Welcome And Founder's Origin

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. I'm Julian Placino, your host, and I'm very excited for our show today because we have Helmi Ben Flah, who is the owner and co-founder of Guaranteed Service. Helmy, welcome to the show. How are you?

Speaker 0:21

Julian. Good, good, Julian. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure. I'm so humbled to be part of this podcast.

Freedom, Culture, And Customer Care

Julian Placino 0:27

Yeah, and we're excited to learn more about your story and share it as well. So let's kind of start at the beginning, Helmy. Okay. So you started Guaranteed Service back in 2018. What was your inspiration to start the business?

Speaker 0:41

I wanted freedom for myself. I wanted freedom for my employees. I want to uh a cult, a great culture that supports uh myself, the the team, and uh and the customers that we deal with in every day. Uh we we have a say here we treat every customer like grandmother, and we take care of them like grandma, and we love our come our clients, and I'm so humbled to be part of the team that uh delivers that.

Julian Placino 1:11

So you mentioned you're motivated by freedom and you have a great immigrant story, you're from Tunisia. So tell us a bit about coming to the states, what was that like, and and kind of bridge that gap between getting here and starting the business?

Speaker 1:23

Uh well, you know, I grew up in in Tunisia and I'm always want to be better. I always want to win. I want to be the number one, and there is no better country to be than the United States. And I'm so humble and so grateful to be a U.S. citizen. And uh, and uh, you know, this is the land of uh land of opportunities. Uh I brought that, you know, uh that sense of urgency on me. I brought the, you know, we gotta have to take care of our people, we have to take care of our clients. And um literally just that's the what the motivation that uh fills me in every day that that I want to do better for my team, and I want to do better for for the people around me. And uh I'm I'm grateful to have the best team in the world, you know, supporting me.

From Software To Home Services

Julian Placino 2:15

That's awesome. So motivated by freedom, motivated by by excellence. You've got that hunger from the immigrant story. Love that. Um, also share a bit about your background because it's interesting. I'm always interested to see how people get into the industry. And you did not come from home services, you actually came as a software developer. So, how did you go from software developer to home services?

Speaker 2:35

Uh well, I was uh I uh I'm I'm an engineer in automation system. I write codes for automation, and then when I moved to the States, you know, I uh I found a home in a software company that writes code for uh the home service uh industry. Uh I was blessed to be mentored by the top, you know, in the industry. Uh you know, Dave Geiger, George Brazil, and all these guys that really give me everything that I know, and and um and I, you know, toward the software, create create an amazing software. Um and uh working with this with this leader in the home service, uh you know, I I see how they help their team. I see how they're they're literally like a big family. And in the software business, you're really just you and the computer, right? And uh, and I just want to expand that. And and uh and I learned a lot from these guys. I learned you know how to run a business successfully, how to motivate uh your people, how to be a good leader. And uh I decided to go to that um service and um you know started the home service business. I worked for a home service business before we grow the home service business, and I decide it's my turn to uh you know to take the helm and uh and um you know start my own business.

Julian Placino 3:59

So that's how it happened. You used your tech to eventually to first start off at a software company that catered to home services, but then you sort of like kind of became enamored by the home services business because it's a good idea.

Speaker 4:12

When you're writing a code and you're writing code, you know, to you know, to pull up KPIs, and uh, you know, you start and you know asking questions what those KPIs are for, right? And it was in in greet by uh by you know what does KPI do and why why a business needs it to run successfully? And hey, you know, I read the code from the bottom up, so I may as well use it for myself.

KPIs As A Growth Engine

Julian Placino 4:39

So talk to us about that then. How has having that kind of unique insight helped you become a better home services leader? How have you applied that into running your own company?

Speaker 4:48

Yeah, so uh the the the guys and mention there is a lot more than those guys, you know, they they taught me leadership too, right? And so I and you know uh in implemented my technical skills in in the software business to measure key performance indicator that nobody else does, right? Because I'm I'm you know, I write code, I know how to make computer talk. Uh and and that's really inspired me to you know motivate the technician uh by those key performance indicators and uh and and grow the company from the bottom up.

Customer For Life Philosophy

Julian Placino 5:27

Interesting. So you kind of were programmed into the things like the activities or events within the home services business that actually move the needle. So you knew the things to kind of manage and grow. That's fascinating. Okay, cool. So so let's talk about the business today then, right? So you often talk about the customer for life philosophy. So what exactly does that mean and how does it actually show up in the business?

Speaker 5:51

Uh so we don't need to go to to every customer is to hit a home run, right? We we we we nurture them, we treat them as a family, we take care of their needs and their wants, right? And uh, you know, and it will make it will keep them a customer for life because I I I I know as a fact the the customer life value is more important than that service call that you went to that day. Uh you know, you you you you nurture the customer to become yours, you know. In in these days, you know, it takes a lot of effort and money to to bring a customer in, and you don't want to lose him, you want to keep him for life. So that's our motto is like you you'll be a customer for life. We have it in the trucks, we have it everywhere. We we you you will always gonna be a customer for life when we're gonna treat you right every single time.

Julian Placino 6:45

So not just transactional mode, a customer for life.

Speaker 6:48

That's transactional.

What Guaranteed Really Means

Julian Placino 6:48

Nope. Love it. Okay, so the name guaranteed, how'd you come up with that name and what does guaranteed actually mean when it comes to delivering the service?

Speaker 6:57

Uh we guarantee our work and we guarantee to stand behind our work. Uh, things happen, things break, right? And we guarantee that we're always gonna be there for you. Uh, we're gonna guarantee we're gonna send the best technician uh to your home. We guarantee that you're gonna be satisfied for years to come, and we're gonna fix the fix the problem once and once forever, and we guarantee that you're gonna love us and you will become a customer for life.

Delivering Same-Day Without Sacrifice

Julian Placino 7:24

So let's talk about some of the the the the how the sauce is made and how you're able to deliver that because you also have a same-day service standard, right? So you stand behind same-day service. So, how do you deliver all of that speed without sacrificing quality?

Speaker 7:40

Uh, so we we have a tremendous technicians here in the company that really do care. They care about providing an an amazing customer service, and that we know we are in in this trade, uh, things break, and when it breaks, we have to take care of it right away. Uh, we can just, you know, you have water leak, we're gonna have to take care of it. Right? Uh, our technician uh from day one, they know that this job is not 8 to 5. Uh, they know their job is to take care of the customer. And uh, hey, cars come in at midnight, calls come in at 8 o'clock in the morning, and when the customer needs us, we will be there. We work for them, they're the boss. They tell us when to come and we will come there.

Hiring For Heart, Training For Skill

Julian Placino 8:27

So, tell us about your team then. What are some of your secrets to hiring the right people, training them, making sure that they deliver, you know, the guaranteed service?

Speaker 8:34

Yeah, so the uh uh we hire based on personality, the technical uh skills we train, the technical skill. There is so many classes we do, you know, in-house and uh and in the different uh states. We send guys for training all the time. So we hire people on personality. When we look at someone, is that the person that I want them to be in my grandma's house? Is that the person that is gonna take care of her? Is that the person that my grandma is gonna call me back and is gonna say, hey, David, the technician was an amazing, amazing guy. We loved him. Those the the skills that we hire a technician based on. So uh we we we hire based on uh personality and then we teach him the trade.

Julian Placino 9:18

So you hire based on personality, someone you could take to your grandma's house, and then you teach them the technical skills. Okay, that makes that makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 9:26

Yeah, and every single position, too.

Comfort Club And VIP Membership

Julian Placino 9:28

Oh, love it. So tell us a bit about the comfort club vision. What were what's the problem you're trying to solve by by having that program?

Speaker 9:36

Uh so I want to uh create some sense of security for for for the homeowner that uh with guaranteed service, you're gonna we're gonna take care of all your plumbing, your heating, your cooling, your electrical needs, water softener, generator, anything in the home needs, we're gonna be there for for you. And and we create the comfort comfort uh club is uh you know to provide all of that to the homeowner without spend spending a lot of money in you know uh you know and marketing and uh bringing new new new new customers to the list. We want to take care of our people first, right? We want to take care of our existing customer first. Uh our uh VIP membership uh provides uh same-day service. Typically, we are there within a couple hours. Uh, there is no fees to show up. We show up to take care of the problem. That's what they want us to do. And uh the Comfort Club membership is really, really growing. We we have thousands of customers in that list.

Education Over Emergencies

Julian Placino 10:38

So that's kind of part of the whole customer for life thing, not just transactional, but like how do I take care of you for the long term? Okay. And um one of your kind of business and customer philosophies also is you you empathize, uh, you emphasize inspections early detection. So basically education over emergencies. What exactly does that look like in implementation?

Speaker 10:59

Uh so we uh we we do a lot of system uh system checks and safety checks, right? Uh in a time when the customer doesn't need doesn't need heat and air conditioning, right? Uh so we just want to make sure that when they need it or plumbing and electrical when we want to protect the home before it becomes a problem. We know fixing a problem is gonna be expensive and it's gonna be you know stressful for the homeowner. So we want to go to a peacetime to make sure that the unit is safe to operate, it's gonna last forever, and uh you know that's the that's the best way to uh to to approach that. We want to be proactive, no reactive.

Julian Placino 11:41

Gotcha. Yeah, definitely uh no one likes surprises. And I think if you have a more educated and kind of uh um education approach, I think that that definitely goes along the lines of uh building customers' relations services.

Never Stop Learning Culture

Speaker 11:53

We visit the home four times a year, one for heat, one for air conditioning, one for plumbing, and one for electric. And we we spend literally like two hours, two sometimes three hours in the job to make sure the home is is uh safety first, and um there is no future problem or that that we can you know foresee. So we want to take take care of it right now before it becomes a problem.

Julian Placino 12:17

Love it. So one of your mantras also is never stop learning, and you're known for constantly investing and continuing in education and seminars. So, what are some examples of that for yourself, for your team members? What does that look like?

Speaker 12:29

Oh, so a training, training, training all the time, right? We literally train all the time, right? Uh somebody says, What happened if you train him and he leaves? And you'll ask again, what happened if you don't train him and stays? Uh so we train our guys to provide an excellent customer service, and we do a lot of technical training as well. Uh you know, I'm part of uh Redwood, uh, a great organization, absolutely an amazing organization that provides us with a lot of training and a lot of education and really move the needle. Uh people that want to come to work for us because uh of the training that we provide, the culture that we have, and uh you know, I'm really happy and grateful to be part of this business.

Julian Placino 13:18

So always leveling up at every aspect of the business.

Speaker 13:21

Always you're always learning. Yeah, you're not learning, you're dying. What are we saying? We said uh our ego is not our amigo. We we we take the ego out when we always learn.

How Peakzi Changes The Game

Julian Placino 13:34

Absolutely. If you're always humble, everything becomes an opportunity to learn, right? So I think that's great. Um, here's one for you. I'm very interested, especially because you're I think you're the only tech guy turned home services person we've had on the show. So, as you know, this show is powered by Peakzi, you know, the number one AI platform. So I'm curious what has your experience been with Peakzi?

Speaker 13:57

Love it, literally love it. Uh, you know, with the AI platforms, you know, the Google SEO, I believe, is dying, you know, the uh AI chat GPTs, and you know, it's uh you got ahead ahead of it. Peakzi provides all of that for us. Uh Peakzi uh provides us with recruiting tools. Uh Peakzi provides us with an acquisition list if we need to add uh you know uh a smaller company to the business. Uh I I could not do this work without Peakzi.

Julian Placino 14:30

Interesting. So, what would you say, also being a tech guy, are some of the most like useful features, like the kind of killer feature or whatever that Peakzi gives home services leaders?

Results In Recruiting And Marketing

Speaker 14:41

Uh literally, I think it's a huge platform. So from recruiting, all right, it is uh amazing, all right. Uh coming up with uh a marketing list for direct mails, right, or for emails, that is absolutely fantastic. Uh coming up with a list of uh for merge and acquisition in our business. Uh I it look Peakzi changed the the the game for us.

Julian Placino 15:13

Okay. So change the game for us. So any any kind of like outstanding results that you can kind of mention that Peakzi has helped you accomplish?

Speaker 15:22

Yes. Uh one is the uh the recruiting as we see. I as you I as I say, you know, I can look at you know what who's the top technician in one county, and then you know, with the Google reviews and and and and the platform of Peakzi looks everywhere, right? And then and and it spits out you know the best technician around with uh their real complete profile, where they live, you know, what kind of reviews they're getting. Uh that's huge. That's there is nobody. I don't see, I don't I don't know any other software can do that for you. Uh two, Peakzi is connecting to databases to know the age of the home, how long the people, how long the homeowner has been there, then it's huge for our marketing. Uh so we get clean marketing list. Uh Peakzi could you know, follow the algorithm of the uh uh LLMs and and puts us on the top of the list when it comes to chat GPT search.

Vision, Legacy, And Leadership

Julian Placino 16:22

Wow. So recruiting application, marketing application, MA application, and of course you meant uh you said uh AI search, right? So the way people are consuming information. So awesome. I think those are really great points. Um anything else you want to mention about Peakzi before we kind of close out the show here.

Speaker 16:40

Uh if you're not if you're a home service business and you're not in Peakzi, you're missing a big you're missing a lot.

Julian Placino 16:47

Love it. Great words and appreciate that, Helmi. So so close us out. So when you're looking at guaranteed service for the long-term vision, like what is your vision for the business? What is the type of legacy that you want to leave behind for your community, your customers, your team?

Speaker 17:03

I I hope guaranteed service will be remembered for elevating the trades, elevating the customer service in the trade, uh uh providing higher standard uh for how a service companies should operate. Uh our SOPs is I can't share it with anybody. Uh from a leader from a leader standpoint standpoint, I want the people to know that our leaders are here for them. We uh you know, we we would really provide for our people more more than we provide for us. And and and uh we we you know, like I always say, you know, if one day I want to die and somebody wants to come to my grave and it will say this this guy was a good guy. He helped me do something. Not not because I have money or I don't have money or or I'm a bold head or not. I just wanted to remember this guy, you know, he did really good for the home service industry and and and he uh he helped us. He helped me personally.

Julian Placino 18:09

Well, I think that's a tremendous vision and a very uh noble uh noble legacy to leave behind. So uh Helmi, this has been very wonderful. This has been a fun conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Uh, close this out by sharing your website. How do people connect with you on the social media? Tell us all that, helmi.

Speaker 18:27

Uh helmibanflah guaranteed service.com. 1-800 guaranteed is our phone number, and you can find me in LinkedIn at uh helmi ban flah.

Julian Placino 18:36

Awesome. And we'll make sure to have all your contact information in the show notes. So, helmi, this has been a pleasure. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us today.

Speaker 18:44

Thanks for having me, Julian.

Julian Placino 18:45

And everyone, thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the next episode of the Home Services Success Stories podcast powered by Peakzi, the number one AI platform for growing your home services business.