Transcript

How Amazon’s Customer Obsession Inspired a Home Service Revolution with Zac Dearing

From Home Service Expert · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 56 min · 11,129 words · 179 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "How Amazon’s Customer Obsession Inspired a Home Service Revolution with Zac Dearing", an episode of Home Service Expert published February 2, 2026 (56 min, about 11,129 words). It mentions 17 people, works and ideas, including Zach Turing, Mantle, A1, Amazon, Aaron Gainner.

What this episode is about

The discussion highlights how Zac Dearing, co-founder of Mantle, leverages his expertise in AI and sales to transform the home services industry by enhancing customer experience and boosting sales conversion rates. His platform has significantly improved proposal effectiveness and average ticket sizes for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies, demonstrating the impact of customer-focused innovations inspired by Amazon's business model.

Key takeaways

  • From HVAC to business insights: Zach's journey shows clearing homeowner confusion can clear sales hurdles.
  • Humility in leadership is underrated; Zach praises his A1 team while driving innovation in home services.
  • Data is king, but human judgment remains the queen; making complex purchases feel like a breeze is Mantle's mission.
  • Dyslexia didn't deter Zach; it propelled him. Sometimes, the most unconventional paths lead to the best innovations.
  • Homeowners often feel sold to, but through empathy, Zach transforms sales into genuine shopping experiences.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Mantle, A1, Amazon, Zach Turing
  2. – 10:00: Marcus Sheridan, Relevant Selling
  3. – 15:00: Amazon, Mantle, Aaron Gainner
  4. – 25:00: Amazon, Mackenzie, Chris Yaniano
  5. – 30:00: Mantle
  6. – 45:00: Pinnacle
  7. – 50:00: Mantle, The Hard Thing About Hard Things
  8. – 55:00: Mantle, Aaron Gainner, Never Split the Difference, Bud Not Buddy

Notable quotes from "How Amazon’s Customer Obsession Inspired a Home Service Revolution with Zac Dearing"

  • He's based out of New York. He's the co-founder of Mantle. He's ex McKenzie and ex Amazon. Zach is the co-founder of Mantle, an AI powering sales platform helping HVAC plumbing…
    about Mantle · at
  • We got a lot here, man. We go to We do all the research and really This one's pretty cool because I've been pretty excited about this to implement this product into A1 and you.
    about A1 · at
  • Yeah. Yeah. Well, first off, thanks for having me on. It's been great working with you and Luke and Matt and the entire A1 team. I think, you're an organization that a lot of people know a lot about from the outside. I.
    about Zach Turing · at
  • Option with a bunch of jargon. And so we're really on a mission to change that. But I think it all started by seeing the homeowners experience and then that trace back to my…
    about Amazon · at
  • I got a really good book for you.
    about Relevant Selling · at
  • Be very transparent. Compare the products. Talk about what you're not good at. And that transparency will lead to more trust.
    about Marcus Sheridan · at
  • The biggest company in the Northeast and it's not Aaron Gainer, even though he's amazing in Ohio. they said this month they're turning over 70% of service calls they go into.
    about Aaron Gainner · at
  • That said, I think it is a gravel gradual evolution and I think the reality I was talking with someone yesterday and he talked about how he sold, actually someone you know…
    about Chris Yaniano · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Zach Turing — Person · Main guest · 1 mention · first at
    Primary interview subject; discusses building Mantle and how AI-enabled sales experiences improve close rate, ticket size, and homeowner trust in home services.
  • Aaron Gainner — Person · Referenced peer / industry connector · 3 mentions · first at
    Credited as the person who introduced the host to Mantle; later referenced as a trusted industry friend who shares insights privately.
  • Marcus Sheridan — Person · Referenced thought leader · 1 mention · first at
    Referenced to support the argument that transparency and proactively answering customer questions builds trust and improves conversion.
  • Chris Yaniano — Person · Referenced industry example · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an anecdote about selling Yellow Book ads in the mid-2000s to illustrate how legacy channels persist long after new tech emerges.

Books & papers

  • Relevant Selling — Book · Primary recommendation · 1 mention · first at
    Book recommended by the host, discussing sales strategies and homeowner preferences.
  • The Hard Thing About Hard Things — Book · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at
    Book mentioned by Zach Turing as one that shaped his path.
    The list for me. the hard things about hard things by Ben Horowitz. Basically a book about entrepreneurship and that fundamentally the journey that we're on is hard and that's…
  • Never Split the Difference — Book · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at
    Book mentioned by Zach Turing as one that changed the way he thinks about negotiating.
    I think it fundamentally changes the way that I think about the way I think about negotiating. I also really like that Chris Voss starts with a zinger about the Harvard negotiation program.
  • Bud Not Buddy — Book · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at
    Book mentioned by Zach Turing as the first chapter book he ever read.
    The reason why it's so meaningful to me it's about a little boy and his dad was a jazz musician was it's the first chapter book I ever read and I was 12 when I read it. So it was I'm dyslexic took me a while to learn how to read.

Companies & orgs

  • Mantle — Company · Business focus · 9 mentions · first at
    AI-powered sales platform for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies, co-founded by Zach Turing.
  • A1 — Company · Case study · 2 mentions · first at
    Company implementing Mantle's product, seeing improved conversion rates and higher average tickets.
  • Amazon — Company · Referenced company · 6 mentions · first at
    Former employer of Zach Turing, mentioned in the context of his career and customer obsession principles.
  • Mackenzie — Company · Referenced company · 2 mentions · first at
    Former employer of Zach Turing, mentioned in the context of his career.
    Companies turn proposals into true buying experiences that close faster and grow ticket size. Before Mantle, Zach held leadership roles across Amazon, Mcken, Mckenzie, and…
  • Pinnacle — Company · Referenced company · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned in the context of a technician's positive experience with Mantle.
    And the technicians are raving about it. I did an interview yesterday with a technician out of Milwaukee that made Pinnacle and he's Man, Mantel is a game changer. And I love it because it helps us eat the fees for the.
  • Teach For America — Company · Referenced company · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as part of Zach Turing's career, where he taught ninth grade algebra.
    Grow ticket size. Before Mantle, Zach held leadership roles across Amazon, Mcken, Mckenzie, and Lithic, worked as an investor and venture fellow, and taught ninth grade algebra…

Places & events

  • MIT — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as part of Zach Turing's background, where he co-founded a startup.
    An investor and venture fellow, and taught ninth grade algebra through Teach for America. He founded his first business at 12 years old, later co-founded a startup out of MIT…
  • Harvard Law — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as part of Zach Turing's educational background.
    In Dallas, Texas. I'm dyslexic, so I actually didn't learn how to read until I was 12. So, law school was an interesting twist on that, as you mentioned. I've done several…
  • Dallas, Texas — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as Zach Turing's hometown.
    Totally. Totally. Totally. but now to your questions. So, grew up in Dallas, Texas. I'm dyslexic, so I actually didn't learn how to read until I was 12. So, law school was an interesting twist on that, as you mentioned. I've done several.

Full transcript with timestamps

Welcome back to the home service expert. Today is going to be an amazing day. I got Zach Turing here. He's an expert in AI sales consulting, lol and operations. He's based out of New York. He's the co-founder of Mantle. He's ex McKenzie and ex Amazon. Zach is the co-founder of Mantle, an AI powering sales platform helping HVAC plumbing and electrical companies turn proposals into true buying experiences that close faster and grow ticket size. Before Mantle, Zach held leadership roles across Amazon, Mcken, Mckenzie, and Lithic, worked as an investor and venture fellow, and taught ninth grade algebra through Teach for America. He founded his first business at 12 years old, later co-founded a startup out of MIT, and built both for-profit and nonprofit organizations from the ground up. He also received his JD from Harvard Law.

Known for blending data with human judgment, ZAG helps operators simplify complexity, modernize sales systems, and build teams that scale without losing trust. There we go. How are you, brother?

I'm great. You did your research. We got a lot here, man. We We go to We do all the research and really This one's pretty cool because I've been pretty excited about this to implement this product into A1 and you made it happen. Mantle. Heard about it from Aaron Gainner and um our conversion rates have flown up uh anywhere from 10 to 15% on door sales and the average ticket is about $1,500 higher. Uh and the technicians are raving about it. I I did an interview yesterday with a technician out of Milwaukee that made Pinnacle and he's like, "Man, Mantel is a game changer." And I love it because it helps us eat the fees for the financing.

And the greatest news about that for my marketing hat, what it does for me is it allows me to market the plans that I used to not have to want to market because the dealer fee was too high. Same as cash till 2029. That fee is very very expensive. The dealer fee for any type whether it's good leap or or any of the other finance companies. uh now I could use that for marketing and I'm glad to pay the fee because it's built into the the cost for the client. So the clients are paying that fee. So overall it's been amazing working with you. You got quite probably one of the best backgrounds I've ever read out loud. Uh tell us a little bit about your journey where you where how you got here and where you plan on going.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, first off, thanks for having me on. It's been great working with you and Luke and Matt and the entire A1 team. Um, I think, uh, you're an organization that a lot of people know a lot about from the outside. I think the thing that I've really been sort of taken aback by is the humility and the desire to learn and grow and I see it throughout the entire organization and so I just want to take a moment to really call that out and I think it's pretty special.

We got an amazing team and those guys I'm super proud of and there is a lot of they're very humble. Uh, and you you couldn't ask for a better team, man. I hope we're ride or dies for life.

Totally. Totally. Totally. Um, but now to your to your questions. So, grew up in Dallas, Texas. Uh, I'm dyslexic, so I actually didn't learn how to read until I was 12. So, law school was an interesting interesting twist on that, as you mentioned. Um, I've done several different things, but the way I got into home services was through my mom. She had several HVAC contractors in her house. She got overwhelmed by the experience and I got a real window into what it's like for homeowners today to make these really expensive infrequent purchases. Case of HVAC, third most expensive purchase someone will make in their lifetime. Garage Door, it's easy to spend 10 or $20,000 like really meaningful purchases that historically as an industry we haven't really thought about it as a shopping experience, right? We've instead say here's your two options, right? or here's your one option with a bunch of jargon. And so

we're really on a mission to change that. But I think it all started by seeing the homeowners experience and then that trace back to my time at Amazon where one of the things that Amazon one of the core leadership principles is really around customer obsession.

Yeah. And so what what was the beginning stages? Let's talk about what led you to Mantle. So you're 12 years old. You started a business. you got you have a lot of vast knowledge from the places you worked. Uh the law degree really helps because there's a lot of uh legal jargon on these things. But what was the initial when you you started this up you got a partnership it was just the online shopping experience is what you guys were thinking about. Yeah, I think initially we started from a painoint, right, which was my mom and I had this experience and then I've always been pretty curious, right? I think that's what led to my first business when I was 12, aptly named ZDPCs. I just assembled computers in my my bedroom. I like to joke like I'll never have as good of an opex business because I didn't pay any rent and my dad took me to go buy the computer part. So like it was it was a really really cash flow efficient

business. But I think I've always been curious and so what I saw with my mom and my experience was was it just us or was it the contractors that happened to visit us? And the thing that I quickly learned spending time with homeowners and contractors across the country was this like really homeowners are being sold to rather than trying to create a shopping experience. And that was the thing that came out to to us and that there was these are complex purchases and there isn't really a modern solution until we came around that really thought about how do you create a shopping experience? And so that's really what we're on a on a mission to do. But I think you could trace it back to the same thing that caused me to start the business when I was 12. It's the same thing that caused me to start this business, which is I'm just a very curious person.

That's the best quality to have. What do you think most homeowners really care about?

Yeah, totally. It's it's a great question. Um, and it's a question that we care a lot about answering. So, we actually commissioned this massive survey of homeowners that have actually bought, right? Um, and actually shopped in the last uh 12 months. And what they care about, and I think the most surprising thing is typically not price. 69% of homeowners say that price isn't the most important thing. What is important to them? It's trust. It's quality. It's understanding what they're buying. And it's also agency, right?

Homeowners, we want to shop, right? We don't want to be sold to. We want to feel control over our purchases.

100%. Yeah. No, I I I always say this. I love to buy, but I hate to be sold to.

Totally. I got a really good book for you. Okay. It's called Relevant Selling by Janie Smith.

Okay. And they did a double blind study with 500 homeowners on garage doors in 2017. And where do you think price came out is the order of importance?

I'm going to guess like fourth or fifth. Number nine. Number nine. Okay. Okay. What would do do you remember what was number eight?

Um, all I know like one of the top ones was they cared about who was coming to their home, that they were safe. Sure.

Uh, they cleaned up. They honored their commitment. They honored their warranties.

Uh, the cleanup was actually a bigger thing than I would have thought of, but they kept their date.

Yep. And my dad always taught me you could do it the best quality, you could do it on their timeline or you could do it the cheapest. But you can never be all three. Two out of the three.

Totally. Uh, you know, it's funny. When I went to college, there was a two out of the three is you could either sleep, you could do well in school, or you could have fun. You could only get two of those three.

That's a good point. Yeah. Because you could have fun, get good grades, but you're not going to sleep much.

Exactly. Exactly. Uh are there general generational differences in how people shop for their home their home services?

Uh there there absolutely are and a lot of it you actually see in the discovery process. So one of the really interesting things was we looked at how did you find your contractor? Would you like to guess which channel today for folks that were actually shopping was the most common channel that they actually uh discovered a contractor through?

Yeah, I mean I would obviously guess uh Google. Spot on. 39% was Google. What's interesting is millennials it was over 60% and for baby boomers it was less than 30%. So you see a real generational divide. Um where you see uh baby boomers is they're much more likely to have used a contractor that they previously used. It's possible because they've also just been in the market and they've known contractors for for for 40 years. So you see the discovery process is is different right about where they're finding contractors. And then when it comes to the buying process, there is actually a lot of similarities in what different generations want. Obviously, sort of online pricing and online shopping and price discovery is something that is a little bit more common in the younger generation than the older generation. But here's the reality. 69% of homeowners today are looking for a price online before they

have anyone out to their home. So, while there are some generational differences, it's also very clear that the modern homeowner, right, they want to be able to shop on online and they want to really discover price.

Yeah. Marcus Sheridan talks a lot about this. Totally. As endless customers is give them the information.

Yes. Be very transparent. Compare the products. Talk about what you you're not good at. And that transparency will lead to more trust.

Totally. And I think what it one of the things that I think we're really on a mission to do is how do we change this industry from historically selling to people to creating shopping experience and and and Tommy can I ask you a question?

You bet. U so think about a time that you bought something that you knew very little about but it was a fantastic shopping experience. Does something come to

I do this I mean unfortunately I probably I mean there's anywhere from 20 to 30 packages a week coming mostly books.

Okay. But yesterday, I mean, I'll tell you this. Something pops up and here's what makes a good shopping experience for me. I can see a quick video on the land landing page. I like it. It's, you know, all of Robert Chadini's seven influences. Give me

and then I hit one button. I hit the shop button. It's a purple button. Yep. And it's like Amazon and my address. And by the way,

getting it the same day and next day is not the ultimate thing for me unless it's like something I need at the house. Like I just bought an ankle brace. I needed that right away.

But for the most part, I'll wait. But I just don't want to load in. There's some Shopify accounts that you don't even it doesn't even find your address. It doesn't load your credit card.

Like, and that sucks. Yep. And here's the fact, Zach. If that happens, I mean, I got to really I mean, 90% of the time I'm jumping off that site

and they're retargeting me. I'm like, "No, you're you're stupid. I'm not going to take the time. I want to I'm lazy now. Amazon made us lazy. Y

I want to hit boom boom done. Totally. So that's what's different for me. But I'll tell you this, I like to see my options and I like to be in the driver's seat.

Totally like control options educated, right? That video personalized, right? Your information in there. And it turns out, and this is kind of the incredible thing, I think the thing for contractors to think about, you know, we all know already what a great shopping experience is because we experience it occasionally. And so just think about in your process today for homeowners, are you delivering that? Are you putting them in the driver's seat? Are you educating them? Are you letting them? Is it interactive? Is it personalized to them? And I think to the question of what can be done, it's really focusing on those things. And I think the good news is while that might sound intimidating, we each know as consumers what a really good shopping experience feels like.

No, I think the best thing that I really like about it is I work with a guy who's like the goat of all sales and he started an Ajax. His name's Dale. And one of his major things is all they're all aware. And one of the biggest problems we have is the husband or wife's at work or they're out there doing something with the kids.

And if you're making a $20,000 purchase, you want to definitely get everyone involved in the household involved. and Mantle makes it possible. And so many technicians have messaged me like, "Dude, we had both decision makers not at the house going through the same presentation."

Yeah. And that's massive. Yeah. Because that saves so much time and the conversion rate goes through the room.

Totally. So you're looking at this display on an iPad. Yep. And the homeowner is in control, but they're also the other homeowner, the the him or her is also going through it at the same time. Hey, go back. Hey, I want to look at this. Hey, this one probably makes more sense for us. And you got all the options in there. And then you get to pick the add-ons at the end. And they're always like, you know what, let's just if you got both home owners, it tends my situation has been someone's al always like, no, let's not do this one. We got to save. It was someone's like, "Listen, this is like we're not going to purchase this again for another decade. Let's just go and do it the right way. Let's get the the lower electric bill. Let's get the the better air quality. Let's get this this this." But if it's not presented properly,

Sure. they don't like to be sold it. Totally. Totally. And and it's funny funny you mentioned that. Um one of your your virtual sales sales team members, Trevor, sent me a text message. He's like, "Zack, I just had a oneleggger. Husband was away. This used to be kind of like the death of all calls, right? because we knew we weren't going to get to a conclusion. And it was like with Smart Quote and with the remote control feature, we were able to send the link to the husband that wasn't at the home and bring both of the shoppers through the experience, the wife and husband, even though they were in two different places. And then ultimately, they signed with basically no discounts. And so, I think that's really powerful because we all know that in those purchases, right, that if you want to stay married or partnered, you should probably get the other person's buy in. And so now, how do you deliver an experience that gives

homeowners the ability to quickly resolve the problem? Because they called you with a problem. And I think it's easy to sometimes forget and lose sight of that. And they're interested in solving the problem. Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken the time to be at home to have greet your technician and to go through the process.

It's true. You know, one of the things that um we got to do a better job of is is that HVAC does an amazing job, plumbing does a great job is the age of equipment and understanding with service agreements when to go back there. I talked to I'm not going to go into the company name, but they're massive. They are massive in the Northeast.

Yep. The biggest company in the Northeast and it's not Aaron Gainer, uh even though he's amazing in Ohio. Uh they said this month they're turning over 70% of service calls they go into

for HVAC unit. Yeah. And they're closing 62% of those. Yeah. And by the way, all these companies are between 70 and 80% finance.

Yep. They're selling it with the finance companies. Yep. And I just think about that and I'm like, man, we are just we're just get we're so tiny. We're not nowhere near those numbers. It's like we're not even in the hemisphere of those numbers.

I mean to turn over that many qualified leads totally. Um so this for for companies like that this is an absolute game changer. That's why you kind of focused on

HVAC plumbing electrical most likely. Where do you see the other big industries coming in? Obviously we've pulled it off of garage. We're still in the early stages. We've deployed it in a couple markets.

Uh but what other industries? It's probably a bigger ticket. Yeah. Uh roofing is something we get a lot of inquiries on. I mean really anything under the home service umbrella it's probably like relevant for particularly if there's notably a purchase like you it's think about window siding like bath remodel it's a little bit of a different motion but I think in all those because fundamentally like what is the technology it's how do you build a shopping experience for the homeowner and then how do you follow up if you don't close to the kitchen table which if you think that like uh garage doors maybe has a low followup rate compared to what it could be like foundation repair for example we were talking with a foundation company and evidently like it's pretty common to have a 20% close rate because a lot of times this is sort of an optional like relatively low urgency purchase. Um and so I really think that there's

opportunities across the board. I would say our focus right now is HVAC plumbing electrical recently garage door. I anticipate we'll probably get into roofing this year. um just given where there's uh I think a ton of interest.

You know, a lot of people are talking about CHTBT cla uh the different LLMs. Uh you know, from what I've heard from very smart people is we got about another year. A lot of people are still purchasing off of Google and doing research on the LLMs. What are your thought and take on that?

Yeah, I think the data would suggest that people are not finding contractors today on uh Claude or ChatePT, right? 3% going back to that survey we did um or or Gemini 3% found it on some sort of answer engine today right so they're not finding it today or at least that today was as of end of 2025

that obviously will start to change and we are increasingly hearing sort of murmurings of people right taking a proposal and running it through chat GPT to see sort of uh what they should be thinking about it I still think it's a relative sort of minority that's happening but the shift will eventually happen there and I think that that's where It's even more important given what the model's reward which is specificity, right? Hey, if I go search for how much is a garage door in Milwaukee, like what are the results that I'm getting back? So, are you as a contractor putting out the right information that the models will reward and likely show you as a source that you can get that get that lead from them?

You know, this has got to be scary for a lot of contractors listening right now because quite frankly, we want a chance to sell face to face.

Totally. We want to give you enough information where we're not giving you the farm.

Totally. But u there is this theory that I predict that things are going to start getting commoditized. Not next year, not the year after, but as things become and I think more about the OEMs building a workforce around them because I think the OEMs kind of control a lot.

What are your thoughts about the future of the home service industry, home improvement industry?

Yeah, totally. Um, pretty vast question. I think what is really clear uh as you've talked about on the show before and with various guests is like really home services on the forefront of really being able to use AI for really practical purposes, right? Whether it's dispatching, whether it's call answering, and increasingly over time sales. With that said, having a human in the loop will continue to be really important. And so I think the way that we think about it as an organization is we're not replacing the seller, right?

um even though maybe you'll replace a CSR, certain organizations will, but rather how do you use AI to augment the seller? There are tasks today that sellers either don't like doing or they're not particularly good at doing that we use AI to make it easier for them to do. Classic example is follow-up. How do you personalize follow-up that understands the conversation that's happened that isn't trying to close the homeowner, but instead just bringing them back to the table with a question? Or how do you help give real-time coaching to the seller about their proposal? Hey, you only offered four options. If you would have offered five options, that would have helped. Or, hey, we noticed you did three add-ons. Hey, could you personalize this more? So we really see AI as the opportunity to help augment or assist the seller and really sort of elevate that role. I think to the broader question in 10 years will y'all

still be sending a role organizations still be sending sellers into homes? Probably not. I don't know whether that's 10 years or 15 years but I mean clearly the trend is going that way. 69% of homeowners tried to shop online for home services today, right? Uh so there is definitely the interest. Um, with that said, uh, I think it is a gravel gradual evolution and I think the reality I was talking with someone yesterday and he talked about how he sold, actually someone you know well, Chris Yaniano, how he was selling yellow book uh, ads even in the mid 2000s, right? The yellow book was still something that you could make a decent business even 15, 20 years after the internet came out. And I think that's very suggestive of the reality that you know Google and in-person sales isn't going away tomorrow. At some point it will, right? But it's going to take a long time.

Well, it's it's I've always said it's hard to diagnose a car over the phone. My dad used to be in the transmission business for a very long time. And they'd call call and say, "I'm looking for a price." and he go, "Anybody that's giving you a price over the phone

without really getting under the hood and diagnosing every single failure point

might be a bait and switch." Sure. Most likely it is. Sure. And we've seen simple things like it could be a major fuse out. I mean, it could be a timing belt issue. It could be a lot of things causing this. If you're It's just interesting to me that homeowners expect I got a broken spring. But there's a system, the spring, it's called the whole torsion system. Springs, rollers. Well, it's really springs, cables, drums, bearing plates, and a torsion tube that goes into that system. The rollers help assist it for little friction, but everything's rated on a cycle life. So, if your brakes are gone, do you want me to check your calipers and your rotors as well?

Because if your rotors and your calipers are screwed up, so you quote on springs, then you go out there and then it it still feels like a bait and switch because they gave you a price. And I don't think that's fair for the client. Uh although a lot of the companies listening like to quote over the phone and and they think it's the right thing to do.

Sure. And then they find themselves in a pickle. Uh and then most companies that I know, especially in my industry, they go to the homeowner every other year. And I'll tell you this, uh, I get clients that call us every single day, and not just one, not just a dozen, but very, very, a vast amount, and they say, "I've had the same company at my house four times the last two years. Can somebody just come fix this thing, right? We we missed another play for our daughter. We miss another day of work. We miss another weekend." And I just don't think that's the right thing to do for clients is nickel and dime them for the next 10 years. Um, I've got a ton more questions. I'm going to bounce around a little bit because I've got you prepared a sheet and I've got a prepared sheet. U, you used to work at McKenzie and also at Amazon.

What are the two companies teach you that most founders never seem to figure out?

I think Amazon like the thing that is seared into my mind is customer obsession, right? It was a common practice to bring an empty chair to the table is in that chair is supposed to represent the customer. And you'll even see people gesture to the care chair being like, "Hey, is this right by the customer?" So I think that's one thing that really stands out from my time at Amazon. And it's really impressive because when I was at Amazon was over 20 25 years from its original founding, that core leadership principle was still very much embedded. So if you want to talk about a master class in culture, it is that I think from well I want to just on Amazon I've I've heard that their internal net promoter score is not great. their internal clients don't feel the love. I've heard they obsess over the true client at home doing the shopping experience, but I've heard, and by the way, when a company

grows that fast, it's hard to keep the wheels on and make sure everyone's happy. Those guys work in the factory. But, but anyways, let's go to McKenzie.

Totally. Um, I think at McKenzie it's uh I think the really humbling part was spending time in Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 businesses is just an appreciation for what scale is like and just how hard it is to scale businesses, right? Like a fivep person business is fundamentally an incredibly different animal than a 50,000 person business. And I think it can be easy if you're working smaller organizations to be like, hey, why does this 50,000 person organization struggle? Right? like they have 50,000 people seemingly, right? They should have all these resources, but that coordination and effort to get everyone on the same page is no small thing. So, how do you build the mechanisms in place to make sure that you are constantly communicating to every stakeholder?

It's a tough feat, man. I got 1,250 and and it's something I struggle with and it's something where we did a survey. It's a blind survey, so it was anonymous. And a lot of people felt like they didn't have enough impact and things that would affect their work.

Sure. And it's I always say if I was Henry Ford, and I think he probably did a great job of this, is talking to the guys on the assembly line to get it better.

Yeah. Uh and it's something to where it's a leadership thing. It's a lot of discussions on how do we get them involved in the conversation. Why do most FSM tools fail at the moment that actually influences homeowners decisions?

Yeah. Um I think it's just a question of what you're building for, right? Like I think most FSMs are building for the contractor, which totally makes sense, right? Field service management. Do you get the right tech to the right place and do you book the call? With that said, the moment that matters most, that that sales moment, it's a different it's a different problem you're solving. you're actually trying to create a shopping experience for a homeowner which is fundamentally a really different task than how do they make sure that A1 uh gets the right person to the right place. And so I think a lot of it is just like focus and what are the rewards or like job that it's trying to accomplish.

You know, I think as this product continues to take market share, and I I'm glad we're part of it because I think there needs to be a lot of training around how you start the sales. I think it's going to change the sales process. I think we've got a pretty darn good one, but I still think I I've talked to a lot of technicians and what's nice is we want to get in the we want to get in the in the battle with you. We want to say, have we can we do this? Can we do this? Can we do this? Now, that's what's tough about what you're building is because I'm sure everyone's going to have their two cents.

Totally. But, uh, it's the larger clients that'll influence. You know, what Service T did a great job of and not so great is I I had our on the podcast in 2017

and he said, I just wish, he goes, Tommy, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build the best product that'll work for$und00 million plus jobs. that we took their SOPs, their processes, their payroll, and we applied it so the small guys could have a chance. But then you get a five technician company that comes on and they want to completely not they want to go against the tide of everything we built. That's a triedand-true way and they say we don't do it that way. And they try to custom uh rig this software to do what they used to do rather than saying we're going to make some changes in the way we train. We're going to make the payroll changes that everybody wins. and very few people are willing to make that change and we you did have to work pretty hard for our process cuz it's different but I think it's a wave of the future.

Totally. Uh what are some of the constraints that you think you're going to have going into smaller businesses?

Yeah, totally. And I think it's it's great and I think there's a lot like I definitely feel like we're building on the shoulder of giants with all the work that Service Titan and others have have done before us. And I think it's really impressive what they have built as an organization, what they've scaled. And so I feel very humbled that we get to sort of build on that foundation. Um I think a lot of it is just really understanding who your product is good at serving today and also sharing who it isn't good at serving, right? And so today, if I'm honest, like who are we good at serving?

HVAC uh plumbing electrical increasingly garage doors, um, that are primarily using service titan and that probably are 10 million plus in revenue, right? Just that is sort of the reality of where the product stands today. I think to the $2 million shop, the product isn't a great fit for it today. We will evolve and we will uh improve the product to sort of meet those smaller organizations that have different needs. But I think it's just being really clear uh about where about what are the ingredients for people to really succeed with your product and sort of what are the limitations.

You know about the conversation I had with ARO when I couldn't get on to Service Titan.

Uh I I I I think I've heard a little bit about it. You basically just like begged your way.

Yeah. I steamrolled him. I basically said, "Dude, we're 17 million." He goes, "We're not made for garage."

Yep. My father and Va's father weren't in the garage door business. We built this specifically. You understand discipline.

You understand focus. You understand the power to say no. I said, I understand all three of those things,

but if you bet on us, you'll never have to turn back. Totally. And it was an hourong conversation. He goes,

don't make me regret this. Yep. He goes, I'm sending out 10 success managers. They send one out to a big company.

Yep. And you know, I think that changed the history of the company. It changed that by far we were the big winner there. I will never say look what we did for service day that allowed us to expand like crazy have the KPIs have attribution

and so I never once was like man I'm glad you you must be glad of me now you did an IPO no I'm like you did this for us we won 95% of that

so I'm definitely I have a lot of gratitude for that you know what's interesting is mantle shows the data shows that Tuesdays are the biggest sales days what does that reveal about buyer psychology

yeah I I think uh maybe buyer psychology and also just like scheduling, right? Like and it's interesting and and you probably even see it in your own data where

we see Tuesdays are the best. Yeah. Mondays are a little bit sleepy um on the weekends. Interesting. A lot of people are like, "Oh, weekends must be great." Which is it's true, right? You're more likely to have both buyers. And historically, that was limitation. Obviously, we're changing that, right? If a buyer's away, the the reality though is the lead count is just lower on Saturdays and Sundays. I think Tuesday, it's like you're starting your week. Uh you have a lot of opportunities at bat. um and you're not getting as distracted by the weekend and as things pro progress. Um and so I think it is a a fun thing that we get to look at and the power of what we're building is the data and what that means we can do for our partners, right? And I like to say like we don't have customers, we have partners and we're really in it with each of the contractors that we work with. And so if you go again to the

question from before of like hey what do others miss? I think it's missing that perspective. Like fundamentally, if we do our job well, like I want it and and where we stand today and where I hope to be in the future is that when we walk in the office of any of our contractors that it feels like we're a familiar face, right? Like if we just happen to be in Phoenix and I happen to stop by the A1 office like, "Zack, great to see you." Like, "Thanks for stopping by." Like that's the level of partnership and connectivity that we strive for.

You're going to have to really it it's it gets more difficult as the company grows and you're going to have to

start asking yourself this question who not how. How do I get the right people on the bus as Jim Collins would say how do I continue you know when my when my brain shifted towards marketing for great people to come on the bus instead of getting great clients.

Sure. Everything started to solve itself. Sure. Because so many people out there that are probably listening are like, "Man, I got these three killers. I got a good person in my CSR and dispatch. I got a really good GM." But imagine if you had a team of all A+ players like Steve Jobs was was able to attract and they they wanted to come work for you. Well, how do they do that? Because you focused on putting the stuff out there

that at least show them there's a better opportunity for them, which very few people do.

Totally. And I think that's going to be your biggest I won't say it's going to be a problem, but that should be your biggest core like like going after is building the team and continuing to keep what you built because you're out here today in our headquarters.

Yep. And you've flown out here a lot. Yep. And Zach's only one person. Uh and so you're going to have to delegate to Elevate.

And I'm glad you're part of this because we'll work very closely together to continue to make this product better. And obviously the more you scratch my back, I mean this is only the beginning. I mean luckily the people listening know I'm not a bullshitter. If I use you and I'm finding success, if somebody comes into a shop tour, I'll just show them that this works. Uh one other thing I want to just mention is when I was in the bar industry, I was a bartender. I was a barback. I was a bus boy. You name it. is I remember the owner said to me, he goes, "Tommy, we know Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings are good with football." He goes, "If we can make one other day, great. That's where we make all the money."

Yeah. That's where that's the profit day. Yeah. And every bar is kind of busy on Thursdays Fridays Saturdays and Sunday morning.

And the reason I mentioned that is if you could make Saturdays and Sundays very, very profitable.

Sure. And what we're working on is advertising. We love working weekends. Call us out at no extra charge.

Yeah. Because if I could pack those days and make those massively profitable, you know, by the way, everything's cheaper on those days.

Yeah. Most guys are closed on Sundays. Yep. So all of a sudden PPC and social media, all the other stuff,

they they feed us better on those days. Um, and I think what that really gets at both for your team members and for homeowners is choice, right? There are certain people that want to work on a Saturday or Sunday so they can have Tuesday and Wednesday off. And there are certain homeowners that also want to be able to shop on those days because it's convenient for them. And I think more than anything, and something I've seen in your organization, something that we feel really strongly about is how do you empower homeowners with choice?

100%. I mean, if you read What Should We Do by Joe Chrisara, um it's not on this shelf, but all he talks about is giving options and the data to back it up%.

And I think five options are better than three. Uh there's all kinds of studies around that, too. But also, there's some people depending on how hard the options are to understand, it can confuse people as well. So, it's really there's a lot of science and psychology behind the options and then the pricing that you could make them.

100% agree. And it reminds me of two things that we often think about. Price is only the most important thing if you don't understand anything else, right? And so, if a homeowner is telling you that, hey, you know, this other company's $500 less expensive means they don't really understand what they're purchasing, which means that there was an education gap somewhere along that journey. So, I'd ask you, Zach, what you said were 500 more if you're the homeowner. Let's just do a little role play.

Let me ask you this. U if we were the same price, Zach, let's just say everything being equal, which one would you choose?

Um, I mean, you're here right now and so we could get it done. So, yeah, I'd be inclined if if everything was the same price, you're going to be a $500 discount. Great. Let's go forward. Uh well, if the prices were the same and you choose us and you obviously know we're different companies, you've done some research. We've been in business two decades, you can see the difference in the parts we carry, but why would you go with us? So, I don't want to lead with that discount. I just said, all things being equal, and hopefully you'd say, well, I did the research.

Yeah. I looked at your BBB. Yeah. I know you guys do background checks. Yeah. I know you run warranty calls ahead of new clients

and so I' I'd ask you to sell yourself. Sure. But you're not the real CL I mean you this is not the perfect scenario because you don't have both bids, but

I want you to just literally I want to hear you destroy the other company. Sure.

And say so obviously Yeah. is $500 worth everything you just said not being done properly.

Totally. Totally. And I think that a lot of people miss that. A lot of people make it about price and you'd be surprised. During my orientation I do for three hours, we talk a lot about a lot of people say Oklahoma and Tulsa are not as good as Phoenix

or Reno is not as good as Orlando. And uh I hear this every day and then I'll take a top 10 technician. We'll send them to any market, same price book and they'll get the exact same.

Sure. So I always say we live in the United States of America. Yeah. Like if you told me to go to like Mexico City or something, I can't guarantee it would be the same.

Sure. But uh we we always put those fallacies to to bed. Uh you're an expert in shopping online and we hear a lot about the challenges today being tricky, macro environment, lead flow being down, uh which it is. Consumer confidence I believe is going up right now. Uh what do you feel like is the state of play in home services sales today?

Yeah, I think it's uh it's a bit of a tale of two cities. um there are fewer leads coming in. They're more expensive than ever, right? It's not uncommon, right, to spend $500 or $1,000 to get a replacement opportunity. Prices, particularly in HVAC, but across the board are significantly more expensive for equipment than they were five or six or seven years ago. And so against that backdrop, there are the folks that are succeeding. And the way that they are doing that is through creating a shopping experience. Are you meeting the homeowner where they're at? Are you personalizing? Are you showing them different options? Are you putting them in the driver's seat or are you slapping down three prices on a sheet of paper and a bunch of jargon?

Right? Those are sort of the two things. And I think a lot of people are having a hard time. And look at HVAC for example, shipments are significantly off, right? Um you'll see some reports that say up to 49%. Yet there are contractors that are ex succeeding in spite of it. And what are they doing? They are creating shopping experiences.

Yeah. You you know what's really frustrating is when I go online and I don't really shop for Rolexes. I got one. Um but a site that gave me the information. I know it's going to be expensive. It's a Rolex.

I'm not expecting to find a deal, but I hate it when you got to click uh get a bid.

You got to put your email in. someone's going to contact you and it's like, listen, I know why they do that and I understand the science behind it. It's get them on the phone, close them. But it's so much more transparent. By the way, the LLM machines love the transparency.

Sure. And I think it's going to give a a really strong edge over over that. Uh what do most contractors get wrong about sales today?

Yeah, it's a great it's a great question. I think funamentally at its core, they don't really put themselves in the consumer or homeowner shoes. We talked about it uh already that as a consumer, you know what you want. You want to be educated. You want to be in the driver's seat. You want it to be personalized. And a lot of contractors don't actually build an experience that executes on that, right? Um I think the good news for contractors out there is you know what great looks like, right? You might not have seen it in home services, but you know because you recently bought a gun or a car or something else somewhere and someone did a really fantastic job. Think about what they did and then think about how to bring that to the garage door you're selling or the water heater you're selling or the generator you're selling.

You know, I I can't keep I can't stop thinking about just this customer obsession and it's not something I feel like we've done an amazing job on. Uh, but it's something that I think everybody that's listening will be forced to start doing more and that customer obsession and it it's kind of not fun to listen to customer complaints and the onestar reviews and

doing secret shoppers, but if you really focused on those things, imagine how great your company would become within 6 months.

Totally. Totally. And and here's the reality. You can either focus on it or you cannot. But either way, homeowners are having that experience, right? So the only thing maybe tougher if you really think about it than focusing on it is thinking that if thinking about what happens if you don't focus on it because it's just going to expand and increase.

Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely something that I think most people need to start taking more seriously. Uh how can top performers balance transparent pricing without commoditizing themselves? Great question and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there based upon this discussion that are wondering this. I think what it really comes down to is are you educating? Are you building value? Like what are you doing to stand out from all the dans and the vans and to make sure the homeowner understands what you are going to do. I think a consistent challenge is a lot of these home service purchases are really different than anything else we purchase. If you buy a car, does it matter the dealership you buy it from?

No. It's the same car. It's built in the same factory. However, if I buy a garage door or if I buy a water heater, really, the only thing that matters is who installs it, right? Like the equipment is such a small piece of the final experience. And so, I think educating homeowners on that is really, really important. Um and that's I think the way that you can do it is if you are clearly articulating the value then you can be transparent about pricing because again price is only the most important thing if you don't understand anything else.

Yeah. The the whole thing is is how do you prepare the presentation that educates through the process before the price is given instead of just a big popup of the price. There needs to be some education to provide value. And where I'm pushing our company, our partners, and really the industry is how do we get rid of the word presentation? We don't want to be presented to, right? Like imagine if someone uh came in and just lectured at you for 20 minutes on any purchase. Like would that be how you want to buy?

I want to be involved. Like I'd want to be like, "Listen, show me the different colors unless I have an HOA." There are a lot of choices. I mean, we broke the price book because there's so many different combinations. So, there is something that needs to be out there, but get me involved.

Absolutely. Shopping experience, right? Imagine a personal buyer, right? You go into some high-end department store, high-end gun store, and yeah, there's a thousand different guns in there, but what are the five or 10 guns that make sense given what you've shared, right?

I just did a gun experience for my uh Bree's father, and I said, we walked in and they said, "Handgun or rifle?" and they pointed to the rifles or the handguns and he asked a few questions, but he didn't really

get involved. Yeah. And Ryan Re's stepdad figured out what he wanted. Yeah. And that was it. Yeah.

And it was really really great except I had to buy it because he's not in the state of Arizona and it took like half an hour for the background check. It's just a that's a pain in the ass. That's the worst part of the experience.

Whole different thing. But yeah, I think what it really comes down to is like how do you really create a shopping experience versus a presentation?

I really really like that. And I know for a fact what Aaron and myself has experienced is people like I had a technician call me. He's like, "Dude, there was no way this person wasn't going to buy a threear." But then they looked at the pricing of the fivestar and it was so close because of the psychology we do with the pricing and the payment structure

that they opted to do the fivear. Yeah. And if that's happening all day every day, that starts to add up to be a lot of money.

Totally. And I think the really incredible thing about it is it's good for A1, but it's really good for that technician and for that seller, right? Who now get to bring home an extra few hundred bucks from that job. And talk about now like you already have a culture I know that really prides itself on being a phenomenal place to work.

If you're able to increase sort of average sales per job run by, let's say, 20%. That also means that you're able to pay your team effectively 20% more, right? And that becomes really really powerful to make sure that A1 stays the premier place to to work

to work. Yeah. Well, I interviewed a technician yesterday. He's out of Milwaukee and he made Pinnacle and they had lost a baby.

Um which is which was devastating for them. Absolutely. Um and then um his dog, his best friend, died

and he's part of our dream manager program. He got through it, but he said, "You know what? We use in vitro and it's not cheap.

December 26, we're having a baby." Oh my gosh. And he goes, "Things are turning around." He goes, "Tommy, my average check is $4 to $6,000 a week."

Oh my gosh. And he goes, "I love this business." Yeah. But to get through that is something pretty special. Um, and I love that because this allows us literally why does financing make sense? And I've I I've learned this from Darius Livers. You get to help all customers, more job security, higher conversion rate, higher paychecks. It's just there's like this whole spiral of things that happen when you get higher conversion rates and higher tickets and you get to help every client and they they genuinely say yes more often. And it just really comes down to giving choice, right? Like I think often as an industry we conflate thinking that someone doesn't want something with actually just not offering the choice, right? Like are you offering it and are you doing it in a compelling way? To be clear, if you just ask someone straight out, oh, are you going to finance this? There's a lot of judgment that comes with that or a lot

of people can receive that in a judgmental way. Instead, if just the initial price you show is a very accessible $144 a month

with the finance options. Exactly. There's five reasons why people don't buy with financing. Number one is pride. I look like I need financing.

And some of them go into we've always heard cash is king. Sure. And we don't like to be sold to. When you walk in the Nordstrom, the girl walks up and says, "Could I help you find something?"

No. We've had a previous experience with financing. Yep. But all of us I I my grandma gave me a 96 grand dam. I went to a payday loan to get back to Michigan. Took 2,200 bucks out. It was at 25%.

Yep. And it was a horrible experience. So, there's all these reasons why we've learned don't do that. But when you find out it's an investment that's going to improve your home's value,

totally. It's different than buying a Harley and losing half of the value when it drives off. This is actually going the garage is 268% return on investment. When we talk about investments and ROI, that changes everything. That's something I want to make sure mantle continues to build is return on investment because garage doors happen to be number one.

Absolutely. Um, why does ruthlessly simp uh why does ruthless simplicity matter more as a company grows?

Yeah, it's a great it's a great question. At the end of the day, consistency is really king and the more complex things are, the harder it is to be consistent. Most organizations above 10 million in size, right, most contractors, they actually know what a good sales experience probably looks like, right? and they've probably gone through training and they probably have some SOP. The question is, are you are you able to consistently deliver it? And what's the death of consistency? Complexity. There's this wonderful book called Insanely Simple that was written by the guy that evidently coined the name for like the iMac, right? Close into Steve Jobs circle. And the thing that Steve Jobs spent a bunch of time on was simplicity. Because here's the reality. Complexity is easier than simplicity. Simplicity takes work.

Candidly, like as a leader, one of the things that I talk a lot about, we talk a lot about internally is how do we try to keep our product as simple as possible while making it really powerful.

It's true. I'm thinking about my one-on-one forms and they can be a little bit complex. Um, I really want to just jump in as we finish up here u to the product. So, it's called Mantle. Why is it called Mantle? the mantle in a home. It's where you put the things that you're proud of. It conotes warmth, right? It's the centerpiece. And really in our goal, our aspiration, and it's a weighty aspiration, we're working really hard every day to get there. Is how do we make the experience of shopping for a garage door or an HVAC system be really delightful, be like a warm experience for the homeowner?

By the way, it's M Tel, just like the mantle in your house. Um, what do you think the impact overall of using Mantle would be for most companies if they were to get on it?

Higher average tickets, higher close rate. For companies that we've worked with, Reliable Comfort and Seymour, Indiana, they saw 48% blended increase across close rate and average ticket. And that is after taking out the increase of equipment prices year. So there's really really durable impact that can have on a business. And that's the financial, right? Not to mention, well, well, it eats the finance fees, too.

Totally. The dealer fees. Totally. Um, and the non-financial is you have a more consistent, better homeowner experience and you make it easier for your sellers to really focus on the things that they're really phenomenal at, which is building relationships, advanced system design, rather than doing a bunch of more menial work that isn't stuff that they're passionate about.

I got um six closeout questions, so we'll play speed round. Okay, let's do it. Give me your favorite books that really shaped. It could be the Bible. It could be the E-Myth. It could be a fiction book, but just three books that really really affect the way you conduct yourself and and your path was like based on these.

There are many that come to mind. I think ones that are at the the top of the the list for me. Um, the hard things about hard things by Ben Horowitz. Basically a book about entrepreneurship and that fundamentally the journey that we're on is hard and that's okay and the struggle is real and that's part of it. So that's thing one. Um, book two never splits a difference. I think it fundamentally changes the way that I think about uh the way I think about negotiating. I also really like that Chris Voss starts with a zinger about the Harvard negotiation program which while I was in law school I went through it so I appreciated him him sort of calling it out and I think the third book um is a book called Bud Not Buddy.

Um the reason why it's so meaningful to me it's about a little boy and his dad was a jazz musician was it's the first chapter book I ever read and I was 12 when I read it. So it was I'm dyslexic took me a while to learn how to read. Reading is now a really important part of my life and so emotionally there's a real connection to that book. I love that. Um, if somebody wants to learn more about Mantle, and I know you're very very disciplined, um, you want to go after companies that have enough opportunities to let the product work.

Yep. Uh, what's the best way to reach out? Yeah. Um, you can go to us mel.com. So usemantle.com. You can drop your information that way. Also, reach out to me directly. ZAC uh Zach at usemantle and again I think to that point of like who are we a good fit for today this will evolve over time it's uh HVAC plumbing electrical garage doors that are really think about it as like sort of 10 million plus um in in in in sales or revenue

what's one question you wish more people asked you what I'm grateful for what are you grateful for

like all of like the love and support Um, this journey that I'm on, as I know you can relate to, is really intense. And it means for the people that I'm closest to, my mom, my girlfriend, my sister, others, I don't show up in the way that I maybe wish I could or as often or I'm stressed or whatnot. And I think that support and like the pride and the encouragement and the understanding is something that I'm eternally grateful for.

Something you should do every day. wake up and say what you're grateful for. Uh, and finally, what are you most excited about right now?

I am so excited that we get to play a part in fundamentally having home services create shopping experiences. Like, while it seems sort of simple, create a shopping experience, there is so much opportunity because so few contractors do it today. and the things that we have on our roadmap this year to help deliver on that. Um some stuff that I know you and I will talk about later. I'm just like so excited that we get to play a part in that and just feel going back to the other topic very grateful.

It's awesome, man. And by the way, I know a lot of people are probably thinking, man, this must cost an arm and a leg. But the cool thing what you've done is you you you've systematically put your fee into the pricing and it's not as much as people think. So I it it's not going to change your conver it's going to improve. So the fee gets eaten very easily. Uh the client actually actually pays for it for a better experience.

Exactly. It also means our interest and incentives are aligned with our contractors which is why we say we have partners and why we're also particular about sort of the the making sure someone's a good fit because if it's not a good fit for you, not only is it not the right thing to necessarily partner with you, but it's also not in our interest. And I think incentives are really important

and it's such a good incentive because literally if you're not successful with the tool, you don't pay.

Exactly. Exactly. No, it's it's amazing. And I think you guys really figured out a lot and I'm excited. I'm really excited that me and Aaron are so close because when you find something I'm a little bit different like I want to share things and I'm like we got to elevate the industry

and the whole home service home improvement industry. But Aaron tells me certain things that he won't tell a lot of people to and vice versa. Like if I find something and I'm like early on I'm like listen I'm still kind of figuring this out but you should look into this. And I appreciate the friendship of Aaron and guys like Yano and Ishmail and there's a lot of them. Ringy and Hoffman and there's so many good people in our lives and they continue to want to help. Uh Chris Hoffman's another one. And I want to see you blow this thing up. So, I'll be a big fan. You've proven yourself over and over again. Not only is a great product, but you guys are great people. So,

anybody, Here's the deal, guys. All I would say is do a demo. Um, see if it's a good fit. I mean, like I said, the criteria is kind of high. Be 10 million plus. If not, really focus on getting to that number because this will change the game. And, uh, Zach, it's been a pleasure, my friend. Thank you for being here. Thanks for being in Phoenix. I can't blame you. It's better than New York.

It is. It is. There's no snow on the ground and it's like 10 degrees back home. So, thanks for having me.

All right, guys. Hey, listen. If you enjoyed this podcast, uh do me a favor. Leave a quick review and share it with a friend. Uh that's how we grow. We don't do any marketing on this podcast. I appreciate the listeners out there. I hope you have an amazing month and you dream big. You write down your goals and you have accountability. I'll tell you this, if you stay consistent, you got big goals, it'll happen. Appreciate everybody out there.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "How Amazon’s Customer Obsession Inspired a Home Service Revolution with Zac Dearing"?

Tommy (Host), Zac Dearing (Guest).

What is "How Amazon’s Customer Obsession Inspired a Home Service Revolution with Zac Dearing" about?

The discussion highlights how Zac Dearing, co-founder of Mantle, leverages his expertise in AI and sales to transform the home services industry by enhancing customer experience and boosting sales conversion rates. His platform has significantly improved proposal effectiveness and average ticket sizes for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies, demonstrating the impact of customer-focused…

What is mentioned in this Home Service Expert episode?

17 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Zach Turing, Mantle, A1, Amazon, Aaron Gainner, Mackenzie. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "How Amazon’s Customer Obsession Inspired a Home Service Revolution with Zac Dearing"?

The episode runs 56 min; the transcript is about 11,129 words in 179 timestamped sections.

More from Home Service Expert

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 3, 2026.