The Home Service Expert Podcast

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com David Bach is a ten-time New York Times bestselling author and the man behind The Automatic Millionaire. In this episode, David and Tommy break down why $3,000 a year saved from age 15 to 19 beats saving from 27 to 65, the one hour a day rule for retiring a millionaire, why a tech making $250,000 can still be broke, why owners should buy the building their business is in, and David's idea for a flat tax on IRA accounts. Get The Automatic Millionaire, 20th Anniversary Edition ⟶ https://davidbach.com -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 01:37 - The Number One Rule: Pay Yourself First 03:17 - Save One Hour Of Pay A Day 03:57 - How 565,000 People Became 401(k) Millionaires 06:46 - The Myth About Investing Aggressively When You're Young 07:32 - Tommy's Roth IRA At 16 08:56 - What $20 A Day Becomes 10:06 - The $27.40 A Day Leak 13:38 - The Corvette Ride That Started It 16:19 - Born To Spend Or Born To Budget 18:15 - A Lesson At McDonald's At Age Seven 24:10 - Homeowners Are Worth 40 Times More Than Renters 27:31 - Why A Garage Door Is Worth Financing 28:29 - Buy The Building Your Business Is In 30:04 - Wealthy But Not Free 31:49 - Why High Earners Start To Resent Their Jobs 32:49 - Making $250K With Nothing Saved 35:25 - The Chart: Start At 15, 19 Or 27 39:33 - Why David Holds Zero Private Equity 41:07 - The Advice He Wishes He Had At 20 45:01 - Batteries Included People 48:11 - $46 Trillion Sitting In Retirement Accounts 50:42 - The IRA Flat Tax Idea 58:37 - Social Security In 2033 1:00:48 - Why The Trades Aren't Going Away 1:01:40 - The Barber Who Saved 75% Of His Income 1:04:55 - What Money Taught David About Himself 1:08:10 - Discipline And Non-Negotiables 1:18:05 - What People Said At His Father's Funeral 1:25:00 - The 20th Anniversary Edition 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Dan Kuschell grew up on welfare in Detroit, built a direct mail company to $1 million in its first year at 22, and now helps home service companies grow through Breakthrough3X. In this episode, Dan and Tommy break down the one message method, why "know, like and trust" is the wrong model, the five pillars Dan found across 5,000 companies, how to ask for introductions instead of referrals, and the family photo mailer Tommy sent to 3,000 neighbors. Get Dan's free gift package for home service owners ⟶ https://breakthrough3x.com/tommymello Growth to Freedom Podcast ⟶ https://www.growthtofreedom.com/ -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 03:23 - From Welfare In Detroit To A Million Dollar Mail Business 05:05 - The Coach Who Blackballed Him And The Mailer That Fixed It 10:04 - 34,000 Leads A Month And Why Recruiting Comes First 14:44 - A 1 In 500 Surgery Two Weeks After His Son Was Born 16:19 - The Questions That Rebuilt His Life 18:49 - Tommy's Grandmother And The Good Hours 24:18 - The Question That Took Six Weeks To Answer 27:33 - When Being A Man Of Your Word Holds You Back 31:20 - Could You Take 30 Days Off Your Business 34:17 - The One Message Method 39:06 - Five Pillars Found Across 5,000 Companies 42:36 - Why Know, Like And Trust Is Wrong 45:01 - One Post A Week And $5 A Day 46:00 - Agencies That Own Your Website And Ad Accounts 48:28 - Answer Every Lead In A Minute Or Less 52:39 - Why Hiring Ads Bring In Customers 55:35 - Be The Chairman, Not The Technician 1:00:14 - Is Branding A Waste Under $20 Million 1:02:34 - Partner Gifts That Create Referrals 1:08:44 - The Truck That Does Everything And Stands For Nothing 1:09:27 - Fix Your Pricing First 1:13:22 - Stop Asking For Referrals, Ask For This 1:17:28 - A Family Photo Mailed To 3,000 Neighbors 1:20:55 - Where To Find Dan 1:25:38 - Two Books That Shaped Dan 1:26:57 - Play A Bigger Game 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Dr. Robert Cialdini wrote Influence, the book behind almost every sales training a home service tech has ever sat through. In his second visit with Tommy he goes past the seven principles into the smallest changes that move the biggest numbers: the two words a restaurant added to its booking call that cut no-shows 62%, the one question that took Boy Scout popcorn sales from 15% to 52%, why "967 reviewers" beats "967 reviews," the number one rule of sales every trainer teaches backwards, and the $75,000 envelope Charlie Munger mailed him for a single chapter. Then Tommy puts him on the spot with two live persuasion role-plays. Learn more from Dr. Cialdini and the Cialdini Institute: https://cialdini.com Influence Unleashed, December 5 and 6 in Tempe, 75 seats, $500 off with code A1GARAGE -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:53 - 75 seats in December 03:16 - Who Robert Cialdini is 04:29 - You already paid for this research 05:44 - What ethical influence actually is 07:17 - The seventh principle: unity 08:01 - The couples study and the word "we" 12:54 - Two words that cut no-shows 62% 14:20 - Chris Voss and getting to "no" 15:00 - The Boy Scout popcorn question 16:35 - Social proof and the McFlurry 18:54 - Say reviewers, not reviews 19:38 - Authority: who vouches for you 21:00 - The number one rule of sales 22:22 - A welcome line that lifts conversions 23:42 - Scarcity done honestly 24:52 - Advice to young Robert 26:40 - Put them in the boat with you 28:19 - Ask for advice, not opinions 29:43 - The $75,000 envelope from Charlie Munger 32:44 - Two mints and a 23% tip 34:16 - Give first, before they decide 37:41 - Why 89% beats 90% 40:06 - Warren Buffett's letters and honesty first 42:37 - "You're worth it" 45:12 - Pre-Suasion: the moment before the message 48:39 - Live role-play: talk me out of your book 50:17 - Building a following the ethical way 51:59 - Rapid fire 54:14 - Charlie Munger on why wealth matters 57:39 - Tommy makes it right with a customer 59:46 - What changed his mind, and what's next 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Zac Garside spent eight years training CSRs before he noticed the most profitable channel in home service was the one nobody used: the customer list. Now his agency Send It runs email for some of the biggest contractors in the country, including A1. In this episode Zac and Tommy break down why contractors rebuy customers they already paid for, the one-email-a-week plan any company can run tomorrow, the Will/Won't research framework that tells you what homeowners are really afraid of, and why two CSRs with identical scripts book at completely different rates. Get Zac's free swipe file of 20 top-performing campaigns: https://withsendit.com/expert -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:46 - From training CSRs to running email 01:58 - Booking jobs the week you need them 02:54 - How to stay out of the spam folder 04:45 - The subject line has one job 06:35 - The 6x in 60 days guarantee 07:40 - Open estimates first, then members 10:36 - Homeowners read email. Owners don't 13:03 - Email, SMS and direct mail 14:09 - It has to come from a friend 15:54 - Tommy's neighbor letter and $225,000 20:44 - What a good open rate looks like 24:49 - The next wave: personalization 29:31 - The two-year spring campaign 34:31 - Broadcasts, campaigns and automations 37:27 - "You're never talking to them again?" 44:20 - Starting from scratch 45:23 - One email a week, four segments 49:26 - The Will/Won't research framework 52:53 - Same script, 90% vs 50% 55:58 - Making customers feel something 1:00:41 - The easiest ROI in home service 1:03:40 - One piece of advice: trust 1:06:00 - Free swipe file and where to find Zac 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Revenue is everywhere in home service right now. Profit is not. Tommy sits down with his mentor Al Levi, author of The 7-Power Contractor, and Jim Leslie, president of Home Service Freedom, to break down why: the hiring excuse every contractor uses ("nobody wants to work") and the answer Jim gives back, what a lost tech really costs, the five things of staffing, why you should triple your pricing, why the owner who is the best CSR, dispatcher and tech is the ceiling on his own company, the zero-or-two cranes rule for your org chart, and the listening tour every owner should take this week. Al is retiring at the end of the year. His last small-room session is at Freedom 2026: Monday, October 26, 6 PM, Mandalay Bay. Use code ALFREEDOM at freedomevent.com to unlock a seat in the room with Al and Jim. Home Service Freedom: https://homeservicefreedom.com | The 7-Power Contractor: https://7powercontractor.com -- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 -- 00:00 - Introduction 00:50 - Al, Jim and Freedom 2026 02:03 - Revenue for vanity, profit for sanity 03:49 - Put your pricing online 05:50 - Three kinds of testimonials 06:38 - Lead times and the boom-bust cycle 11:19 - The five things of staffing 11:32 - What a lost tech really costs 12:35 - Al's last room at Freedom 15:00 - The empty truck in your yard 15:44 - Stand on the bridge 16:39 - Triple your pricing 17:51 - Fighting commoditization 22:15 - Would you send me to your mom's house 25:29 - They just don't want to work for you 27:22 - The best CSR, dispatcher and tech 28:15 - Zero cranes or two 30:09 - The five-year org chart trap 32:26 - Burning tokens on technology 35:33 - There is no silver bullet 40:40 - What your accountant should say 42:24 - $2.6 million to the bottom line 46:54 - The listening tour 50:04 - Al's three-month notice 55:57 - One thing to do this week 59:45 - The room at Freedom 🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://freedomevent.com Check Out My Social Media: Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/ Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/