520. Are We Sending The Correct Message To Our Applicants w Hugh Gallagher
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Release Date: 04/21/2021
AI Employee: How Home Service Businesses Are Scaling Without More Staff
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
AI is no longer just automation or chatbots. It’s becoming a real employee for service businesses. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, recorded live at AHR Expo 2026, Tersh Blissett sits down with Dennis Steele, co-founder of Podium, to talk about the rise of AI agents and how they’re transforming HVAC and plumbing companies. From answering calls and booking jobs to handling angry customers and following up on estimates, AI agents are beginning to perform real work that previously required multiple team members. Dennis shares how Podium started by helping contractors get more...
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The Future of Marketing for Home Service Businesses
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Marketing for home service businesses is evolving faster than ever. Rising lead costs, private equity competition, new AI-driven ad platforms, and changing consumer behavior are forcing contractors to rethink how they attract customers. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett sits down with Justin Riley, founder of UpFrog, to talk about what the future of marketing really looks like for HVAC, plumbing, and other home service companies. If you want to understand where marketing for home service businesses is heading and how to stay competitive in the years ahead, this...
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How Dual Fuel Heat Pumps Are Changing the Game for HVAC Contractors
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Electrification is accelerating across North America. Rebates are expanding. Regulations are tightening. And HVAC contractors are being asked to deliver higher efficiency, lower emissions, and better comfort all at the same time. So where does dual fuel fit in? In this episode of Service Business Mastery, recorded live at AHR Expo, Tersh Blissett sits down with Matt Schlegel and Charles Hurd to break down how dual fuel heat pumps are becoming a powerful solution for commercial and residential contractors. If you’re trying to navigate electrification, cold climate performance, rebate...
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How HVAC Contractors Are Making More Money with Duct Sealing Technology
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Most HVAC contractors focus on equipment upgrades, but one of the biggest opportunities for better installs and higher profit is hiding in the ductwork. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, recorded live at AHR 2026 in Las Vegas, Tersh Blissett sits down with Jarrod Scott from Aeroseal to explain how duct sealing from the inside works, why it is different from traditional mastic and tape, and how contractors can use it to improve comfort, increase system efficiency, reduce callbacks, and create a real competitive advantage. They also discuss commercial and multifamily applications,...
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How Service Businesses Can Use AI to Convert More Leads
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
AI is moving faster than most service businesses can keep up with. Voice agents. Text automation. Follow-up systems. AI sales emails. Predictive messaging. But here’s the real question: How do you use AI to convert more leads without losing the human touch? In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett and Joshua Crouch sit down with Ryan Fenn, CEO at CHIIRP, to break down what’s actually working in AI-driven lead conversion right now. They dive into: Why speed to lead still wins (and why seconds matter) How one word in your follow-up could be killing 90 percent of your...
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Scaling Your Home Service Business with Jen McKee
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Scaling a home service business is not just about running more ads or getting more leads. It is about building a real company with the right marketing strategy, the right people, and a presence that customers trust. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett sits down with Jen McKee, founder of Kee Hart Marketing, to break down what it really takes to grow and scale in today’s market. Jen shares why video is now one of the most overlooked opportunities in home services, how Google is indexing videos across platforms, and why contractors must stop treating social media like...
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Why AI Won’t Replace Your Leadership Skills in the Trades
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
AI is transforming home services. It is changing dispatching, marketing, scheduling, follow-ups, and even customer communication. But there is one thing AI still cannot do. Build a real team. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett and Joshua Crouch sit down with Scott Stolze, from GrwX Labs, to break down the human side of leadership and communication. These are the skills that separate average service businesses from elite ones. You’ll learn why authenticity is becoming the new competitive advantage, why leaders must create psychological safety, why quiet technicians...
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Why Contractors Who Don’t Own Their Customer List Will Lose
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Contractors who do not own their customer list will lose. As AI, search, and digital platforms continue to change, relying on Google, ads, or third party platforms puts your business at risk. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, we break down why owning your customer list is no longer optional for contractors and service business owners who want to survive and scale in the next decade. Joshua Crouch and Tersh Blissett sit down with , founder of , to explain how contractors can protect their business by building direct relationships with their audience, increasing client loyalty, and...
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How Contractors Can Automate Their Business Without Losing Control
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
In this episode of the Service Business Mastery Podcast, host Tersh Blissett sits down with Ari Meisel, Founder of Less Doing and creator of the Optimize, Automate, Outsource framework. Ari is a globally recognized expert in business automation, productivity systems, and operational efficiency, with deep hands-on experience in the construction and skilled trades. Ari shares how extreme burnout and a Crohn’s disease diagnosis forced him to redesign how he worked, leading to a system that allowed him to reclaim time, reduce stress, and build a business that runs without constant owner...
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What Homeowners Actually Want From Contractors
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
If you’re in the skilled trades like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or any service where the phone rings with “Hey, my system isn’t working,” this episode of SBM, “What Homeowners Actually Want” with Zachary Dearing, co-founder of Mantel, breaks down real homeowner insights pulled directly from Mantel’s survey data. The conversation translates the findings of the Mantel's survey "Homeowner Shopping Attitudes Report 2025" (https://www.usemantel.com/survey) into practical takeaways, making it a cheat sheet into how homeowners think, choose, and spend. Here’s why you should listen,...
info_outlineTersh talks with Hugh Gallagher of The Gallagher Search Group about hiring do's and don't's when it comes to finding new employees!
Today's market is one of extreme uncertainty when it comes to hiring new employees! We have always had to battle the competitors within our industry, but now we are battling the extremely high-paying unemployment department as well. Tersh and Hugh talk about what it takes to get and retain the most qualified individuals for our team. Tersh shares his hiring practices and some of the ways he has found success when hiring.
Here is a little about Hugh and his team over at The Gallagher Search Group...
The Gallagher Search Group, Inc is a Recruiting and Consulting firm based in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. We have two goals: to help our clients improve their own recruitment function in order to minimize the need to enlist third-party recruiters for assistance and to deliver the very best talent at an affordable price when your in-house efforts aren’t generating the talent you seek. In order to achieve this, we act as a true partner to your organization. We have the same goal, make YOUR recruitment function the very best it can be. We do this through our unique service offerings which focus on improving your organization’s ability to recruit and retain talent.
Call us to schedule a free consultation to determine what custom service would work best for your organization.
Our services include:
On-Site Consulting - Our on-site corporate recruitment training program for your recruiting team and hiring managers. Learn how to effectively recruit from the best in the area!! We have half-day, full-day, week-long, and longer-term on-site programs available to fit your needs.
Recruitment Consulting and Process Improvement - Our human capital consultancy works with your board, your executive team, or your HR and recruiting leaders to look at your current recruiting function in order to uncover areas of opportunity and needed process improvement. We share our findings with you and discuss ways of making an immediate and sustainable change to the way you recruit and retain talent!
Executive Search – Our team of search professionals will identify, attract and deliver the top-end talent your organization needs to grow! We work on both a retained as well as a contingent basis and our pricing structure is flexible to ensure you are getting the top talent you need at a price that won’t break the bank!
In today's episode, Tersh & Hugh talk about the 6 MUST DO's for you to hire amazing people for your team!
Our Deep Dive~
- Don't waste people's time during the interview process.
- Watch your interviewee's reactions in a tough situation.
- Tersh explains his virtual hiring events.
- Give an infomercial of your business...
- ...you'll have to listen to the rest of the episode for these juicy details!
RESOURCES
- Get your free resources by visiting https://GallagherGroup.us
- Learn more about how Tersh trains his Service Technicians by using Virtual Reality by clicking here https://www.interplaylearning.com/partner/tersh
- Learn more about Tersh by visiting https://serviceemperor.com
- Connect with Tersh on social media @tershblissett
- Have you ever wondered HOW to target your perfect client?!? It's EMOTION...EMOTION is what sells, and this link is how you learn your client's emotion for free... visit https://admanity.com/SBM/ to get this free share that I (Tersh) stand behind 100%!
"If you know how people will emotionally react, you have an advantage more valuable than all of humanity's innovations."
Thank you for listening to another episode of the Service Business Mastery Podcast!
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