1362: The New Flat Rate: Boost Your Service Business and Double Your Service Ticket Sales Overnight with Home Services Expert Danielle Putnam

Robert Plank 0:01 Welcome back to the podcast. If you are an HVAC, electrical, plumbing or chimney contractor, this will be the most important podcast that you ever listen to, because we have some pricing, software and training to talk about with you that could lead to double and triple service sales, consistent pricing and streamlined processes. It's brought to you today by Daniel Putnam, who's the president of the new flat rate.com she comes from a long family line of contractors, and she's dedicated to help grow the industry she grew up in and loves. So we're going to find out about what to change about our pricing process with HVAC, electrical, plumbing and chimney. What we doing wrong? And we don't even realize it could be doing better. We'll have a blast. Danielle, glad to be speaking with you.

Danielle Putnam 0:49 Hey, Robert, good to see you. Thanks for having me today.

Robert Plank 0:53 Happy to have you. And so what did I leave out of that bio there? What are you all about? What's your focus and passion?

Danielle Putnam 1:01 You know, people ask me a lot, how did you get in the trades? And I've been watching other companies and other people thinking, how did they get into what they do? And so often in a family line, I've come from a family of contractors, grandparents, uncles, brothers, my dad, everybody's contractors. It's like you kind of find that that's what you're good at, that's what you're immersed in, that's what you hear all the time. And so I feel like I've been immersed in it my whole life and stayed in the industry because it's what I was good at, looking at these businesses, working with these business owners, these contractors, and dabbling in it like I love it. I love being in this industry. I'm very thankful for what the industry provides for families, very thankful for the growth opportunities the industry provides. I love everything about it.

Robert Plank 1:50 Very nice. It's in your blood, as they say,

Danielle Putnam 1:53 yeah, it is, and that's why we're here today, right? So I've been really fortunate. I've been involved in women in HVAC for a long time. I'm in involved in other programs and organizations in the industry, and there's, there's enough that just keeps everything well rounded. We're climbing all the time. There's new technologies, there's new groups and new friends, and a lot of excitement. It's good time to be in the trades.

Robert Plank 2:17 Well, let's pick up some of the excitement so you there's people all out there who are contractors. They go into homes, they fix problems. And what do you see happening as far as how maybe these businesses are not being run properly or could be done better? What's the current state?

Danielle Putnam 2:36 You know, Robert, we have poured over $2 billion of new revenue into the industry through our pricing system. So I I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about pricing, if I may. And so what we have seen so often is service professionals will go in and they will say, Hey, I did find the problem, because they're experts at diagnosing, I found the problem, and it's going to cost $250 to repair, for example, which is a take it or leave it. And so we come in with a menu, and just with the power of a menu, I got a little picture right here. The power of a menu. You can have a basic hamburger, or all of a sudden, if you give options to a homeowner, they might buy a better burger, because they want more value today. And same with service. When we show options a menu, homeowners move up 80% of the time. They buy higher, and so that's pouring new money. Robert that wasn't already in the industry, the homeowner didn't know about those options. They were just going to pay $250 but because we present options, then all of a sudden they can buy more. And that new revenue is going into our home service industry. Contractors can now grow from a position of strength. Their cash flow is increased. The technicians can work less hours. I'm going to take a pause there, because I told you I was going to work on short answers today.

Robert Plank 3:53 Okay, well, it's good to improve yourself, and it's good for these contractors to be improving what they're doing. And so it seems like the approach here is that you have nothing to lose, right? You are going there, you're fixing the AC unit, you're doing a job. And then there are these additional services, upsells, offers and and say someone doesn't take it, or they do take it, well, you they were guaranteed not to take it before, because it wasn't even an option. And so what? What are these kinds of offers, like, when they have the menu and the different prices, like, what are some examples of what they could be offering?

Danielle Putnam 4:28 Yeah, it's a good question. So let's see. You know, if we don't have the power of a menu, then all of a sudden we're pressuring our team, saying, hey, you've got to remember to offer all these different services. Remember that we have a special remember that we have, you know, we can work on this area, in this area, this area, and then all of a sudden, you know, our service providers are being distracted by trying to think of everything they're supposed to offer, but with a menu it hasn't already done for the service provider. And so, an example. Like you asked if something the basic bottom of a menu is going to be that one component repair. And so let's say we are over by. It could be a kitchen sink, it could be a garbage disposal, it could be a ceiling fan, but there's one component that's wrong, and so we're going to replace that as we move up. Let's say a ceiling fan. For example, in electrical we're still looking at the ceiling fan. We're not looking at other areas of the room or the house. But there's other things that we could do. We could tighten all the wiring. We could change out the bulbs. You know, there's a lot more value that we can do there. We can check the safety we can check the mechanical safety systems, the performance. There's stuff that we can do that we've automatically built into these menus so the technician doesn't have to think, what else could I offer the customer? It's all already there.

Robert Plank 5:49 Well, great, and it's wonderful to think less right? It doesn't mean that we're not paying attention or that we're in autonomous robot mode. We're just being able to better focus on the job we're there to do. And so as far as the way that these menus look, is it a tablet? Is it an app? Is it printed? How do they look when there's the real one being shown to that customer?

Danielle Putnam 6:13 Yeah, I appreciate that. It's very visual. It's colorful. I wish I had one right here in my hand. I can't believe that. I don't but customers their eyes, you know, they go to Color, they go to price. And so the menu is on a tablet, and it is digital. And so the homeowner takes a look. Their eyes go directly to price. We want them to see that bottom price. We don't want to raise or lower your price when we start working with you as a new company coming on board with us, we want to be very comfortable with where your price today the market. So the customer says, Oh, good, I can afford to do business with you. And then they self select themselves up, because that's what we do, especially today's society. There's so many choices everywhere we go. No, I want that drill, I want that pair of shoes, I want that car. We have choices everywhere we go, and so this is just keeping those choices in the home service repair industry as well.

Robert Plank 7:02 We want to feel special. We want to be customized. And so when you have these people using these companies, these vendors, using your pricing system, is there any difficulty in getting used to it? Is there resistance so they feel weird showing the menu? What happens in those first few days or weeks?

Danielle Putnam 7:23 Yes, there is. And you said that we could talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. Yeah, so often, business owners, we're trying to solve our company problems. I mean, you know, Robert, I know we've got problems in our business, and we're trying to solve those. It keeps us up at night, and we're looking for a solution. There's a pain, and we're looking for a solution. And so often times, contractors come to the new flat rate when they're looking for a way to increase their average service ticket, an automated system, a way to get automatic upsells so they don't have to pressure the technicians. So they come to us, and they talk to us, and they're like, Wow, that solves my problem. I have to have that. And so then they buy this bright, beautiful, shiny object that's going to solve their pain. And they're like, Here you go. Technicians start using this. Well, the technicians weren't staying up at night thinking, Oh, this is my greatest problem. Now, the technicians are just thinking, Oh, the boss wants us to do something else. There's something else we have to do. So us, like other businesses. I mean, believe it or not, I'm saying this on air. That's one of the battles that as a business, that we struggle with, too, is the adoption of the end user of the product. Because the business owner that purchases the product, it's a software platform, they're like, Hey, this is going to work. This is what we need. But then oftentimes, they get some resistance from their their actual team, the actual end user,

Robert Plank 8:42 and how do we overcome that resistance?

Danielle Putnam 8:46 Great, great question. We have a proven process. It's called the champion in the truck, and so we work alongside with these owners, and we say, hey, let's choose a champion, which technician is somebody that's reliable, loyal and trustworthy that you can pull alongside to say, Hey, will you test out this system for us? Will you be the champion in the truck, the one that's going to go first and try this new pricing system? So once the owner is like, oh, yeah, I know. You know. So and So they'd be great at that. Once we've identified the champion in the truck, then we ask that champion to go ahead and try this out in the field, and the owner or service manager, General Manager, will work alongside this technician that's going first to make sure that they are supported while they're trying this out. And we want them to be successful once they're able to come back and say, wow, it actually did work, then we can work together on rolling it out to the whole team. And so instead of just throwing them a new a new system saying, hey, change the way that you do everything. Today, we're starting to gradually work with these companies by, like I said, choosing that champion in the truck to champion the way and lead the way so that everybody else can follow. And that works really well. So that's our proven process,

Robert Plank 9:55 and that's a good strategy for life in general, if there's some. Thing drastic that needs to be done if there's some big problem in front of you. And if you just jump right in, if you start running five miles a day, you start using this new pricing overnight, then you're setting yourself up for failure. But if you say, Well, if this is too big of a leap, what are some smaller steps I can take instead of completely rolling it out, getting everyone using it. You say, who's my one champion, who's one person? Where you can present it as, hey, can you help us out? We're testing this new thing. We'd love to if you could get it broken in for us, and then get them using it, and then focus on the next logical step of getting the others to begin adopting this. And that's a great strategy, just for many things, many new habits that you want to get in place. And so as far as the way that the the tablet the app is set up, I imagine that the different business owners can, like, customize it right. Like, set their their own prices and set their own offers, etc.

Danielle Putnam 10:57 Absolutely. Robert, we never want a price fix. And so we want to make sure that we're priced right for the market, that our contractors are in. And so we work with them to learn a little bit about their business, to find out what their overhead is, what their billable hour actually should be, and how they should be pricing their services. We go through a pricing reset with them to make sure that they're actually covering all of their costs so that they are being profitable. And so that's going to be different all across the US and Canada and Australia is where we are today. And so when we work with them, we get their prices set up, and then they can customize the menus too. We have over 73,000 menus through HVAC, electrical, plumbing, chimney and indoor air quality. And so 99.9% of the things that they're going to find and discover out in the field are already in the menus for them, but we do hear, hey, I'm on this job. I kind of need to customize a little bit perfect. Go ahead and copy, clone, edit, change away and on the fly, they can actually make changes and customize for themselves,

Robert Plank 11:58 and way better than something printed right or drawn out by hand. It looks official. You customize it right there on the spot, on the fly. And I love the idea of the pricing reset saying, well, we provide this, and here are costs, and here's our location. And that can be a little scary, a little awkward, right? Seeing what the industry standard or what the going rate is. And when you do this pricing reset with a new onboarded customer, what do you usually see? Are they normally under priced? Are they pricing in a confusing way? What's their current setup?

Danielle Putnam 12:34 Yeah, you know, Robert, they're actually usually very under priced. Most of them have not increased their prices at a very long time, and so I love you know, if we can just talk about the reset so many of us as business owners and leaders, there's things in our business that drive us crazy, and it's like, Ah, I wish I would have gotten to that. I wish I would have gotten to that. I wish I would have gotten to that. But today's a great day, so let's hit the reset button, and let's do it today. And same with our pricing is let's take a look at our pricing today. Let's reset and let's take a look at our true costs. What are our overhead costs today? What's the cost to do business as a service technician rolls up to the house, the van, the insurance, all the materials, supplies, the advertising, everything that we need, the support, the rest of the staff, maybe the helper, like, what is this actually costing us? What is our labor? And once we can actually reset, and our team works with companies to help them to make sure that they can recalculate that, then we make sure that that they are charged what they should be today, because, like I said, people go years without updating their pricing. So let's reset today. Let's get it accurate where you actually should, because your business has changed, right today, you have different counts of employees than you did, you know, last year. And our businesses are always changing, so we need to be evaluating so that we actually can be priced right for our market. And we also work with companies to look at, you know, how are other companies priced in their area? They like to know that it gives them a little sense of security. It can be scary for somebody to change their billable hour from, you know, 250, to 355, for example. But when they see, oh, wait a minute, I'm actually the lowest in my market, I'm actually losing money. That sometimes gives them just a little bit more comfort level,

Robert Plank 14:15 yeah, two motivating factors there. Number one is, if they're priced too low, you're losing money. And number two, well, look at how you compare to the others. You look like the rundown cheap option. Get those numbers back up, get get become more of what it should be. And so you have this company, name, this term, the new flat rate. And what is that? What's the old flat rate? What's the new flat rate?

Danielle Putnam 14:38 The old flat rates? A price catalog. So think of a book, whether digital or print, of a whole bunch of tasks. So it could be a light switch, it could be a capacitor, it could be a water heater, it could be all these different tasks, and they each have a line item, and they have a price. And so that's flat rate is you take a look at, hey, here's the problem, here's why I'm here, and this is the price, and that's it. It. That's the old flat rate. The new flat rate is there is that task price that's at the bottom, but then there's four prices on top of it. It's the menu. And you know what? Robert, funny story 14 years ago when we started, where we knew that we had something we had to share with the world. We knew the power of the menu for Home Services was going to change the game for them. And that was our heart. That's why we were in business. Anyway. We wanted to change the game for everybody in the industry. And we're trying to think we're sitting in the garage, you know, what do we call it? What do we call it? And then a friend of ours says, Well, you know, what? What is it? Well, you know, here's the old flat rate. And you know, this is the new flat rate. And at night, you know, people are on YouTube looking for, you know, I need a new flat rate pricing system. And so our friend says, Well, why don't you just call it the new flat rate? Okay, okay, so we did, you know, and here we are, 14 years later, and it's just served us really well and the world, because it's new every day, and it motivates us to Robert that, hey, you know, we got to make sure to be relevant, because we are the new flat rate and so we are constantly looking for ways to be relevant and to stay new. For our members,

Robert Plank 16:07 I like the concept of staying new. It's not a one time event. It's not that it was new two years ago. It remains new. It's still new. We need to adopt this new flat rate pricing, and you mentioned a little bit about your own origin story. But you know, what's also exciting are the stories about people who use your training and use your software. And I imagine that there might have been something that even surprised you, because that's what's fun about software, right? You create something for what a purpose, and then people use it, and it becomes a monster. It takes on a life of its own. So has there been anything out there where you've seen a business owner take your software and really run with it and do something amazing that really surprised you?

Danielle Putnam 16:54 Well, yes, the demand at first, I was thinking when you asked the question, the demand that pushed us to expand into other services. You know, we started, we launched this HVAC, and then the plumbing industry just came knocking at the door. We weren't even ready. We didn't know how to write, apply a plumbing price book and and all these Master Plumbers were like, we'll help you, you know. So that was really neat to watch them get adopted and to get so bought in. And they actually helped us write the plumbing system, and same with indoor air quality. And when we moved on to electrical, you know, the industry was like, hey, no, we need this. And so they helped to build that. But I'm looking for a story. We've got so many great contractors and technicians. You know, what I do love is with the power of a menu. Like one technician, for example, sent us a picture of his new Toyota Tacoma that he bought off the showroom floor at the dealership, because he started using a menu and increasing his average service tickets. And he was bonus for that. So many of them are on performance pay plans, and so their revenues going up, or their incomes going up and to levels that they'd never experienced before, and it's making such a difference in their families. And so we just, I love it when you know this technician is just a great example, sends us a picture. He's like, Hey, this is my new truck. I got it off the showroom floor. I never thought that I'd be able to do that. And so often technicians send us pictures of their new home. Hey, I was able to buy this house. I never thought that I was going to be a homeowner. And it's just like awesome, because as they adopt a new system, and they are open to change, their lives are being affected for the positive, and their earning potential is going up, and their peace of mind, and they're able to work less hours and to make it home to their kids baseball game. And it's just all around a great thing.

Robert Plank 18:41 Yeah, business changing life, changing this idea of making more money and working less hours by just being a little smarter, being a little more strategic, right? And what are the alternatives? Well, the alternatives might be to try to work faster or try to get more business, but all that sounds like there's all these kinds of risks involved. Why not go for what's right there in front of you? If you've been doing the paper invoices, or just the regular pricing, or it's outdated pricing, why not use the new flat rate.com? Provide the menu. Have the base price, have the four other offers, have the menu. It's a great way of going about it. And in our final few minutes here, Danielle, you've seen so much, right? You, like you said, you've seen the AC repair, you've seen the electrical you've seen the plumbing. Do you see anything that's really going wrong in these industries? Is there like, a practice that just really drives you crazy and and it's done incorrectly? And you say, hey, you know, change this one thing in your business, anything come to mind?

Danielle Putnam 19:44 Two things. One is the continual complaint about hiring and retaining technicians. I can't find anybody. I can't find technicians. I can't find team members. You know, I hear that complaint a lot, and we don't want to ask, okay, well, do you have a job ad posted? Do you. Actually have a program? Do you have a process? No, okay, that goes for all of us, all business owners, right? Doesn't matter the industry is you gotta have that a hiring process. And I'm not in hiring. I don't get paid to do any hiring or any education on it. But as a business owner, I've learned the hard way that you have to have a process, and it's not hard, but you gotta have a cadence for your company of, Hey, first we do a zoom call, or first we do an in person, or first we do a phone call. And how many times do we interview? And who interviews? So we've got an interview panel. We interview three times. Some people say, Oh, I can't get a technician through three interviews. I mean, I gotta hire them on day one. Okay, then it needs to be a temporary, you know, basis, and they need to be riding with somebody else. So we gotta make sure that they're a culture fit. And so that's one thing, is, let's make sure that we have a hiring process, because so often we complain about that. And the other thing that I love to leave everybody with is just the reminder I love that Starbucks in one of their books so many years ago I read, and we all know who Starbucks is, whether you love them or hate them, but they said it took 20 years to be an overnight success, and that has always rang so true for me that don't quit. So as service professionals, don't quit, we all have a ladder to climb, and I was at what's it called, field day with my seven year old. These are my buttons, my mom buttons. I'm wearing today because I was at Field Day at the school today, and looking around at all the other parents there, you know you've got all different kinds of people and walks in life, and you can see the ones that struggle more than others. And so often people jump from idea to idea or job to job, but don't quit, especially in this industry, keep climbing the ladder. So whether you're a technician, whether you're an owner, keep doing it, and success comes to those who continue and don't quit.

Robert Plank 21:46 Very nice. Remember why you started? Basically right. Don't quit. Stay the course. Make these smart decisions, which includes using the new flat rate.com and so how can someone know if they're a good fit for using this software in the system. What kinds of people? And if there are a good fit, then what's the next step?

Danielle Putnam 22:06 Hey, thanks for asking. If you are a contracting business, whether you're a service provider or contractor or even the technician, but if you are looking at your average ticket, thinking, wow, I think we're leaving money on the table, then you are a great fit. And we'd love to talk to you. Just get to know you a little bit better. I do have some free giveaways today. One is really popular. It's an AC and heat pump maintenance checklist. I don't know that you can see it on camera, but it walks through the all the different colors, the red, yellow, green, of the different areas that you need to have on your maintenance checklist for your team. So this is a fantastic tool. I'd love to give it away to anybody. I'll send you the link, Robert, so you can put it in the show notes if you show notes, if you don't mind. So reach out and then email me. I'll give it to you if you want that too. My email is Danielle at the new flat rate.com so you can kind of just start to see how we work with people and and the kind of tools and things that we can help with. Would love to get to know you and your business better.

Robert Plank 22:57 Very, great. And it is about people and communication, isn't it like I have a AC unit being repaired, literally, today? And what I did was I looked up some places and I and a lot of them, had websites and forms, and I went, I texted a couple numbers, and the first guy that responded had a conversation. He's in there today, refilling the coolant that leaked out and sealing it up. And it happened because I sent a quick text, had a quick phone call, and I said, as a customer, like, I want to deal with someone that actually responds to me, not someone that gets back to me a week later, like, who's actually answering the text messages. And same with you, Danielle. They can email you, you respond. They can go to they can send that to Danielle at the new flat rate.com, or, even better, they can go to the website, the new flat rate.com click on Get demo, and just have some of this person to person interaction, because that's how the software gets improved. That's how the business really gets grown. That's how the technicians start working well together, just these one on one individual conversations. It's so helpful. It's so important. The new flat rate.com. And you've already given us so much helpful business and life advice here at Danielle, but it's time for maybe one last great nugget of information to cap off the show. It's time for the scary part of the podcast where I try to put you on the spot by asking for a fun quote or lesson that has served you in life or in business. So what do you have for a quote or lesson

Danielle Putnam 24:28 makes me laugh every time goes like this, change is good. You go first.

Robert Plank 24:34 And what does that mean? Change

Danielle Putnam 24:37 is good for all of us, and sometimes that we hesitate, and so we say, you go first. I don't want to go first. I don't want to change. You go first. So it just makes me laugh. Change is good, you go first. And it's a good reminder that, wait a minute, don't put that responsibility on somebody else. If change is good, then let's accept it. I'll go first.

Robert Plank 24:55 I like it. Take the risk, make it happen. The time is now, especially, going. You the new flat rate.com they offer, done for you, flat rate pricing for contractors, so you can grow better with flat rate pricing. They have a menu pricing system, which is the ultimate solution to pricing for HVAC, electrical, plumbing and chimney contractors, their top rated price generating software provides customized pricing, service agreements, payment plans, warranties and more, all done for you within 24 hours. Sounds amazing, looks amazing. You'll plug it into your business. You'll love it. Menu pricing makes maximizing your profits as easy as greet your customer, diagnose the problem, choose and present menu and provide shows and fix you can find out more about that at the new flat rate.com and thank you very much, Danielle, for showing up, impressing us, blowing our minds, helping us out. I really appreciate what you brought to these various contractors who need help with their pricing. So thank you for doing that.

Danielle Putnam 26:02 Thank you, Robert. I appreciate what you do. Thanks for sharing the message and spreading the word.