Going Viral: TikTok for the Trades | Podcast Ep. 96 | Toolbox for the Trades

Armando Ramos, you are the owner of Plomero and Phoenix. I cannot wait to talk to you about the title of your company and the awesome jingle that goes along with it. We are here today to talk about how you designed your business around your community. I am so psyched. Talk to you. But before we. Before we get into all of that, we're going to kick off this episode the way I do every single one, which is, how did you get into the trades?

All right. Hi, Jackie. Thanks for having me. Well, all right. So originally, I started into the trades as an electrician, believe it or not. So back in the day, I was. I mean, I started working pretty young, so I. I was working fast food restaurants for a little bit, you know, a little bit of everything, but not any type of trade. So I came across a. It was like a job fair. I went in there, and pretty. Pretty cool how they got me in. So what they did is they had a little cup full of wire nuts, and you had a. Guess how many wire nuts were in there, right? If you. If you guess the right number, you would get a free ipod. You know, they would do, like, a little raffle. So I saw, like, a big jar with wire nuts. So that drove me in. I was like, hey, what's going on in here? He's like, yeah, it's wire nuts. I was like, what are those? Like, I didn't know anything about them. Like, hey, you. You. You know, you want to be an electrician? I was like, all right. Well, I mean, let me guess how many we got in there first, and then we'll talk about it. So what I did is I, you know, I filled my little paper, and the guy started talking to me. He's like, hey, what are you doing now? I was like, just a little bit of everything. Nothing, really. And he's like, hey, you want to be an electrician? Like, we can give it a try. I was like, when can. When can you start? I was like, whenever. He's like, come to the office tomorrow. And that's how I started. I did electrical for two years, kind of like of an apprentice. That kind of opened my. My vision on to what the traits were. After that, I just kind of, like, did that for two years. And I was like, all right, well, I want to do something else. So I did a little bit of handyman. But when I really actually got into, like, the plumbing side of stuff, I got hired on. On to. It was an apartment complex as a maintenance person, right? So my background as the electrician kind of got Me in there. I didn't know about anything about air conditioner or anything else, but they're like, you got to pull us. You're in. Come in. You know, we need you. So I, I, I made my way in there, and there was this gentleman that, he was an old plumber. I mean, he's been doing everything forever. So he was kind of like the one that kind of got me into the plumbing. He showed me the ropes about plumbing. I mean, I got, I mean, guy was about 80 years old, but, I mean, he got my foot in the door, into plumbing. So I was there for a few years, and I was like, you know what? I like this. And then I would see other plumbers, like, because, I mean, he was an older gentleman, so if he couldn't handle a certain task, we would call plumbing companies to come help. And then I would see the plumbers come in and with their snake and clear out drains. And I was like, man, I can do this. I mean, this is, this is cool. So first I started off, I bought a little machine off of Home Depot. I was the guy charging 50 bucks on Craigslist. Putting a nat on Craigslist. Yes, I was the guy. So. But I. That got my foot in the door once, I, I was like, this is what I want to do. I started, you know, looking for opportunities with local plumbing companies. And that's kind of what got me. That's where I really started, you know, my plumbing education and my experience. But that's kind of how I got into the trades.

That's so interesting. I love that you started as an electrician, and then you're like, no, I'm not really into wires, but, but water, I can get behind that. Was there something specific about plumbing that just drew you in that was more appealing than electrical?

For me, it was because. Because when I did electrical, it was more of a new construction. So waking up at, you know, four in the morning, no, sometimes three in the morning, going on to the job site, I. I would like the smell of. I mean, I could smell pl. I could smell plumbing all day long. But going into a new job site and then they're cutting the threads onto new things, like four in the morning, like, that was like my least thing. I was like, ah, this is something I don't want to do for the rest of my life. So plumbing, the way I saw it when I was working at that apartment complex as a maintenance technician, it was like the guys would come in, like, they would talk to us, have fun, and then they would go on to the next job. So I was like, that, that's something I want to do. I want to be, like, in the service industry. I don't want to be like, new construction because I'm just in one place. And then being in service, you're meeting new people all the time. And, I mean, it's, it's fun. So that's kind of what drew me into plumbing and, like, I mean, having the equipment they had, the cameras, the snakes, everything else, I mean, that kind of was like, whoa, I like that stuff. I want to get in there.

That's so cool. So it was actually more. You saw you started in the new construction side, and then you really liked the idea of service being, having a different atmosphere all the time, different challenges, not being in the same place all at once. I totally get that.

Exactly. Yep.

Awesome. So I want to talk a little bit before we go into the origin of Plumero in Phoenix. I want to know how you went from being a plumber yourself to being, I'm going to own a plumbing company. How did that happen?

So, I mean, it started fairly when I was barely starting. I mean, I know I wanted to own a business. I know I wanted to do things by myself. So, I mean, it's. It started, I mean, right off the bat. I mean, I've only worked for, you know, a few different companies for a few years. I was like, you know what? I can do this. I can go out and, you know, make my own company. You know, I know how to, you know, create, you know, get calls from, you know, I can, you know, from free advertisement sites that were, you know, back then. And I was like, I could do this. I can make this work. So that's exactly what I did. I went to the state, registered my name, got me, you know, my insurance got that all taken care of first before I left anything else. And then that's kind of what drew me in. And that's been, like, the best decision I've ever made.

Dang. So you really never, you didn't really, like, you weren't at a shop for a long time kind of learning how they did it. It sounds like you had a little bit of plumbing experience, and you're like, I'm gonna go ahead and do this on my own. Am I correct in that?

Yes, that is correct, yes. So I just kind of made the jump in there. I, I, I, I've been learning just kind of like, as I go for, I mean, for 10 years. I was kind of like, what was going on. I do like, you know, I'm. I'm. I'm a nerd when it comes to plumbing. So I. Anything. Like, I can read. I'm all over Facebook looking for new ideas, looking for. So that just kind of made my vision, you know, like, talking to other people. Like, yeah, I can do. I can do this. I can't.

Awesome. Well, we're going to get into your plumbing nerdom in just a second. But before you, when you first started your company, you were TCI Home Services. Did I. Do I have that name correct?

So, TCI Home Solutions.

Home Solutions. Apologies. Today you are PLO Metro in Phoenix. So tell me about what made you want to do that transition and how that's paid off.

All right, so, yes. So when I started TCI Home Solutions, team commitment, integrity, that was where it's like, back in the day, that was like, all right, that's what I believe in. That's what we're going to do. Let's go for it. Right? So we did that for a while, but I started realizing when I wanted to start competing with the, you know, with the bigger guys as far as, like, marketing, pay per click, Google that. I mean, I didn't have the budgets to go and compete with, like, the brands that were already there. And, like, if there was a new brand, I mean, they were coming with bags of money to throw in, you know, advertising. I didn't have none of that. So I was spending a lot of money in advertising. And, I mean, I wasn't really getting much back. So I was like, all right. And then what I've noticed in my community was like, I was going to jobs and the customers were like, hey, it. You know, it took me a while to kind of find you because everything that came up was in English. And, you know, you. After, you know, I looked a little bit further. I see everything in Spanish. So immediately I was like, I'm gonna call them. And. And like, that trust that they found when they found something in Spanish, it was incredible. And I had a video I took of myself. Like, that's when I first did my first website. Like, it was on my phone. Like, it was all dark. And that was like, on my home page. That's what kind of like. And then, like, I saw your video and I was like, I gotta car this guy. So I was like, all right. That kind of. Kind of got my mind running. And I was like, all right, we gotta do something. So I kind of. It started. I was like, I started Plomero as a division, like, something, you know, I Just started as a, as a division, nothing more. You know, we're going to continue with tci, whatever we can, you know, bring in from the, you know, Plumero and Phoenix division. We'll kind of check the numbers out, see what we're doing. I mean, and pretty soon, like, I mean, it was like a matter of like a week or two. Then the phones like started ring. Like, why not? Why not? Like, bueno, Plumeros. Like, what's going on? All right, all right. I was like, where did you hear about us? They were like, yeah, on the Internet, on Google. I was like, okay. All right. So we started, you know, no noting pl, Google, all of that stuff. And I mean, it didn't take much time to figure out that PL and Phoenix was paying the bills for TCI as well. I mean, where we're paying with Pliny, we were paying TCI advertising. So I was like, that's, that's not right. So we're like, all right, we're, we, we have to do something. So we're like, we made the decision to go 100% implometo and. But we wanted to do it right, you know, if we're going to come out because we have no competition right now. We want to come out, we want to really have a presence. And that's where we came with the rebranding, to come out with Plumeron Phoenix and like the new logos and new wraps that just kind of make everything going and perfect. Perfect timing too, I believe as well.

That is awesome. So I just want to kind of repackage what you just said. So you had tci, home services, team, commitment, integrity. I absolutely love that. But what does TCI mean? And what you were finding is that because your website was in Spanish, people were finding you because it was all in Spanish and you're like, okay, well I'll start Plomero in Phoenix and it'll be this version of our website that is all in Spanish to cater to our Spanish speaking demographic in Phoenix. And what you found was, holy cow, there's a lot of people googling Plomero and Phoenix and I mean, it's kind of a no brainer. So what I loved when. I love a lot of things about your brand. For one, we're gonna again the jingle. We're gonna talk about it very soon. But what I loved when I was first researching you was your website makes it so, so clear. It's immediate. The very first thing, do you want Spanish or English? And it's beautiful in both languages. And I just love how by branding yourself as Plomero and Phoenix. Like, if I was a homeowner in Phoenix, English is my primary language. I would still be like, oh, I would love to book these guys. Look, they look so professional and they are bilingual. How awesome. So when you did that full rebrand, like, what did it do for your business? Like, what did it do for your existing customers and for new customers?

So I think you touched a really good point there. One of my biggest thing was, all right, I'm going to stay with PLO Metal and tci, you know, just kind of have both of them because I was afraid I was going to lose all of my, you know, like, all my English customers are not going to want to, you know, make do business with me anymore. I mean, I, I felt like that's how I felt. And I was like, screw it, let's do it. You know, we did it and the whole opposite. I, I now I feel like it's like English calls and Spanish calls and it doesn't matter the language people are calling. People are like, oh, I saw you. I love it. And, you know, I'm calling this guy and like, I don't think it matters that, you know, my name's in Spanish. People love it. And they're, they're. I mean, we've gotten, since we did the rebrand, we've gotten so many more English calls without putting in too much effort as we were doing before. So it's definitely been an impact.

That's awesome. And I'm so happy to hear that it's, it's also persisted with your English customers as well, because I think that may be something. We've talked about this very topic on the podcast before with Mario Campierano, who is with Express Electric out here in Los Angeles, and he's like, no, I advertise to our Spanish speakers. It's been amazing for our business. But I love that even though you've really gone all in on this Spanish brand, it's still doing incredible things and hitting a very large demographic in Phoenix. And not just with your English with Spanish speakers, but also with English speakers. How do you feel like the Spanish speaking community has been responding to having a, a Hispanic brand in their neighborhood? Do they love it? Do they feel warm, fuzzy feelings?

Oh, they love it. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I think. And, and most, I mean, everything just kind of got in together. You know, we, we hired Dan Antonella to do our branding, and I think that just kind of matched what I had. What we've been doing forever. Our customer service like, it starts when we pick up the phone. You know what I mean? So the trucks, the phone. I mean, when we're there, they just love us. I mean, there's no. It's a very rare that we're getting objections from our customers as far as anything, because they want us there. They want to do business with us. We're there when we say we're going to be there. Our communication with them, when they call in, you know, it's perfect. It's great. You know, with Service Titan, we send them the text messages, hey, you know, we're on our way. The reminders. I mean, you know, our customer service representatives that were calling, you know, calling, verifying that they're going to be home, like, we do everything by the time we get there. I mean, they're amazed because they've never received that type of service before. This. That's. I get that all the time. Like, this is like, dude, you're like, uber. You know what I mean? Like, I've seen you in my phone. Like, you know what I mean? Like, what's going on? It's like they've never seen it before, what we're doing to them. It's the first. So they. They love it. They tell their friends about it, and their friends are calling us. I mean, it's just something that. I mean, it's. It's. It's. It's crazy how this stuff works.

That's awesome.

Very, very amazed. I'm very happy.

Yeah, I hope you're very proud of yourself, too, because going from a plumbing nerd to someone who's able to provide that, that must feel pretty special. So tell me about this incredible jingle you have. You haven't given me permission to, but can I play it at the end of this episode for people who are interested? Would that be okay?

I thought you were not gonna ask me that. I am so glad you did.

And for the record, this will be the first time I've ever played someone's jingle on this podcast before. It is incredible. So tell me about the jingle for Plomero in Phoenix and how it came to be.

All right, so my idea. I've always wanted a jingle that said that was my thing. Like, my head's always running, what I'm gonna do next. I mean, there's always something. A little project I got going on, a jingle was like, I have to have a jingle. I have to have any. I mean, and it can't be, like, any jingle. Like, it has to be, like, my focus. It has to have like, rhythm to it in, in our community, like we're. I mean, rhythm is everything, you know what I mean? Like, we dance to like crazy music, circus music people call it, and that's what we like. I mean, I love it. So I was like, it has to have that. So me and my buddy who is my marketing director now, he, he. He has a band and he sings. I mean, he loves singing. He's been doing it forever. He's never done a jingle. But, you know, I kind of came up to him like, dude, can you do a jingle for me? Is that something you would be interested in? He's like, all right, let's sit down. So we sit down. We kind of want what we wanted in the jingle and you know, and I mean, I kind of gave him. I mean, I'm not going to take all the credit. I kind of gave him what I wanted, like the rhythm. And he came up. I mean, I mean, we, we did like one modification to it. It was just perfect from the beginning. Like there was nothing else we, you know, we had to do to it. It was just perfect. I uploaded it. I mean, I was like, I was bored one day because I, My plans were not, you know, just kind of do some videos on, you know, just put them on my website and stuff. And I was like, I was bored one day I had a, A video of me, you know, changing a hose bib. And I was like, I'm just gonna throw it in there. We'll see how that does. Oh, man. The response from everybody was amazing. We. We're at a 59 million views right now. 2 million likes. Around 2 million likes on the song. The comments, people like going crazy is. I mean, it's something. I mean, everywhere I go that's, that's kind of like people like just. They start singing the song to me and like, so it's just. They love, everybody loves that song. It's. It's really kind of matched us and we're like the guys with the, with the jingle because, you know, nobody in, in my market has a jingle like that.

No, I don't think I've ever heard a jingle like that. And again, we will put it at the end of this episode so you guys can hang tight and listen to it. I was thinking about it like, oh, should we cut it in? It might be a little jarring if people are just, you know, listening to a conversation and then they get that high energy jingle. But it's mariachi music, right?

So it's not mariachi. It's More like cumbia. It's. There's more. Yeah, there, there's mariachi. You, you got like a violin, you got a trumpet. And, and, and then the thing about our jingle, like we made it from scratch. Like we didn't steal nobody's music. I have the videos when we were at the recording studio, like every instrument was put together. Like, I mean, it was just. And then the. Create the, the person in the studio that actually did. I mean, it's unbelievable. Everything just, just, just kind of went in with everything. But it's, it's, it's amazing.

What's the kind of genre. Can you say that one more time again? Okay, great. I wanted to clarify because I. That immediately made me think of all the mariachi music that I hear in east la. And I was like, oh my God, this is insane. But it is so good. Now you mentioned 2 million likes, 50 something million views. Was this all on TikTok?

TikTok, yes.

So this is actually how I first. So for the listener, when I first discovered Plomero in Phoenix, it was because they have a very excellent TikTok presence, which is one of the newer social media platforms that is really taking the world by storm. And then upon digging and learning more about Armando, I was like, holy crap cow. This guy's got a great story. So now we're arriving at the original reason I wanted to talk to you, armando, which is TikToks. So when did you start making TikTok videos for the business?

So it was late 2020. I mean it started with one video. It started with one video, me changing some stuff in there. I mean it, it wasn't great like the views, but it wasn't poor. I mean it was kind of like mid performance. I did, you know, on the first video got me to about, you know, my first two videos going to be about 2,6000 likes. And I was like, all right. I mean, I think we got something. But it would take me 24 hours to edit one video. I mean, and I don't have any editing experience. So like everything, every single video that you see is like done through my phone on my free time. So I mean that was. Those two videos that didn't do. They did all right. Then when we did the jingle, that's kind of when where it just blew up. We did the jingle. We. We got that guy in there and. And it just blew up. After that video, after I uploaded more videos when we had the jingle, you know, everything just kind of flow through. I mean we were getting so many Likes so many views, comments, people just calling the office, just calling. They didn't need any plumbing service. I mean, they're calling from New York, from Texas, everywhere else, just calling, you know, just saying that they love the jingle and that they love what, you know, that we're seeing on, on TikTok. So very, very good response. And this is like the first social media site that I've actually kind of gone in and messed around with. The other stuff was just more generic. My guy doing, going in there, scheduled posts, and I was like, no, we're going to do something a little bit different on TikTok. And it has really worked out for us.

That's incredible. So you're actually getting phone calls from all around the country of people just speaking to how great your jingle is. And one thing I forgot to mention when we were talking about the jingle is I bet you that one of the reasons why it performs so well is it just is so aligned with the brand and with the community that you're building your business around. I mean, it's really like the cherry on top of the Plomero and Phoenix brand. And you can see just the uniqueness and how you integrate that culture into the jingle just has really got people going. And, you know, I talk to so many service operators, service entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs. We all have a similar business that all has a basic blueprint as to how to succeed. But I just love when there's this unique splash that has been inserted into it. And I really think I cannot give you enough credit. Enough Armando. I think it's so dang cool.

Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

So, you know, you got some calls from New York, you got some calls from, you know, other parts of the country. Obviously, you can't run service calls for those. So what does, you know, 52 million, like, views on Tick Tock. How does that translate into business?

I mean, we're, we're booking a lot of calls. I mean, the web traffic that we see from Tick Tock, so it took me a little bit to kind of figure it out. So from Tick Tock, now we're redirecting it to our Instagram. So we're, we're definitely growing on Instagram, but the amount of traffic we're getting from the directs from Tik Tok to our website, and then they're not calling, they're not calling. They're filling out a form. Everything's, you know, through text messages. I mean, they don't want to talk to anybody. They're just filling out the form. They're sending it. We're getting so much. I mean we, we are getting a lot of business from TikTok. A lot of referrals I've met, I get calls from different air conditioning, electrical. I got people coming into my shop wanting to talk to me, see what we're doing. We get so many referrals from people we've met on Tick Tock. So we got air conditioning guys, you know, sending us calls for, for plumbing. So it's just we, we're super busy. We're, we're like the busiest we've ever been. We're short staff. We're like, all right, how do we kind of pause this right now? And, but it's, I mean, we're, we're super busy. It has been tremendous. The, the, the amount of growth on like the calls that we've gotten in the book Jobs just from the Tick Tock account. It's, it's amazing.

I mean, you know, I worked in social media for a really long time before going into more content stuff and everyone wants to know, how do I go viral? And I'm like, I still don't know the answer to that question. But I think, Armando, you are the first person who's ever gone viral on the social media platform that's been on this podcast. And it just really goes to show how it's possible. And if you combine some really unique, thoughtful, entertaining content with like a five star brand, it can really take you to the next level. So I'm so happy to hear that it's been translated into business for you. One thing I noticed when I was going through the flamero in Phoenix, TikTok, is that you actually have other technicians comment on your TikToks complimenting your work. How does that feel?

I'm truly grateful. I'm, I'm thankful, grateful for, I mean, it just feels amazing, you know, that other technicians are, you know, giving feedback. Sometimes as a technician, it's not super easy to be like, hey dude, good job. You know what I mean? It's like, but I've gotten so much feedback, positive feedback, and I've gotten some, maybe not so positive feedback, but that stuff that helps me grow, like, I mean, I take everything that comes in. I mean, I'll sit one day and start reading comments. They're not all great, but some, I mean, there's guys in there like, you know, they write the max that you can write a comment, but giving me suggestions, hey dude, you know what? I would do it this way. I would do it that way. So I've, I think, you know, a lot of people comment, they're like, dude, I learned something new today. But I think I'm the one that's learned more from them than, than for me. Because everybody, you know, wants to help. Like, dude, do it this way. I think this is going to work. Better do that. And then I try it on my next video. And then now they're commenting me like, oh, okay, you, you did it. It's like, it's crazy. I love your videos. I love this. It's like, like I never thought I was gonna have a following of people. Like, and it's like, you know, a group of people that I post something and they're the ones commenting, they're the one following, they're keeping everything going. So it's a very good feeling.

It's so interesting how social media just expands and grows and moves to different platforms. And I think Tick Tock is really in that stage right now where you can really make those genuine connections. There's going to be trolls everywhere, obviously, but I'm so happy to hear that you're learning that and you're taking that constructive feedback. Do you have any plans to maybe you mentioned already that, you know, you guys are too busy. Do you have any plans to potentially figure out how to recruit through Tick Tock?

That's, that's, we're working on that right now. Because, I mean, at the beginning, at the very, very beginning, when we started, when we went viral with the jingle we've had guys, you're like, hey, you guys hiring? Hey, you guys are hiring. So right now we're working on something to make it okay. Let's, you know, let's, let's just start recruiting. Let's see if we can get, you know, good talent or, you know, good people that wants to learn the trade with us. So we're working on that right now. It's definitely work in progress, but I think there's a lot of potential for that. I mean, in just making a video, just doing this, I'm, I'm very sure we're gonna be acquiring new talent here soon. And the, the amount, I mean, if you go to the comments, there's, hey, you guys hiring. Hey, you guys. This, hey, you guys. People go from our Tick Tock to our Instagram to send us a direct message. Are you guys hiring? And so we're, you know, we're talking to them, you know, a lot right now. We just gotta filter out a lot of people, you know, from different, maybe countries too. That they want to come and work, but from another state. So we're, we're. Right now we're trying to figure out how to do it so we can start recruiting based on TikToks and all of that.

Wow. You have too many recruits, you have too many people that want to work for you. You got to filter through all the resumes. I think that's also a very uncommon problem on this podcast. I want to notice, I want to make note of two things in what you just said there. One, you know, the fact that I had a gentleman by the name of Jody Underhill on this season of the podcast, think he's episode 80 and he is working with some big brands to help get more people into their businesses, into the trades at all levels. And one thing he said on the podcast was, you know, you need to advertise. If you have like, you know, clean trucks, fresh truck wraps, like, they want to know that they have business. If a technician's coming for you, they want to know, come work for you. They want to know that, that you're going to provide in business. And I guarantee you that your jingle and people are like, holy cow, that's so catchy. I want to come work for them. They know that you are bringing in business. So that's one and two. TikTok, it's where Gen Z lives. It's where the next generation is living on social media. And I think that in order for businesses to be strategic and competitive when they recruit, they just have to be active on these platforms, which is what you're doing.

Yeah. And then a lot of, I mean, a lot of the younger generation, I mean, it's on Tick tock. They, they like what they see. I mean, they see me. I mean, they're like, man, this guy doing it. I mean, I can do it too. You know what I mean? So, and to me, like, I, I feel like. And I think a lot of people identify with me, you know, because I'm, you know, they're like, you know, like, I identify with you because you're, you're not like, perfect, you know, like, I mean, like, a lot of people that are, are in freaking, you know, doing videos. They got great content. Like, their English is perfect. They're, you know, like, dude, you're, like, genuine. And, you know, you're just doing it. You're not, you know, going crazy editing stuff. It's like, I mean, I just do them and they work. You know what I mean? So I think that's what they like. It's like, seeing that if I could do it, you know, I get a lot of comments like, you know, they want to do it as well. Like, how do I get started? Did you go to a trade school? Did you do this? How did you get started? So I, I feel like, I mean, it's a great opportunity for, for the new generation, the way we're doing it on Tick Tock, for them to, you know, be interested in what we're doing. And to me is, I, I want to, like the way I want to do it because we're ready, strict on, you know, how we want to treat our customers, how we want to do things. Just graph somebody, you know, a younger generation and start training them, you know, little by little, until we have that technician that we want. Because, you know, bringing on sometimes different technicians that already have their ways, it's. It's not, you know, it's not kind of what we're looking for. So we want to build our own. So that's kind of what the steps. Tick Tock is going to be really easy for us to start bringing in new. New.

Yeah. And to just like, put an umbrella term under everything you just said, it's authenticity, right? It's saying, like, this is who I am, this is what I've built. This is what I'm trying to do. I'm not perfect. Will you come join me? I think people are much more responsive to seeing actual human beings with flaws and with talents than they are by seeing, like, someone who's kind of bragging about how much money they make or like, you know, all this stuff. So I really. I agree with everybody you just said there. I think it's totally spot on. One thing I also noticed when I was going through all of your wonderful TikTok videos is you shout out your apprentices a ton on your page. I love that so much. In your opinion, what's the best way to turn an eager apprentice into a great technician?

I mean, I think it all starts, you know, by leadership. I mean, it starts inside of our home or of our shop. I mean, if we're, if we're teaching them, you know, the right values, our core values of what everything is, and then they're seeing it. I mean, they're not just like, hey, do this. You know what I mean? This is what I do. And, you know, everybody has to be on the same page. And I mean, if we have every. I mean, if we have a great culture in, in our company, I mean, they want to stay. I mean, they want to see. I mean, they're seeing that, you know, I'm doing this, you know, hey, I mean, I'm getting to be somewhat successful, let's say, because, I mean, this is the kind of like the early stages of my company, just kind of. I've been in business for. For 10 years, but right now, it's kind of like, you know, all that work just. It's just kind of paying off. I mean, it's. It's. I mean, I tell them it's not for me, you know, being lazy, for me not, you know, being late. I mean, if we want to be successful, you know, everybody has to do their part. I mean, you. I'll give you anything that you want for you to be successful, but I have. We have to get the same thing in return. I mean, you want to. If you're committed, I'm committed. And that's kind of what's worked with me. And they see me, they're like, oh, I mean, he's young. I mean, I'm 30. I can't say I'm like that really young now, but he's like, he's young. If he could do it, I can do it. So, I mean, recruiting and talking to, like, the young guys, I feel like we're, like, side by side. And. And that's really helped me training them and kind of getting their mindset to where they're going to be successful and getting all the negative stuff out. And I mean. I mean, it's work. I mean, I'm not gonna lie. It's a lot of work being on the trades, you know, leaving home early and coming home late. But, I mean, they see the reward that's in it for them and for their families and. And, I mean, I tell them what it is, and I mean, they're. They're. They're happy. I mean, they're. They're going to be happy. And it's worked out very good.

So a couple things. One, I'm 32, so I take offense to 30 not being so young anymore. I'm kidding.

Well, you look great. I don't know about me. I mean, they say I look like 45, but. All right, I'm an old soul. I get that all the time.

I get that, too. It's like when we get along. But you actually just kind of tipped the hat into my next question. So to recap, you have a amazing brand, Plomero in Phoenix. You have Dan Antonelli branding wrapped trucks. You have a jingle that has generated $52 million. Imagine, 52 million views. 52 million views on TikTok. You know, you're really. You got something great here. You're only 30 years old. And usually when I have these conversations, I ask, tell me about your company. How many technicians do you have? Where are you at? You look like a very big company, but you're still very much in the early stages. Would you mind just sharing with us kind of where you're at in terms of your journey?

So right now, I mean, we're very small. I'm still working out on the field. I'm kind of splitting half and half the field in the office. I got my brother, who's an apprentice right now. He is. I mean, he has his own truck now as well, so he helps me run calls. He's been doing it for about two years now. So he. I mean, I've taught him everything I know. So he's. He's on to being very successful. He's doing very good. I think I'm gonna touch the. The little thing that we talked about about Tick Tock and why I make the videos with them. One of my things, to me personally, was that I had the hardest time was talking to customers. I mean, that was like, the hardest thing. I was sweating. I mean, like, oh, okay. Like, I didn't know what to say. Like, that was the hardest thing for me. And what I've noticed is that it's hard for a lot of people, not just me, right? So doing, like, the Tick Tocks, like, to me, like, when I first started doing my videos, it was like. Because I lost, like, that fear talking to customers a long time ago. But when I started doing videos and looking at a camera, I would be getting, like, the same, like, fear all over again. And I was like, all right. I mean, that kind of. So I'm like, if I can have my apprentices get used to the camera, get used to, you know, talking to the camera. And that's gonna make, you know what I mean? That's gonna make them more comfortable when talking to Click. Because, I mean, you kind of get kind of like the same feeling, you know, when. When you're nervous, you're talking to people. So that's really helped, like with. With my brother, with Brian. That's kind of one way that we do. Like, when we're training, you know, we'll. I'm recording and I want him to see himself on the phone so he knows, you know, what he looks like. Because there's no other great feedback when you're seeing yourself like, oh, man, I did that. Oh, man, you know, so it's really helped out.

That's awesome. And thank you for bringing that back. I know so many technicians struggle with that customer service piece. And trust me, I am on camera a lot for my job. I still sweat a lot. It's very uncomfortable. It's very embarrassing. So I relate to you. How did you get over that? And what tips would you give to maybe technicians listening right now who are like, oh, I hate talking to customers.

For me, what helped me was not like, practice by myself read. It's to role play. To me was kind of. I would go, you know, somebody would help me at home, be like, hey, you're the customer, I'm the technician. That's what helped me. If we're not role playing, doing, you know, like, like real life scenario, that's what kind of got me to the next step. Once I lost that fear, I mean, everything just changed. But I did it for a very long time, trying to do it myself, trying to, you know, read books and how to do this. But then I would go out on the field and completely forget about it and do something different. But when you're working with somebody else face to face, that's the, you know, like, they're the customer. I mean, you're. You're getting that same feeling. And. And that's what made me a different technician. And I mean, it's just practice, practice, practice. And that's what we do. Me and my brother's like, all right, you know, every Monday or Wednesday, we're role playing. Like, all right, you're the customer. Knock on the door and, you know, and we'll close the door. He'll knock on the door, I'll open the door, hey, you know, and start all that process all over. And that's what help us and helped him really kind of beat that fear. I mean, he's still working on it because, I mean, it takes time. But I feel that way we're doing it has really helped him, and it has helped.

Yeah, practice makes perfect. That's really the only way to do it. So I agree with you on that. What's the biggest aha moment you've had as a business owner so far?

I mean, that's a good question. So I mean, I mean, my biggest aha was when I discovered training, when I discovered that there was more. For a very long time, I was in a circle of the same people with the same mindset as me. When I discovered that there was more out there, there was training, there was sales training, there's business Training, there's customer service training and getting my head, I was like, oh, wow, that's. I mean, that's expensive. I can't afford that. I can't pay for that. But once you, you look at it and whoa, that's an investment for your people, for your company, for myself. That's what I think. Training. It's why I'm where I'm at right now. If I would not be, you know, have the right training with the right people, I would probably be still working, you know, fifty dollar drain cleaning with no upselling. Because to me, upselling was a bad thing, you know? All right, But I mean that. I think training, that's where it really changed everything, my mindset. And that's awesome.

Which training program or which mentor did you really gravitate towards during that time?

So right now, I mean, first, I mean, before I could actually afford it, I mean, I would, you know, see a lot of, you know, on the Facebook groups. George, Joel, Chrisara, I think he's been in here. I, I would, you know, whatever free content he had. I was, I was like, all right, you know, like, I can't afford anything else, but I'll, I'll take what you're giving me right here. So that really helped. Right now, I'm working with. Excuse me, what's the name?

Service. Oh, we can edit this out. Is it Service Alliance? Service Service Alliance, Service Evolution. Service.

Todd Lyles, I believe is the name.

I've heard his name. Todd Lyles, right?

Yep.

Nashville LHC Group, Workforce Development Solutions Service.

No, no, it's service excellence. Excellence.

So whenever you're ready to say so, I'm also working with service excellence. Whenever you're ready. So just say working with service excellence. Like just. They'll cut it out and they'll splice it together.

Okay, okay. And I'm also working with service excellence, which have been very, very great to me. And this stuff I've learned, it's unbelievable. Being actually running a business, being profitable, knowing your numbers. That's what they've taught me. And I think the change in, in my company has. I mean, we're making money, we're profitable, so that's knowing how much to charge. I think that that attributes a lot to the, the coaching that we're receiving from service excellence.

This is a big word I'm gonna throw at you, but because you're still like, really new to the business journey and you've already, you've already created a lot. Right? What is the biggest thing you're struggling with? Right now that you would like to kind of be real with on the podcast.

I mean, my. Right now, my fear, it would be just really growing. I mean, going out and. And buying, you know, three trucks, getting three technicians out of the road, on the road. Me being on the field 100%, like, that's the struggle where I'm at right now. It's like, I want to be out of the field because I feel like if I'm committed 100 on running the business and making it successful, you know, that's what's kind of holding me back right now. It's like, all right, how do I do it? How do I, you know, go out and get, you know, I got the call volume, I got this. How do like me? Because, I mean, I don't have any, you know, anybody else. Like, you know, you know, I'm saying, hey, let's do this. You know, let's. Let's go ahead and, you know, it's. It's just me calling people, trying to figure it out. But that's my biggest struggle right now is how do we go from where we're at now and, you know, have five new trucks out in the field and. And, you know, being successful, that's the struggle that. I mean, I have all my processes, I have everything narrowed down, but we just gotta work on that now, and that's kind of where we're trying.

It's a big step, but I have no doubt you're going to be able to do it. And there have been plenty of people on this podcast who have done it already. So, I mean, not as. Not as a plug for my podcast, but also a plug for my podcast. Listen back, and I'm sure you're going to do it. Armando, seriously, really impressed by what you guys have done so far, and I'm really excited to see where you go next. So we are almost. We are almost at the end of the interview, so I want to give you a chance to. To talk about anything, whether it be you, the business, the trades, anything in general that you want to talk about. Now's your chance to geek out before the final questions.

All right. Well, I mean, I mean, one thing I would want to say, and that's whoever's listening me. It took me a long time to kind of just go with my gut and, like, being in business, there's a lot of. You're gonna get a lot of like, oh, man, this is not gonna work with Plumeron Phoenix. I got it. I mean, that's probably why it took me A lot longer to kind of come out with Plumero and Phoenix. Because, dude, why would you do that? You know, you're gonna piss, you know, this off. You're gonna. And just listening. Yeah, I get it. You, sometimes you got to listen to people, but sometimes you got to listen to yourself, hey, what's best, you know, and then once you do, once I did that, that's, that's where the biggest change was to anybody out there, you know, young, whoever, old, don't be afraid to go with your gut. I mean, you're feeling your dream. This is my dream. And now it's like I'm not letting anybody, you know, you know, get in, in the way of my dream, you know, and same thing to anybody else. Like if you have a dream, don't let anybody, you know, tell you that you can't do it for whatever reason. I mean, you just gotta work harder than anybody and your dream will come a reality. So that is kind of one thing I want to say to everybody, like young people, anybody. Like, I did not have, I mean my, I have eighth grade education. That's, that's. I mean, I didn't graduate. I mean, I didn't even go to high school school. Everything that I, I learned, I was self taught. I mean, I learned reading by doing everything else because I didn't have that opportunity to do it. But I mean, you know, if I could do it, anybody can. So just, you know, keep, keep fighting, keep working hard and successful.

So I have a feeling I know what the answer to this is going to be. But I'm going to ask you anyway. If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice early in your career, what would it be?

I, I think it goes along kind of like what I answered before. If I could, you know, do it, it's just go, I mean, don't let anybody bring you down and then just keep working hard and keep fighting and you know, eventually it might not be quick. I mean, I mean, there's many, many times that I wanted to give up. I mean, you just have to, you know, go with it, work hard and I mean, if I could, you know, just kind of be like, you know, 15 years before, be like, you know, dude, don't listen to anybody. Yeah, you can listen to people, you know, the people that want to help you, but just, you know, fight, fight, fight. And that's awesome.

All right. My favorite song, My favorite song. Well, it isn't kind of a song related thing, but my favorite question of the whole podcast is if you could choose a song to be the sound of track of your life, what would it be?

Oh man, Jackie. And I feel so bad because I, I, since I got your email, I was like, been thinking about this and I could not find a song for my life. I, I think it's, we're writing my song right now, but I don't know, I, I, I, I couldn't find any. Like, I'm not a big music guy. Like, I was like, I mean, your.

Easy answer is obviously that it's the Palmero and Phoenix jingle. That's the easy response. But, you know, if you think of one, you let me know. I think that it could be anything. And I've been saying to people, my song changes on the regular. So you can definitely choose a song now and not be married to it.

Absolutely. Yeah. So I, I will put more thought into that and I will let you know. But yes, my song from Met on Phoenix, I think that that identifies with me as my inner personality of me. I mean, I'm not a great dancer, but in my head, I mean, I'll dance to that thing all day.

It's a bop and everyone's gonna hear it in just a few seconds. Armando, thank you so much for being a guest on Toolbox for the trades. I really love talking to you.