The Guy Behind Tommy Mello's Emails Only Sends 4 A Month For A Reason | Zac Garside
The Home Service Expert Podcast
Zac Garside and Tommy Mello discuss the immense, untapped potential of email marketing within the home services industry. They argue that co
Key takeaways
- Contractors should leverage existing lists to avoid the high cost of re-buying customers through Google ads.
- Subject lines should focus on creating curiosity or a 'nose breath laugh' rather than direct discounting.
Main topics
- Email marketing for trades
- Customer list monetization
Notable quotes
The subject line's job is get an open. That's it.
Conclusion
The episode serves as a masterclass in maximizing lifetime customer va
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) So you're just never going to talk to your customers again? That's it? You're just never going to say anything? You're never going to remind them to take care of that thing you sold them? It's over. It's done. They're probably going to go back to Google and call again, and you're going to have to rebuy that customer. You already have the leads. You already have the list. You're already paying for a way to send something to them. Let's scoop up all that low-hanging fruit that's there. Speaker 3 (0:17) All right. Welcome back to the Home Service Expert. Today, I got Zach Garside with me. He co-founded SendIt Email Marketing. He partnered with Cristiano. That's right. who built Rhino Strategic Solutions to $90 million, and today they've been growing SendIt. He works with some of the biggest contractors in the country, including us at A1, helping them turn their existing customer list into consistent revenue through email campaigns that actually drive service calls and sales. Today he breaks down why most contractors are ignoring the most profitable marketing channel, how to build email campaigns that actually drive service calls and sales. and the research framework that reveals what your customers actually want. Speaker 1 (0:58) That's right, dude. Speaker 3 (0:59) So Zach, just tell us a little bit about you, where you've been, what you're excited about. Speaker 1 (1:04) I'm excited about everything. I'm a very easy kid. I'm easy to get excited about stuff. I do email marketing for a living, you know. I spent eight years in the trades with power selling pros, you know, trading CSRs. But every contractor always asks me the exact same thing. How do I get my CSRs to do more outbound calls? And eventually I was like, what about email? Do you guys use your list when you want to get jobs? Do you have any kind of campaigns you can send to get people to call in, like in a quick search? Pretty much nobody I talked to really had like a solid strategy for email marketing in the trades. But in industries like e-commerce, coaching, software, email is one of the top profit drivers. So I basically just said, what would happen if I took the email strategies that those industries use and applied it to the trades? Yeah. And so that became at first just Zach Garstead dot com, you know, freelance email marketing business. And then I partnered up with Chris like a year ago. We started Sendit. And now all we do is go in and help contractors who have enormous lists of open estimates, membership customers and past customers in general. And we run campaigns to help them book jobs when they need them. Speaker 3 (2:13) So capacity planning plays into that big time. Speaker 1 (2:16) Oh, for sure. I mean, yeah, when we sit down every month, it's like, where are you sure? Which markets do you need jobs in? If you're multi-location, if you're single location, which service lines are you in need of jobs for right now? Oh, it's not HVAC, but it's plumbing. Or, you know, we need to get more tune-ups on the schedule so we can give our techs opportunities to turn something over. Planning what you want, who you want to send it to, and then creating content that's just second to none, right? Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, man, I hope I get an email from my garage door company. Yeah. But that doesn't mean they can't be glad they did get one. If you write something that's entertaining and funny and insightful, makes them think about something new they didn't know before, most people are just too boring. They send an email, they go, oh, that didn't work. I'm like, well, of course it didn't work. It's boring. Speaker 3 (3:00) Yeah, well, how do you make it to the inbox? I mean, Google's different than you think about the Hotmail AOL days. And each of them get harder and harder to get into the inbox without going to spam. Yeah. Speaker 1 (3:13) I mean, the easiest way to get in the inbox and stay out of spam is write stuff that people actually look forward to getting. I mean, people, if they're looking forward to something from the guy who came to their house, right? You're not just any company. You're not an e-commerce business that's selling trinkets for $10. You went to their house. You know, you pet their dog. You met their kids. You commented on the painting on the wall. So when they get an email from you, it should be something they look forward to. If you send them a follow-up on that estimate or if you send them, hey, we came out and did this six months ago, now let's do this thing for you. The first way to stay out of the spam is just be someone that they appreciate hearing from. The second thing is you got to be consistent. It's really hard to avoid going to spam if you've never emailed your customers. If it's been 10 years and all of a sudden you're like... crap, we're desperate for jobs. Let's send out a blast to our customer list. Yeah, Speaker 3 (4:03) the blast. Speaker 1 (4:04) Now you're probably going to go to spam because people are going, wait, who's this guy? I don't remember. Do you remember this babe? Like talking to their spouse. So be someone they like hearing from. Be consistent. Be a person of value. And then obviously send emails from a reputable platform. Don't copy paste your customer list into your Gmail or Outlook window and try to send them from your inbox. Speaker 3 (4:26) Yeah, use Speaker 1 (4:27) a legit. email Speaker 3 (4:28) sender. You ever burned down a server? Speaker 1 (4:31) For sure. When I first was getting started, I worked with a company that helps you buy your car when you're in a lease. Like, oh, I don't want to be in this lease. I want to own the car. And they purchase lists from big data brokers. And we burned some servers in the early days learning the Speaker 3 (4:49) trade, for sure. What do you think? So obviously they say in everything it's the subject line in the first sentence, right? Speaker 1 (4:57) Yeah. Speaker 3 (4:57) So what are some of the things that you've seen? like best practices work the best. Speaker 1 (5:02) Well, on the subject line, like the subject line's job is get an open. That's it. All you're trying to do with the subject line is get somebody who's going through their inbox to see it and go, Oh, what's that? Most companies will do something way too direct, like 49 or 29 95 tune up. Act now. The problem is you're giving it away. Speaker 3 (5:23) You're Speaker 1 (5:23) not creating any intrigue. You wouldn't let your technicians give a price before going out to the home, right? You want them to go out there, create the experience. With the subject line, you're trying to do the same thing, create some intrigue, some curiosity. So, for example, I wrote an email for an HVAC company once about how the husband and the wife are constantly fighting over the thermostat. She sets it to 68 degrees to overcompensate because she wants it to feel like it's 71 degrees. So the subject line was... Overcompensating question mark. That's it. And that reaction, that's what I'm going for. The nose breath laugh is what I call it. Yeah. Speaker 3 (5:57) When Speaker 1 (5:57) somebody is looking through a piece of content, looking through their inbox and they chuckle a little bit. But even more important than the subject line is the front line. Who is it from? Because if it's from a name they know I can trust, Speaker 3 (6:09) they'll Speaker 1 (6:10) open it regardless of the subject. If your mom sent you an email today and she literally forgot to put a subject, you still open it because it's from your mom. So how do I use a name at the company that has so much trust, like the founder or the team at, never just the business's name, but either the team or the founder, and then a subject line that creates that open loop so that someone goes, what's this? And then they click through. And that's like a slippery slide. First sentence makes them want to read the second. Second makes them want to read the third. Next thing you know, they're calling your business. Speaker 3 (6:40) Now you guys, I'm jumping probably way ahead, but you like to give a guarantee. Speaker 1 (6:46) We like to. I got to vet, you know, make sure we can give it for everybody. But I want to be able to guarantee the result. And what does that look like? Companies got to have at least 5,000 past customers. Okay. For me to confidently guarantee, oh, yeah, you're going to see a good result here. If it's less than 5,000, we still have a lot of clients in that range who do great. And Speaker 3 (7:07) it's something like five times what you spend or something? Six times. Six times what you spend. Six Speaker 1 (7:12) times what you spend with us, we guarantee you'll make back in the first 60 days. Speaker 3 (7:15) Which is a good calm. I mean, it's a really warm list, theoretically. Speaker 1 (7:19) I don't want to keep her money, right, if it doesn't. Yeah, you're not going to last as Speaker 3 (7:24) a Speaker 1 (7:24) client, you might as well part ways. Yeah, exactly. Speaker 2 (7:29) You've got past clients that were Speaker 3 (7:31) happy that probably need maintenance checkups. You've got non-closed estimates. How do you segment and how do you know when to hit when? I'm just thinking about A1, but I think about A-Track and obviously seasonality doesn't apply as much to us. But like, Speaker 1 (7:47) there's Speaker 3 (7:47) a lot of segmenting. I mean, you probably just don't, like we use Klaviyo. Speaker 3 (7:54) Is service Titan? That's good stuff for this or probably not. Speaker 1 (7:58) Yeah. Every platform has ways to segment ways to say it's, it's easiest to start with what are your goals, right? Like what are you trying to accomplish right now? Mr. Business owner over the next 90 days, over the next 12 months, year, what do you want to see more of on the calendar? And then we work backwards from that. So it's like, dude, you have a massive list of open estimates. First of all, let's, let's hit that. because those are people who you've gone out giving a quote to. We should do something consistent there. You should have automated emails for your open estimates that are following up, hitting all the objections, letting them know about warranties and financing and the quality of the service. Once a month at least, you should be hitting your open estimates as well with an offer, something to get them to take that next step. Then I look at memberships after open estimates. Okay, now that we've got a plan for open estimates this month, what are we going to do to reactivate memberships? How many of your members are on the verge of expiring and we need to get them to renew? If you're in the 11th and 12th month of a membership, have they used it? Have they taken advantage of those? A lot of people, Speaker 3 (9:00) I'm writing a book on memberships right now and they can't even fulfill their memberships. They get too busy. Speaker 1 (9:05) I mean, that happens Speaker 3 (9:07) almost every time. Ken Goodrich writes a section of my book. It's like... we couldn't fulfill even half if we were lucky. And so that's where some of the technology comes in. It's like Nuve or like the, there's this other, what is it called? The sensor, AC, I forget what it is. Speaker 1 (9:26) No, I don't know. Speaker 3 (9:27) I think that's where technology could come in a lot and say, after this many cycles, we're going to call you and we're going to come out and do Speaker 1 (9:32) it. Oh yeah, there's just a proactive piece. Speaker 3 (9:35) I Speaker 1 (9:35) think there's also, when it comes to how email marketing plays into memberships, An often overlooked benefit of memberships is the perceived value the homeowner gets of just having it, even if they don't use it. Because you have customers who are paying you every single month for maintenance, but they're not taking advantage of it. But they would still say it's worth it because you are reaching out, you're offering advice, you're sending them reminders to get tune-ups done. They see you as, oh, I'm paying this company, and not only will they do the work, but they're... They're giving me things to think about. They're giving me knowledge and insight. That's one of the sequences we set up with a lot of our clients is, hey, you've got members? We're going to do a year-long drip sequence. And every month, there's a new tip. There's a new piece of advice, a new cautionary tale. So now that information becomes part of the benefit of the membership, even if those customers aren't taking action, right? And that helps to keep them. Speaker 3 (10:32) I'm a bad client because Ashley opens up on my email. Because what? because my yeah i stopped doing email a couple years ago i just no Speaker 1 (10:40) it's not they Speaker 3 (10:41) still get opened and they still get sent to me if they're important but it's like dude Speaker 3 (10:46) Obviously, I'm pretty busy. I got a lot going on and I just get bombarded. So how do you stand out when you're just bombarded all the time? Speaker 1 (10:54) Well, there's Speaker 3 (10:54) a Speaker 1 (10:54) difference, right, between a business owner who has somebody checking their email address and a homeowner who's keeping an eye out on their inbox every day. Yeah, it's a lot less email. For receipts, they're trying to return something to Amazon that they purchased. They got to look out for those confirmation. So the business-to-business email and business-to-consumer are two very different worlds. I would, if you were a homeowner on a list, that's a different mentality than me trying to contact a business owner. So with homeowners, I've seen lots of research out there, you know, and I can't like, I'm not on a research committee or anything verifying any of this data, but it's something like 60, 70 % of people who check their email, like first thing when they wake up in the morning, first thing when they get into the office, just like everyday people, you know, going about their lives. I know my wife checks her email all the time to see what deals she's going to be able to get from her favorite clothing store. She's checking for receipts for clothing that she bought and then sent back. So homeowners are in a different mentality to receive email than a business owner. Because I get that a lot, dude. A lot of business owners are like, dude, but I don't check my email. Well, Speaker 2 (12:01) we're Speaker 1 (12:01) not sending emails to you, right? We're sending emails to your homeowner customers, to their Gmail address, not to your at. business.com address, right? Speaker 3 (12:09) Yep. So what I really been studying a lot of e-commerce and one of the things that I find, number one, if they don't have Speaker 3 (12:19) the what is the e-commerce built on Shopify shop the s so it says shop and if I can't click shop on an e-commerce site and boom boom done yeah I don't really care I don't need it next day I just wanted the easy I don't want to have to put in my address my billing information bam I hit two buttons yeah Speaker 1 (12:36) I'm Speaker 3 (12:37) out but what's crazy is all of them are getting my SMS as well and it's like you're getting a discount up front but that list is like gold and I'm thinking like 800 contacts, it's a KKR company, 50 % of all the contacts online are sold through them. Speaker 1 (12:54) And Speaker 3 (12:55) they know when you're running low on your contacts. They've got this data engine behind it. And how much time they put on just A-B testing the website and Speaker 1 (13:04) A Speaker 3 (13:04) -B testing the scripts and A-B testing to own 50 % of our contacts also online. So I don't think any of us really obsess about What do you think? Do you think potentially you see a road where you're getting the opt-ins for SMS and running that as well? Speaker 1 (13:20) Oh, 100%. Like in a perfect world, I want to do email. I want to do SMS. I want to do direct mail. I think our creative approach to email would crush on direct mail. With SMS, there's a lot of legal compliance that makes it. It is tough. You got to Speaker 3 (13:36) have the opt-in. Speaker 1 (13:37) It's a double opt in half the time. You know, it's it's a whole different game from a compliance standpoint. And I think you see a lot of platforms that businesses are having a hard time using because they're not compliant with the laws of SMS marketing. I feel like I talk to a business owner once a week who's like, Oh yeah, we went through a lawsuit because we were texting customers without. That's all the time. And it's just Speaker 3 (13:57) a mistake. Like we got a lawsuit because the company and I'm not going to name them the person instead of staying stop said opt out. Oh, yeah. And this is one of those people. But this is all they do is sue. Yeah. And they're like very good at it. And it's like I almost kind of want to do it, but I'm not a prick. But, yeah, I think that there's I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on direct mail. I mean, what do you think you would do differently than most do? Speaker 1 (14:27) So one of the things that works so well about our email approach is that we place really heavy emphasis on it comes from a friend, right, that mentality. When you open an email marketing message that we created, it doesn't scream, I'm an ad. Like, I look like advertising. Whereas a lot of messages people open, it's like, Speaker 2 (14:46) boom, Speaker 1 (14:47) discount code, coupon at the top, obvious product placement. It's clearly not from somebody who you know I can trust. Speaker 3 (14:54) Yeah. Speaker 1 (14:56) You know, you're a big fan of Robert Cialdini. You know him, right? Very, very well. Everybody loves Influence. Influence is awesome. I like Presuasion even better. Yeah. Dude, that book is amazing. Have you seen the story? They went to the grocery store. They're testing out new soda flavors. And they're like, hey, do you want to try this new soda? And people go, no, no, no, thanks. But they change the question right before they ask to, hey, do you consider yourself an adventurous person? Of course, yeah, of course I'm adventurous. Well, do you want to try this new soda flavor? And the response, 10 Xs, right? I apply that same mentality to email. What is email but the ask before the ask? I'm trying to create an emotional transformation before they get on the phone with your CSR so that they're already excited, already enticed, already thinking fondly of your brand. I want to do the exact same with direct mail. Somebody gets a message that is like a personal, relevant, looks like a letter. from the contractor. You know, hey, this is Tommy Mello with A1 Garage Door. Six months ago, we came out your home. I want to check in. How's it going? So that you know, here's the list of other things that we do. Give us a call. We'd love to hear from you. I just want stuff that looks like it comes from a friend. not something that looks immediately on site like an ad. You've got the A pile, the B pile when you check your mail, right? Well, I'll tell you what I just did and you're going to dig this. Hey Speaker 3 (16:15) guys, today's the day. The discounted hotel block for Freedom 2026 in Mandalay Bay closes tonight. After today, rooms go back to full price. And honestly, the bigger issue is the hotel's just running out of space. Once the block's gone, you might be scrambling to find a room anywhere near the event. No reason to pay more or worse, end up somewhere offsite because you sat on this too long. Freedom 2026 is October 26th through the 28th at Mandalay Bay. Go to freedomevent.com right now and get your room locked in or call us or text us at 602-581-7563. That's 602-581-7563. Get it off your plate today. Speaker 1 (16:50) Now let's get back to this episode. Speaker 3 (16:51) Well, I'll tell you what I just did and you're Speaker 1 (16:53) going Speaker 3 (16:53) to dig this is I'm working with a very advanced handwriting company and they just... They just took my handwriting. It's the first time they've done this. But my handwriting is like a two-year-old. So what I did was I put, it's a real envelope with a real address. It says your neighbor, but it's got this address. And I don't want to put my real address. But it's a real stamp. It looks like a birthday card. Speaker 1 (17:18) And Speaker 3 (17:18) I put a picture of me and Bree holding our dogs in front of a truck in front of my garage. And Speaker 1 (17:23) I Speaker 3 (17:24) said, from your neighbor, I sent it out to 3,000 people. So far, it's done