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 Frank Weaver, who is the president of Summers of Brownsburg. Frank, welcome to the show. How are you? Hey, doing great. How are you doing? Yeah, excited to know more about your business and share your success story with our audience. So let's kind of jump right in. So, Frank, tell us a bit about Summers of Brownsburg, about the business and what you focus on day-to-day.

Frank Weaver 0:35

Sure. We're uh uh came to in 2012. We have 14 locations throughout Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. Um we're employee-owned and speak to that a little bit. So that's uh you know great for our business and culture. Uh my day-to-day as a president is overseeing over 350 employees today underneath me. Uh I do have a vice president that takes care of the operation side of the business, so I don't have to give to the day and day. But uh no marketing is always uh priority on every day, it seems like uh reviewing and approving and thinking of new ways to to be a leader in our market.

Julian Placino 1:18

Okay, so a lot of different things. What what do you love most about your role as president?

Frank Weaver 1:24

Uh, you know, the uniqueness of the day, you know, every day's different, uh, new challenges and just way we can solve problems and grow our business.

Julian Placino 1:34

So Okay. And as as as president, you know, what do you see as the vision of the business? What's the inspiring vision of the future, would you say?

Frank Weaver 1:43

Uh to be the leader in our industry and uh and uh not just here locally, but throughout uh you know the Midwest and as we continue to grow our footprint, uh, you know, that's really our vision is to continue to grow for our growth pattern.

Julian Placino 1:56

Okay. And tell us a bit about, you know, why do you think Summers Plumbing, heating, and cooling does exceptionally well that really makes you stand out as a leader in the home services industry.

Frank Weaver 2:08

Well, I think it's the uh all the employees really take great care of our customers because it's an employee-owned company. And you know, it's it's like getting an owner showing up at the house every single day.

Employee Ownership And Culture

Julian Placino 2:22

Gotcha. Okay. Well, let's let's talk a bit more about that talent, culture, and hiring. And that's uh you you've mentioned that a couple times as far as being employee-owned, right? So let's say that potential top talent is interested in learning more about what it means to work for you. So, what does employee-owned mean to those people?

Frank Weaver 2:39

Uh employee owned is a it's a retirement program that's above and beyond anything else that you'll see at a normal business. And you know, if you stick out the business and around for 20 years, it's gonna be a nice little goose egg that uh was given to you because you earn shares of the business every year that you're here. So uh it's really you're putting in your time for the business, and you don't have to put anything else in except for your time. So it's uh it's a great reward for them.

Julian Placino 3:09

Yeah, and definitely a big plus when it comes to looking for a place to stay, you know, long term. Like you can see kind of a future, a vision uh with the organization. So um, so you mentioned you have 350 employees. So uh what do you think sets Summers apart as far as a place to work? The employee-owned as one piece, but share a bit more about that.

Frank Weaver 3:31

Um, the culture, just in general. I think uh, you know, each location's its individual culture, and we make sure that they're unique every at each location, you know, and the managers are driving the culture home by how they see fit and how their people want the culture to be. And it makes it more dynamic uh in the in our industry, anyways.

Julian Placino 3:54

And how would you describe what that culture is?

Frank Weaver 3:58

Uh it's it's very family-oriented. I mean, you know, you think about we have that many people and that many locations, but we try to keep the family aspect into our business. Uh we do a lot for our employees outside of uh, you know, uh different things throughout the year, bonuses and you know, Colts games and all kinds of things that they they enjoy.

Julian Placino 4:18

So okay. And what do you think, you know, as you continue to grow? Do you have multiple locations, many employees continue to grow? What what what are some of the keys that you have perhaps implemented to to keep that culture intact, that family culture from growing from small to larger?

Frank Weaver 4:33

Uh, you know, I'm all about the process and following the process and managing the process and not the people. And I think that, you know, as people come into our business, they understand the process, and that's we're very process-oriented folks. So um that's probably what's a little unique, different from being a family-owned business in more of a, you know, let's call it a corporation as we are, but um we we have a lot of processes, and I think people really like that type of structure, you know, coming from a shop that's maybe not so much structured.

Building A Training Academy

Julian Placino 5:07

Okay. So so processes um have been a key to to your growth and kind of keeping that culture intact. So so speak to us about how you grow and invest in your teammates, your technicians and office staff, otherwise, how do you invest in training and development so your team really feels confident, supported, and and proud to do what they do?

Frank Weaver 5:26

Sure. We uh we create a career learning center. It's a 5,000 square foot building. We have a director of training and three um instructors for both plumbing and HVAC, and also working through management courses today. Uh we have over a hundred uh single-day courses that they can attend. And then also uh as new people come into our business, they typically are over there for about five weeks at a time learning a trade before we actually put them with in the work into the organization to run calls.

Julian Placino 6:00

So wow. So you actually built like an academy uh for training internally. Um I think that's that's really great. How long have you been doing that for?

Frank Weaver 6:09

Uh it's a little over three years now.

Julian Placino 6:11

Um three years now.

Frank Weaver 6:13

Yeah.

Julian Placino 6:13

Okay. What kind of success stories or maybe testimonials can you think of that have come out uh of that very uh intentional way of developing your people?

Frank Weaver 6:23

Uh one is the you know, it's the customer's experience, right? Like everyone gets the same experience every single time. Um, everyone's trained the same, you know, back to the process, and it just works really smooth. And people are very grateful, grateful for us to do that. I mean, it doesn't cost them anything. We're paying them to go to our school. And they're, you know, we bring them from all over, we pay for them to stay here the whole nine yards. So, you know, it's just the investment that we've put into our into our people to make sure that we have great employees to take care of our customers on day-to-day.

Teaching White Glove Communication

Julian Placino 6:58

So tell us about that then. You know, one thing is the technical aspects of the trade, the other thing is dealing with the customers, you know, empathy and customer service. Um, what do you think that you all do differently in the way that you train your people to really deliver that white glove service?

Frank Weaver 7:14

Well, part of it is uh our sales manager, you know, he spends a lot of time with them, uh just getting them to speak in a way that a customer would understand them. Um and he rides with them. And uh we just it's a very yeah, you have to, I guess, be conscious of that as you know, as people continue to age out and we get young people in that don't understand you know, equipment, everything's thrown away to them. So we have to be able to explain in a way that uh it makes sense for them to continue to keep their equipment up and running. You know, it's kind of like a car that's you know, they don't keep it up and going, it won't last very long. Very, very similar to the the trade.

Julian Placino 7:58

So okay. So what I heard there is that your your sales manager is very hands-on in the development and the mentorship and kind of that personal attention with your team members uh to make sure that you can really scale that customer aspect of things, right?

Frank Weaver 8:11

Okay, and he has a couple of sales trainers that work with them also. So we've always got people out there helping to train.

Julian Placino 8:17

So it sounds like you have a very well-developed like training methodology and infrastructure to support the development uh of your people at Summers. I think that's really great. Um, before we move on to kind of the next topic, anything else that you want to mention about uh your people and the culture and what makes the culture at at Summers really awesome?

Frank Weaver 8:36

I think everyone just enjoys coming to work. I mean, and anytime you walk into any of our buildings, I mean, that's probably the compliment I get the most from everybody that I meet with is everyone was pleasant, happy, excited to be there. You know, it's like they're always greeted by somebody. Uh that doesn't seem like that's you know an awful day for them to be here working with us.

Julian Placino 8:57

So okay, that's great to hear. So so let's talk a bit more about kind of like the growth at Summers and also doing this in a way that keeps the culture intact. You've spoken a lot about processes. So, what are some of those processes, or maybe one that just comes to mind that is very unique to Summers that has allowed you to kind of grow and scale and and maintain your level of excellence?

Frank Weaver 9:19

Well, one is um I still review every Google review that comes into our business, and uh good or bad. Um and then the bad ones are always rectified, you know, within our managers. I take great pride in that um aspect of our business. So I think that's one of it. The other is we've just switched over to Service Titan in the last year here, and uh all our businesses basically speak the same language now. So we they're all on the same page and understand um we can look at it holistically, and we we're looking apples to apples on on our business operates.

Julian Placino 9:56

Okay, so what I heard was measuring really the most important things, which is the reviews, the customer feedback, and then using technology to help inform you of what those things are so you can rectify any points within the business.

Frank Weaver 10:07

Correct. Yeah.

Leading From The Front

Julian Placino 10:08

Gotcha. Okay. Tell us a bit about your leadership team. What makes them great? What makes them great? Mentors, uh, folks to work with. Tell us about that.

Frank Weaver 10:18

Uh, my leadership team, I think the biggest part of them is you know, they act like everyday people, right? They don't uh they're willing to help wherever needs to be. They'll go out on calls. They will, I mean, our CFOs will haul haul equipment as needed. I mean, we just all jump in when there's time when the time is right. And we're very approachable type people that can come in, you know, if you had a problem or you even had a question that doesn't regard to work at all, they're very approachable and they come in and talk all the time.

Julian Placino 10:48

So it's a down-to-earth, approachable, uh, not like leading from afar, but really leading from the front.

Frank Weaver 10:54

Yeah. And I spent a lot of time in our locations, and I always have people come up and talk to me, and you know, they're not afraid. Sometimes they don't even realize who I was, maybe at the moment.

Julian Placino 11:04

Uh like undercover boss, right?

Frank Weaver 11:08

Yeah, sometimes, yeah. You learn a lot more than maybe you probably should have at the moment, but it's good.

Peakzi And AI Website Visibility

Julian Placino 11:13

Oh, that's great. That's great. Okay. Well, let's shift gears a bit. As you know, that uh this the show is powered by Peakzi. You are a Peakzi customer. So um, so tell us a bit about what your experience with Peaksy has been.

Frank Weaver 11:26

Oh, it's been great. Uh, I think uh very white glove service on their end to help us get through this. Uh, you know, AI is like the wild west today. So uh it's great to have somebody helping us kind of manage through that and understand where it's going because we can't keep up. And you know, they've done a great job of trying to get us ahead of the curve on that.

Julian Placino 11:49

Okay. And how would you describe to other home services leaders what Peakzi is?

Frank Weaver 11:55

Uh, it's you know, it's AI websites, the easiest way to explain it, that interacts with chat GPT, and all the open AI type stuff that uh gets you um promoted andor found easier than just your regular the website. I think the thing that sticks with me is you know, their platform speaks to machines, our websites speak to people, right? Like it's right now we're living in that type of world where we need machines are working just as hard as the uh the people are looking for leads.

Julian Placino 12:29

So wow, that's actually a really important nuance. So how websites speak to people and uh AI speaks to machines, and that's how people are searching through through through uh for for information nowadays, kind of the way people are doing it through AI. So I guess having been in home services for a long time and also being a leader in it, how important do you think AI visibility is to home services as an industry?

Frank Weaver 12:53

Oh, it's changing the landscape. I mean, it's uh you know, a year from now it's gonna look completely different than what it does today. It's kind of like the old AOL and all that that it got started into the internet, right? And here we are today talking via Teams or Zoom or whatever it is. AI is gonna do the same thing to a certain level.

Julian Placino 13:15

Okay. And and have you uh had some experience with the AI visibility tracker that Peaksy provides?

Frank Weaver 13:21

I have. It gives us uh some great insight on what's going on within our business and how revisible we are to the AI engines. So I think it's uh, you know, it there's never a golden ticket in our business, right? It's all the little things, and this is just another piece of it.

Julian Placino 13:41

Okay, great. So, what would you say has been the overall net benefit of using Pixie for your business?

Frank Weaver 13:49

Um, so my actually my SL SEO team reviews uh how much engagement uh we have with AI through our website, and it's up like 400%, which you know, maybe we had three leads last year, we have 12 or whatever it is this year. So it's uh it's definitely helping. Something's improving and something's driving the you know the needle in the right direction, and that's the only thing we've really changed in the AI front.

Julian Placino 14:15

So nice. Okay, so you're definitely seeing some uh increased engagement metrics. So um what well, anything else you want to mention about Peakzi before we begin to close things out, Frank?

Lightning Round And Wild Service Call

Frank Weaver 14:26

Uh I don't think so. I'm good.

Julian Placino 14:28

Okay. Well, we generally like to to close these episodes with kind of a fun lightning round just to kind of get to know you a bit more personally. So if you're okay with it, let's kind of jump right in, okay?

Frank Weaver 14:38

Sure.

Julian Placino 14:39

Go ahead. So, what is the funniest service call that you've ever gotten? And which one comes to mind?

Frank Weaver 14:45

Yeah, the one that will always stick out is probably I'm gonna say this is probably 20 years ago today, but I was just a technician on call and uh had a no-heat show up and the front doors boarded up, and it's in a really nice neighborhood. And uh the house just got raided by the police and she had no heat. Um yeah, and so you could just imagine she's historical, is just um using vulgar and everything else about them, you know, everything that happened, and she doesn't know why the heat's not working, and it was they had tore everything apart. It was just a mess. It was uh um very memorable, I guess, experience as a young young technician to walk into something like that, not knowing you know, uh what happened at first, and you have all the nosy neighbors driving around looking and I'm here trying to get our heat back on. So which it was just the door was off. They left, you know, they when they tore everything apart, they left the door off on the furnace.

Julian Placino 15:45

So oh wow, that must have been shocking uh for for you as a young oh man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Frank Weaver 15:53

So that was uh quite an experience.

Julian Placino 15:55

Uh so good memory, I'm sure, looking back at it. So all right. Well, well, Frank, what's something about you that most people don't know that if they discover would think is unique and interesting?

Frank Weaver 16:07

Yeah, I think you know, I'm not real unique, um, but I've had some great mentors in my life. Uh and Ted Roth is one that comes to mind that's he's one of the pioneers of probably the home indust home industries, um, service industries. And he's a great friend of mine, you know, he's in his late 70s to today, but uh he kind of helped create some of the processes that we're doing as you know in our industry today. Um, so uh, you know, I owe a lot to that guy, and you know, that's probably what's kind of unique with me is I've had a great mentor throughout my life like that.

Julian Placino 16:42

So and what would you say is the most valuable lesson Ted taught you?

Frank Weaver 16:47

The most valuable? Um you know it's it's funny because you know we look at everything month to month, and you know, he always said, you know, there's a reason why there's quarters because not every month is gonna be good, but by the quarter it's gotta be. So you you know that you've always gotta, you know, prepare for that.

Julian Placino 17:06

So I think that's a good piece of advice. So um well, what what do you think is the future of home services in one word or phrase?

Frank Weaver 17:16

I'm gonna say consistent change. I mean it's always gonna change and you've got to be ready for it.

Julian Placino 17:24

Well, isn't that the truth for sure? So uh so Frank, last question here for you. So when all is said and done, you've been in the industry for for such a long time, built a great business, leading uh from the front. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

Frank Weaver 17:39

I'd love to leave it as you know, we built this thing on integrity and we've built uh you know a nice nest egg for many employees with uh being in employee owned. So I think uh that's what's gonna when I look back, it's gonna be great to see that you know many people have benefited from what we're doing today.

Julian Placino 17:58

So I think it's great. Yeah, that sounds like uh for sure a great legacy to leave behind, and it sounds like you're already making that impact. So um, well, Frank, this was really great getting to know you, a learn more about the business. If you would share with our viewers and our listeners how to connect with you, learn more about the business, find you on social, share with us all that.

Frank Weaver 18:19

Yeah, the easiest way is just to go to summersph.com or find me on LinkedIn under Frank Weaver. I think today that's really easy. That's about it, I think. So okay.

Julian Placino 18:30

Well, make sure to have all your contact information in the show notes as well. So uh Frank, it was great getting to know you. Thank you for sharing your story with us on the show. All right, thanks a lot. And that is it for today's episode, 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.