughly less than 90 days. Let's just say you start installing lights in sometime September, so you have September, October, November, part of December, and you have to be very efficient. You have to have crews that wanna work. You have to know your pricing or else you're gonna just completely run yourself into the ground and not be profitable. You'll be broke your first year. You need to make your clients happy. This is a very emotional transaction. Christmas lights is uniquely different compared to whatever you're doing right now, whether it's pressure washing, window cleaning, if you mess up a house, pressure washing. Sally, I apologize. We missed a spot in your house, and we'll be back tomorrow. Take care of that. No problem. We'll make everything happy. Great. Go back. Take care of that. No harm, no foul. If you mess up a Christmas light install, just think about that. They spent. Let's just say our average ticket's $2,000. They spend $2,000. They come home, it's Thursday night, it's six o'clock. It's dark out. They wanna do the big reveal. The kids are outside, the neighbor's, outside mom's on Facebook going Facebook Live, and she turns those lights on and it's just a big wha Wow. Some of the lights aren't working, some hanging down, whatever it is. You're not gonna get that client back, like you just ruined Christmas for them. You can come back and fix 'em. Yeah. And they'll probably still have a great Christmas, but the experience that you deliver to them just ruined their whole, Christmas light install experience that they probably never wanna work with you. So it's really important that you get it right the first time. And let's just talk about, how are we getting clients? And this is a big question we get asked. Most of you that are listening to this probably have a current business already home service, business whatever it is. So you already have. A database and that's there. You already paid for those leads. You got those leads, acquire those leads somehow. So we wanna start there, send out emails, send out text messages, send out voicemails. They're paid for. They're there. They know they can trust you and you want to introduce 'em to your new. Business opportunity or the business that you'll be doing you don't have to let 'em know what your first year of doing it. That's fine. Especially if you went and got training. If you've been trained, then you know you've got an understanding. So you're not the expert per se, but you are a professional and you know what you're doing. You likely already have the tools and equipment, ladders, trucks to be able to get there and be efficient. So let those customers know that this is so and so with X, Y, z, pressure washing, or roof cleaning or window cleaning. And we wanna talk to you about a brand new service that we're offering to our clients. And go through the steps. We have five great. Opportunities for you. We're gonna do a free in person estimate where we'll custom design the lights to hit fit your house and we'll custom cut those lights to fit every corner angle specifically for your home. Put 'em all on a timer so they'll come on and off and don't have to worry about unplugging those lights. At the end of the night, and we'll maintain those lights for you. If anything goes wrong, we'll be back within 24 to 48 hours and take care of that for no additional cost. And the best part about this is at the end of the season in January when it's nice and cold out, you can stay warm inside because our team will be out there to take down those lights and we're gonna storm 'em in our warehouse. So you don't have to worry about moving that box around five times throughout the year. Sounds great. There's a lot of pain points that homeowners or business owners hate hanging Christmas lights for. They hate untangling lights. They hate. Have to unplug the lights every night. 'cause they don't know about timers. They hate having to take down the lights in the wintertime when it's nice and cold out. They'd rather be inside where it's nice and warm. So we need to continually address those different things every single time we talk to a new prospect or a customer. Or if you're out at a networking event, tell people about this. You never know who is going to be a client. If you're out prospecting commercial clients and they don't want you for their business, guess what? There's a good chance they own a home and they have a need for Christmas lights. Or if you're dropping off some information to a commercial property, and if you didn't leave anything, you didn't follow up on an email they'll never know how to get ahold of you. But let's just say you marry. The gatekeeper you talked to, you followed up with an email and she remembers you, you smiled, you had a Christmas jacket on. She's not gonna use your services, but she knows who you are. And now Mary is talking to her friend Jan, who works at another company, says, I've been tasked to go find a Christmas like company. I don't know what to do. Let me tell you about X, Y, z, who was just here and dropped off this thing. Let me find his email. I'll send it over to you. So don't miss out on an opportunity to take advantage of. Speaking with people and leaving your information because you just never know. And again, it might be a no today, but things change. I've got one client commercial Christmas light client took me three years to get an estimate to her. I would go, she's no, we're not interested. Go, no, we're not interested. I finally, I go, she's like, all right. Let's just talk, come meet me and gimme a proposal. So I met her. They had Christmas lights installed by another client or another business in town. It was awful. Absolutely ferocious. Like it was an embarrassment to Christmas, but I didn't say that. I said, Hey, I just wanna talk to you about different opportunities for lighting. I know you're focusing right near on this one little entrance right here, and you've got this big, massive property. Like, why are we gonna focus on this one area when we could spread those lights out? She told me, gimme an estimate for $9,000. I gave her an estimate for 15 to $16,000. About two weeks later, I met with the owner who came up here. He drove about two hours and I walked through the property and gave him my vision. And while we're walking around, he is I wanna add lights here. And for the last six years we've been doing this property at $20,000. So a few things with this one, if I took no and never came back, six years, that's $120,000. Two, if I gave her the estimate for exactly what she asked for, which is $9,000, I would've lost out on $66,000 over the last six years. So don't ever take no as a no, just take it as a no today. But tomorrow's another opportunity. And when you're talking to clients and give them an estimate, especially on commercial. I don't care what their budget is, go above and beyond that because budgets can move or they can change the following year. I'd rather give 'em options they are excited about and have 'em say no to it now and add more to it later than limit my possibilities of them ever knowing what's possible to be able to install lights. So hopefully these few tips help you and can help create some success in your Christmas life business this year. There's plenty of opportunities to get out there right now. I don't think it's too late. I don't even think November 1st is too late. Depending on what you're trying to do for this season. If you wanna make a half a million dollars, you start November 1st, probably not gonna happen. But if you wanna get started, I've seen too many businesses business owners. I keep saying tomorrow or next year or next month, whatever it is, and it's always kick that can down the road. And the longer you wait the longer you're missing out on opportunities. And there's plenty of other businesses that are just executing today. If I had to do one thing today, I would start today. Get the name out there. Get the word out there to your current prospects, start networking with as many commercial clients as you can, and be the brand ambassador, like the brand that everybody recognizes in your town. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions. Feel free to reach out to me find me on social media, Facebook, Instagram, JC Chanowsky, and I'll be at the huge, if you're attending there, I'd love to talk to you and have an opportunity to learn more about you and your business. And we'll talk soon.

Summary On this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef dives deep into the most profitable yet overlooked strategy in the home service industry: customer retention. Featuring Daniel Dixon, CEO of SendJim and a 7-figure floor coating business owner, this episode is a goldmine for service providers who want to maximize revenue by focusing on their existing customer base.   Daniel Dixon, CEO of SendJim Website Mentioned Tools & Platforms SendJim – client retention and automation platform Jobber – CRM software for home service businesses Housecall Pro – home service software ServiceTitan – field service management software Zapier – automation tool Resources (Mentioned Every Time) The Huge Insider newsletter signup The Huge Insider podcast downloadable action guide The Foundations platform trial offer The Huge Mastermind info page Facebook Group Events The Huge Convention 2025 – August 20–22 in Nashville, TN Tickets: https://thehugeconvention.com/ Transcript Sid Graef: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. It's Sid Graef and the Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals striving to break the million dollar revenue mark. If that's you, you're definitely in the right place. We want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. So we've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven and eight figure business owners—people running companies that do anywhere from $2 million to $40 million a year and more. And we bring you their best insights, all focused on a single topic each month. These are real owners—not armchair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the folks quietly building empires behind the scenes. This month, we're focusing on the things you must do to get and keep happy, profitable clients. Things like quality control, reviews, referrals, and long-term retention. Today, the topic is long-term retention. Once you get a customer, how do you keep them forever? Today, you're going to hear from Daniel Dixon. Daniel has a 7-figure floor coating company. He's been in the carpet cleaning industry, and now, in addition to his service business, he’s the CEO of SendJim—a client retention automation and marketing platform. But the episode isn't about SendJim—it's about how to retain clients forever. We also have a downloadable action guide to help you with a retention plan. It’s available at https://www.thehugeinsider.com. Let’s get into it. Daniel Dixon: Hey everybody, this is Daniel Dixon, CEO of SendJim. Today I’m going to talk to you about customer retention. You’ve got these customers—now how do you keep them? How do you sell more to them? And why is this important? The reason is simple: customer retention generates the highest return on investment of any marketing strategy. Selling to existing clients is easier, cheaper, and far more profitable than acquiring new ones. Think about it: they already know you, like you, and trust your company. If you delivered a great experience, there's no reason they would go anywhere else—unless they forget about you. That’s why staying in touch is essential. Let’s say your cost per lead is $45 or more through Google Ads. Compare that with $1–$3 to follow up with an existing customer through a text, postcard, or voicemail. That’s a no-brainer. Daniel Dixon: Here’s how to retain customers: Increase Frequency – Get clients to use your service more often. If they hire you once a year, can they hire you twice or more? Upsell Services – Many customers only know you for the first service they bought. Tell them what else you do—pressure washing, roof cleaning, holiday lights, etc. Stay Top of Mind – Most customers forget your business name a month later. Use automated marketing like texts, emails, and postcards to stay in front of them. You can automate all of this using SendJim. We integrate with CRMs like Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, and anything connected via Zapier. For example, after a job is completed, SendJim can automatically send a thank-you postcard, then a reminder in three months, then a holiday message—all hands-free. If you’re not marketing to your current customers, you’re leaving the most profitable sales on the table. Check us out at https://www.sendjim.com. Hope this was helpful—keep working hard and crushing it. Sid Graef: So after hearing that, it’s pretty easy to understand—selling to your existing clients is the most valuable sale you can make. We’ve set up a 5-page action guide to walk you through building your retention plan. Download it at https://www.thehugeinsider.com. We’ve also got more ways to help you level up your business. Visit the website for: Two free podcasts: The Huge Insider and The Huge Transformation Show A weekly newsletter with actionable insights Our Facebook community And one I’m especially excited about—The Huge Convention, August 20–22 in Nashville. This is our last year in Nashville for a while. Prices go up June 1, so grab tickets now at https://thehugeconvention.com. And for business owners over $1M in revenue, check out The Huge Mastermind. If you want time and money freedom, we teach the Freedom Operating System to help you build a business that runs without you. Learn more at https://www.thehugemastermind.com/interest. That’s it for today. Please share the podcast, subscribe, and leave a review—it really helps us out. I'm Sid Graef. This is The Huge Insider. Go take action and we’ll see you next week.

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, Sid Graef takes you to the mountaintops of his hometown, Missoula, Montana, to frame today’s powerful topic: referrals. Sid shares how you can create a low-cost, high-conversion referral program by simply asking at the right times. From planting the seed during the initial call to reinforcing the ask after the job is done, Sid outlines a step-by-step strategy that took his business from just a few monthly referrals to 3–5 every week. Referrals bring in high-trust, price-flexible customers who are easier to close—making this free marketing method one of the most profitable strategies you can implement. Be sure to download the free action guide at www.thehugeinsider.com to start building your referral system today. Show Notes Resources Mentioned The Huge Insider Action Guide The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup Foundations Platform Trial Offer Huge Mastermind Info Page The Huge Convention Tickets The Huge Insider Facebook Group The Huge Transformations Podcast (Available at thehugeinsider.com) Transcript Sid Graef: Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. I’m Sid Graef, I’m your host, and this is the show for home service business builders who are trying to break the million-dollar mark. And here’s why: we’ve gathered a group of experts who run seven- and eight-figure businesses, businesses doing anywhere from $2 million a year to $40 million a year. We get their best wisdom, their best insights, their best advice, and we give it to you straight—undistilled, no fluff. Just, “Here it is. This is a tactic or strategy you can apply in your business today that will make your business stronger, better, more profitable tomorrow.” That’s why we put out the show—we want to help you grow steadily, quickly, profitably. So today’s topic is referrals. That’s pretty cool. I’m going to show you around, for those of you that are watching this. Right behind me—let me step out of the way—is my hometown: Missoula, Montana. Missoula is a small to medium-sized mountain town. It’s really beautiful here. There’s a river that runs right through it over here, and mountains surround us all the way around. The iconic “M” Mountain is here—it’s got the big “M” on it for the University of Montana. Over here is the “L”—it’s for Loyola High School, a private school. And then you’ve got neighborhoods and people living off in the woods like this. It’s absolutely stunning. Let me spin this a little bit more. Also, we’ve got a lot of wildflowers going on. I’m at the top of a place called Waterworks Hill. So, why do I tell you all that? Here’s why—because this is a part of our community, and no matter where you live, people form communities. You may have a small, tight-knit community, or you may live in a big city, maybe you’re in Minneapolis, but there are community pockets all around within larger metro areas. So that leads me to the topic of referrals. Here’s the thing—people, for as long as time has existed, want to do business with those they know, like, and trust. So how do you get people to know, like, and trust you? There are a lot of ways. Usually, it’s a handshake, eye contact, a great conversation, and doing something good for someone. That’s how you start a relationship and build trust. But in a digital age, how do you build trust quickly? One of the most powerful ways to build trust and gain new customers at literally no cost is referrals. People love to refer businesses they’ve had great experiences with. They talk about great restaurants, good movies, sporting events, cool people they’ve met. So the first part of gaining referrals is being worthy of being talked about. Do business in a way that is so good, people can’t ignore you—they want to talk about you. That’s the baseline for getting referrals. But here’s the catch: people don’t refer as often as they could, because you don’t ask them. If you want to build a deliberate, focused referral program, here’s what we do: Plant the seed when someone calls to schedule. We say: “Hey, are you aware of our Good Neighbor Discount? That means if you’ve got a neighbor who wants to have their windows cleaned on the same day, we’ll give you both a $10 discount. That usually saves you $50 a piece. Sound good?” Remind them in the confirmation message about the Good Neighbor Discount. At the door, when our team shows up, they say: “Mrs. Johnson, our goal today is to do such a great job that we earn your five-star review and you’ll want to tell your friends and family about us.” That’s watering the seed we planted. After the job is done, we ask them to inspect the work, collect payment, and say: “Remember when I said our goal was to earn your five-star review and your referral? How did we do? Did we earn it, or could we do better?” We ask them to leave a review online, and we text them a link to make it easy. We give them a referral card with a QR code and say: “If you’ve got friends or neighbors who would appreciate this service, please refer them. You can scan this or take a picture and send it to your friends or post it on Facebook.” We ask: “Is there anybody in particular that really needs our service?” When we instituted that program, we went from getting 3 or 4 referrals a month to about 3 to 5 referrals a week. And that’s free money—no extra marketing cost, just doing great work and asking. And here’s the beautiful thing about referrals: Referred customers come pre-installed with trust. They’re less price-sensitive. They have a higher closing rate. So referrals are some of the best new business you can get—low cost, high quality. Whatever you do after hearing this, sit down and work out a simple, focused referral ask program. After the service is done, we also: Send an email thanking them. Send a postcard thanking them. Send a coffee card and ask again for referrals. We continue asking in our email newsletter over the following months. Because we take the time to ask, we generate more referrals and more money. That’s it for today. So what did you learn about referrals? Did you learn something valuable you can apply today? I hope so. Make sure to download our four-page action plan that helps you set up a referral program in your business. You’ll gain more customers, gain more trust, expand your influence, and make more money. That’s the deal. If you got value out of today’s show, please share it, like it, subscribe, and refer us to your business friends who might benefit. And don’t forget to check out thehugeinsider.com. It’s got all our resources, including the free weekly newsletter, and our other podcast, The Huge Transformations Podcast—interviews and stories with eight-figure business builders. We’ll see you next time.

In part two of this series, host Sid Graef is back with Nick South from SoTellUs, diving deeper into how to maximize your reviews and turn them into powerful marketing tools that bring in higher-paying customers. Nick reveals that reviews are the most trusted form of content because they serve as word-of-mouth proof that your business delivers on its promises. In fact, companies with a 4.7 to 5.0-star rating can charge up to 31% more than lower-rated competitors. But it doesn’t stop at collecting reviews—you need to get them seen. Nick explains how SoTellUs helps businesses automate review sharing across websites, social media, SEO landing pages, and even your customers' personal networks—amplifying your reputation and reach. This episode highlights how review visibility = revenue growth. Be sure to grab the free downloadable action guide at www.thehugeinsider.com to start putting these strategies to work today.   Resources Mentioned The Huge Insider Action Guide The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup Foundations Platform Trial Offer Huge Mastermind Info Page The Huge Convention Tickets The Huge Insider Facebook Group Learn more about SoTellUs. We love and use them, and asked if they could hook you up with a special offer.  Get it here sotellus.com/huge-booyah-llc/   Transcript:   Sid Graef: Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. It’s Sid Graef here, and this is part two this week with our conversation with Nick South from SoTellUs, talking about the value of the review, how to maximize your reviews, and how to get more reviews. So today, I just asked him the question. I'm like, “Hey, you’ve got good reviews. How do you maximize those? What can you do with a review that is not obvious, and how do you do that?” So he shares some real wisdom, some insights, and some eye-opening ways you can utilize the reviews you’ve already got to really impact your business and make more money on the jobs that you’re doing. So with that, let’s dive in. Here’s Nick with SoTellUs. Nick South: Hey guys, Nick with SoTellUs again. So I wanted to talk about how to maximize your reviews to get higher-paying jobs. Okay, so the first thing I want you to think about is: if you get a ton of awesome, happy five-star reviews from your clients, but nobody gets to see them, what good is that doing for your business? I work with a ton of businesses, and a lot of people want to come in to get reviews. The biggest thing is they want reviews to help get found, push customers over the edge, attract new clients, and increase their online rankings on Google, their websites, and other places like that. And those are the real reasons to get reviews. It’s not just to get them to say, “Look how many reviews I’ve got.” It’s time to take those reviews and get them found. Because reviews are another form of content. But I’ll tell you why it’s the best form of content—because it’s not just something saying, “This is who we are or what we do,” or “Here’s some tips and tricks on these new things.” No, it’s literal social proof. It’s the most attractive content for a customer because it’s showing them that you are a person of your word, that you are able to fulfill the promises you give to your customers. And that’s what they want to see. You’re selling them the experience through another person’s word of mouth. That is insanely powerful. And just so you guys know, if you Google a stat, you’ll see that businesses that actually have up to a five-star rating are able to charge up to 31% more for their services compared to those who have four stars or lower. So a 4.7 to a 5.0-star rating is peak—that’s where you want to be at. And leveraging those reviews by putting them on different places is going to be dramatic for your online presence and reputation. Like for our system, what our system does is it automatically takes all reviews, puts them on your website, your social media sites. We even run SEO with them by giving every review its own landing page and backlinking them to your site. We use them to optimize your Google Business Profile in more ways than just one. And the biggest thing is getting your customer who just gave you that five-star review to instantly share it on all their different social media platforms by the click of a button. And not only do they share the review, but they’re also sharing an incentive or some kind of offer from your company. So all of their—on average—500 friends can literally see a word-of-mouth referral from their friend talking about your business with some form of incentive. Those are some easy ways to start maximizing reviews. It’s how we do it, and it has worked out phenomenal for over 8,000 businesses in 33 countries. So, hope you guys got something out of this, and I can’t wait to see you at The Huge. Sid Graef: So how cool is that? This is more ways that you can maximize the value of a review. So tomorrow, we’re going to be back with Nick, and he’s just going to give us a simple three-step process on how to get more reviews. Here’s the thing—The Huge Insider—we’re all about helping you win in the marketplace. We want to see you prosper and win in the marketplace, and we’ve got the free action guide that you can download about how to get more reviews. It’s available at thehugeinsider.com. There’s a whole bunch of other resources there like our Facebook community and the information about The Huge Convention coming up August 20th through 22nd in Nashville, and our Huge Mastermind. So download your action guide, dig in, apply the stuff that you’re learning, and we will see you next time.

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef sits down with Nick South, Director of Sales at SoTellUs, a review automation platform helping over 20,000 businesses in 50+ countries. Nick shares the game-changing truth that customers are willing to pay 31% more for companies with top-tier ratings (4.7–5.0 stars). But reviews only work if people see them. Nick explains how to strategically showcase your best reviews on your website, social media, and marketing channels to instantly build trust and credibility—turning social proof into higher-paying jobs. You’ll also hear about SoTellUs' tools to automate your review and referral collection process, saving you time while maximizing impact. This is Part 1 of a two-part series on leveraging reviews to grow your business. Be sure to grab the free downloadable action guide to help you implement this week's strategies at www.thehugeinsider.com. Show Notes Resources Mentioned The Huge Insider Action Guide https://www.thehugeinsider.com The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup https://thehugeconvention.com/insider Foundations Platform Trial Offer https://thehugeconvention.com/1foundationstrial Huge Mastermind Info Page https://www.thehugemastermind.com/interest The Huge Convention Tickets https://www.thehugeconvention.com The Huge Insider Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/hugefoundations SoTellUs (Review Automation Platform) https://sotellus.com/ Guest Information Nick South – Director of Sales at SoTellUs https://sotellus.com (No direct social links provided in the episode) Contact the Show Call or Leave a Voicemail (804) 600-4843 (Spells 804-600-HUGE) Transcript: Sid Graef: Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. It's Sid Graef here, and The Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals who are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark. If that's you, you're in the right place. Here’s the thing—we want to help you skip the BS, and there's plenty of it out there. We want you to skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners—people running companies that do anywhere from two million a year to forty million a year. And we bring you their best insights, all focused on a single topic each month. And these are real owners. These are the ones quietly building empires behind the scenes. This month, we're focusing on the things you must do to get and keep happy, profitable clients. These four things are quality control, reviews, referrals, and long-term retention. And today's topic is reviews. We’ve got several of the eight-figure business owners in our network that have great review processes, but they all have one thing in common—they rely heavily on automation software to get those reviews. So rather than have me or someone else talk to you about how we do our reviews, we've gotten in touch with Nick South, and he's the Director of Sales for SoTellUs. SoTellUs is a company dedicated to helping companies get more reviews and referrals. They're an automation software that handles that type of technology and a whole lot more. They’ve helped over 20,000 companies in over 50 countries to gain more reviews. So rather than me talking about my process, which is just my way of thinking about it, we’ve got the guys that obsess about millions of reviews every single day to share with you some insights on a simple process to get more reviews and the value of good reviews. So this is going to be a two-part series, and I want to introduce you to Nick South again. He's the Sales Director at SoTellUs. Let's hear from Nick. And last thing before we dive in—we’ve got a downloadable action guide for you, and it's available at thehugeinsider.com. Let’s get into it. Nick South: Hey guys, Nick with SoTellUs here again. Today, what I want to talk to you about is how to maximize your reviews to get higher-paying jobs. So now, when you get reviews and you collect them—let's say you're somebody right now who's sitting on, you know, 50 or 100 awesome five-star premium reviews from your clients—now, it's great that you have these reviews, but think about this: If nobody gets to see them, what good is that doing for you? Okay, so ponder on that a little bit because if nobody can see how many satisfied customers you’ve actually serviced, people don’t know how good you really are. So you need to find ways to maximize these by putting them in different places. Number one being your website. Every time somebody goes on your website, you should have something there that's going to get their attention—instantly build some trust. That’s what reviews will do. They'll catch their eye and, at the same time, build trust in their decision to work with you because they're going to see all of these happy customers that you've serviced in the past. There are tons of studies that show people with five-star ratings are able to charge even 31% more on jobs than those who have four stars or less. 4.7 to 5.0 is the best range you could possibly be in. And again, leveraging these reviews, putting them on your social medias, different pages on your website that are backlinking, things like that, because reviews and utilizing them—it’s just like utilizing content. But here’s the thing: everybody posts content, and it’s important—hey, it’s great—you need to post different things about who you are or what you’re doing. But what customers want to see the most is case studies, social proof, proving that you are able to do exactly what you say you can. Right? So aside from all the really cool and pretty posts and stuff like that you’re putting out there, customers want to know that you are trustworthy and that you do have other happy, satisfied customers. Okay? So those are easy ways to be able to leverage those reviews. Also, other ones would be like posting them onto your socials, tagging the customers, getting them on multiple pages. Now, think about that—about different ways you could do that. This is something that we help out with—leveraging them heavily across multiple places online. Obviously, we’d love to talk to you about it, but have a great day. Sid Graef: Okay, that’s Nick with SoTellUs, and that is one aspect of the value of having great reviews. If you've got great reviews, you can charge more for your services because people have more trust, and they will pay more for a trusted experience. Pretty cool, right? So how do you go about getting reviews? What’s your review process? You’ll learn more about the process of how to actually get reviews in tomorrow’s episode with Nick. In the meantime, download our five-page action guide that will help you execute this week's strategy. And that strategy is getting more reviews to make yourself really difficult to compete with. Get that action guide at thehugeinsider.com. And here’s the thing, man—if you’ve gotten value from this podcast, share it with your friends, post it online, give us a review, that kind of good stuff. It would really mean the world to us. Here are some other free resources and great resources for you as you level up your business: Number one is our free newsletter, it’s called The Huge Insider, and it’s available at—guess what—thehugeinsider.com. It’s weekly, it’s free, and it’s straight actionable insights directly to your inbox every single week. Next, we have our Facebook group and community, also available at thehugeinsider.com. Join our Facebook group, be a part of the conversation, ask questions to get help, help others when they need it. It’s a great community. And last is The Huge Convention. That is the ultimate event. It’s every year, it’s for home service business owners just like yourself. And this year, we’re back in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd. Tickets are dirt cheap right now, so grab yours at thehugeconvention.com before prices go up. And here’s the thing—the day I’m recording this, tickets are priced at $229, but June 1st, 2025, those tickets go up to $299. So if you’re thinking about going to the convention, go ahead and lock in your ticket now at a less expensive price and save a few bucks. You can thank me later, or you can just buy me a beer at the convention. That’d be cool. In the future, if you’ve got questions or you have topics that you would love to see handled, you can let us know literally by making a phone call. I know this seems kind of old school, but we like to hear people’s voices. Call us at (804) 600-4843. That spells 804-600-HUGE. Call us and leave us a message and say, “Hey, I would really love to hear this topic handled,” or if you’ve applied something you’ve learned and you have a victory story, you’ve got a big win, share it with us. We’ll feature you in the future. With that, don’t just listen—take action. I’m Sid Graef, this is The Huge Insider Podcast. We want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace. We will see you next time.    

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef dives deep into the critical topic of quality control—the first pillar in a four-part series on building happy, profitable client relationships. Speaking directly to home service pros and business owners scaling past the $1M mark, Sid breaks down how quality is not a fluke—it’s a system. He shares his proven framework used at Spectrum Window Cleaning, where performance-based pay, job ownership, and strategic incentives create a culture of accountability and pride. From smart hiring to random job site checks, Sid explains how aligning incentives with expectations leads to fewer callbacks, better reviews, and long-term client retention. If you’re ready to reduce chaos and scale responsibly, this episode is your blueprint. Show Notes Topics Covered: The 4 pillars of client happiness: Quality Control, Reviews, Referrals, and Retention Why quality control begins with hiring the right people Performance-based pay: benefits and pitfalls How job ownership prevents corner-cutting Spectrum’s 3-part quality system (Training, Ownership, Random Checks) How to align pay structures with performance standards Real-life incentives and consequences to drive better behavior The long-term impact of enforcing high standards   Mentioned Resources & Links: The Huge Insider newsletter signup Downloadable action guide Foundations platform trial offer The Huge Mastermind info page Facebook group for service pros 📍 The Huge Convention 2025 — Nashville, TN, August 20–22 🌐 Spectrum Window Cleaning (Business owned by Sid Graef – more at upcoming episodes)   Connect with Sid Graef: LinkedIn Facebook Group     Transcript: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, the huge insider is the show for home service professionals that are striving to break the million dollar revenue mark. If that's you, you're definitely in the right spot. If you're already over a million dollars in revenue, you get even more out of this show. So here's the thing, we really want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We have gathered. Wisdom and insight directly from seven and eight figure business owners, people that are running companies that do anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year. And we bring you the best insights every week, all focused on a single topic every month. Real owners, no, no opinions, just experience. So here's the thing. This month we're focusing on the things that you must do to get and keep happy, profitable clients. These four things are quality control. Reviews, referrals, and long-term retention. So today's topic is quality control. Might sound boring, but it's incredibly important. So today I get to share our processes and the core principles behind quality control. So last thing before we dive in, wanna remind you, we've got a downloadable action guide for you. It's [email protected] and I hope you download it and use it. So let's get into it. Quality control. If you've got a crew that's out doing window cleaning or pressure washing or whatever your business does, and you're not on every single job site, you're growing your company, then this episode is for you. Here's the deal. Quality control is not an accident, it's a process. It, here are the underlying principles for quality control. Number one is what gets measured, gets managed, and then number two is incentivize behavior that you want. And disincentivize behavior that you don't want. So if you don't build systems to ensure your quality, you end up with callbacks, bad reviews, lost clients, and honestly, that would be your fault, even if you're not the one holding the squeegee because you are the business owner and you're the one that sets the tone, the foundation, and the direction of your company. So here's the foundation of quality. It doesn't really start with a checklist or inspection. It starts with your people. The kind of people who care. So when you're hiring, you need people that have solid character. You need people that are coachable. You need people that have attention to detail, and you need people that have a personal standard for doing great work. If you instill a core behavior, like own your work or always go. The extra mile or take pride in your work, enforcing quality becomes way easier. It's not just about rules, it's about pride. But here's the kicker. Even if your team is full of good people, you still need systems because hope is not a strategy, and growth without systems leads to chaos. So I'm gonna walk you through how we do it. It. This is how we handle it at Spectrum Window cleaning. First, our techs are on performance based pay, so this can vary for you because maybe you pay hourly or some other way. But we pay performance based. That means our techs get a percentage of the job, regardless of how fast they finish the job. So let's say it's a thousand dollars job, they finish, they get $250. That motivates them to move fast. The faster they go, the more they can make. But here's the dark side of that speed. Can lead to a technician cutting corners so that they can get more done and get faster, make more money. If you don't address it, that will end up happening. It's. It's the kind of the natural course of things. So we built in ownership of the job. So when a technician's assigned to a job, they own it from start to finish, it is their job. They're responsible to show up on time to follow the customer service scripts, to clean to our standards. They're responsible to, at the end of the job, to walk the customer through the work, and they have to double check everything before leaving, and nobody comes behind them to inspect it. So how do we make sure they don't take shortcuts? We align the incentives. Here's the incentive and the way it works. If a tech gets a call back, they own that job, so they have to go back and fix it themselves. With no extra pay. That a thousand dollars job example, their $250, that's what they get, whether there's a touch up or not. So if they have to go back out and touch up, it's gonna cost them an extra 30 minutes to an hour, depending on drive time just to go and look. Plus the time it takes to do it. So it's more important for them. It's in their best interest to do it right the first time. And this is what we repeat over and over. It's like it's better for you to just take an extra 10 minutes to check your work before you leave than spend an hour going back for a touch up. So just double check your work. And here's another layer. If they get multiple callbacks in a short window of time, for example, if they get, if they got three callbacks in a single week, they're gonna drop a commission tier for 30 days. And that hits hard. It hits 'em in the paycheck. But it reinforces that quality is non-negotiable. Now here's a little bit more of our system. It's like a three-part quality system, and at the end of the day. W. We have quality control on three main levels. First is proper training in a strong culture fit. We try to hire the right type of person, but once we hire 'em, we train, we train, we train, we train, we train, we train 'em how to do the job correctly. We train 'em the technical skills. We train them with attention to detail. We teach 'em how to inspect their work, and we teach them how to take pride in their work. Number two is what I had mentioned just a little bit earlier. Job ownership from beginning to end. Every tech is the boss of their job. There's no babysitting, but that means they own that job and they're responsible for it from beginning to end. So if they get a call back a week later, 10 days later, it's, they're responsible to go back, touch up, rec, reclean, whatever it takes to handle that job. And number three, we do. Have random site checks, our production manager, our operations manager on occasion, will drop in without warning and inspect the work while the guys are there. Or after the technicians have already cleaned and left. And that keeps everybody sharp because it's like the random check at the airport, except it makes sense. Ha ha. As we wrap it up. Here's the thing, your customers don't care really how fast the job got done. They just want to know that it's done correctly. They want their windows clean. They want their house clean. They want their experience to be great. So if you want fewer callbacks and better reviews, and a team that performs like a pro. You've gotta design your business to reward great work and punish poor performance. If somebody does great work, they're gonna rise to the top. They're going to make more money, they're going to be rewarded for it. But if they don't perform well, it's like they're gonna lose time and money by going back to fix things, or they're gonna leave your company. And either way, it's fine because you are sorting and training and working to get a high performing team, high performing individuals that. Get rewarded for doing things right, and that is going to help you build a business that has a great reputation for quality, for responsibility, and that's gonna help you keep your customers long term. And so here's the deal. Incentivize what you want, disincentivize what you don't want. That's how you build a team and a reputation that you can be really, really proud of. Thanks for listening. Okay, so normally I have somebody else record the middle part. You know, that they share their insight once in a while, and I'm, I'm really excited I get to share some of the things that we do in our company to help it better and or to help it be better, to help us build a better business. So I always ask this question, what did you learn today? What did you learn about quality control as a system, as a principle, as a philosophy? And then what are you gonna do with it? Because, the more you build it in and prepare and just drive it home, that quality is key or paramount, the better quality you're gonna have. And here's the next step for you. I. Take action. We've got everything that was covered today is in the show notes. There's transcript, all that stuff. But the most important thing is every time we do a new weekly episode, we prepare a five page action guide for you and it's downloadable and it helps you execute the strategy. It gives you the bullet points and the how tos, and that's [email protected], so the huge insider.com. And while you're at the huge insider.com, downloading your action guide, there's more ways to level up your business and they're all there. One is sign up for a free newsletter if you haven't already done it. It gives you weekly insights straight to your inbox. They track pretty closely with this podcast. Two, you could join our Facebook group and community where we discuss, we help, we answer questions. Everyone in the group answers each other's questions, and we help build each other up. We help solve problems and. Help one another, build better businesses. The next thing is the huge convention. If you haven't been, let this Be Your Gear. Every year we have the ultimate event for home service business owners and pros. This year we're in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd. You can still get cheap tickets. And this event is where real breakthroughs happen. It is the place for networking for education. It's the biggest trade show in the industry for. Our industry in home service, and next is a huge mastermind. If you've got a company that's already pushing or doing more than a million in revenue every year, you got five employees or more, this is the fast track to a freedom business. You'll learn and implement the Freedom operating system to get to time and money freedom predictably and quickly in your company. So that's it for today. If you find value in this, if you like this short form. Podcast where we just get straight to the point and give you insight and actionable actionable insight. How's that? That you can apply to your business now that will make a difference, that will help you make more money, more profit, give you more time and money for your, if you like this, go ahead. Share it, post a review, whatever post on social media. But we really appreciate your time listening and we look forward to seeing you next time. 

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef shares a powerful and practical guide to running effective team meetings for service-based businesses. With firsthand insight from leading a seven-figure window cleaning company in Montana, Sid breaks down how structured weekly meetings drive alignment, productivity, and team culture. He admits to once avoiding meetings due to perceived cost—only to learn that skipping them cost far more in missed opportunities, confusion, and team disconnection. Sid outlines his company’s proven two-meeting system: the Monday “Money Meeting” that sets the week’s tone with wins, safety reminders, and upsell planning, and the Wednesday “Training Meeting” focused on team culture, soft skills, and leadership development. The episode is packed with real-world tips and frameworks that any business owner can immediately implement. If you’re trying to scale your service business and empower your team, this episode is a must-listen. Show Notes Resources (mentioned every episode): The Huge Insider newsletter The Huge Insider downloadable action guide Foundations platform trial Huge Mastermind info page Facebook Group References & Mentions: Nashville Huge Convention 2025: August 20–22,  Core behaviors discussed for April 2025: Be on time, leave it better for the next person, lift up teammates, take pride in your work       Transcript: Sid Graef: Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, it's Sid Graef here, and this is The Huge Insider, the show for home service professionals like you who are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark per year. And if that's you, you're definitely in the right place. If you're already over a million dollars of revenue, you'll get even more out of this show. We want to help you skip all the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners—people running companies that are currently doing anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year and more. We're bringing you the best insights all focused on a single topic each month. These are real owners—not armchair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the people quietly building empires behind the scenes. Generally, they're not on social media looking for attention. They're in business, making things happen. Last month, we focused on hiring A-players. This month, we’re answering the question: what do you do once you hire the right person—once you get that A-player? The topics we’ve covered week by week are onboarding, pay structure, training, and this week—it’s meetings. Weekly meetings. How to manage and handle a meeting that makes your team more productive. You’re about to hear from me. I know, that’s kind of weird. But I have a seven-figure window cleaning company in Western Montana, and I want to talk with you a little bit about the way we handle and manage meetings to make our company more productive. Before we dive in, the last thing I want to mention is we have a downloadable action guide for you. It’s available at www.thehugeinsider.com. And with that—let’s get into it. So, here’s the question: Why are team meetings important? What is especially important about doing team meetings for the home service industry? I’m going to start by admitting my mistake. For years, I thought team meetings were dumb—that they were an expensive waste of time. People should just know what to do, how to do it. We trained them. You give them the work tickets and let them run. I only saw team meetings as a cost—ten people in a meeting at $20 an hour for an hour. That’s $200 per meeting. So I avoided them. I rarely held team meetings, honestly, because I thought I was losing money. But the reality is, avoiding those meetings cost us money. It cost us time. We lost alignment. We lost momentum. We lost opportunities. Here’s the truth about team meetings: A well-run, structured team meeting is not an expense—it’s an investment. And it will pay you dividends every day and every week in your business. A good team meeting saves time and money. Let me drop in my personal opinion—most meetings in a corporate structure are probably a waste of time, or at least not efficient. But if you handle a meeting well, regularly, with a schedule, a structure, an agenda, and a clear purpose—it makes you money. It saves you time and money. Here’s what happens with a great team meeting: It aligns everyone around the company objectives. It refreshes your team’s energy and focus. It gets everyone rowing in the same direction—which multiplies your power. Here’s our meeting structure. This is how we do it. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right way—but it’s a way that we’ve found very effective. Hopefully, it can benefit you. We run two core meetings every single week—Monday morning and Wednesday morning. Monday morning, you could call it the “Money Meeting.” It’s 30 minutes long. Wednesday morning is the training meeting—also 30 minutes long. Both of these meetings are concise, consistent, and designed with a clear purpose in mind. Monday Morning “Money” Meeting We start at 7:30 a.m. That changes throughout the year—when we get longer days in the summer, we start earlier so people can get in the field earlier. But it’s 30 minutes long. Purpose: To set up the week for maximum production, safety, and opportunity. Structure: Start on time. Every time. Even if someone texts they’ll be late—we don’t wait. We reward the people who were on time by starting promptly. Share wins around the table. It’s Monday. People might not be morning people. But hearing everyone share a personal or professional win helps generate a positive energy. Safety Five. Five minutes of safety reminders—not full training, just a refresher. For example, we might go over water-fed pole usage or ladder safety. D.O.S. — Dangers, Opportunities, Strengths. Dangers: Production managers look at all jobs ahead and call out anything tricky. Each tech is responsible for their own jobs, but this is a second layer of prep. Opportunities: Every residential job has upsell, review, and referral potential. We also remind them to ask if we can place a lawn sign. Sometimes we call someone up to practice the script. Strengths: If time allows, we shout out individual strengths or performance highlights from the prior week. Wednesday “Training” Meeting Completely different focus. It’s not to review the week—it’s for culture, soft skills, and leadership development. Purpose: To reinforce culture, build soft skills, and train the team for excellence. Structure: Start on time. Team kudos. But not just from the leader—from the team. They’re encouraged to call out great behavior from their peers. Each month we focus on core behaviors. For example: Be on time Leave it better for the next person Always lift up teammates Take pride in your work Each week, we highlight one behavior and give real examples. Soft skills or philosophical training. This could include: Reviewing our three core scripts (initial greeting, upsell, review ask). Role playing how to handle a difficult customer. Planting the seed during the greeting so we can earn the review and referral at the end. What we’ve found is that these two meetings, especially the Monday meeting, get everyone out of the weekend mindset and focused on goals. It’s powerful when the entire team is aligned and working toward a common weekly target—revenue, reviews, or otherwise. The Wednesday meeting reinforces our behaviors, builds leadership, and sharpens soft skills. Each tech eventually leads parts of the meeting, which boosts their public speaking and small group leadership ability. It creates peer-to-peer accountability and recognition. Hidden Benefits of Weekly Meetings: For the company: Maintains alignment Removes confusion before it starts Builds culture and team unity Increases productivity Reduces waste and errors Accelerates monthly and quarterly goal achievement For the team: Builds pride and belonging Develops leadership and speaking skills Encourages peer-to-peer praise and accountability For the owner: Moves the company toward running without you Empowers team members to lead Reveals real leaders—and weaknesses early Frees up your energy and time Just having a meeting isn’t enough. A meeting for the sake of meeting is probably a waste. But when you prepare, structure it, and run it with purpose—it becomes a powerful tool. Just 30 minutes a week can build an aligned, energized, high-performing team. The ROI is hard to measure—but impossible to miss. So what did you learn about team meetings? More importantly—what are you going to do with it? How can you apply it in your business? Take action. Don’t just listen to this—or any—podcast and say, “That’s neat.” Apply it so your company improves. Grab the five-page action guide to help you implement this strategy at www.thehugeinsider.com. We also have a weekly newsletter you can sign up for at thehugeinsider.com. We’ve got a Facebook group, and every year we do our big event—The Huge Convention. This year we’re meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20–22, 2025. Get your tickets now at thehugeconvention.com. And if you’re doing over $1M or close, check out The Huge Mastermind. It’s the fast track to building a Freedom Business—where you go from operator to owner, using the Freedom Operating System. Thanks again for listening. If you got value from the show, share it! Post a review, tag us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok—wherever you’re active. It means the world. We’ll see you next time on The Huge Insider Podcast.  

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, Michael Kaplan breaks down how team meetings, when done right, can drive culture, mission alignment, communication, and motivation across an entire organization. Instead of boring status updates, great meetings reinforce your company’s purpose, deliver key information, cascade leadership messages, and celebrate success. You'll walk away with actionable tips on how to plan your meetings with purpose, inject energy into the room (think "Black Betty" as a hype song), and engage your team so they leave energized and informed. If you want your team rowing in the same direction—toward growth and excellence—this episode gives you the blueprint. Show Notes Guest Michael Kaplan Home service entrepreneur since 2006 Scaled a carpet cleaning business to over 150 employees and eight figures in revenue Resources Mentioned Downloadable Action Guide The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup Foundations Platform Free Trial The Huge Mastermind Info Page Facebook Group Huge Convention Tickets August 20–22, 2025, in Nashville, TN  Transcript Sid Graef: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, it's Sid Graef here, and the Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals that are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark. And if that's you, you're in the right place. If you're already over a million dollars in revenue, you will get even more out of this show. So we want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners, people who are running companies that do anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year, and we're bringing you their best insights, all focused on one single topic each month. And these are real owners. They're not armchair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the ones that are quietly building empires behind the scenes. They're not on social media looking for attention. They're in business actually making things happen. So last month we focused on hiring A-players, and this month we answered the question, what do you do once you hire the right person? You've got onboarding, pay structure, training, safety, and much more. And today's topic is team meetings and the value of team meetings. So you're about to hear from Michael Kaplan. Michael Kaplan built a strong eight-figure carpet cleaning business in the Midwest, and he knows about team meetings because they had over 150 employees and they had to get everyone on the same page week after week after week. So he goes into a lot of detail about what a good team meeting needs to be successful and why it's important. You know, most businesses treat team meetings as an afterthought or skip them altogether and just assume that everybody knows what to do and where they need to be. Last thing before we dive in, we've got a downloadable action guide for you for this episode, and it's available at thehugeinsider.com. So with that, let's dive into it. Michael Kaplan: Hello, podcasters. My name's Michael Kaplan. I've been a home service entrepreneur since 2006, and I drew the short straw. So I get to talk to you about team meetings, and actually, I'm a bit of a team meeting nerd, so maybe it's not a super short straw. But most people groan and hate the prospect of having a team meeting because most meetings suck. And no offense, your meetings probably suck. Mine have too, and I've got a couple of tips here to help you think through how to make your meetings suck less or maybe even accomplish a couple of goals. So think about the tone of the meeting as much as the content of the meeting. How you deliver the message matters almost as much as the message. And similarly important, think really hard about how much you're trying to accomplish. Less is more, and the risk of overextending is real, and you'll dilute the message if you do overextend. So you've got the full team there. How are you going to set the tone? I always think upbeat. Get people kind of rocking going into the meeting. Think, you know, Ram Jam, "Black Betty" — that's always been my go-to. Have a clear agenda and don't stuff it too full, but for me, a successful meeting's going to tick all these boxes: It's going to reinforce culture. It's going to cascade a message from the leadership team. It's going to reinforce the mission. It's going to transfer information. And it's going to celebrate success. So let me unpack those real quick. On reinforcing culture: you are not in front of your whole team every day, at least not in this manner. So fill their buckets, remind them their why, why they show up, why they love each other, what's great about the company, what's special. Like it might be feedback from a customer that you're relaying. There are any number of ways to do it, but really think about what you guys stand for and how you can transfer that throughout the meeting. You want to have a cascading message from the leadership team. I'm sure there are meetings that are happening behind the scenes where you're plotting your evil plan to take over the world, and this is your opportunity to peel back the curtain a little bit and let the minions and the people who aren't in those meetings understand more about what the big initiatives are, where the business is going, and to fire them up about it a little bit. Again, filling their buckets. So you're also reinforcing the mission. You're doing the vision casting. What's the hill, and how are we going to take it? And how everyone plays a role in taking over the market, in providing better service, or whatever the elements of that mission are. You're going to do quite literally a transfer of information. You've got an opportunity for the team to learn about the health of the company. You may or may not be a team that shows P&Ls or talks about those big milestones, but you want to pass information on so that the team leaves feeling more in the know about what's going on. And you've got to be sure and celebrate success. This can take any number of forms. It could be goals and milestones hit. It can be awards won. It can be profits made. It could be big sales landed. Another good way to do it is to play off the culture and the mission-vision-values approach. I love having team members vote on who on the team best exemplifies different core values that you have. If you have your core values published and you're celebrating them throughout the year, I think it's great before the meeting to have people anonymously vote on who's doing a great job at really living each of the values. Then whoever wins, have one of the people who voted for them tell a story about Rick and why Rick exemplified core value ABC. Coming from the team to the team is cultural gold. And then you can give a gift card and celebrate that success. I think team meetings don't have to be something you trudge through. They should be uplifting. And I think that success is going to feel like you had purposeful pacing, you transferred information, you highlighted and celebrated core values and culture, you celebrated success, you cast your vision, and everyone's walking away—or most people are walking away—with more clarity and a sense of community after the meeting. So it's not rocket surgery, but it does take some purposeful planning to execute. And you've got to make sure that the fun police are not present. You've got to keep it upbeat, keep it moving, and give people an opportunity to be excitable in spite of the fact that they're sitting through a meeting. Hopefully this helped and you have some awesome meetings moving forward. Keep rocking. Sid Graef: Okay, so what did you learn about team meetings? What did you learn about the value of team meetings and how to manage one properly to get people on the same page? Because really that's one of the key components of a great team meeting, is to have your team working together as a team to have unity, to have everyone rowing in the same direction. So what's the next step? First of all, download the action guide. Everything we covered today is in the show notes, but the most important thing is download the free action guide about this episode. We put together a five-page action guide to help you execute this week's strategy and the tactics for better team meetings. And you can grab it at thehugeinsider.com. And there are more ways for you to help level up your business. This podcast is just one way that we help you to grow, and here's what else you should be plugged into: Number one is our free newsletter. It's called The Huge Insider. Cool name, right? The Huge Insider. We deliver weekly insights straight to your inbox. Number two is our Facebook group and community. We've got a vibrant Facebook group where people are helping one another with questions, helping each other to grow. Then every summer we get together at one big fine party. We call it The Huge Convention. The Huge Convention is the ultimate event for home service business owners like you. This year we're back in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd, and this is the last year that we're going to be in Nashville, at least for a while. Tickets are really dirt cheap right now, so make sure and grab yours before the prices go up. Tickets can be found at thehugeconvention.com, and prices are going up on June 1st. This event, The Huge Convention, if you've never been, it really is the event where breakthroughs happen. It's the place for networking, for high-level, focused business education—like how to build a better business—and the biggest trade show for our industries in the country. The next thing I want to tell you about, really the last thing I'm going to tell you about is The Huge Mastermind. I mentioned earlier in the intro that this is the show for people that are striving to break the million-dollar mark in revenue. And if you're already over the million-dollar mark, you get even more from this show. But here's the thing: The Huge Mastermind is for business owners whose business is already over a million dollars of revenue. You've got more than five employees, and it is the fast track to a freedom business because you're going to learn and implement the Freedom Operating System to get to time and money freedom quickly and predictably. So that's it for this week's episode. If you find value in this, share it, like it, give us a review, do all that jazz, you know that. And with that, that's it for this week. So don't just listen. Take action. I'm Sid Graef. This is The Huge Insider Podcast, and we want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace. I'll see you next time.  

In this episode of the Huge Transformations Podcast, Liz Trotter flips the script on traditional onboarding. Forget stuffing forms into Day One—real onboarding is about connection, clarity, and belonging. Liz walks us through how onboarding should begin the moment the offer is accepted—not the moment they walk through the door. From sending pre-start welcome kits to scheduling intentional one-on-ones, this is the people-first playbook for retaining great hires from day one. If you're tired of the revolving door of new hires or want a smoother, more human onboarding system, this episode is your roadmap. What You’ll Learn: Why onboarding starts before Day One The emotional goal of onboarding: connection + clarity What to send before their first shift to reduce anxiety How to create a first-day experience that builds loyalty What kind of conversations to have in week one to build trust Pro Tip: Onboarding isn’t a checklist—it’s how you bring people into the soul of your business. Downloadable Action Guide The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup Foundations Platform Free Trial The Huge Mastermind Info Page Facebook Group Huge Convention Tickets August 20–22, 2025, in Nashville, TN Transcript Sid Graef: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, Sid Graef here, and The Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals that are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark. And if that's you, you're definitely in the right place. If you're already above a million dollars, you're going to get even more out of the show. So we want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners—people who are running companies that do anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year. We bring you their best insights, all focused on a single topic each month. These are real business owners. They're the ones actually quietly building empires behind the scenes, so they're in business making things happen. Now, last month we focused on hiring A-players, and this month we answer the question: what do you do once you hire the right person? The first thing you do is you onboard them. And not just with a list of tasks and forms to sign, but by embedding them into the soul of your company culture. That’s exactly what today’s guest, Liz Trotter, is here to teach us. Liz is a true business rockstar with several seven-figure businesses. She owns them—she's not running the day-to-day. So anytime Liz speaks, I listen carefully and take notes. In this episode, she’s going to walk us through not only an onboarding checklist but also a deeper onboarding philosophy. Let’s dig in, and remember, there’s a downloadable action guide for this episode at thehugeinsider.com. Liz Trotter: Hey all, Liz here. I want to talk to you a little bit about onboarding today. The idea behind onboarding might be a little different than what you're used to. Most people think onboarding is just what you do on day one—uniforms, legal forms, job description talks. And sure, you need to do that stuff, but that’s not onboarding for success. Onboarding should start the minute someone accepts your job offer. You want to begin embedding them into your company culture before they ever walk in the door. That might look like sending them a job description, expectations for behavior, and even a "favorites list" to help you connect on a personal level. Clarity reduces anxiety, so the more prepared and informed your new hire feels, the better they’ll perform. Let them know how success is measured in the role—even if it’s just a brief overview. You can dive into details later, but start with transparency. Day one should include a warm welcome. Whether it’s a welcome kit with their name on it, a Slack introduction, or a name up on the board, make sure they feel like they belong. Introduce them to the team, and start giving them context around how their work contributes to your company’s big-picture mission. Schedule one-on-ones early and often. Reduce the anxiety of the unknown by telling them what to expect in those meetings. And when mistakes happen, focus them on the future. Show them that the best is yet to come. If you follow this onboarding approach, you won't just gain a new employee—you’ll nurture loyalty, performance, and a sense of purpose right from the start. Sid Graef: Okay, so what did you learn about onboarding? More importantly, what are you going to do with it? The action guide simplifies this whole process and is ready for you to download at thehugeinsider.com. As always, subscribe to our free newsletter, The Huge Insider, for weekly insights. Join the Facebook community, and grab your tickets for The Huge Convention, happening August 20th through 22nd in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the last time we’ll be in Nashville for a while, and prices go up on June 1st, so don’t wait. Get them at thehugeconvention.com. If your business is already doing over a million dollars in revenue and you have more than five employees, check out The Huge Mastermind. It’s the fast track to a freedom business. You’ll learn the Freedom Operating System and finally build a business that works for you—not the other way around. That’s it for this week. I'm Sid Graef. This is The Huge Insider Podcast. Share it, review it, tell someone about it—and above all, take action. We'll see you next time.    

Safety training isn’t box‑checking—it’s profit, people, and peace of mind. Host Sid Graef interviews Sheila Smeltzer (President, A+ Pro Services and former IWCA president) about building a bullet‑proof safety culture for home‑service firms. Sheila explains why OSHA 1910 rules matter, how a single four‑foot drop can cost six‑figure fines, and why ladder incidents alone send 200,000+ workers to the ER every year. Her framework is simple: Know the law. OSHA 1910 Subpart D (walking‑working surfaces) and Subpart I (PPE) govern most field work. Use qualified trainers. Hire or outsource a qualified person who can certify employees and document everything. Systemize it. Flag hazards in your CRM (e.g., ServiceTitan), create written Job Hazard Analyses and Safety Work Plans, and re‑train annually. Document or it didn’t happen. Clear, signed records slash liability and keep crews—and profits—intact. The takeaway: a documented, repeatable safety program protects lives and margins better than any marketing hack. Show Notes Guest – Sheila Smeltzer, President, A+ Pro Services (window cleaning & exterior maintenance, NC) – https://aplusproservices.com/ A+ Pro Serivces | (910)-754-2263 Host – Sid Graef, Huge Insider Podcast – https://thehugeinsider.com References & Links Mentioned OSHA 1910 General Industry Standards – https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910 Subpart D – Walking‑Working Surfaces – https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910SubpartD Subpart I – Personal Protective Equipment – https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910SubpartI International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA)  Power Washers of North America (PWNA) Expert Safety Services / Safety Advocate App ServiceTitan field‑service CRM Call‑in line to share your story – (804) 600‑4843 Resources The Huge Insider newsletter signup The Huge Insider podcast downloadable action guide Foundations platform 1‑month trial The Huge Mastermind info Huge Foundations Facebook group Transcript SID GRAEF: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, it’s Sid Graef here. The Huge Insider is the show for home‑service professionals who are striving to break the million‑dollar revenue mark. If that’s you, you’re in the right place, and if you’re already over a million dollars of revenue, congratulations—you’re going to get even more out of this show. We want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. That’s why we’ve gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven‑ and eight‑figure business owners—people running companies that do anywhere from $2 million a year to $40 million a year—and we’re bringing you the best insights. It’s all focused on one topic each month, and these are real owners. There are no arm‑chair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the people quietly building empires behind the scenes; they’re not on social media looking for attention—they’re in business making things happen. Last month we focused on hiring A‑players. You can’t build your dream without people, so you’ve got to have the right people. This month we answer the question, What do you do once you hire the right person?—on‑boarding, pay structure, training, and more. And today’s topic is safety training. You’re about to hear from Sheila Smeltzer. She owns a thriving window‑cleaning business in North Carolina and has been the president of the IWCA—the International Window Cleaning Association. She goes into a lot of detail today about what safety training needs to be successful. And it’s funny, because most service businesses treat safety training as an afterthought. They make jokes like, “Just be careful—if you fall, you’re going to be fired before you hit the ground.” Safety’s not a joke; it requires planning, diligence, and repetition so that you can keep your people safe, because there really is no window that needs to be cleaned or Christmas light that needs to be hung that’s worth having someone on your team—or yourself—get badly injured or killed. Sheila’s going to dive into it. Before we do, we’ve got a downloadable action guide for you, and it’s available at The Huge Insider. As always, I’m thankful that you’re here. Get ready to learn from Sheila Smeltzer—let’s get into it. SHEILA SMELTZER: Hey everyone, this is Sheila Smeltzer, today’s contributor to the Huge Transformation Podcast, and we are talking about a not‑so‑fun topic today, but something that is absolutely crucial to protecting the liability of your company—safety: safety standards, training, and certifications. Now, this topic is near and dear to my heart. I have served on the board of directors for the International Window Cleaning Association—I’m the immediate past president—and in the window‑cleaning industry we’re working at height, so safety is one of the primary training objectives of an organization like the IWCA. If you’re in pressure washing, the same goes for the PWNA—the Power Washers of North America. There’s training you can receive that is specific to that industry. I’m sure in the lighting industry, where you’re dealing with electrical, you have organizations—whether formal or not—that deal specifically with safety training. So it’s very important, number one, that you tap into the resources you have available. But I want to come to you straight from OSHA 1910, General Industry. OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, so they’re the holy grail; they enforce safety standards across companies like ours. We have to know them and implement systems, procedures, and training so we follow those standards. Within OSHA 1910 there are two parts most of us need to know: Subpart D (walking‑working surfaces) and Subpart I (personal protective equipment). Subpart D covers ladders, manholes, stairways, scaffolding, and rope‑descent systems; Subpart I covers PPE—eye and face, respiratory, head, foot, electrical, hand protection—and some fall protection. Let’s zoom in on walking‑working surfaces. The general rule is that if you can fall more than four feet, you’re in a fall zone. That rule applies to all industries. On a six‑foot step‑ladder, you’re not supposed to stand above the fourth rung—that’s your four‑foot fall zone. Ladder safety alone accounts for about 20 percent of fatal and lost‑work‑day injuries, more than 200,000 cases and roughly 345 fatalities a year. Training must be done by a qualified person—defined by OSHA as someone with a recognized degree, certificate, or extensive knowledge who has proven the ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the work. If nobody inside your company meets that definition, you need to hire or outsource one. Community colleges, trade schools, local builders’ associations—all are good places to find certified instructors. The second big piece is documentation. If it isn’t documented, it never happened. Should OSHA investigate after an accident and you can’t produce training records, the fines can hit $60‑70 thousand per citation. Once you have training and documentation handled, the next step is procedure. Build standard operating procedures into every job: During bidding or site assessment, identify hazards (uneven ground, roof access, power lines, etc.) and tag the job in your CRM—ServiceTitan lets us add a JHA tag. For every tagged job, create a Safety Work Plan that spells out how hazards will be mitigated. Example: first‑man‑up ladder transfer, spotter in place, stay six feet from the roof edge while cleaning. Train on the SOPs, measure compliance, and revisit annually. There are great software platforms—Safety Advocate by Mike Draper is one—to help with videos, checklists, and documentation. I could go deep on safety—we could do a whole series—but for today I’ll say this: start small, get trained, document everything, and weave safety into daily operations. If you ever have questions, look me up online; I’m everywhere. Everybody be safe, and thanks for listening. Bye‑bye. SID GRAEF: Wow—okay. So what did you learn today about safety training, and more importantly, what are you going to do with it? Remember to download the action guide; it has all the basics for building a safety program. Lean on your associations; use AI to summarize; then implement so you can keep your people safe and protect yourself from liability. Here are more ways to level up your business: Podcasts. Besides this show, check out The Huge Transformation Show for inspirational interviews. Free newsletter. The Huge Insider Weekly Insights hits your inbox every week. Facebook group. Join thousands of owners helping owners. Huge Convention. August 20‑22 in Nashville—tickets at thehugeconvention.com (prices rise May 1). Huge Mastermind. For $1 million‑plus companies with 5+ employees—details on the Freedom Path at thehugeconvention.com. Got a big win or a painful lesson? Call 804‑600‑4843 and leave a message; we may feature your story. Don’t just listen—take action. I’m Sid Graef; this is the Huge Insider Podcast. We want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace, and we’ll see you next time.