Tommy Mello Shares His $1 Billion Marketing Strategy

Offer your best first, then work down if you must

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Sales Growth Strategies you'll learn today on The Sales Podcast...

• Big fan of traditional marketing
• Wizard of Ads
• "Google is God"
  • PPC
  • Google Guarantee (LSA)
  • Google My Business
  • Straight-up organic (He does $2.6 million/mo from here)
• Still does ValPak, direct mail, etc
• Differentiate
• Use a local number for the neighborhood
• Get a 1,000% ROI from ValPak

• He doesn't want to be the "Wal-Mart" and the "Quality Brand"
  • Right
  • Fast
  • Cheap
• Have good books
  • P&L
• Direct and fixed costs
• Add in your profit
• If you can't get to 15% margins you're failing

"If you can't get to 15% margins you're failing."

• He doesn't sell on price
• Effective sales training is fundamental
• He went to his distributor and got something nobody had
• Start with "best" and go down to "better" but never "good"
• Sell what you'd sell to your mom
• Used his sales and marketing skills to get great people
• 8 Steps to a 5-Star Customer Program
• Go over and above

"What else can we do for you?"

• Have a price book
• Look at all your numbers
  • Call center conversions
  • Usually, your average ticket is too low
  • Look at your conversion rate
  • What are your acquisition costs
  • You need to be doing 15-18% marketing when you're entering a new market and 10% on average
• He has manuals for everything
• Ask great questions
• Sell like a doctor
• Do a needs analysis
• Your prospects must like and trust you
• Be known as the best quality
• Has his core values
• Already in 14 states
• He doubled his marketing during the pandemic
• Take the people with you
• He loves taking care of his people
• He trains his people like crazy and he retains his people like crazy
• He drives a used Nissan Titan with a salvaged title
• He lives in an apartment he owns
• He drinks a beer with his guys

• "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't"
• He's building leaders
• Had a landscaping company
• His friend recruited him over to the garage door business
• Started it in 2007 not knowing what they were doing
• Got into debt
• Mom and step-dad moved from Michigan to help him
• He learned about CRMs and learning
• Leaders are readers
• He likes to be a master/rifle shot, so he expands horizontally
• He focuses on after-market repairs and upgrades
• He grows organically
• He's a platform company, so he is worth 12x even when he buys at 4x earnings.
• He'd show up to his master's program greasy
• He built it all up from the ground up
• He did it all himself
• He didn't get out of the field completely until 2014/2015

"It's so fun to hire amazing people."

• The dream needs to become a vision.
• The vision needs to become a dream.
• The dream needs to become a plan.
• Get organized.
• Hire around your weaknesses.
• The KPIs in your CRM are the scoreboard
• It's fun
• Teach it to your people
• He pays $1,500 to his people for new hire referrals
• He has tracking numbers for his staff to get commissions
• He has a recruiting process to hire for good fits
• Personality assessments
• Ride alongs

• Three-week apprenticeship is to weed them out
• He's always recruiting while eating out, getting his hair cut, etc.
• His average employee is 23 and wants to be cared for
• Find out what your people want and help them get it
• He buys $2,400 worth of tools for each of his guys
• Systems, Procedures, Checks, and Balances
• He runs warranty calls first
• 1% of customers will always be mad. They're victims and it's sad. "Creative justification."
• You don't "need" a new car, etc. You "want" it.
• Compound interest. Save your money and grow smartly.
• Buy appreciating assets.
• SACRIFICE!
• A lot of people don't have what it takes. Discipline. Accountability. Work ethic.
• Order the book, "Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength"
• Accept responsibility for everything in your life
• Most businesses fail
• "The Augusta Law"
• He has a team dedicated to the trolls
• He understands that mistakes are made and he listens and lets them vent and offers a solution
• A 1-star review costs money, so address it
• Consumers have a lot of power now

Links Mentioned In The Sales Podcast

• Get Your Free Copy Of Home Service Millionaire
• Follow Tommy Mello on X 
• Meet every guest on The Sales Podcast guest index