AI Employee: How Home Service Businesses Are Scaling Without More Staff
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Release Date: 03/18/2026
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_outlineAI 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 Google reviews, how the platform evolved into a full communication system for trades, and why the new generation of AI agents can now handle complex tasks across phone calls, text messages, scheduling, and CRM data.
They also discuss real-world examples of AI agents turning angry drivers into paying customers, managing after-hours calls, and helping companies scale without burning out their staff.
If you’re wondering whether AI will replace people or simply help service businesses run smarter and more efficiently, this episode breaks down what’s actually happening right now.
What You Will Learn in This Episode
• What AI agents actually are and how they differ from chatbots
• Why AI agents can now perform real human-level tasks
• How AI employees can answer calls, texts, and book appointments
• How AI agents help service businesses avoid missed calls and lost leads
• A real story of an angry driver becoming a booked service call
• How AI helps companies scale customer support without hiring more CSRs
• Why consumer expectations are shifting because of AI
• How AI agents can analyze business data to generate new jobs
• How outbound AI will help fill service calendars automatically
• Why AI employees need onboarding just like human employees
• How companies can customize AI behavior with playbooks
• What service business owners should know about AI security and voice cloning
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction from AHR Expo
01:43 The origin story of Podium
03:00 What AI agents actually are
04:02 The shift from AI assistance to AI employees
06:05 How AI is changing customer expectations
07:13 Why human interaction still matters
08:15 Customers building relationships with AI agents
09:17 The angry driver story that turned into a booked job
10:16 How AI handles unlimited calls and scaling
11:28 Why after-hours calls are the biggest opportunity
12:11 AI outbound calling and membership follow-ups
13:17 Using data to generate new service opportunities
15:12 Customizing AI conversations with playbooks
18:37 When AI goes off script (opera singing story)
20:05 The origin of Podium’s review platform
22:21 Building the communication platform for trades
24:10 The future of AI for service businesses
25:54 Onboarding and training your AI employee
28:47 Building strong company culture at scale
31:46 How to learn more about Podium
32:29 AI safety and voice cloning concerns
Follow the Host and Guest
Tersh Blissett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tershblissett/
Josh Crouch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-crouch/
Dennis Steele: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steeledennis/
Podium: https://www.podium.com/
Connect with Us
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