Julian Placino: 0:00

Welcome to the Home Services Success Stories podcast powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business. And on the show today, we have Steve Stewart, who is the owner and general manager at Southern Comfort Mechanical. Steve, welcome to the show. How are you?

Speaker 1: 0:17

Not bad, Julian. Good to meet you. Thanks for having me on.

Julian Placino: 0:20

Absolutely. And it's great to have you here. You have a very interesting background and very excited to dig in. So let's jump right in. So, Steve, you have kind of a different background than a lot of home services leaders because you had a career in consulting, manufacturing, private equity. So tell us, what inspired your career in home services?

Speaker 1: 0:39

Home services was say it, uh we'll say didn't naturally happen. So we'll say the background is we'll say I'd always dreamt of having my my own company uh since being a younger age, even back in Ireland, but we'll say things never happened. Uh so we'll say so. Whenever I was saying I was in the world of private equity, you know, uh then the progression from there was sort of, I learned enough on was say buying businesses from that to be dangerous. So I couldn't afford a manufacturing plant, which is where sort of my passion was at the time. Uh and get the funds together. So that's where I figured out, you know, I could afford a services business and locked in on plumbing or HVAC. Uh, you know, during my time moving around the US, I had, let's say, horrible service as a homeowner. So that's sort of where I said, okay, if I can get into the home services business and you know, do a bunch of the things that frustrated me, you know, uh hopefully that can work out. And we'll say I was able to, you know, we'll say do my due diligence uh over the course of several years. And this was the company that I ended up being able to purchase.

Julian Placino: 1:58

Interesting. Okay, so you have this very interesting background of being able to look and analyze businesses for profitability, for growth, all those kinds of things. So I'm curious, what is sort of unique about the home services industry that drew you to it from a business standpoint?

Speaker 1: 2:13

Uh from a business point, uh, so let's say during my time in distress, private equity, I saw lots of ways not to do things. So uh, you know, just realizing that there was, we'll say, a plethora of say service experiences. Uh, but you know, the ones that I had were horrible. So it went back to, you know, if you can do those fundamental or basic things wrong, which sounds a bit simplified, but you know, if you can be professional, pick up the phone, speak to people, be available, have knowledgeable people going into people's homes, you know, that should be a good success recipe. Uh the downside, this is Dallas. There's lots of other people with that idea as well. So it's uh very competitive, but I would say that that was sort of the fundamental preface. You know, I was trying to build the company that I was looking for whenever I was a homeowner that, you know, you could get hold of if things happen, you could find a phone number and get hold of them again to come back out and help you and get educated, you know, versus a 12-year-old showing up in a scruffy t-shirt and shorts and telling you everything's good when it's not.

Julian Placino: 3:31

So it sounds like you had some personal experiences that kind of led you to see that, hey, there's a better way of doing this. So I'm curious, was there a particular moment or specific experience that was kind of like, man, enough is enough.

Speaker 1: 3:43

This is where I'm gonna go. I heard probably you would say three experiences that shifted or whatever. So I would say, not to be on other companies, but I would say my youngest newborn son was just home from hospital 24 hours, you know, after he was born uh in Cleveland, Ohio, and our system went out. Uh, so I had no idea. I didn't know to change the filter and things back then. It was just something that worked or whatever, and kept you hot and cold. Uh, but it stopped working inside the house, was what, 95 degrees? Mother-in-law was there, everybody was stressed out. So I had, you know, it was difficult to get hold of a company back in those days. It was going through the yellow pages trying to find someone that had availability to come out. Eventually we find someone that could come out, and uh, they changed our capacitor, uh, and it cost, I was saying, three times what it cost today. So I got ripped off price-wise. Uh uh, say, uh, but then we couldn't get hold of the person again. They they disappeared, you know. Uh you know, we were able to keep ringing around, and we got a great company that came out, changed out the condenser, and got us back up and running again. But you know, that stuck with me getting ripped off and then not being able to find any phone number to call the person back, etc. And the time I was just happy to get cold air again and get the stress level in the home back down again. Uh other one was whenever I was looking for a new system, whenever I moved to Dallas. Uh, the house we moved in had an original system to the home. So it was probably, I don't know, 20 years old. So I knew I didn't want to relive my Cleveland experience again. So I went through the process of let's get ahead of the issue and let's get this thing changed out before it dies. Uh so we started in, I think it was February. Uh say I was traveling a lot at the time, so I wasn't there during the week, flying out Monday, back Friday, all that stuff. Uh so my wife, you know, was trying to get hold of companies to come out and give us proposals for systems, uh, which kept running into the issue where you know we need the husband to be available as well. Well, he travels, you know, he'll be here at the weekend. Well, we don't work weekends, so okay, so we were in a catch 22 or whatever. So my wife's intelligent, she'd keep making decisions, you know, all that good stuff or whatever. So that frustrated me on that side. And then whenever, you know, we did get some companies that would come out and talk to us at the weekend. At the time, I had a friend who was uh VP of logistics at Atlantic or whatever. So you know, he'd help me lock in on that high efficiency system. We wanted there was a number of rebates available, so it's what's a I want a high high efficiency system, you know, 1820 sear. And people kept saying, no, you don't want that. You want a 14 sear, that's the best, or whatever, or you know, your good value for money. Uh, so it's like, okay, next company, you know, here's what I no, you don't want that. You want this 16 sear, that's what I have in my home. Keep you perfectly cool. You don't want a high high efficiencies. So this went down, probably about 10 companies. You know, we saw those people that would uh how does it sit in? I forget what that sales tactic is, or whatever. We just sit there until you can get a yes or whatever. So just seeing those heavy-handed, not listening or whatever. So that frustrated you. Eventually we find, you know, a company that would listen and uh got me what I wanted for the home or whatever, and we were happy with that. Uh another time we had a plumbing issue where Shar valve started leaking. Of course, it was on a Sunday afternoon. Got a plumber out again, uh, took care of us, put a band-aid fix on their needed to order apart. But again, the phone number didn't work on the invoice, never heard back from anybody. It started leaking again within a week. So we had to get another company out and start the whole process over again. So those are probably the three big things that sort of shaped me away with you know, hassle on the front end, you know, people being, I don't know, unprofessional, you know, as in that, you know, they weren't groomed, dressed well, presentable, no company logos, that sort of stuff. And then just the total lack of follow-up on the back end, you know. Technicians had one thing, but you know, the phone numbers didn't lead anywhere, all the rest of it. And there was no follow-up on parts, etc. So those that really shaped what I didn't want to be, or that frustration for the the homeowner on the other side.

Julian Placino: 8:42

Wow. So your experiences are certainly not trivial, and you can for sure empathize with all of your customers because of those things. Really interesting. Um, so well, then in light of that perspective, when you took over ownership in 2017, how has your vision of the business differed than let's say previous ownership?

Speaker 1: 9:03

I would see, so we'll say the prior owners here, you know, did a great job building, you know, a great brand and a great reputation and business or whatever. But I'm gonna say back in those, I'm gonna say it was more a broke fix mentality, uh, which I think the whole industry's moved away from from the most part, whatever. But you know, we'd be running into someone's home, we'd get as many calls as we could on the technicians, we'd be sending them around the Dallas Metroplex, which is not a small area. You know, I think back then it was probably a hundred miles from one side to the other in all directions. So uh, so we'd have technicians in Fort Worth and then in uh Frisco, so it's probably an hour and a half drive without traffic. Uh so that that's where, you know, that really didn't work for me. So I wanted to be say be more personable. So from my I'd say consulting experience, you know, we had clients, we didn't have customers, we had clients. So to me, a client is you want to be their trusted advisor, you know, have a long-term relationship, and you're the go-to person. So that that really shaped uh say what I wanted to be. Uh so we narrowed in the service area that we we focused on to be more local, so we weren't driving all over the place. There's enough homes in the area for us, you know, to put down and build a good footprint. And then we changed you from running that eight to 12 calls a day, you know, reduced that down to the more run averaging about five or whatever, so we could spend time with clients, you know, talking to them at the front door, getting to know, you know, what issues are you experienced? Tell me a bit more about it, uh, so we could really dial in. And then whenever we do diagnostics, you know, it's not just fix the first thing you see, it's go beyond that, you know, try and dig deeper. So, why did that component fail? Was there something else that impacted it? So let's make sure we try and identify that, make a recommendation to the client as well, so we're not back again in a week or a month or whatever because the underlying issue, you know, took that component back out again. Uh the other things, you know, was being able to be contacted. So that's where we have, you know, everything short of smoke signals. So we got web forms, chat, uh, say phone. I don't know, we don't have fax anymore, but we had that at one time. So, you know, making sure that we were available. So I always say smaller company, we can't be saying 24-7, uh, everybody needs to sleep at night or whatever. But you know, making sure people can get hold of us, leave us a message so we can get back to them again. You know, doing good work when we're in the field, and then doing follow-up if we need to uh answering questions.

Julian Placino: 12:01

Yeah, so there's a few things they got there. Number one, it's it's less break fix, but more troubleshoot the diagnose, uh, the the underlying issue to have a really holistic solution for for the customer. And also that that you change the word customer to client, it changes the whole positioning, right? Of like how to how to how to take care uh of them. And then also just the basic things of being available and also being visible and responsive to when your customers are looking for you, right? Um, so I think those are those are really great. Well, we're actually on that topic right now. So you you are a customer of Peaksy, and um this this podcast, of course, is powered by Peaksy. Yeah, so the topic of visibility and being searchable and being found. Tell us, what has your experience been with Peakzi?

Speaker 1: 12:45

I with Peakzi, whatever, so it probably goes back to PulseM or whatever. So Pawan, uh, was a you know was uh did a lot of great work for uh a French or colleague uh that works at another company, he's the the CEO over there. But uh, you know, at the time he had uh say introduced me to Pulsem, uh, talked to Pawan, got on that platform, which has been great. Uh, we're still using it to these days or whatever. But then uh, you know, I my friend let me know that uh Pawan has moved on, he's set up this other company. We're on it, it's great, it's in frightful. So that that was sort of my journey to get on to Peakzi. Uh we say Peakzi, I'm gonna say it's grown a lot. It took me a while to say get used to what it's telling me and its features or whatever. Uh, but it's helped, you know, get market insight. What's the overall market doing in the Metroplex where I used to have to guess? Is it slow this week? Where's all the phone calls? Uh you know, is it just us? Is it market trend and not not knowing how to do the Bush telegraph of reaching out to some other owners around the place? You know, what what are you seeing on your phones? Uh, you know, and trying to triangulate, is it us, is it them, or is it the market? Uh, but Pixie gives us that sort of insight to where the market demand and where the market trends at. So it's database rather than trying to guess. I would say the other thing that's evolving and we're still learning and growing is the AI website so that chat, GPT, Jim, and I can find us. So I would say still working through that. You know, our visibility is not a lot better. It was than whenever we first started. But you know, that that's bringing us that tool, or I would say keepability to get added into our digital footprint as well.

Julian Placino: 14:42

Gotcha. So I heard the the market pulse, like what's the market actually doing based on real live data? And that's how you can benchmark yourself across other organizations and kind of where the market is going. Um, and then also heard just overall like AI search visibility. Like people are not just looking for home services on Google anymore. They're looking through Chat GPT, through Gemini, through Grok, all that. So this puts you at the forefront of that. Is that right?

Speaker 1: 15:08

Yeah. So well, hopefully that's that's the plan or whatever, but you know, uh we say talking with our account manager was it last month? Uh say, so yeah, there's there's frequent check-ins or whatever, so I'm a pin in the rear end. Uh, but I know we'll say for the month of was it September, I believe we had like 240 chat GPT inquiries, or we were we came up and were presented 240 times, I believe. So uh so something's definitely working somewhere, and yeah, I'll give credit to uh Peaksy for you know helping us get into the right place and talking to chat GPT and Gemini and whatever whatever language it talks in. So we're we're in there.

Julian Placino: 15:55

Wonderful, wonderful. Well, anything else you'd like to mention about Peakzi before we kind of jump back into your story here?

Speaker 1: 16:01

No, that's that's it. So I'll do the talk to them later on, see what the latest and greatest is this month.

Julian Placino: 16:08

Sounds good, sounds good. Well, uh again, I'm fascinated about how backgrounds translate from industry to industry, right? And here's a very specific one because you came from Toyota from McKinsey. Um, how have you applied those like operational lessons, specifically lean principles to the way that you run your HBAC company?

Speaker 1: 16:26

I would say it's probably would say sort of was like brainwashed into the way I think. So one is not running around using using all the Japanese words and terms as that just freaks people out. So it just uh would say uh a big part of would say I'd say that probably the biggest core out of that is the continuous improvement element. So, you know, back whenever I I jumped into the HVAC world, you know, I knew enough to be dangerous. I'd been, you know, industrialized private equity and McKinsey, you know, I was getting dropped into different industries and so forth all of the time. So, you know, I'll still was it Marcus Lamonas's, you know, it's all about you know the three people, processes, and product or whatever. So those are fundamentally true, whatever. Uh, but sort of the key thing from sort of the the lean side, etc., was really that continuous improvement. So uh, you know, we went from paper-based on to uh say service tighten some software, you know, to take us out of the dark ages. You know, one of the premises is without standardization, there can be no improvement. So we had multiple different ways of doing stuff. Uh, there was no standard or methodology way. So once we were able to get overrun to software, you know, then we were able to start using some standard check sheets, you know, whenever we were doing a maintenance or a diagnostic, you know, here are the 10 things you can check. Uh, then you know, we'd have a callback for something that got missed, overlooked, you know, uh, or I didn't train people enough on it. So, you know, so then we'd build that that into the forms and the check sheets or whatever, then we'd come across something else. So over time we kept, you know, going back, asking what happened, why, you know, did I not train someone? Our process is broken, or did someone not choose to follow a standard, you know. Typically it was the first two or whatever, so on me or whatever. So that's that's we're just using that continuous improvement mindset to build out our check sheets and forms. Uh, we still do that today, or whatever, and then training around those issues as well. So uh we say bringing in that training and standardization. So once we've established a standard or an improvement, then you know it's communicating that to the team, making sure that's understood and gets out there so it can get adopted in there. So those are probably the biggest driving factors uh around you know what what's in in the core and in the background. Uh there's probably some other bits and pieces, you know, around the warehouse where we keep our inventory rather than guessing what's there, you know, we try to make it visual so you can see where's where's our where's our inventory level at so we can reorder. Some places we have with a mini camban system, so two-bin control. So once one's empty, you know, use the next one and reorder. So uh little bits and pieces like that around the place that it's say sneaked in.

Julian Placino: 19:43

That makes sense. Like if you standardize a process and it's and everyone is complying by it, you can then begin to diagnose and then sort of troubleshoot and isolate what needs to be pivoted within the system uh for that continuous improvement. So um, how does it apply to your people? Because your technicians are Known for being very trained and certified. So, how does continuous development, continuous improvement apply to your people?

Speaker 1: 20:06

I so we say, so we got a number of core values. You know, one of one of the sort of five pillars we have is growth. So, you know, everybody grows every day, every day is one of the expectations, and especially the way the HVAC industry is moving with legislation. You know, we all need to be growing every day and learning. You know, everybody learns something new every day, you know, then the company gets bigger, gets stronger, and then we can share that. You know, I learned stuff every day, whatever. Not all of it I wanted to learn, but you know, this industry, you need to you need to be learning and growing every day. So that's what we just you know have that system or process, you know, set up where we have our you know, standards that you know we review uh on a we'll say, probably not as regularly as we should, but you know, if something's broken, the technicians are pretty good at coming forward and letting us know something's not working or something needs to be updated, or we can see if we're getting a number of callbacks or running into issues in certain places. You know, we we can dig in, find out what's wrong and move forward. Uh and then on the training, you know, we have you know established, you know, we meet twice a week as a team waiver to go through training updates. Uh, and then you know, if someone's was like got an opportunity, you know, they can you know let my service manager know we'll fix up one-on-one, or if we pick up that they need certain training, we'll do that as well. Uh and then with the advent of AI and it growing, you know, we we have adopted Sales Pro as well. So that's available for the technicians to get AI coaching as well. So they can hear things from a crazy person like me or service manager, whatever. But you know, we've got you know AI there as well, taking looking at best practices from technicians around the US, which is then giving them feedback and ideas to improve as well.

Julian Placino: 22:12

Very cool. And I think your team, like the construct of them, is one of the things that makes your culture very unique because you have folks from like Navy veterans to former chefs. So I'm curious, is that by intentionality? Is that by design? Like, how does that diversity add to your culture, service excellence, and make you all stand out as leaders in home services?

Speaker 1: 22:33

I see, I don't know, a good blend of people is great. It's it's all about people at the end of the day. You can have the best processes, et cetera, in the world. But if your people aren't into it, you know, you got nothing. So it starts really with people and the core people. So, you know, I would say building that culture, you know, is on my shoulders. And you know, I I own that, no matter how big we get, et cetera, whatever that that culture sticks with the you know, the leader. Uh so you know, I've worked hard or whatever at, you know, trying to get those core values on paper to identify the still, you know, what really are we looking for for someone to be successful here? And you know, the people that with a diverse background is good because then people have got different perspectives, different knowledge. So, you know, uh we say, so you know, Brian or whatever, the Navy vet you mentioned, you know, he you know, we make pizzas here, whatever. So we started making pizzas and we've leveled up our pizza game over the last six months or whatever. So uh we have math in the chef where we were able to give you know pointers on dough and and recipes and so forth. You know, Brian used to run the commercial kitchen. So, you know, that's been helpful on the pizza making front, which uh the team appreciate. Uh, but in terms then, you know, people got different perspectives from different companies, different backgrounds that they've seen. So, you know, everybody has a voice and they can chip on. Uh, you know, is there a better way to do things or whatever? So, yeah, whatever we get that, though those perspectives are interesting. But going back, you know, you know, that sort of blend or whatever, really, it's people that can step in that you know care about uh taking care of clients and customer service, you know, have the ability to talk with people and you know are many, they're their own leaders in the end, or whatever. They they lead the truck. So, you know, they take responsibility, they they follow up, they do what they say, you know, they don't throw up their hands and say, I give up. They stick with it and you know, uh we say keep digging, reach out for help, you know, to get there. So it's really that type of person rather than their background, if that makes makes sense of uh how they're here and how they're successful.

Julian Placino: 24:52

Absolutely, absolutely. And uh I think that makes for a really, really awesome culture and such interesting uh perspectives that your your team uh would have, especially having those kind of very backgrounds. So you yourself, I mean, obviously, I hear an accent here, right? So so you and your wife Gail built a new life here in Texas after growing up in the UK, right?

Speaker 1: 25:13

Sort of. We had a couple of moves before we moved to Texas. Originally we went from uh was that uh Derby close to you where the Toyota factory is over in the UK. Uh so yeah, I dragged her over to Cleveland, Ohio. Uh so we were in Cleveland, Ohio for five years. And then we uh were in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for four years, I believe, or before we moved down here to Texas in was it 2007, I believe it was. So yeah. So yeah, but we built built a life here or whatever. So Texas is you know different, I'm gonna say nice, different, or whatever that you know, I've enjoyed it here and you know, looking forward to staying staying in Texas. You know, it's got different culture, it's that balance between being too laid back or too too uh impersonable. Uh that sometimes you can get, I'd say, on some of the East Coast areas. Nothing against it, it's just different. Uh but yeah, it just building a life, you know, with the family being, was it 5,000 miles away in the UK, you know, it was being a bit bit more independent, but I don't know. Somehow it worked out, you know, the kids all grew up maybe a bit too independent because they all disappeared to different corners of the US to pursue their passions. So uh it's been uh fun and interesting.

Julian Placino: 26:37

Well, Steve, close us out then. Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for Southern Comfort Mechanical? And what kind of legacy do you hope to leave for your customers, the community? Tell us all that.

Speaker 1: 26:48

Oh, legacy, that's a big word. I don't know if I'm old enough yet to think about that, but I would say we're we're looking to, you know, keep having fun every day. Uh we'll say, keep uh we'll say growing our client service base. You know, hopefully we can, you know, be the, I'll call it the dominant player in the area and be the go-to HVAC and plumbing company in the area. Uh we'll say, create opportunities for our team to keep to keep growing. Uh we'll say, and try and have as much fun as we can while we're doing it. And someday I can work myself out of a job.

Julian Placino: 27:26

Well, we certainly wish you all of the continued success. And it seems like y'all are doing amazing things in home services. So uh, Steve, close us out. Tell us your website, how to connect with you on social. Give us all that.

Speaker 1: 27:38

Uh so we say our website is spaghetti soup, but you can look at Southern Camford Mechanical, the one in Texas and not one in the rest of the world. Uh, our website is www.scmdfwr.com. Uh we'll say uh you can get hold of us by phone or by text at 972-420-1700.

Julian Placino: 28:07

All right. And we'll make sure to have all that contact information in the show notes. So, Steve, this has been wonderful to get to know you and your business. Thank you so much for your time and sharing your story with us here today.

Speaker 1: 28:18

No problem. Thank you, Julian. I appreciate you having me on and uh having a great conversation.

Julian Placino: 28:23

Absolutely. Well, everyone, that is it for today's episode. And we'll see you next time on the Home Services Success Stories podcast powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business.