The Huge Insider

Episode 21: Client Retention with Daniel Dixon

Summary
On this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef dives deep into the most profitable yet overlooked strategy in the home service industry: customer retention. Featuring Daniel Dixon, CEO of SendJim and a 7-figure floor coating business owner, this episode is a goldmine for service providers who want to maximize revenue by focusing on their existing customer base.
 
Daniel Dixon, CEO of SendJimWebsite
Mentioned Tools & Platforms
SendJim – client retention and automation platform
Jobber – CRM software for home service businesses
Housecall Pro – home service software
ServiceTitan – field service management software
Zapier – automation tool
Resources (Mentioned Every Time)
The Huge Insider newsletter signup
The Huge Insider podcast downloadable action guide
The Foundations platform trial offer
The Huge Mastermind info page
Facebook Group
Events
The Huge Convention 2025 – August 20–22 in Nashville, TNTickets: https://thehugeconvention.com/
Transcript
Sid Graef: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. It's Sid Graef and the Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals striving to break the million dollar revenue mark. If that's you, you're definitely in the right place. We want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders.
So we've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven and eight figure business owners—people running companies that do anywhere from $2 million to $40 million a year and more. And we bring you their best insights, all focused on a single topic each month. These are real owners—not armchair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the folks quietly building empires behind the scenes.
This month, we're focusing on the things you must do to get and keep happy, profitable clients. Things like quality control, reviews, referrals, and long-term retention. Today, the topic is long-term retention. Once you get a customer, how do you keep them forever?
Today, you're going to hear from Daniel Dixon. Daniel has a 7-figure floor coating company. He's been in the carpet cleaning industry, and now, in addition to his service business, he’s the CEO of SendJim—a client retention automation and marketing platform. But the episode isn't about SendJim—it's about how to retain clients forever.
We also have a downloadable action guide to help you with a retention plan. It’s available at https://www.thehugeinsider.com. Let’s get into it.
Daniel Dixon: Hey everybody, this is Daniel Dixon, CEO of SendJim. Today I’m going to talk to you about customer retention. You’ve got these customers—now how do you keep them? How do you sell more to them? And why is this important?
The reason is simple: customer retention generates the highest return on investment of any marketing strategy. Selling to existing clients is easier, cheaper, and far more profitable than acquiring new ones.
Think about it: they already know you, like you, and trust your company. If you delivered a great experience, there's no reason they would go anywhere else—unless they forget about you. That’s why staying in touch is essential.
Let’s say your cost per lead is $45 or more through Google Ads. Compare that with $1–$3 to follow up with an existing customer through a text, postcard, or voicemail. That’s a no-brainer.
Daniel Dixon: Here’s how to retain customers:
Increase Frequency – Get clients to use your service more often. If they hire you once a year, can they hire you twice or more?
Upsell Services – Many customers only know you for the first service they bought. Tell them what else you do—pressure washing, roof cleaning, holiday lights, etc.
Stay Top of Mind – Most customers forget your business name a month later. Use automated marketing like texts, emails, and postcards to stay in front of them.
You can automate all of this using SendJim. We integrate with CRMs like Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, and anything connected via Zapier. For example, after a job is completed, SendJim can automatically send a thank-you postcard, then a reminder in three months, then a holiday message—all hands-free.
If you’re not marketing to your current customers, you’re leaving the most profitable sales on the table.
Check us out at https://www.sendjim.com. Hope this was helpful—keep working hard and crushing it.
Sid Graef: So after hearing that, it’s pretty easy to understand—selling to your existing clients is the most valuable sale you can make.
We’ve set up a 5-page action guide to walk you through building your retention plan. Download it at https://www.thehugeinsider.com.
We’ve also got more ways to help you level up your business. Visit the website for:
Two free podcasts: The Huge Insider and The Huge Transformation Show
A weekly newsletter with actionable insights
Our Facebook community
And one I’m especially excited about—The Huge Convention, August 20–22 in Nashville. This is our last year in Nashville for a while. Prices go up June 1, so grab tickets now at https://thehugeconvention.com.
And for business owners over $1M in revenue, check out The Huge Mastermind. If you want time and money freedom, we teach the Freedom Operating System to help you build a business that runs without you. Learn more at https://www.thehugemastermind.com/interest.
That’s it for today. Please share the podcast, subscribe, and leave a review—it really helps us out.
I'm Sid Graef. This is The Huge Insider. Go take action and we’ll see you next week.

Episode 20: Simple System for Maximum Referrals

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, Sid Graef takes you to the mountaintops of his hometown, Missoula, Montana, to frame today’s powerful topic: referrals. Sid shares how you can create a low-cost, high-conversion referral program by simply asking at the right times. From planting the seed during the initial call to reinforcing the ask after the job is done, Sid outlines a step-by-step strategy that took his business from just a few monthly referrals to 3–5 every week. Referrals bring in high-trust, price-flexible customers who are easier to close—making this free marketing method one of the most profitable strategies you can implement. Be sure to download the free action guide at www.thehugeinsider.com to start building your referral system today.
Show Notes
Resources Mentioned
The Huge Insider Action Guide
The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup
Foundations Platform Trial Offer
Huge Mastermind Info Page
The Huge Convention Tickets
The Huge Insider Facebook Group
The Huge Transformations Podcast(Available at thehugeinsider.com)
Transcript
Sid Graef:Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. I’m Sid Graef, I’m your host, and this is the show for home service business builders who are trying to break the million-dollar mark.
And here’s why: we’ve gathered a group of experts who run seven- and eight-figure businesses, businesses doing anywhere from $2 million a year to $40 million a year. We get their best wisdom, their best insights, their best advice, and we give it to you straight—undistilled, no fluff. Just, “Here it is. This is a tactic or strategy you can apply in your business today that will make your business stronger, better, more profitable tomorrow.” That’s why we put out the show—we want to help you grow steadily, quickly, profitably.
So today’s topic is referrals. That’s pretty cool.
I’m going to show you around, for those of you that are watching this. Right behind me—let me step out of the way—is my hometown: Missoula, Montana. Missoula is a small to medium-sized mountain town. It’s really beautiful here. There’s a river that runs right through it over here, and mountains surround us all the way around. The iconic “M” Mountain is here—it’s got the big “M” on it for the University of Montana. Over here is the “L”—it’s for Loyola High School, a private school. And then you’ve got neighborhoods and people living off in the woods like this. It’s absolutely stunning.
Let me spin this a little bit more. Also, we’ve got a lot of wildflowers going on. I’m at the top of a place called Waterworks Hill.
So, why do I tell you all that? Here’s why—because this is a part of our community, and no matter where you live, people form communities. You may have a small, tight-knit community, or you may live in a big city, maybe you’re in Minneapolis, but there are community pockets all around within larger metro areas.
So that leads me to the topic of referrals.
Here’s the thing—people, for as long as time has existed, want to do business with those they know, like, and trust.So how do you get people to know, like, and trust you?
There are a lot of ways. Usually, it’s a handshake, eye contact, a great conversation, and doing something good for someone. That’s how you start a relationship and build trust.
But in a digital age, how do you build trust quickly?One of the most powerful ways to build trust and gain new customers at literally no cost is referrals.
People love to refer businesses they’ve had great experiences with.They talk about great restaurants, good movies, sporting events, cool people they’ve met.So the first part of gaining referrals is being worthy of being talked about.Do business in a way that is so good, people can’t ignore you—they want to talk about you. That’s the baseline for getting referrals.
But here’s the catch: people don’t refer as often as they could, because you don’t ask them.
If you want to build a deliberate, focused referral program, here’s what we do:
Plant the seed when someone calls to schedule. We say:“Hey, are you aware of our Good Neighbor Discount? That means if you’ve got a neighbor who wants to have their windows cleaned on the same day, we’ll give you both a $10 discount. That usually saves you $50 a piece. Sound good?”
Remind them in the confirmation message about the Good Neighbor Discount.
At the door, when our team shows up, they say:“Mrs. Johnson, our goal today is to do such a great job that we earn your five-star review and you’ll want to tell your friends and family about us.”That’s watering the seed we planted.
After the job is done, we ask them to inspect the work, collect payment, and say:“Remember when I said our goal was to earn your five-star review and your referral? How did we do? Did we earn it, or could we do better?”
We ask them to leave a review online, and we text them a link to make it easy.
We give them a referral card with a QR code and say:“If you’ve got friends or neighbors who would appreciate this service, please refer them. You can scan this or take a picture and send it to your friends or post it on Facebook.”
We ask:“Is there anybody in particular that really needs our service?”
When we instituted that program, we went from getting 3 or 4 referrals a month to about 3 to 5 referrals a week. And that’s free money—no extra marketing cost, just doing great work and asking.
And here’s the beautiful thing about referrals:
Referred customers come pre-installed with trust.
They’re less price-sensitive.
They have a higher closing rate.
So referrals are some of the best new business you can get—low cost, high quality.
Whatever you do after hearing this, sit down and work out a simple, focused referral ask program.
After the service is done, we also:
Send an email thanking them.
Send a postcard thanking them.
Send a coffee card and ask again for referrals.
We continue asking in our email newsletter over the following months.
Because we take the time to ask, we generate more referrals and more money.
That’s it for today.
So what did you learn about referrals?Did you learn something valuable you can apply today? I hope so.
Make sure to download our four-page action plan that helps you set up a referral program in your business. You’ll gain more customers, gain more trust, expand your influence, and make more money.
That’s the deal.
If you got value out of today’s show, please share it, like it, subscribe, and refer us to your business friends who might benefit.
And don’t forget to check out thehugeinsider.com. It’s got all our resources, including the free weekly newsletter, and our other podcast, The Huge Transformations Podcast—interviews and stories with eight-figure business builders.
We’ll see you next time.

Episode 19: Maximize Your Reviews with Nick South

In part two of this series, host Sid Graef is back with Nick South from SoTellUs, diving deeper into how to maximize your reviews and turn them into powerful marketing tools that bring in higher-paying customers. Nick reveals that reviews are the most trusted form of content because they serve as word-of-mouth proof that your business delivers on its promises. In fact, companies with a 4.7 to 5.0-star rating can charge up to 31% more than lower-rated competitors. But it doesn’t stop at collecting reviews—you need to get them seen. Nick explains how SoTellUs helps businesses automate review sharing across websites, social media, SEO landing pages, and even your customers' personal networks—amplifying your reputation and reach. This episode highlights how review visibility = revenue growth. Be sure to grab the free downloadable action guide at www.thehugeinsider.com to start putting these strategies to work today.
 
Resources Mentioned
The Huge Insider Action Guide
The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup
Foundations Platform Trial Offer
Huge Mastermind Info Page
The Huge Convention Tickets
The Huge Insider Facebook Group
Learn more about SoTellUs. We love and use them, and asked if they could hook you up with a special offer. 
Get it here
sotellus.com/huge-booyah-llc/
 
Transcript:
 
Sid Graef:Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. It’s Sid Graef here, and this is part two this week with our conversation with Nick South from SoTellUs, talking about the value of the review, how to maximize your reviews, and how to get more reviews.
So today, I just asked him the question. I'm like, “Hey, you’ve got good reviews. How do you maximize those? What can you do with a review that is not obvious, and how do you do that?” So he shares some real wisdom, some insights, and some eye-opening ways you can utilize the reviews you’ve already got to really impact your business and make more money on the jobs that you’re doing.
So with that, let’s dive in. Here’s Nick with SoTellUs.
Nick South:Hey guys, Nick with SoTellUs again. So I wanted to talk about how to maximize your reviews to get higher-paying jobs.
Okay, so the first thing I want you to think about is: if you get a ton of awesome, happy five-star reviews from your clients, but nobody gets to see them, what good is that doing for your business?
I work with a ton of businesses, and a lot of people want to come in to get reviews. The biggest thing is they want reviews to help get found, push customers over the edge, attract new clients, and increase their online rankings on Google, their websites, and other places like that. And those are the real reasons to get reviews.
It’s not just to get them to say, “Look how many reviews I’ve got.” It’s time to take those reviews and get them found. Because reviews are another form of content. But I’ll tell you why it’s the best form of content—because it’s not just something saying, “This is who we are or what we do,” or “Here’s some tips and tricks on these new things.”
No, it’s literal social proof. It’s the most attractive content for a customer because it’s showing them that you are a person of your word, that you are able to fulfill the promises you give to your customers. And that’s what they want to see. You’re selling them the experience through another person’s word of mouth.
That is insanely powerful. And just so you guys know, if you Google a stat, you’ll see that businesses that actually have up to a five-star rating are able to charge up to 31% more for their services compared to those who have four stars or lower. So a 4.7 to a 5.0-star rating is peak—that’s where you want to be at.
And leveraging those reviews by putting them on different places is going to be dramatic for your online presence and reputation.
Like for our system, what our system does is it automatically takes all reviews, puts them on your website, your social media sites. We even run SEO with them by giving every review its own landing page and backlinking them to your site.
We use them to optimize your Google Business Profile in more ways than just one. And the biggest thing is getting your customer who just gave you that five-star review to instantly share it on all their different social media platforms by the click of a button. And not only do they share the review, but they’re also sharing an incentive or some kind of offer from your company.
So all of their—on average—500 friends can literally see a word-of-mouth referral from their friend talking about your business with some form of incentive.
Those are some easy ways to start maximizing reviews. It’s how we do it, and it has worked out phenomenal for over 8,000 businesses in 33 countries.
So, hope you guys got something out of this, and I can’t wait to see you at The Huge.
Sid Graef:So how cool is that? This is more ways that you can maximize the value of a review.
So tomorrow, we’re going to be back with Nick, and he’s just going to give us a simple three-step process on how to get more reviews.
Here’s the thing—The Huge Insider—we’re all about helping you win in the marketplace. We want to see you prosper and win in the marketplace, and we’ve got the free action guide that you can download about how to get more reviews. It’s available at thehugeinsider.com.
There’s a whole bunch of other resources there like our Facebook community and the information about The Huge Convention coming up August 20th through 22nd in Nashville, and our Huge Mastermind.
So download your action guide, dig in, apply the stuff that you’re learning, and we will see you next time.

Episode 18: Use Reviews to Get Higher Paying Jobs with Nick South

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef sits down with Nick South, Director of Sales at SoTellUs, a review automation platform helping over 20,000 businesses in 50+ countries. Nick shares the game-changing truth that customers are willing to pay 31% more for companies with top-tier ratings (4.7–5.0 stars). But reviews only work if people see them. Nick explains how to strategically showcase your best reviews on your website, social media, and marketing channels to instantly build trust and credibility—turning social proof into higher-paying jobs. You’ll also hear about SoTellUs' tools to automate your review and referral collection process, saving you time while maximizing impact. This is Part 1 of a two-part series on leveraging reviews to grow your business. Be sure to grab the free downloadable action guide to help you implement this week's strategies at www.thehugeinsider.com.
Show Notes
Resources Mentioned
The Huge Insider Action Guidehttps://www.thehugeinsider.com
The Huge Insider Newsletter Signuphttps://thehugeconvention.com/insider
Foundations Platform Trial Offerhttps://thehugeconvention.com/1foundationstrial
Huge Mastermind Info Pagehttps://www.thehugemastermind.com/interest
The Huge Convention Ticketshttps://www.thehugeconvention.com
The Huge Insider Facebook Grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/hugefoundations
SoTellUs (Review Automation Platform)https://sotellus.com/
Guest Information
Nick South – Director of Sales at SoTellUshttps://sotellus.com(No direct social links provided in the episode)
Contact the Show
Call or Leave a Voicemail(804) 600-4843(Spells 804-600-HUGE)Transcript:
Sid Graef:Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. It's Sid Graef here, and The Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals who are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark. If that's you, you're in the right place. Here’s the thing—we want to help you skip the BS, and there's plenty of it out there.
We want you to skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners—people running companies that do anywhere from two million a year to forty million a year. And we bring you their best insights, all focused on a single topic each month.
And these are real owners. These are the ones quietly building empires behind the scenes. This month, we're focusing on the things you must do to get and keep happy, profitable clients. These four things are quality control, reviews, referrals, and long-term retention. And today's topic is reviews.
We’ve got several of the eight-figure business owners in our network that have great review processes, but they all have one thing in common—they rely heavily on automation software to get those reviews. So rather than have me or someone else talk to you about how we do our reviews, we've gotten in touch with Nick South, and he's the Director of Sales for SoTellUs.
SoTellUs is a company dedicated to helping companies get more reviews and referrals. They're an automation software that handles that type of technology and a whole lot more. They’ve helped over 20,000 companies in over 50 countries to gain more reviews. So rather than me talking about my process, which is just my way of thinking about it, we’ve got the guys that obsess about millions of reviews every single day to share with you some insights on a simple process to get more reviews and the value of good reviews.
So this is going to be a two-part series, and I want to introduce you to Nick South again. He's the Sales Director at SoTellUs. Let's hear from Nick. And last thing before we dive in—we’ve got a downloadable action guide for you, and it's available at thehugeinsider.com.
Let’s get into it.
Nick South:Hey guys, Nick with SoTellUs here again. Today, what I want to talk to you about is how to maximize your reviews to get higher-paying jobs.
So now, when you get reviews and you collect them—let's say you're somebody right now who's sitting on, you know, 50 or 100 awesome five-star premium reviews from your clients—now, it's great that you have these reviews, but think about this: If nobody gets to see them, what good is that doing for you?
Okay, so ponder on that a little bit because if nobody can see how many satisfied customers you’ve actually serviced, people don’t know how good you really are. So you need to find ways to maximize these by putting them in different places.
Number one being your website. Every time somebody goes on your website, you should have something there that's going to get their attention—instantly build some trust. That’s what reviews will do. They'll catch their eye and, at the same time, build trust in their decision to work with you because they're going to see all of these happy customers that you've serviced in the past.
There are tons of studies that show people with five-star ratings are able to charge even 31% more on jobs than those who have four stars or less. 4.7 to 5.0 is the best range you could possibly be in.
And again, leveraging these reviews, putting them on your social medias, different pages on your website that are backlinking, things like that, because reviews and utilizing them—it’s just like utilizing content. But here’s the thing: everybody posts content, and it’s important—hey, it’s great—you need to post different things about who you are or what you’re doing. But what customers want to see the most is case studies, social proof, proving that you are able to do exactly what you say you can.
Right? So aside from all the really cool and pretty posts and stuff like that you’re putting out there, customers want to know that you are trustworthy and that you do have other happy, satisfied customers.
Okay? So those are easy ways to be able to leverage those reviews. Also, other ones would be like posting them onto your socials, tagging the customers, getting them on multiple pages.
Now, think about that—about different ways you could do that. This is something that we help out with—leveraging them heavily across multiple places online. Obviously, we’d love to talk to you about it, but have a great day.
Sid Graef:Okay, that’s Nick with SoTellUs, and that is one aspect of the value of having great reviews. If you've got great reviews, you can charge more for your services because people have more trust, and they will pay more for a trusted experience. Pretty cool, right?
So how do you go about getting reviews? What’s your review process? You’ll learn more about the process of how to actually get reviews in tomorrow’s episode with Nick.
In the meantime, download our five-page action guide that will help you execute this week's strategy. And that strategy is getting more reviews to make yourself really difficult to compete with. Get that action guide at thehugeinsider.com.
And here’s the thing, man—if you’ve gotten value from this podcast, share it with your friends, post it online, give us a review, that kind of good stuff. It would really mean the world to us.
Here are some other free resources and great resources for you as you level up your business:
Number one is our free newsletter, it’s called The Huge Insider, and it’s available at—guess what—thehugeinsider.com. It’s weekly, it’s free, and it’s straight actionable insights directly to your inbox every single week.
Next, we have our Facebook group and community, also available at thehugeinsider.com. Join our Facebook group, be a part of the conversation, ask questions to get help, help others when they need it. It’s a great community.
And last is The Huge Convention. That is the ultimate event. It’s every year, it’s for home service business owners just like yourself. And this year, we’re back in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd. Tickets are dirt cheap right now, so grab yours at thehugeconvention.com before prices go up.
And here’s the thing—the day I’m recording this, tickets are priced at $229, but June 1st, 2025, those tickets go up to $299. So if you’re thinking about going to the convention, go ahead and lock in your ticket now at a less expensive price and save a few bucks. You can thank me later, or you can just buy me a beer at the convention. That’d be cool.
In the future, if you’ve got questions or you have topics that you would love to see handled, you can let us know literally by making a phone call. I know this seems kind of old school, but we like to hear people’s voices.
Call us at (804) 600-4843. That spells 804-600-HUGE. Call us and leave us a message and say, “Hey, I would really love to hear this topic handled,” or if you’ve applied something you’ve learned and you have a victory story, you’ve got a big win, share it with us. We’ll feature you in the future.
With that, don’t just listen—take action. I’m Sid Graef, this is The Huge Insider Podcast. We want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace.
We will see you next time.
 
 

Episode 17: Quality Control - A Critical Part of Keeping Happy Customers with Sid Graef

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef dives deep into the critical topic of quality control—the first pillar in a four-part series on building happy, profitable client relationships. Speaking directly to home service pros and business owners scaling past the $1M mark, Sid breaks down how quality is not a fluke—it’s a system. He shares his proven framework used at Spectrum Window Cleaning, where performance-based pay, job ownership, and strategic incentives create a culture of accountability and pride. From smart hiring to random job site checks, Sid explains how aligning incentives with expectations leads to fewer callbacks, better reviews, and long-term client retention. If you’re ready to reduce chaos and scale responsibly, this episode is your blueprint.
Show Notes
Topics Covered:
The 4 pillars of client happiness: Quality Control, Reviews, Referrals, and Retention
Why quality control begins with hiring the right people
Performance-based pay: benefits and pitfalls
How job ownership prevents corner-cutting
Spectrum’s 3-part quality system (Training, Ownership, Random Checks)
How to align pay structures with performance standards
Real-life incentives and consequences to drive better behavior
The long-term impact of enforcing high standards
 
Mentioned Resources & Links:
The Huge Insider newsletter signup
Downloadable action guide
Foundations platform trial offer
The Huge Mastermind info page
Facebook group for service pros
📍 The Huge Convention 2025 — Nashville, TN, August 20–22
🌐 Spectrum Window Cleaning (Business owned by Sid Graef – more at upcoming episodes)
 
Connect with Sid Graef:
LinkedIn
Facebook Group
 
 
Transcript:Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, the huge insider is the show for home service professionals that are striving to break the million dollar revenue mark. If that's you, you're definitely in the right spot. If you're already over a million dollars in revenue, you get even more out of this show.
So here's the thing, we really want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We have gathered. Wisdom and insight directly from seven and eight figure business owners, people that are running companies that do anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year.
And we bring you the best insights every week, all focused on a single topic every month. Real owners, no, no opinions, just experience. So here's the thing. This month we're focusing on the things that you must do to get and keep happy, profitable clients. These four things are quality control. Reviews, referrals, and long-term retention.
So today's topic is quality control. Might sound boring, but it's incredibly important. So today I get to share our processes and the core principles behind quality control. So last thing before we dive in, wanna remind you, we've got a downloadable action guide for you. It's available@thehugeinsider.com and I hope you download it and use it.
So let's get into it. Quality control. If you've got a crew that's out doing window cleaning or pressure washing or whatever your business does, and you're not on every single job site, you're growing your company, then this episode is for you. Here's the deal. Quality control is not an accident, it's a process.
It, here are the underlying principles for quality control. Number one is what gets measured, gets managed, and then number two is incentivize behavior that you want. And disincentivize behavior that you don't want. So if you don't build systems to ensure your quality, you end up with callbacks, bad reviews, lost clients, and honestly, that would be your fault, even if you're not the one holding the squeegee because you are the business owner and you're the one that sets the tone, the foundation, and the direction of your company.
So here's the foundation of quality. It doesn't really start with a checklist or inspection. It starts with your people. The kind of people who care. So when you're hiring, you need people that have solid character. You need people that are coachable. You need people that have attention to detail, and you need people that have a personal standard for doing great work.
If you instill a core behavior, like own your work or always go. The extra mile or take pride in your work, enforcing quality becomes way easier. It's not just about rules, it's about pride. But here's the kicker. Even if your team is full of good people, you still need systems because hope is not a strategy, and growth without systems leads to chaos.
So I'm gonna walk you through how we do it. It. This is how we handle it at Spectrum Window cleaning. First, our techs are on performance based pay, so this can vary for you because maybe you pay hourly or some other way. But we pay performance based. That means our techs get a percentage of the job, regardless of how fast they finish the job.
So let's say it's a thousand dollars job, they finish, they get $250. That motivates them to move fast. The faster they go, the more they can make. But here's the dark side of that speed. Can lead to a technician cutting corners so that they can get more done and get faster, make more money. If you don't address it, that will end up happening.
It's. It's the kind of the natural course of things. So we built in ownership of the job. So when a technician's assigned to a job, they own it from start to finish, it is their job. They're responsible to show up on time to follow the customer service scripts, to clean to our standards. They're responsible to, at the end of the job, to walk the customer through the work, and they have to double check everything before leaving, and nobody comes behind them to inspect it.
So how do we make sure they don't take shortcuts? We align the incentives. Here's the incentive and the way it works. If a tech gets a call back, they own that job, so they have to go back and fix it themselves. With no extra pay. That a thousand dollars job example, their $250, that's what they get, whether there's a touch up or not.
So if they have to go back out and touch up, it's gonna cost them an extra 30 minutes to an hour, depending on drive time just to go and look. Plus the time it takes to do it. So it's more important for them. It's in their best interest to do it right the first time. And this is what we repeat over and over.
It's like it's better for you to just take an extra 10 minutes to check your work before you leave than spend an hour going back for a touch up. So just double check your work. And here's another layer. If they get multiple callbacks in a short window of time, for example, if they get, if they got three callbacks in a single week, they're gonna drop a commission tier for 30 days.
And that hits hard. It hits 'em in the paycheck. But it reinforces that quality is non-negotiable. Now here's a little bit more of our system. It's like a three-part quality system, and at the end of the day. W. We have quality control on three main levels. First is proper training in a strong culture fit.
We try to hire the right type of person, but once we hire 'em, we train, we train, we train, we train, we train, we train 'em how to do the job correctly. We train 'em the technical skills. We train them with attention to detail. We teach 'em how to inspect their work, and we teach them how to take pride in their work.
Number two is what I had mentioned just a little bit earlier. Job ownership from beginning to end. Every tech is the boss of their job. There's no babysitting, but that means they own that job and they're responsible for it from beginning to end. So if they get a call back a week later, 10 days later, it's, they're responsible to go back, touch up, rec, reclean, whatever it takes to handle that job.
And number three, we do. Have random site checks, our production manager, our operations manager on occasion, will drop in without warning and inspect the work while the guys are there. Or after the technicians have already cleaned and left. And that keeps everybody sharp because it's like the random check at the airport, except it makes sense.
Ha ha. As we wrap it up. Here's the thing, your customers don't care really how fast the job got done. They just want to know that it's done correctly. They want their windows clean. They want their house clean. They want their experience to be great. So if you want fewer callbacks and better reviews, and a team that performs like a pro.
You've gotta design your business to reward great work and punish poor performance. If somebody does great work, they're gonna rise to the top. They're going to make more money, they're going to be rewarded for it. But if they don't perform well, it's like they're gonna lose time and money by going back to fix things, or they're gonna leave your company.
And either way, it's fine because you are sorting and training and working to get a high performing team, high performing individuals that. Get rewarded for doing things right, and that is going to help you build a business that has a great reputation for quality, for responsibility, and that's gonna help you keep your customers long term.
And so here's the deal. Incentivize what you want, disincentivize what you don't want. That's how you build a team and a reputation that you can be really, really proud of. Thanks for listening. Okay, so normally I have somebody else record the middle part. You know, that they share their insight once in a while, and I'm, I'm really excited I get to share some of the things that we do in our company to help it better and or to help it be better, to help us build a better business.
So I always ask this question, what did you learn today? What did you learn about quality control as a system, as a principle, as a philosophy? And then what are you gonna do with it? Because, the more you build it in and prepare and just drive it home, that quality is key or paramount, the better quality you're gonna have.
And here's the next step for you. I. Take action. We've got everything that was covered today is in the show notes. There's transcript, all that stuff. But the most important thing is every time we do a new weekly episode, we prepare a five page action guide for you and it's downloadable and it helps you execute the strategy.
It gives you the bullet points and the how tos, and that's located@thehugeinsider.com, so the huge insider.com. And while you're at the huge insider.com, downloading your action guide, there's more ways to level up your business and they're all there. One is sign up for a free newsletter if you haven't already done it.
It gives you weekly insights straight to your inbox. They track pretty closely with this podcast. Two, you could join our Facebook group and community where we discuss, we help, we answer questions. Everyone in the group answers each other's questions, and we help build each other up. We help solve problems and.
Help one another, build better businesses. The next thing is the huge convention. If you haven't been, let this Be Your Gear. Every year we have the ultimate event for home service business owners and pros. This year we're in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd. You can still get cheap tickets. And this event is where real breakthroughs happen.
It is the place for networking for education. It's the biggest trade show in the industry for. Our industry in home service, and next is a huge mastermind. If you've got a company that's already pushing or doing more than a million in revenue every year, you got five employees or more, this is the fast track to a freedom business.
You'll learn and implement the Freedom operating system to get to time and money freedom predictably and quickly in your company. So that's it for today. If you find value in this, if you like this short form. Podcast where we just get straight to the point and give you insight and actionable actionable insight.
How's that? That you can apply to your business now that will make a difference, that will help you make more money, more profit, give you more time and money for your, if you like this, go ahead. Share it, post a review, whatever post on social media. But we really appreciate your time listening and we look forward to seeing you next time. 

Episode 16: The Extreme Value of Team Meetings with Sid Graef

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef shares a powerful and practical guide to running effective team meetings for service-based businesses. With firsthand insight from leading a seven-figure window cleaning company in Montana, Sid breaks down how structured weekly meetings drive alignment, productivity, and team culture. He admits to once avoiding meetings due to perceived cost—only to learn that skipping them cost far more in missed opportunities, confusion, and team disconnection. Sid outlines his company’s proven two-meeting system: the Monday “Money Meeting” that sets the week’s tone with wins, safety reminders, and upsell planning, and the Wednesday “Training Meeting” focused on team culture, soft skills, and leadership development. The episode is packed with real-world tips and frameworks that any business owner can immediately implement. If you’re trying to scale your service business and empower your team, this episode is a must-listen.
Show Notes
Resources (mentioned every episode):
The Huge Insider newsletter
The Huge Insider downloadable action guide
Foundations platform trial
Huge Mastermind info page
Facebook Group
References & Mentions:
Nashville Huge Convention 2025: August 20–22, 
Core behaviors discussed for April 2025: Be on time, leave it better for the next person, lift up teammates, take pride in your work
 
 
 
Transcript:
Sid Graef:Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, it's Sid Graef here, and this is The Huge Insider, the show for home service professionals like you who are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark per year. And if that's you, you're definitely in the right place. If you're already over a million dollars of revenue, you'll get even more out of this show.
We want to help you skip all the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners—people running companies that are currently doing anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year and more. We're bringing you the best insights all focused on a single topic each month. These are real owners—not armchair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the people quietly building empires behind the scenes. Generally, they're not on social media looking for attention. They're in business, making things happen.
Last month, we focused on hiring A-players. This month, we’re answering the question: what do you do once you hire the right person—once you get that A-player? The topics we’ve covered week by week are onboarding, pay structure, training, and this week—it’s meetings. Weekly meetings. How to manage and handle a meeting that makes your team more productive.
You’re about to hear from me. I know, that’s kind of weird. But I have a seven-figure window cleaning company in Western Montana, and I want to talk with you a little bit about the way we handle and manage meetings to make our company more productive.
Before we dive in, the last thing I want to mention is we have a downloadable action guide for you. It’s available at www.thehugeinsider.com. And with that—let’s get into it.
So, here’s the question: Why are team meetings important? What is especially important about doing team meetings for the home service industry?
I’m going to start by admitting my mistake. For years, I thought team meetings were dumb—that they were an expensive waste of time. People should just know what to do, how to do it. We trained them. You give them the work tickets and let them run.
I only saw team meetings as a cost—ten people in a meeting at $20 an hour for an hour. That’s $200 per meeting. So I avoided them. I rarely held team meetings, honestly, because I thought I was losing money.
But the reality is, avoiding those meetings cost us money. It cost us time. We lost alignment. We lost momentum. We lost opportunities.
Here’s the truth about team meetings: A well-run, structured team meeting is not an expense—it’s an investment. And it will pay you dividends every day and every week in your business. A good team meeting saves time and money.
Let me drop in my personal opinion—most meetings in a corporate structure are probably a waste of time, or at least not efficient. But if you handle a meeting well, regularly, with a schedule, a structure, an agenda, and a clear purpose—it makes you money. It saves you time and money.
Here’s what happens with a great team meeting:
It aligns everyone around the company objectives.
It refreshes your team’s energy and focus.
It gets everyone rowing in the same direction—which multiplies your power.
Here’s our meeting structure. This is how we do it. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right way—but it’s a way that we’ve found very effective. Hopefully, it can benefit you.
We run two core meetings every single week—Monday morning and Wednesday morning. Monday morning, you could call it the “Money Meeting.” It’s 30 minutes long. Wednesday morning is the training meeting—also 30 minutes long. Both of these meetings are concise, consistent, and designed with a clear purpose in mind.
Monday Morning “Money” MeetingWe start at 7:30 a.m. That changes throughout the year—when we get longer days in the summer, we start earlier so people can get in the field earlier. But it’s 30 minutes long.
Purpose:To set up the week for maximum production, safety, and opportunity.
Structure:
Start on time. Every time. Even if someone texts they’ll be late—we don’t wait. We reward the people who were on time by starting promptly.
Share wins around the table. It’s Monday. People might not be morning people. But hearing everyone share a personal or professional win helps generate a positive energy.
Safety Five. Five minutes of safety reminders—not full training, just a refresher. For example, we might go over water-fed pole usage or ladder safety.
D.O.S. — Dangers, Opportunities, Strengths.
Dangers: Production managers look at all jobs ahead and call out anything tricky. Each tech is responsible for their own jobs, but this is a second layer of prep.
Opportunities: Every residential job has upsell, review, and referral potential. We also remind them to ask if we can place a lawn sign. Sometimes we call someone up to practice the script.
Strengths: If time allows, we shout out individual strengths or performance highlights from the prior week.
Wednesday “Training” MeetingCompletely different focus. It’s not to review the week—it’s for culture, soft skills, and leadership development.
Purpose:To reinforce culture, build soft skills, and train the team for excellence.
Structure:
Start on time.
Team kudos. But not just from the leader—from the team. They’re encouraged to call out great behavior from their peers.
Each month we focus on core behaviors. For example:
Be on time
Leave it better for the next person
Always lift up teammates
Take pride in your work
Each week, we highlight one behavior and give real examples.
Soft skills or philosophical training. This could include:
Reviewing our three core scripts (initial greeting, upsell, review ask).
Role playing how to handle a difficult customer.
Planting the seed during the greeting so we can earn the review and referral at the end.
What we’ve found is that these two meetings, especially the Monday meeting, get everyone out of the weekend mindset and focused on goals. It’s powerful when the entire team is aligned and working toward a common weekly target—revenue, reviews, or otherwise.
The Wednesday meeting reinforces our behaviors, builds leadership, and sharpens soft skills. Each tech eventually leads parts of the meeting, which boosts their public speaking and small group leadership ability. It creates peer-to-peer accountability and recognition.
Hidden Benefits of Weekly Meetings:For the company:
Maintains alignment
Removes confusion before it starts
Builds culture and team unity
Increases productivity
Reduces waste and errors
Accelerates monthly and quarterly goal achievement
For the team:
Builds pride and belonging
Develops leadership and speaking skills
Encourages peer-to-peer praise and accountability
For the owner:
Moves the company toward running without you
Empowers team members to lead
Reveals real leaders—and weaknesses early
Frees up your energy and time
Just having a meeting isn’t enough. A meeting for the sake of meeting is probably a waste. But when you prepare, structure it, and run it with purpose—it becomes a powerful tool. Just 30 minutes a week can build an aligned, energized, high-performing team. The ROI is hard to measure—but impossible to miss.
So what did you learn about team meetings? More importantly—what are you going to do with it? How can you apply it in your business?
Take action. Don’t just listen to this—or any—podcast and say, “That’s neat.” Apply it so your company improves.
Grab the five-page action guide to help you implement this strategy at www.thehugeinsider.com.
We also have a weekly newsletter you can sign up for at thehugeinsider.com.We’ve got a Facebook group, and every year we do our big event—The Huge Convention. This year we’re meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20–22, 2025. Get your tickets now at thehugeconvention.com.
And if you’re doing over $1M or close, check out The Huge Mastermind. It’s the fast track to building a Freedom Business—where you go from operator to owner, using the Freedom Operating System.
Thanks again for listening.If you got value from the show, share it! Post a review, tag us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok—wherever you’re active. It means the world.
We’ll see you next time on The Huge Insider Podcast.
 

Episode 15: Meetings That Don't Suck with Michael Kaplan

In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, Michael Kaplan breaks down how team meetings, when done right, can drive culture, mission alignment, communication, and motivation across an entire organization. Instead of boring status updates, great meetings reinforce your company’s purpose, deliver key information, cascade leadership messages, and celebrate success.
You'll walk away with actionable tips on how to plan your meetings with purpose, inject energy into the room (think "Black Betty" as a hype song), and engage your team so they leave energized and informed. If you want your team rowing in the same direction—toward growth and excellence—this episode gives you the blueprint.
Show Notes
Guest
Michael Kaplan
Home service entrepreneur since 2006
Scaled a carpet cleaning business to over 150 employees and eight figures in revenue
Resources Mentioned
Downloadable Action Guide
The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup
Foundations Platform Free Trial
The Huge Mastermind Info Page
Facebook Group
Huge Convention Tickets
August 20–22, 2025, in Nashville, TN 
Transcript
Sid Graef: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, it's Sid Graef here, and the Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals that are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark. And if that's you, you're in the right place. If you're already over a million dollars in revenue, you will get even more out of this show.
So we want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners, people who are running companies that do anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year, and we're bringing you their best insights, all focused on one single topic each month.
And these are real owners. They're not armchair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the ones that are quietly building empires behind the scenes. They're not on social media looking for attention. They're in business actually making things happen.
So last month we focused on hiring A-players, and this month we answered the question, what do you do once you hire the right person? You've got onboarding, pay structure, training, safety, and much more. And today's topic is team meetings and the value of team meetings.
So you're about to hear from Michael Kaplan. Michael Kaplan built a strong eight-figure carpet cleaning business in the Midwest, and he knows about team meetings because they had over 150 employees and they had to get everyone on the same page week after week after week. So he goes into a lot of detail about what a good team meeting needs to be successful and why it's important.
You know, most businesses treat team meetings as an afterthought or skip them altogether and just assume that everybody knows what to do and where they need to be. Last thing before we dive in, we've got a downloadable action guide for you for this episode, and it's available at thehugeinsider.com.
So with that, let's dive into it.
Michael Kaplan: Hello, podcasters. My name's Michael Kaplan. I've been a home service entrepreneur since 2006, and I drew the short straw. So I get to talk to you about team meetings, and actually, I'm a bit of a team meeting nerd, so maybe it's not a super short straw. But most people groan and hate the prospect of having a team meeting because most meetings suck.
And no offense, your meetings probably suck. Mine have too, and I've got a couple of tips here to help you think through how to make your meetings suck less or maybe even accomplish a couple of goals.
So think about the tone of the meeting as much as the content of the meeting. How you deliver the message matters almost as much as the message. And similarly important, think really hard about how much you're trying to accomplish. Less is more, and the risk of overextending is real, and you'll dilute the message if you do overextend.
So you've got the full team there. How are you going to set the tone? I always think upbeat. Get people kind of rocking going into the meeting. Think, you know, Ram Jam, "Black Betty" — that's always been my go-to. Have a clear agenda and don't stuff it too full, but for me, a successful meeting's going to tick all these boxes:
It's going to reinforce culture.
It's going to cascade a message from the leadership team.
It's going to reinforce the mission.
It's going to transfer information.
And it's going to celebrate success.
So let me unpack those real quick. On reinforcing culture: you are not in front of your whole team every day, at least not in this manner. So fill their buckets, remind them their why, why they show up, why they love each other, what's great about the company, what's special. Like it might be feedback from a customer that you're relaying. There are any number of ways to do it, but really think about what you guys stand for and how you can transfer that throughout the meeting.
You want to have a cascading message from the leadership team. I'm sure there are meetings that are happening behind the scenes where you're plotting your evil plan to take over the world, and this is your opportunity to peel back the curtain a little bit and let the minions and the people who aren't in those meetings understand more about what the big initiatives are, where the business is going, and to fire them up about it a little bit. Again, filling their buckets.
So you're also reinforcing the mission. You're doing the vision casting. What's the hill, and how are we going to take it? And how everyone plays a role in taking over the market, in providing better service, or whatever the elements of that mission are.
You're going to do quite literally a transfer of information. You've got an opportunity for the team to learn about the health of the company. You may or may not be a team that shows P&Ls or talks about those big milestones, but you want to pass information on so that the team leaves feeling more in the know about what's going on. And you've got to be sure and celebrate success.
This can take any number of forms. It could be goals and milestones hit. It can be awards won. It can be profits made. It could be big sales landed. Another good way to do it is to play off the culture and the mission-vision-values approach. I love having team members vote on who on the team best exemplifies different core values that you have. If you have your core values published and you're celebrating them throughout the year, I think it's great before the meeting to have people anonymously vote on who's doing a great job at really living each of the values. Then whoever wins, have one of the people who voted for them tell a story about Rick and why Rick exemplified core value ABC. Coming from the team to the team is cultural gold.
And then you can give a gift card and celebrate that success. I think team meetings don't have to be something you trudge through. They should be uplifting. And I think that success is going to feel like you had purposeful pacing, you transferred information, you highlighted and celebrated core values and culture, you celebrated success, you cast your vision, and everyone's walking away—or most people are walking away—with more clarity and a sense of community after the meeting.
So it's not rocket surgery, but it does take some purposeful planning to execute. And you've got to make sure that the fun police are not present. You've got to keep it upbeat, keep it moving, and give people an opportunity to be excitable in spite of the fact that they're sitting through a meeting. Hopefully this helped and you have some awesome meetings moving forward. Keep rocking.
Sid Graef: Okay, so what did you learn about team meetings? What did you learn about the value of team meetings and how to manage one properly to get people on the same page? Because really that's one of the key components of a great team meeting, is to have your team working together as a team to have unity, to have everyone rowing in the same direction.
So what's the next step? First of all, download the action guide. Everything we covered today is in the show notes, but the most important thing is download the free action guide about this episode. We put together a five-page action guide to help you execute this week's strategy and the tactics for better team meetings. And you can grab it at thehugeinsider.com.
And there are more ways for you to help level up your business. This podcast is just one way that we help you to grow, and here's what else you should be plugged into:
Number one is our free newsletter. It's called The Huge Insider. Cool name, right? The Huge Insider. We deliver weekly insights straight to your inbox.
Number two is our Facebook group and community. We've got a vibrant Facebook group where people are helping one another with questions, helping each other to grow.
Then every summer we get together at one big fine party. We call it The Huge Convention. The Huge Convention is the ultimate event for home service business owners like you. This year we're back in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd, and this is the last year that we're going to be in Nashville, at least for a while. Tickets are really dirt cheap right now, so make sure and grab yours before the prices go up. Tickets can be found at thehugeconvention.com, and prices are going up on June 1st.
This event, The Huge Convention, if you've never been, it really is the event where breakthroughs happen. It's the place for networking, for high-level, focused business education—like how to build a better business—and the biggest trade show for our industries in the country.
The next thing I want to tell you about, really the last thing I'm going to tell you about is The Huge Mastermind. I mentioned earlier in the intro that this is the show for people that are striving to break the million-dollar mark in revenue. And if you're already over the million-dollar mark, you get even more from this show.
But here's the thing: The Huge Mastermind is for business owners whose business is already over a million dollars of revenue. You've got more than five employees, and it is the fast track to a freedom business because you're going to learn and implement the Freedom Operating System to get to time and money freedom quickly and predictably.
So that's it for this week's episode. If you find value in this, share it, like it, give us a review, do all that jazz, you know that. And with that, that's it for this week. So don't just listen. Take action. I'm Sid Graef. This is The Huge Insider Podcast, and we want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace. I'll see you next time.
 

Episode 16: Beyond Day One - Onboarding That Builds Loyalty with Liz Trotter

In this episode of the Huge Transformations Podcast, Liz Trotter flips the script on traditional onboarding. Forget stuffing forms into Day One—real onboarding is about connection, clarity, and belonging.
Liz walks us through how onboarding should begin the moment the offer is accepted—not the moment they walk through the door. From sending pre-start welcome kits to scheduling intentional one-on-ones, this is the people-first playbook for retaining great hires from day one.
If you're tired of the revolving door of new hires or want a smoother, more human onboarding system, this episode is your roadmap.
What You’ll Learn:
Why onboarding starts before Day One
The emotional goal of onboarding: connection + clarity
What to send before their first shift to reduce anxiety
How to create a first-day experience that builds loyalty
What kind of conversations to have in week one to build trust
Pro Tip: Onboarding isn’t a checklist—it’s how you bring people into the soul of your business.
Downloadable Action Guide
The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup
Foundations Platform Free Trial
The Huge Mastermind Info Page
Facebook Group
Huge Convention Tickets
August 20–22, 2025, in Nashville, TN
Transcript
Sid Graef: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, Sid Graef here, and The Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals that are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark. And if that's you, you're definitely in the right place. If you're already above a million dollars, you're going to get even more out of the show.
So we want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. We've gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners—people who are running companies that do anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year. We bring you their best insights, all focused on a single topic each month.
These are real business owners. They're the ones actually quietly building empires behind the scenes, so they're in business making things happen. Now, last month we focused on hiring A-players, and this month we answer the question: what do you do once you hire the right person?
The first thing you do is you onboard them. And not just with a list of tasks and forms to sign, but by embedding them into the soul of your company culture. That’s exactly what today’s guest, Liz Trotter, is here to teach us. Liz is a true business rockstar with several seven-figure businesses. She owns them—she's not running the day-to-day.
So anytime Liz speaks, I listen carefully and take notes. In this episode, she’s going to walk us through not only an onboarding checklist but also a deeper onboarding philosophy. Let’s dig in, and remember, there’s a downloadable action guide for this episode at thehugeinsider.com.
Liz Trotter: Hey all, Liz here. I want to talk to you a little bit about onboarding today. The idea behind onboarding might be a little different than what you're used to. Most people think onboarding is just what you do on day one—uniforms, legal forms, job description talks. And sure, you need to do that stuff, but that’s not onboarding for success.
Onboarding should start the minute someone accepts your job offer. You want to begin embedding them into your company culture before they ever walk in the door. That might look like sending them a job description, expectations for behavior, and even a "favorites list" to help you connect on a personal level.
Clarity reduces anxiety, so the more prepared and informed your new hire feels, the better they’ll perform. Let them know how success is measured in the role—even if it’s just a brief overview. You can dive into details later, but start with transparency.
Day one should include a warm welcome. Whether it’s a welcome kit with their name on it, a Slack introduction, or a name up on the board, make sure they feel like they belong. Introduce them to the team, and start giving them context around how their work contributes to your company’s big-picture mission.
Schedule one-on-ones early and often. Reduce the anxiety of the unknown by telling them what to expect in those meetings. And when mistakes happen, focus them on the future. Show them that the best is yet to come.
If you follow this onboarding approach, you won't just gain a new employee—you’ll nurture loyalty, performance, and a sense of purpose right from the start.
Sid Graef: Okay, so what did you learn about onboarding? More importantly, what are you going to do with it? The action guide simplifies this whole process and is ready for you to download at thehugeinsider.com.
As always, subscribe to our free newsletter, The Huge Insider, for weekly insights. Join the Facebook community, and grab your tickets for The Huge Convention, happening August 20th through 22nd in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the last time we’ll be in Nashville for a while, and prices go up on June 1st, so don’t wait. Get them at thehugeconvention.com.
If your business is already doing over a million dollars in revenue and you have more than five employees, check out The Huge Mastermind. It’s the fast track to a freedom business. You’ll learn the Freedom Operating System and finally build a business that works for you—not the other way around.
That’s it for this week. I'm Sid Graef. This is The Huge Insider Podcast. Share it, review it, tell someone about it—and above all, take action. We'll see you next time.
 
 

Episode 14: Safety & Certifications with Sheila Smeltzer

Safety training isn’t box‑checking—it’s profit, people, and peace of mind. Host Sid Graef interviews Sheila Smeltzer (President, A+ Pro Services and former IWCA president) about building a bullet‑proof safety culture for home‑service firms. Sheila explains why OSHA 1910 rules matter, how a single four‑foot drop can cost six‑figure fines, and why ladder incidents alone send 200,000+ workers to the ER every year. Her framework is simple:
Know the law. OSHA 1910 Subpart D (walking‑working surfaces) and Subpart I (PPE) govern most field work.
Use qualified trainers. Hire or outsource a qualified person who can certify employees and document everything.
Systemize it. Flag hazards in your CRM (e.g., ServiceTitan), create written Job Hazard Analyses and Safety Work Plans, and re‑train annually.
Document or it didn’t happen. Clear, signed records slash liability and keep crews—and profits—intact.
The takeaway: a documented, repeatable safety program protects lives and margins better than any marketing hack.
Show Notes
Guest – Sheila Smeltzer, President, A+ Pro Services (window cleaning & exterior maintenance, NC) – https://aplusproservices.com/ A+ Pro Serivces | (910)-754-2263
Host – Sid Graef, Huge Insider Podcast – https://thehugeinsider.com
References & Links Mentioned
OSHA 1910 General Industry Standards – https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910
Subpart D – Walking‑Working Surfaces – https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910SubpartD
Subpart I – Personal Protective Equipment – https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910SubpartI
International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA) 
Power Washers of North America (PWNA)
Expert Safety Services / Safety Advocate App
ServiceTitan field‑service CRM
Call‑in line to share your story – (804) 600‑4843
Resources
The Huge Insider newsletter signup
The Huge Insider podcast downloadable action guide
Foundations platform 1‑month trial
The Huge Mastermind info
Huge Foundations Facebook group
Transcript
SID GRAEF: Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, it’s Sid Graef here. The Huge Insider is the show for home‑service professionals who are striving to break the million‑dollar revenue mark. If that’s you, you’re in the right place, and if you’re already over a million dollars of revenue, congratulations—you’re going to get even more out of this show.
We want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from experienced business builders. That’s why we’ve gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven‑ and eight‑figure business owners—people running companies that do anywhere from $2 million a year to $40 million a year—and we’re bringing you the best insights. It’s all focused on one topic each month, and these are real owners. There are no arm‑chair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the people quietly building empires behind the scenes; they’re not on social media looking for attention—they’re in business making things happen.
Last month we focused on hiring A‑players. You can’t build your dream without people, so you’ve got to have the right people. This month we answer the question, What do you do once you hire the right person?—on‑boarding, pay structure, training, and more. And today’s topic is safety training.
You’re about to hear from Sheila Smeltzer. She owns a thriving window‑cleaning business in North Carolina and has been the president of the IWCA—the International Window Cleaning Association. She goes into a lot of detail today about what safety training needs to be successful.
And it’s funny, because most service businesses treat safety training as an afterthought. They make jokes like, “Just be careful—if you fall, you’re going to be fired before you hit the ground.” Safety’s not a joke; it requires planning, diligence, and repetition so that you can keep your people safe, because there really is no window that needs to be cleaned or Christmas light that needs to be hung that’s worth having someone on your team—or yourself—get badly injured or killed.
Sheila’s going to dive into it. Before we do, we’ve got a downloadable action guide for you, and it’s available at The Huge Insider. As always, I’m thankful that you’re here. Get ready to learn from Sheila Smeltzer—let’s get into it.
SHEILA SMELTZER: Hey everyone, this is Sheila Smeltzer, today’s contributor to the Huge Transformation Podcast, and we are talking about a not‑so‑fun topic today, but something that is absolutely crucial to protecting the liability of your company—safety: safety standards, training, and certifications.
Now, this topic is near and dear to my heart. I have served on the board of directors for the International Window Cleaning Association—I’m the immediate past president—and in the window‑cleaning industry we’re working at height, so safety is one of the primary training objectives of an organization like the IWCA.
If you’re in pressure washing, the same goes for the PWNA—the Power Washers of North America. There’s training you can receive that is specific to that industry. I’m sure in the lighting industry, where you’re dealing with electrical, you have organizations—whether formal or not—that deal specifically with safety training.
So it’s very important, number one, that you tap into the resources you have available. But I want to come to you straight from OSHA 1910, General Industry. OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, so they’re the holy grail; they enforce safety standards across companies like ours. We have to know them and implement systems, procedures, and training so we follow those standards.
Within OSHA 1910 there are two parts most of us need to know: Subpart D (walking‑working surfaces) and Subpart I (personal protective equipment). Subpart D covers ladders, manholes, stairways, scaffolding, and rope‑descent systems; Subpart I covers PPE—eye and face, respiratory, head, foot, electrical, hand protection—and some fall protection.
Let’s zoom in on walking‑working surfaces. The general rule is that if you can fall more than four feet, you’re in a fall zone. That rule applies to all industries. On a six‑foot step‑ladder, you’re not supposed to stand above the fourth rung—that’s your four‑foot fall zone. Ladder safety alone accounts for about 20 percent of fatal and lost‑work‑day injuries, more than 200,000 cases and roughly 345 fatalities a year.
Training must be done by a qualified person—defined by OSHA as someone with a recognized degree, certificate, or extensive knowledge who has proven the ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the work. If nobody inside your company meets that definition, you need to hire or outsource one. Community colleges, trade schools, local builders’ associations—all are good places to find certified instructors.
The second big piece is documentation. If it isn’t documented, it never happened. Should OSHA investigate after an accident and you can’t produce training records, the fines can hit $60‑70 thousand per citation.
Once you have training and documentation handled, the next step is procedure. Build standard operating procedures into every job:
During bidding or site assessment, identify hazards (uneven ground, roof access, power lines, etc.) and tag the job in your CRM—ServiceTitan lets us add a JHA tag.
For every tagged job, create a Safety Work Plan that spells out how hazards will be mitigated. Example: first‑man‑up ladder transfer, spotter in place, stay six feet from the roof edge while cleaning.
Train on the SOPs, measure compliance, and revisit annually.
There are great software platforms—Safety Advocate by Mike Draper is one—to help with videos, checklists, and documentation.
I could go deep on safety—we could do a whole series—but for today I’ll say this: start small, get trained, document everything, and weave safety into daily operations. If you ever have questions, look me up online; I’m everywhere. Everybody be safe, and thanks for listening. Bye‑bye.
SID GRAEF: Wow—okay. So what did you learn today about safety training, and more importantly, what are you going to do with it? Remember to download the action guide; it has all the basics for building a safety program. Lean on your associations; use AI to summarize; then implement so you can keep your people safe and protect yourself from liability.
Here are more ways to level up your business:
Podcasts. Besides this show, check out The Huge Transformation Show for inspirational interviews.
Free newsletter. The Huge Insider Weekly Insights hits your inbox every week.
Facebook group. Join thousands of owners helping owners.
Huge Convention. August 20‑22 in Nashville—tickets at thehugeconvention.com (prices rise May 1).
Huge Mastermind. For $1 million‑plus companies with 5+ employees—details on the Freedom Path at thehugeconvention.com.
Got a big win or a painful lesson? Call 804‑600‑4843 and leave a message; we may feature your story.
Don’t just listen—take action. I’m Sid Graef; this is the Huge Insider Podcast. We want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace, and we’ll see you next time.

Episode 13: A Smart, Scalable Training System for New Hires with Liz Trotter

In this episode of the Huge Insider Podcast, host Sid Graef dives into the critical topic of onboarding and training new employees with insights from expert guest Liz Trotter. Liz breaks down the essential steps in creating a simple, effective training structure that’s built on clarity, consistent feedback, and hands-on experience. From setting clear success benchmarks for each training phase to offering “feed-forward” coaching instead of backward-looking critiques, Liz’s approach keeps your new hires confident, motivated, and ready to excel. These strategies help ensure new employees quickly become competent, enthusiastic contributors to your business, benefiting service-based professionals looking to streamline operations and bolster team performance.
Show Notes
Guest:
Name: Liz Trotter
Background: Nearly 30 years of experience, owns a seven-figure house cleaning business, a training business, and a large real estate portfolio.
Key Topics Covered:
Importance of clear benchmarks (day-by-day success criteria)
Hands-on training to build confidence and competence
Using “feed-forward” instead of focusing on past mistakes
Segmenting training into phases for measurable progress
Assigning a buddy or mentor for new hires
Resources
The Huge Insider newsletter signup
The Huge Insider podcast downloadable action guide
The Foundations platform trial offer
The Huge Mastermind info page
Facebook
The Huge Convention
Live event in Nashville, TN (August 20–22)
Call in with questions or stories: (804) 600-HUGE (804-600-4843)
Transcript
Sid Graef (Host):Welcome back to the Huge Insider Podcast. Hey, my friend, this is Sid Graef here. The Huge Insider is the show for home service professionals who are striving to break the million-dollar revenue mark. If that's you, you're in the right place, and if you're already over a million dollars in revenue, you're gonna get even more out of this show.
So why is this the show? Well, there are a lot of people online and around the world with big opinions and very little experience. There are even some fake gurus out there. We want to help you skip the BS and get real wisdom from real, experienced business builders. So we’ve gathered wisdom and insight directly from seven- and eight-figure business owners—people running companies doing anywhere from 2 million a year to 40 million a year, and some more—and we're bringing you their best insights, distilled and focused on a single topic each month. And these are real owners, no armchair philosophers or fake gurus. These are the ones that are quietly building empires behind the scenes. They're not on social media looking for attention; they’re in business making things happen.
So last month we focused on hiring A-players. The whole month was about hiring. And this month we answer the question: What do you do once you hire the right person? You've got onboarding, pay structure, training, and more. So today we’re diving into training. We have a very special guest contributor, and that is Liz Trotter. Liz has been in business for almost three decades and owns a seven-figure house cleaning business as well as a training business, plus a large real estate portfolio. She’s been in the game for a long time, and she’s one of the best when it comes to onboarding and training your employees. She demystifies and simplifies the training process.
But why is training for a new employee so important? Because the training establishes the foundation of how that person is going to operate and perform in your business, hopefully for a long, long time. So without further ado, let’s dive in. Meet Liz Trotter.
Liz Trotter (Guest):Hey all. Liz here, and I have got some training tips for you. Now, I’m not going to tell you how to train your people—that’s up to you—but what I am going to talk to you about today is how to build some things into your training program so that you have more success, so that your people feel like they are very good at what they do. If people don’t feel like they’re good at what they’re doing, they’re not going to do good work, period.
So you need to make them feel like they are doing good work. You need to also make them feel like they can do it, and that they’re very confident about how to get the job done. Now, these things sound really obvious, I know, but they don’t just happen automatically. And they don’t only happen because the person gets good at what they’re doing and then builds their own confidence. You already know that, right? There are some people who, no matter how well they’re doing, they always knock themselves, they always find something wrong.
Your job is not to do that. Your job as the trainer—or to build a good training program—is to make sure that the training program is built so that it highlights what is going well and diminishes what is not going well. Now, it also has to be really clear how we are going to cut people, because with this idea of focusing heavily on what’s going well and not focusing much at all on what’s not going well, you have to have really clear-cut ways of knowing when it is time to let someone go.
So the first thing is, before you ever begin training, know what training success looks like at every stage of the game. Day one—what does success in training on day one look like? Because the sooner you can cut someone, the more hassle you save yourself and the more hassle you save the person as well. You know, they had better things to do than to just waste their time trying to learn something that you can tell on day one they’re never going to be able to master. All right, so what does day one training success look like? What does day two look like? What does day three look like? And then maybe skip to day five, day 10. But make sure that those are set in advance. What are five things that they have to do well, or that you have to see in evidence?
All right, that’s the first thing. Now, as far as the training: you bring the trainee in, and you’re telling them about what training is going to be. Just like I have said about other things in the past, before you ever begin training, you’ve got work to do because you have to make sure that you are setting them up for success, and you have to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success. So make sure that you know what the KPIs are, like I said, but also make it so that everyone understands clearly: what’s the end goal? What’s the timeframe that we are expecting to be done with training, and what does that look like? How will the person be performing at that point in time? Make sure that that is really clear before you ever start the training process, and you’ll have much better success. People know what they’re shooting for, so they have a lot better chance of hitting that target.
All right. Your training program needs to include a few different things. I think that most people know that you have to have them do some stuff, you have to demonstrate, you have to watch—you have all of these different things that you have to do. But did you know that one of the reasons why you want to get someone doing something with their hands as quickly as possible is because neural pathways are built through hands-on experience? Did you know that? A lot of people don’t. So we, a lot of times, will have that trainee watching for that first day. You are actually hurting your training process by doing that. If you need them to watch, let them work alongside you if at all possible. Maybe they have to watch for safety’s sake or something along those lines for a few minutes, but then get them touching the thing—whatever it is—as soon as possible, and have them doing real-life work, not examples of things, not role-playing.
Now, I’m not saying don’t role-play because I do love me some good role-play, and role-playing is very effective—just not in the very, very first stages. In the very beginning, you need to get their hands in there and let them touch things. All right. You have probably heard about people talking about VAK styles, right? Are you visual, are you an auditory learner, or are you a tactile (kinesthetic) learner? And a lot of times people are thinking that they’re one or the other. Guess what? That whole idea was debunked many, many years ago. What we know now is that people learn best when they have a combination of things happening. So when they’re touching things, when they’re hearing about it, and when they’re seeing it at the same time. So we want the whole thing going on when we’re in training: have them listening to something, watching, and doing.
This is one of the reasons why videos in the very beginning are not your best bet. Now, do I say don’t use videos? Absolutely not. We do love some video. But let’s get some video either before they come in on that first day, to give them a sense of clarity and that feeling of calm, again. But then, as soon as you have them in your space, get them using their hands, and then you can have them watching video again afterward. Then it works really well.
All right. Here are a couple more things to keep in mind with your training. Break your training up into clear phases so that everyone knows exactly what’s happening in a phase—maybe phase one, phase two, phase three, phase four. I don’t know what those phases might be. You can call them whatever you want. It could just be days: day one, this is what you’re going to learn on day one, this is who’s going to train you, this is what we expect from you at the end of day one. This is different than what I said earlier when I said you have your internal checklist of how you determine whether or not this person stays or they go. This is a list that they get, and that everyone sees, that tells the whole company where we are in the process. So we’re in phase one, and we’re learning whatever the thing is—I don’t even know what it is, right? It just depends on what it is—and what is the deliverable at each checkpoint. So phase one checkpoint is end of the day, end of day one at such and such, and what should they have learned at that time? You might have a little mini quiz, but set them up for success by telling them exactly what the answer is before you have them work through the day. Well, that makes sense. You want them to be successful in what they’re doing.
You might remember in the very beginning I said you need to be setting them up for feelings of success. You want them to feel like they can be successful, that they know how to do this, and that they are confident in being able to do the thing. So you have to continually point out what they’re doing well. So tell them what “well” looks like, get them training to do it, and then at the end, ask them, “How are you doing? Show me how you do well,” whatever the “well” is.
All right. Another idea is, you’re going to have them in training, but you might consider giving them a buddy or a mentor—whatever you want to call that person—just somebody that they can chat with about stuff that is maybe not directly related to training but clearly related, so that they can begin to fit into the culture of the business.
All right, here’s a big one that people get wrong a lot. Remember how I said focus on the good and make sure that you’re focusing on not focusing on what’s bad? That’s not to say that you shouldn’t give immediate feedback, but what you want to do is you want to couch your feedback in the form of feed-forward, but you want to do it fast and often. The faster and more frequent you can give feed-forward information—so “Next time, let’s try it this way,” “Next time, you’re gonna have more success if you do this thing next time”—everything is in the future. People feel like they have a lot of power in the future, and they don’t feel like they have a lot of power in the past, and they don’t build confidence in the past. You build confidence in the future. Also, the faster you can give feed-forward, the shorter you have that feedback loop going on, the faster your learning speed will be. So don’t hold back on the information. Give as much as you can up front.
All right, my last big tip here is make sure that you are tracking their progress the entire time. Make sure that everything has a measurement and that they can see their own measurement as they’re going. And then, bottom line is, enjoy that person. Okay, that’s it for training. Talk to y’all soon. Bye.
Sid Graef (Host):Okay, my friend, that was Liz. What did you learn about training today, and more importantly, what are you going to do with that? Because I love the way Liz broke it down—it doesn’t have to be complicated. It needs to be simple, it needs to be actionable, and you need to have your people do so that they can learn and become confident, competent employees and a big contributor to your team.
So here’s the question, as always: What are you going to do with it? The strategy is simple, but it’s powerful. So here’s your next step—take action. Everything we covered today is in the show notes, but the most important thing is download the action guide. We put together a four-page action guide for this episode to help you execute this week’s strategy. Grab it at thehugeinsider.com.
Here are a few more ways to level up your business now. This podcast is just one way that we help you grow. See, we are committed to helping our blue-collar brothers and sisters build a better business—a business that gives you time and financial freedom—because we want you to win and prosper in the marketplace. So we publish this free podcast. We also publish a free newsletter every week of the same name: The Huge Insider. We have a Facebook group and community that is for The Huge Insider that’s vibrant, and it’s a place where people help one another to answer questions, get answers, get solutions—the works. All of that can be found at thehugeinsider.com.
And every summer we host our big event: The Huge Convention. This is the ultimate event for home service business owners, and this year we’re back in Nashville, Tennessee, August 20th through 22nd. The tickets are still dirt-cheap right now, so grab yours at thehugeconvention.com before the prices go up on May 1st. This event is where real breakthroughs happen. It’s the place for networking, for world-class education, and the biggest trade show in the home services industry—specifically for most of the exterior cleaning categories of home service, power washing, soft washing, window cleaning, and also holiday lighting installation, and a whole lot more.
So the next thing I wanna tell you about is The Huge Mastermind. That’s for if your business is over a million dollars in revenue and you’ve got five or more employees already. This is the fast track to a freedom business. What do I mean by freedom business? We teach you, and you will implement, the Freedom Operating System to get to time and money freedom predictably and quickly. It’s just following a step-by-step proven formula to install an operating system in your business that allows you to be the owner, not the operator. So check out The Huge Mastermind by going to thehugeconvention.com. Scroll down, you’ll see Mastermind. That’s the best way to get to it.
And the last thing before we go—thank you so much for listening. Once again, if you enjoy the show, if you gain value from it, please like and share. Post us a review. And then, if you have a topic that you really want to hear about, that you really want to know more about, give us a call and leave a message at (804) 600-HUGE. That’s (804) 600-4843. Leave your question. Leave a topic. If you have a win and a victory that you would like to share, do so. If you have had a failure in business that led to a bigger success, we want to hear your story so we can feature you on an upcoming episode.
So that’s it for this week. Don’t just listen—take action. I’m Sid Graef. This is the Huge Insider Podcast, and we want to help you win and prosper in the marketplace. We’ll see you next time.