The Successful Contractor Podcast

Welcome to The Successful Contractor Podcast, Powered by CertainPath. A show for residential contractors about residential contractors… We chronicle business journeys, share insights, and celebrate successes in this wonderful industry.

The Successful Contractor Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Successful Contractor Podcast, a business show with 0 episodes published.

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  The Successful Contractor Podcast

  Google Is Deleting the LSA Dashboard. What Contractors Do Now — Chris Vance, CertainPath

  Oct 2, 20261h 4m

  Book a free strategy call to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ or call us at: (214)-453-1591 Get Predictable Calls From Proven Direct Mail Campaigns. Learn more about CertainPath's Lead Generation Direct Mail programs — for members AND non-members. Click here for a FREE Market Analysis: https://mycertainpath.com/lead-generation-request/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=tsc229 ------------------------ Google is deleting the Local Service Ads dashboard. Your leads move to Google Ads. Your performance history does not come with them. Chris Vance is the Executive Marketing Coach at CertainPath, seven years into building marketing plans for member companies across all four trades. In May a partner took him to Google's Austin headquarters to hear from the people who run its paid ads division, and what they said there explains everything since. Customer behavior changed in response to AI, so Google changed with it. Brand is the new keyword. And the silos between Local Service Ads, Google Ads and YouTube are coming down. On August 17 they lit the match. Local Service Ads are being pulled into Google Ads as a Performance Max product over the rest of the year. The weekly budget becomes a daily budget, and if you type your weekly number into the daily box you spend 650 a day instead of 650 a week. When demand spikes, Performance Max can run two times your daily average in a single day. The algorithm chases volume, not value, so one campaign will buy every cheap lead it finds and starve your install work. Before it happens, download your performance history. The leads transfer over. Your spend levels and lead rates do not. From there Chris walks Bob Houchin through everything else that moved. In this conversation, you'll discover: • Why the BBB badge lost its weight overnight, and the six call-outs that took its place • How AI Max builds an ad out of whatever is sitting on your website • What Chris calls the sea of generic, and how boilerplate copy puts you in it • Why Yelp suddenly matters again, and why you should not start sending review requests there • The recency bias that makes 5,000 old reviews largely irrelevant • How to turn one four-minute phone video into a dozen pieces of content • The one-page brand brief that stops AI writing like AI Whether you run a plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or roofing company, this is the clearest hour on what changed in search this year and what to do. Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle. About the Show The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company. Meet the Host Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he's interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others. About CertainPath CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Connect CertainPath: https://www.mycertainpath.com FOLLOW CERTAINPATH: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CertainPath LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainpath Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/certainpath/

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  The Successful Contractor Podcast

  Too Shy to Talk to Anyone. $703K Plumbing Sold & Installed — Zachery Kongsy, Frank’s Plumbing

  Sep 18, 20261h 8m

  Book a free strategy call to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ or call us at: (214)-453-1591 Get Predictable Calls From Proven Direct Mail Campaigns. Learn more about CertainPath's Lead Generation Direct Mail programs — for members AND non-members. Click here for a FREE Market Analysis: https://mycertainpath.com/lead-generation-request/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=tsc228 ------------------------ Three years ago he could not start a conversation with a stranger. Last year he sold and installed $703,000 in plumbing — as a technician, in Amarillo. Zachery Kongsy is a service technician at Frank's Plumbing in Amarillo, Texas. He sold and installed $703,000 last year, his second straight year past the CertainPath plumbing Crown Champion threshold — in his third year holding a license. He spent nine years in restaurants first: Subway, Burger King, Texas Roadhouse. His stepdad has been at Frank's for 32 years and all three of his brothers worked there too. One shift at Roadhouse, two of them showed him their checks. "I was like, I can do that." He applied, got hired the same day, and started as an apprentice the next morning — riding with a seven-time Crown Champion, taking notes from the back of the room. The part he volunteers without being asked is the part most technicians hide: "Before I got this job I was very shy. Would not talk to anybody. Couldn't even start a conversation." What changed was method, not personality. He still gives himself pep talks driving to the house. The rest of this conversation with host Bob Houchin is his entire service call, start to finish. In this conversation, you'll discover: • Why he is in the gym at five and through the call histories before the trucks roll • What he reads on the front of a house before he ever knocks on the door • Why he never diagnoses alone — and the four words that explain it • How he builds three options out of sight, then reveals the membership savings last • The line he uses when a $300 repair turns out not to be $300 • Why he gets a shovel in the ground the same night, even at eight o'clock • The review ask at the door that lands nine times out of ten Whether you run a plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or roofing company, Zachery's process shows how a shy third-year technician turns ordinary service calls into $703,000 a year. Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle. About the Show The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company. Meet the Host Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he's interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others. About CertainPath CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Connect CertainPath: https://www.mycertainpath.com FOLLOW CERTAINPATH: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CertainPath LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainpath Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/certainpath/

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  The Successful Contractor Podcast

  Only 2 Years in Electrical Service. $1M Sold & Installed — Mike Howie, Travis Electrical

  Sep 3, 20261h 7m

  Book a free strategy call to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ or call us at: (214)-453-1591 Get Predictable Calls From Proven Direct Mail Campaigns. Learn more about CertainPath’s Lead Generation Direct Mail programs — for members AND non-members. Click here for a FREE Market Analysis: https://mycertainpath.com/lead-generation-request/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=tsc227 ------------------------ Two years ago he drove home from Oregon broke, unpaid for seven weeks of work. Last year he sold and installed $1,011,000 in electrical — out of one van. Mike Howie is a service technician at Travis Electrical Service in Clarksville, Tennessee. He does the selling and splits the installs 50-50. He did $612,000 one year and $1,011,000 the next — two years into residential service, in a middle-America market. He had about ten years in electrical first: an industrial apprenticeship, then a service shop that, in his words, “threw you out in the wind.” A three-week job became seven unpaid weeks in Texas and Oregon. He nearly lost the house, his wife’s car was impounded, and he lost his mom in the middle of it. He found Travis on Indeed, emailed the owner’s wife from Oregon, and she kept telling him one thing: “Just get home.” Then six months of ride-alongs and CertainPath training before anyone handed him a van. What changed between $612,000 and $1,011,000 was operational as much as personal. Travis added installers halfway through the year, anything over $1,000 started handing off, and Mike got into more houses. The rest of this conversation with host Bob Houchin is his entire service call, line by line. In this conversation, you’ll discover: • Why adding an install team took him from $612,000 to $1,011,000 • The six-month onboarding most owners skip — and what that patience actually bought • Why he never finishes the troubleshoot, and the one question he asks instead • The chain-link analogy that makes a backstabbed outlet obvious to a homeowner • How he positions financing before the sticker shock lands • “First person that talks loses” — and the fifteen minutes he sat in total silence Whether you run an electrical, HVAC, plumbing, or roofing company, Mike’s process shows how one well-trained technician turns ordinary service calls into a million dollars a year. Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don’t forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle. About the Show The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company. Meet the Host Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he’s interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others. About CertainPath CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Connect CertainPath: https://www.mycertainpath.com FOLLOW CERTAINPATH Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CertainPath LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainpath Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/certainpath/

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  The Successful Contractor Podcast

  Woman-Owned. Never Roofed a Day. Aiming for $6.5M This Year, $10M Next.

  Aug 20, 20261h 31m

  Book a free strategy call to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ or call us at: (214)-453-1591 Get Predictable Calls From Proven Direct Mail Campaigns. Learn more about CertainPath’s Lead Generation Direct Mail programs — for members AND non-members. Click here for a FREE Market Analysis: https://mycertainpath.com/lead-generation-request/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=tsc226 He was a corporate consultant. She had an MBA. Neither had roofed a day in their lives — then they bought a roofing company and doubled it. Tim Wilde and his wife Sasha bought Sexton Roofing & Siding in Western Massachusetts in 2023 — a 40-year-old brand the previous owner ran solo at about $2 million a year, working 16-hour days, seven days a week. Neither of them had ever roofed: Tim came out of corporate pharmaceutical-construction consulting, and Sasha has an MBA and always wanted to run a business. When a corporate takeover pushed Tim out, and a friend showed them you could simply buy a business, they did. The first year nearly broke them. They priced with “a finger in the air,” had no idea what a good margin was, and kept winning on low bids. Then they found CertainPath — Tim signed up at a Profit Day on the spot — and the turnaround began: fixing their pricing first, then rebuilding sales around an in-home, one-call-close process. Two years in, they’ve doubled the business past $4 million, they’re targeting $6.5 million, and Tim personally sold $2 million to become a CertainPath roofing crown champion. And it’s 100% woman-owned — Sasha owns it outright, and Tim jokes he’s “just cheap labor.” In this conversation, you’ll discover: How two people with zero trade experience bought a 40-year-old roofing company off a broker Why the acquisition was tougher than they expected — and what they’d do differently The “finger in the air” pricing mistake CertainPath fixed first How moving to an in-home presentation unlocked one-call closes Why being the most thorough person at the door — the one who actually goes in the attic — wins the job The CertainPath training moment that took Tim from “doing sales completely wrong” to a crown champion How they think about growth: taking “a smaller piece of a larger pie” Whether you run a roofing, HVAC, plumbing, or electrical company, Tim and Sasha’s story shows how to buy a business, raise your prices, and build a sales process that actually closes. Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don’t forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle. About the Show The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company. Meet the Host Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he’s interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others. About CertainPath CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Connect CertainPath: https://www.mycertainpath.com FOLLOW CERTAINPATH Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CertainPath LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainpath Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/certainpath/

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  The Successful Contractor Podcast

  $10M in HVAC Sales: Traded Surgeons for Furnaces — How Caleb Holte Left Medical Sales

  Jul 24, 20261h 19m

  Book a free strategy call to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ or call us at: (214)-453-1591 Get Predictable Calls From Proven Direct Mail Campaigns. Learn more about CertainPath’s Lead Generation Direct Mail programs — for members AND non-members. Click here for a FREE Market Analysis: https://mycertainpath.com/lead-generation-request/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=tsc225 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He sold medical devices to surgeons. Now he sells $10 million of HVAC a year — and he never pressures a homeowner to do it. Caleb Holte is a comfort advisor at Fix-It 24/7 in Denver, and a two-time Crown Champion who has sold roughly $10 million of residential HVAC. But he didn’t come up through the trades. He came from AT&T and Verizon sales, a cutthroat stint in finance, even bodybuilding — and most recently medical device sales, where dinners with surgeons felt fake and “performative.” So he traded it all for the blue truck. His start was brutal. His GM handed him a truck, some keys, and told him to “go fail forward.” He went 0-for-5 on his first drive and figured he was about to get fired. What turned it around wasn’t pressure — it was a journal: after every call he wrote down three things that went well and three that didn’t, until the patterns became second nature. Across this conversation with host Bob Houchin, Caleb breaks down his entire in-home process — positioning himself as a “field supervisor” instead of a “comfort advisor,” price conditioning and extreme anchoring (including the $45,000 system he shows every customer and refuses to sell), reading body language down to where a customer points their feet, getting objections out early, and the quiet discipline of “he who talks first loses.” He also gets honest about the part most salespeople skip — the heart behind it. Caleb prays in the truck before a call, treats every grandmother and single mom like his own family, and lives by a simple belief: anybody can close anybody. It’s just whether or not you’re the right guy. In this conversation, you’ll discover: Why he positions himself as a “field supervisor,” never a “comfort advisor” The extreme-anchoring move: the $45,000 system he shows every customer and won’t sell How to get customers to sell themselves instead of pitching them What a customer’s feet — and a woman’s hands — tell you about the sale “Easy pay,” not “financing”: the language that lowers the guard Why “he who talks first loses” after you slide over the price The journaling habit that took him from 0-for-5 to $10 million Whether you sell HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or roofing, Caleb’s process shows how to close big without pressure — and keep your character intact. Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don’t forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle. About the Show The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company. Meet the Host Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he’s interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others. About CertainPath CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Connect CertainPath: https://www.mycertainpath.com FOLLOW CERTAINPATH Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CertainPath LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainpath Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/certainpath/

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