Welcome And Guest Introduction

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 we have another great show in store for you today. Because today we have Jon Polizzi, who is the co-founder and president at Home Service Heroes. Jon, welcome to the show. How are you?

Speaker 0:20

I'm doing good. Thank you for having me.

How The Family Business Started

Julian Placino 0:23

Absolutely, absolutely. So, so Jon, I want to jump right in. And uh the business had begun as a family business in 1999. So, what was the original vision when you, your father, and your brother started the company?

Speaker 0:36

Well, in the beginning, there really wasn't a vision. Um, when the business started in '99, I was still in the in the army. Uh, I didn't join the business until 2002. Uh my dad and brother just called and said, Hey, we're gonna start a business. Do you want to be a part of it? And I said, Sure, yeah, that sounds fun. So, yeah, early on there was there was no vision. It was just uh commercial construction and just get work done and hopefully make money.

Julian Placino 1:01

So originally it was your brother and your father, and you jumped in later, right? Correct, yeah. So, what were some of the stories that maybe your father and your brother told you as far as why they started the business?

Speaker 1:13

Uh, it's your typical contractor story. They were working for somebody else that wasn't treating them good and uh thought they could do it better. So uh got some uh jobs to uh to go with them and started working nights and getting some jobs done. And when they had enough volume, they felt like uh they both quit their day jobs and started uh full-time with uh the business was called Parallel Connection Services uh back you know in the early days for a construction company.

Julian Placino 1:40

Okay, so it sounds like they were both working other full-time jobs and kind of started doing this part-time. Um, and they saw an opportunity to do this better than some other things they've seen and ultimately formed the company. So I think that's a great Genesis story right there. Yeah. So what was what was that conversation like? Was there much convincing or twisting of your arm to leave what you were doing and join the business, or what did that look like?

Speaker 2:02

No, I was getting towards the end of my uh first enlistment and kind of pondering, you know, what was I gonna do? Was I gonna stay in? Was I gonna get out? My wife was pregnant with our first child. So kind of a lot of questions in the air. And when they proposed that, you know, they they're starting a business and wanted me to be a part of it, I was like, well, okay, well, then that's my answer. We're gonna do that.

Julian Placino 2:22

And what was your initial role in the business when you first started?

Army Leadership Applied To Trades

Speaker 2:26

Um uh initial role, I guess, was electrician. Okay. Um, yeah, no, I I hadn't had much experience um on job sites, so I came out as just a just a you know ground level worker, but also an officer of the company. Um, so I learned the actual trade and then started to learn more of the business.

Julian Placino 2:47

Gotcha. So you served active duty and uh a great service to the country. So, how would you say that you parlay that experience into the trades and ultimately leadership in home services?

Speaker 3:00

I think leadership is a great word for that. Um, throughout my time in the army, I've had some really great leaders and some really bad ones, you know, and I found that the really great ones get down in the trenches with you, literally, and kind of show you how it's done and are right there alongside you. Um, and so having that and also having the bad ones that just bark orders from, you know, the truck or the tent. Um told myself that when I became a leader, I would be the one that's in the trenches with the guys, working side by side instead of you know, on top, if that makes sense.

Julian Placino 3:32

It does. So, really side by side, leading from the front in the trenches with the guys. So, what would you say was that path from being in the field to ultimately becoming the president? What were some of the leadership characteristics you demonstrated that yes, it's a family business, but ultimately they said you were the guy to run the company. So tell us about that.

Speaker 3:51

So, in the beginning, I wanted to learn every aspect of every part of the job, you know, uh turning the wrenches to answering the phones to doing the books to the marketing to networking to all that. So I worked alongside with the people doing those jobs to learn and ultimately master all of those. So that when I became the leader, uh, they had, you know, they saw the experience of me working alongside them, learning from them in order to manage them later.

Julian Placino 4:18

Gotcha. Okay. Well, now, as as president, like what's your vision for the business now that you kind of hold that piece? Like, what do you see long term?

Speaker 4:27

Long term, I feel like we can be a dominant player here in the Tampa Bay area. There's so much opportunity here. Um, we've been around for so long. We have such a great reputation um that it won't be long until we are, you know, one of the top choices for all three trades electrical, air conditioning, and plumbing. So that's the vision, is just to be a dominant. I don't know that you can put a number on that, you know, as far as revenue goes, but um, we'll know when um customers are just flocking to us, when employees and technicians are just blocking to us just because they know of us.

Julian Placino 5:01

So true leader in your market doing great work. So I know that your mission is rooted in faith, honor, and service. So, how do those values show up? How do those values show up in the way that you serve your team members and your customers?

Speaker 5:16

Well, starting with faith, um we we take that into like the golden rule treat others the way you want to be treated. And that's the first thing we teach everybody. You're in somebody else's house. Imagine the roles reverse. If if some stranger was in your house, how would you want to be treated? You know, with respect and dignity and professionalism. So that that's kind of where we get the faith uh value from. Um, we pray at our meetings in the shop, and um, you know, we're all servants of God in the end. So we we try to portray that in the work we do. Love that. When we talk about honor, we want to do everything with honor and you know, integrity. Uh, there's a lot of ways to make money out here uh being dishonest, and we will never do that. Um, we highlight cases where you know doing the right thing maybe cost us a big ticket or or cost us some money, but you know, we can all sleep better at night knowing that we've done it the right way, being honest. Um, holding your head up high after you know a long day's work, knowing that everything was done right. Um that's where we go with honor and service and excellence, you know, just doing everything the best we can. There are, like I said, there's ways to shortcut, you know, jobs and and customers, and we'll never do that. Um, we want to do everything we can with the utmost quality, both personally and professionally.

Julian Placino 6:39

So truly living out and putting into practice each of those values. How many employees now today, John?

Speaker 6:46

Uh right now we've downsized a little bit. We're at about 15, 16 employees.

Julian Placino 6:51

15 and 16. So with those values at the center of your being, like how would you describe the culture at the business?

Speaker 6:59

Um, our culture, you know, our our mission here in our culture is to serve. We're we're servant leaders of our community. Um, we're we're in people's homes and their their castles, you know, to make repairs that they need. So we are there to serve our customers. And uh as a leader of the company, uh and my other managers, we we use that uh kind of in a unique way. We our job is to serve our technicians. We're here to serve, you know, our employees so they can be good servants of our customers.

Julian Placino 7:32

Gotcha. So tell us a bit about more about your team. And I know the type of leader you are is in the trenches, you know, with the guys. So what makes your team great?

Speaker 7:41

Uh just living on our values, I think. You know, um, we we identified a couple of things that we feel like set us apart in the marketplace. And the number one difference is people who care. Um, I'm very particular about who we hire. Like personality has to be there. You have to be a caring individual, willing to serve our customers, um, you know, not just here to make a paycheck. So I think that transfers to our customer service and and really shines, you know, um, with customers. And we see that in in reviews and feedback and stuff. So to answer your question, what makes us great is our people. They care.

Julian Placino 8:17

So it sounds like you're really hire for character and for personality. Yeah, right. Yeah, absolutely. Because that's the foundation of who the person's going to become. So, what about the technical excellence? How do you always make sure that your guys are really upskilled and knowing the latest and greatest in terms of home services trends and techniques?

Speaker 8:33

Yeah, we do technical training periodically throughout the week as well, trying to keep up with code changes and new products and what's out there, and then learning from our mistakes. You know, we're not always going to be perfect. If if we do a job and that job fails, um we will uh we will learn from that mistake. And I'll highlight that in our meetings and go over the issues that happened and what we can do to prevent them in the future.

Same Day Service Without Cutting Corners

Julian Placino 8:58

So ongoing training, assessing any type of issues that need to be addressed, making it very public, and then doing better from that. So being very honest about what's happening within the business to uh serve the the mission of continuous improvement. So um, one thing that I've seen quite a bit on your reviews is that customers often mention same-day service excellence amid stressful situations. So, what would you say are some of the systems or decisions that you put in place that allows your team to respond so quickly without sacrificing quality?

Speaker 9:29

Yeah, so we love doing same day service. We love doing same-day jobs, and we set up our dispatch board, our schedule to accommodate that. Um, we will keep holes in in our day throughout the throughout the day to accommodate, you know, call-ins and same days. And excuse me, and our and our technicians are set up to do same day repairs. Now, obviously, if it's a larger job, we need a little schedule out a day or two, but never, never too far out. Um, you know, I just I just love doing same day repairs. I love doing same-day air conditioners. That's just amazing to me. When somebody calls or their air conditioner's broken, we can get it fixed, replaced by the end of that day. That's I love doing that. Um, and just the joy and happiness we see from customers that say, Oh my God, I never thought that this will get done today. Like that, that that makes me happy.

Julian Placino 10:15

Yeah. You know, speaking of the things that you love to do, what would you say you personally love the most about what you do, about home services, about being serviced to your customers through the business?

Speaker 10:28

I love to portray my like willingness to serve and my love for my customers in training. Like I do all the training here, like as many managers as we ever have. I think I will still always do that because I just really love to do that. Um, you know, we built the business on a reputation and quality, and I like to bring those to our training and just teach customer service and and the technical aspect and and just really like mold and mentor these guys into you know future leaders of themselves.

Using AI Marketing With Peakzi

Julian Placino 10:55

Love that. So, not just giving people jobs, but really molding them into future leaders. I think that's a great way to see things. So, um, so shifting gears a bit, this show here is powered by Peakzi. You are a customer of Pixie. So tell us first off, how would you explain to other home services leaders what Peaksy is?

Speaker 11:14

Uh Pixie is a lot of things. Um, not sure I fully understand everything, um, but they have seems to have mastered the the new AI world of marketing and uh lead generation and also you know uh technician generation. Um, you know, initially we we uh signed up with the uh um understanding that this will bring us candidates and people we can build for the future, and then totally uh explored the lead generation, which is super helpful, especially this year, and you know, when everybody's struggling for volume, like it has come through and helped us move along. So uh it's it's really you know, throughout years and years of of business and marketing, I've always asked, you know, our marketing vendors like, what's next? What's next? You know, we do TV and radio, what's next? And we got in the streaming, what's next? And that's podcasting, what's next? I really feel like this uh AI and you know the the the chat GPT marketing and and all those things is is what's going to be next. So I'm happy to be a part of it moving into the future when those things become more mainstream.

Julian Placino 12:23

Nice. What would you say are some of the most significant tangible business outcomes you've experienced from using Peakzi so far?

Speaker 12:31

We haven't been on it very long, but it has brought uh some two or three quality uh qualified candidates to uh to the table here. And just like I said, lead generation when it's becoming more difficult uh you know in this in this past year.

Julian Placino 12:48

Interesting. Okay, so I heard both leads for candidates for hiring as well as as well as leads for business, of course.

Speaker 12:55

Is that right? Yeah. I mean, that's what everybody needs. We need jobs and we need people. So those are the two things that Peakzi is providing.

Julian Placino 13:02

Love it. Well, before we kind of close out here, anything else you'd like to share about Peakzi?

Speaker 13:08

Um, you know, the the group everybody I've worked with has been amazing, super flexible, super understanding. Um, you know, really, I was kind of a hard sell. Um, I didn't really understand it in the beginning. And um, you know, uh Pawan came to me and said, Listen, I I like you. Give me give me some faith, and I will prove to you that this works. And I said, Well, yes, sir, whatever, whatever you want. And I jumped in and now now I'm a now I'm a fan.

Julian Placino 13:36

Love it. Pawan is a great guy, and I'm sure you know his like proven track record in technology and services. So uh you're definitely in your hands with Peakzi and Pawan right there. So um, well, Jon, close us out with some words to let's say any future customers or even employees that you would like to recruit into the business. What's the message you want them to know about you and your brand?

Speaker 14:01

Uh I would like home service heroes and me to be known as somebody who cares, like genuinely cares about customers and employees. Um if you were to come to work for me, uh nobody will treat you as good as I do. You know, even when things aren't great, I'm still gonna put you first.

How To Reach Jon And Closing

Julian Placino 14:19

Love it. There you go. So even if things aren't great, you're still gonna be put first if you're an employee or a customer. So love that. So, John, share with us your contact information. How do folks visit the website? How do they follow you on social, connect with you? Tell us that.

Speaker 14:35

Yeah, website is uh homeserviceheroesfl.com. Um, our social media is all uh Home Service Heroes, uh Facebook, Instagram, I think we're even on TikTok. Um, you know, uh if anybody's interested in in learning more about us or our experience with PC, our office number is 813-6534221. They can call and ask for me. I'd be uh happy to share my uh experiences. Um and then you can find me on Facebook at I think it's just Jon Polizzi, J-O-N-P-O-L-I-Z-Z-I on Facebook.

Julian Placino 15:10

Sounds great. We'll make sure to have all your contact information there as well. Are we going to see you on TikTok do any of those TikTok dances or anything?

Speaker 15:17

Well, probably not. You don't want to see me dancing.

unknown 15:19

Okay. All right.

Julian Placino 15:21

Well, Jon, this has been really great getting to know you and your success story. So thank you so much for spending some time with us here today.

Speaker 15:27

Yes, sir. Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

Julian Placino 15:29

And that is it for today's episode. So 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.