Blue Collar Prosperity

Ready to learn from someone who went from zero to a 9-figure exit in less than 5 years? Chris Lee is here today to share his journey and wisdom. Chris Lee is the Founder and CEO of Next Level Pros, an entrepreneurial accelerator fostering business growth and development for small to large sized businesses through education, private equity and venture capital investments. Chris founded Solgen Power, a vertically integrated solar provider, in his garage fall of 2017, later exiting to private equity at a 9-figure valuation… all in 4.5 years. His team was recognized by Financial Times as the 6th fastest growing privately held company in the Nation, spanning to 18 different locations and 1100+ team members. In today's interview, Paul and Chris talk about: The importance of values. Creating a crystal clear 5-year plan and road map. Building everything in your life by design, not default. Your vision has to be bigger than your employees' vision. Building a culture of happiness and joy. Why your customers are not the first or second most important thing in your business. Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

Most companies in the trades start out by doing a little bit of everything. That usually also includes a lot of construction work. Why? It doesn't cost as much in marketing. It's a consistent flow of work. The problem? It will eventually crush your cash flow if the work isn't being done on your terms. Today's guest lived it. Chris Wisniewski, owner of Integrate Comfort Systems, joined Paul Maskill on the podcast this week. Chris Wisniewski is the Vice President of Integrate Comfort Systems — or ICS — a family-owned HVAC company based in northern New Jersey. ICS was founded by Chris’s father in 1990, and he’s had the privilege of helping lead the company into its next generation. Chris has been doing so full time since 2000. In today's interview, Paul and Chris talk about: Eliminating construction work and downsizing to increase profit and cash flow. The biggest problems in not working with the end-user. The difference between a transactional customer and a relationship. Hanging on to the wrong employees for too long. Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

The podcast is about to turn one years old! In this week's Blue Collar Prosperity Podcast, Paul shares with you the Top 10 Takeaways from the first year of interviews. The overall theme? The most successful businesses in the trades simply do the basics better than everyone else. With all the technology and AI pouring into the home service space, it still comes back to running a great business by doing the little things. The top 10 things you need to be doing today are shared in this solo show. Lastly, are you not sure if your pricing is right? Download my free pricing calculator: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

If you're ready to stop spending so much on marketing and instead have way more fun turning your current customers into raving fans, you're in the right spot today! Paul interviewed Clifton Muckenfuss, founder of Building Raving Fans. Clifton Muckenfuss is a serial entrepreneur with an extensive background in sales, marketing and leadership. His career spans over 20 years and he has founded / co-founded and scaled construction and service based companies. Clifton evangelizes and teaches the concept of “Raving Fans” – people so happy about you, your culture and your brand that they become obsessive, ultimately creating Customers for Life. In today's interview, Paul and Clifton talk about: The power of relationship marketing. Turning your clients into brand evangelists. Why it's so important to stand out and take advantage of every client touchpoint. How to actually measure the ROI of gifting, handwritten thank you notes and just being an overall great human. Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

Paul had the privilege to interview the legend, Joe Crisara, on this week's podcast. Joe is the founder of Service MVP Training. He transformed his failing home service contractor business by realizing that value comes from offering unique services, not just lower prices. Now, alongside his wife Julie, Joe helps thousands of service professionals triple their revenue through his ethical "Pure Motive Service" system. Known as America's Service Sales Coach, Joe's down-to-earth style and direct approach come from his personal experiences. His teachings on persuasion, selling, and closing have been embraced by businesses of all sizes, and his books, including What Should We Do?, guide professionals in selling services at higher perceived value. In this interview, Joe goes deep into: Creating magic moments for your clients throughout the entire client journey. How to provide customer service with healthy boundaries. Using options to serve your clients better. Ethical sales strategies that get results. Why asking questions is the key to providing custom options. Eliminating all friction points in doing business with you. Creating a company sales culture. Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

There are new AI tools coming out every single day. How do we know which ones to trust? How do we know which ones won't make our customers angry? How do we know which ones will last? In this podcast, Paul interviews Quinn Litherland, the founder of Revin.ai. Revin is the revenue co-pilot for home service companies that will help automate their call center, inside sales and marketing efforts. Their main tool in doing this is AI-powered chat / text messaging. The main topics that Paul and Quinn discuss are: Why is texting so important for home service businesses? People have very strong opinions on 3rd party leads. What have you seen in this space? Pros and cons? The AI options seem to be growing exponentially and it can be really overwhelming. What is your advice for companies in the trades? Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

In this week's podcast, Paul hosts his monthly solo show where he shares with you two things: An exciting announcement of his partnership with Brentwood Growth. This partnership will allow Paul and Brentwood to serve more companies in the trades while helping more owners build a sellable business. The Top 10 Things you need to do with your business to ensure you can sell it at any time. A business that can be sold at any time will provide you the freedom and flexibility most business owners desire and seek. Not sure if your pricing is right? Download my free pricing calculator: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

What got you here won't get you there. If you want to break through the $5 million barrier, you're going to have to be willing to do things differently. You'll also have to be willing to take the time to build the right systems and processes while having your financial numbers dialed in. In this podcast, Paul interviews Norris Ayvazian. After being the director of Training and Growth at Home Service Freedom, Norris founded Service Crucible. Norris has transformed multiple home service operations across North America, notably growing Peaden's Pensacola branch from $4M to $12M in just 12 months while maintaining 25% net profit.  As a hands-on leader whose managed operations from $2M to $60M+, Norris specializes in helping companies break through revenue barriers through systematic excellence. His methodology focuses on four key areas he calls 'The Four Forges' - fundamentals that transform service companies into market leaders. In this interview we focus on: Why your financials are a direct reflection of your operations. Why it is important to split service versus install. How to implement call prioritization. Start looking at your call center as a profit center. What $5m+ companies do from a customer experience standpoint that other companies miss. Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

Most companies (and businses owners) are so focused on getting more / new clients that we often forget about them once we have acquired them. In today's interview with Michael James Johnson, we dig into some great, actionable strategies that you can implement immediately to attract more clients and keep them longer. Michael Johnson is a veteran, entrepreneur, and HVAC industry leader who grew his Fayetteville, NC-based business into a seven-figure success. With over 20 years of experience, he now coaches home service companies on scaling, marketing, and sales. Known for his engaging insights and focus on customer experience, Michael empowers entrepreneurs to build thriving, community-focused businesses. A few bullet points on our interview: Acquiring clients without spending money on ads. How to get back to filling up your dispatch board post-Covid. Why an email newsletter is so powerful. Constant text message marketing becomes white noise. How to actually determine what we should charge. Increasing your customer lifetime value without spending any more money. Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price

In an age of ever-improving technology, sometimes the best way to scale your business and build raving fans is to go back to the basics. Bryan Durkin joins Paul on today's podcast and they dive into some super simple strategies that most companies neglect. Bryan is the founder and CEO of MVP Team Pro and the author of Stuck On First, the 9 positions of a playoff ready business. He's going to share some of playbooks he's been using the help companies of all sizes scale to business they want, and not the one they have. Some of the topics discussed today are: Creating a strong referral network Multi-channel marketing The easiest way to improve your sales conversion rate Using Giftology to increase your Customer Lifetime Value Ready to transform from a stressed out, uncertain business owner, to a confident, respected CEO with clarity of your financial health? Visit today to finally solve your pricing problems: https://thebluecollaradvisors.com/price