The Future of Marketing for Home Service Businesses
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Release Date: 03/11/2026
No Fees No Equity Loss: A New Way to Scale Your Business
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Most business owners think they only have two options when they want to scale: Pay expensive consultants… or give up equity to investors. But what if there was a third option? In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett and Joshua Crouch sit down with Mike Michalowicz and Greg Eckler from The Prosper Group to break down a completely different approach to scaling service businesses. Instead of charging fees or taking ownership, their model focuses on partnering with business owners, executing alongside them, and only getting paid when the business becomes more profitable. What...
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Most home service business owners start as technicians. But scaling a business requires a completely different skill set. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett sits down with Elise Radawitz, President and Owner of Velocity Leader, to break down the leadership skills contractors need if they want to grow their business. They discuss why promoting your best technician into a management role often fails, how leadership is a learned skill, and what it actually takes to lead people effectively. Elise shares practical insights on developing leaders inside your company,...
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Automation vs. Real AI: What Works, What’s Hype, and How to Profit
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AI is everywhere right now. But most contractors don’t actually understand how it works. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett and Joshua Crouch sit down with Jeff Torello, founder of Sinjun AI, to break down what AI really is, how it works under the hood, and why so much of the industry is getting it wrong. Jeff explains that AI isn’t some all-knowing system. It’s a probability engine that predicts the next word, with no real memory and no true understanding of context. If you’ve been confused, overwhelmed, or skeptical about AI, this episode will give you a...
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Stop Hiding Your Prices: The Real ROI of Transparent Contractor Pricing
Service Business Mastery for Skilled Trades: HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Home Service
Most contractors are still hiding their prices. But customers are already finding that information somewhere else. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett and Joshua Crouch sit down with Paul Redman, President of Contractor Commerce, to break down the real impact of transparent pricing in home service businesses. They discuss why pricing transparency is no longer optional, how AI search and Google are already surfacing pricing data, and why contractors who don’t adapt risk losing control of the customer conversation. Paul shares how online pricing tools,...
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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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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
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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...
info_outlineMarketing 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 episode is packed with practical insights.
What You Will Learn in This Episode
• Why lead generation alone is no longer enough for home service companies
• The difference between lead generation and demand generation
• How organic content impacts paid advertising performance
• Why social media algorithms now reward brand engagement
• How contractors can compete with private equity-backed companies
• Why online pricing tools generate higher-value customers
• The role giveaways and tune-up offers play in customer acquisition
• Why brand awareness before equipment failure leads to better conversions
• How AI tools are influencing marketing automation
• The growing importance of marketing compliance and data management
Timestamps
00:00 "Podcast Reunion and New Program"
09:46 "Algorithms Driving Content and Ads"
12:38 Prevention-Based HVAC Marketing Strategy
17:44 "Improving Sales Success Process"
21:51 Rethinking Business Profit Expectations
28:32 "Accelerating Business Growth Opportunities"
33:21 "Opti: Compliance Tool for Messaging"
38:00 TCPA Compliance and Risk Awareness
46:12 Scaling Through Demand Generation
48:52 "Creative Local Giveaway Ideas"
53:24 Cost Efficiency of Tune-Up Pricing
01:00:12 Marketing Costs and Growth Strategy
01:05:31 Economic Cycles and Industry Trends
01:08:26 "Uncertainty and Building Challenges"
01:17:10 "Opti: ServiceTitan-GoHighLevel Integration"
01:18:48 "Steps to Business Success"
Follow the Host and Guest
Tersh Blissett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tershblissett/
Justin Riley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justintriley/
UpFrog: https://www.linkedin.com/company/upfrog/
Connect with Us
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/service-business-mastery
• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@servicebusinessmastery
• Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/servicebusinessmasterypodcast
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/servicebusinessmasterypodcast
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This episode is kindly powered by:
UpFrog: upfrog.com
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