Dear Reader,
Alan asked a room full of managers one question. What’s the biggest obstacle to hitting your numbers this year?
Ten out of ten said the same thing. Recruiting.
Then he asked a second question. How many minutes per week are you spending on it?
They tallied it up. Less than 1% of their time. On the thing they all agreed was the single biggest obstacle to their success.
Alan looked at them and said, “This is the definition of madness.”
That story is the backbone of this episode. Contractors asked their questions again — this time about talent, leadership, and delegation — and Alan and I answered them. Tom Duncan asked how Alan scouted for talent and kept people believing. Julian Waters asked how you find five techs who carry your intensity into the field when you’re the one who wants it most.
The answer to both questions starts in the same place. Activity.
If you’re under $3 million, you are your best recruiter.
You don’t have the money to hire someone good at it. You don’t have the budget to outbid the big companies on Indeed or pay-per-click job ads. But you have time. And time is the one resource nobody can outspend you on.
Pull into Home Depot. See a plumbing truck in the parking lot. Wait for the guy. Have a conversation. You’re not stealing him — you’re sowing a seed so that when he’s ready to leave, you’re his first call.
Alan calls it farming. You sow seeds today to reap the crop tomorrow.
And then there’s the training side. Julian’s question was really about motivation — how do you get techs to perform at a $1,600 average when they’re sitting at $700?
Alan’s answer was direct: you don’t motivate people who aren’t already motivated. You recruit people with the right wiring, and then you train them relentlessly. Not once a week. Not at a seminar. Every single day. Training is not an event. It’s a system.
I said something in this episode that I need the owners to hear.
When companies come to Service Excellence, and it doesn’t work, it’s almost never because the system is broken. It’s because they treated training like something they attend rather than something they operate.
They show up once a week, go back to the shop, eat donuts, and wonder why nothing changed. Alan compared it to going to Weight Watchers, getting on the scale, and then eating donuts for a week. You’re not going to lose weight that way. And you’re not going to grow a company that way either.
The companies that grow with us (the ones that scale like gangbusters) are the ones that take the system we give them and run it internally four days a week. We provide the how. They provide the daily discipline. That’s the formula.
Here’s the thing I want to leave you with. If recruiting is your biggest problem and you’re spending less than 1% of your time on it, you don’t have a recruiting problem. You have a commitment problem. And that one’s free to fix.
If you’re ready to fix it and you want a system that actually works when you work it, that’s exactly where we come in.
How it works
You can start anywhere:
- Try a tool or training with no commitment – Resources
- Join a live session and see how it feels
- Book a call to talk with a coach and get matched with a Growth Partner
No big pitch. No pressure. A clear next step based on your current needs.
In This Episode, You'll Learn:
- Why managers who say recruiting is their biggest obstacle are spending less than 1% of their time on it
- How Alan treated recruiting like farming — sowing seeds today for the crop tomorrow
- Why under $3 million, you are your best recruiter and your best marketer
- How to find techs who will carry your intensity into the field — and why motivation can’t be installed
- Why training fails at most companies — and the one thing the companies that grow all have in common
- The Weight Watchers analogy that explains why most training investments don’t pay off
- Why Todd and Alan are building a recruiting and training class — and how to get in
Episode Chapters & Summary
1. Less Than 1% of Your Time on the Biggest Problem
Alan tells the story that frames the episode. A room full of managers. Ten out of ten say recruiting is their biggest obstacle. Then they tally up how much time they spend on it. Less than 1%. Alan's response: this is the definition of madness. Recruiting isn't a part-time activity. It's a daily system. And if nobody in your company owns it full-time, the owner has to.
Key Takeaways:
- Every manager said recruiting was the biggest obstacle — none were spending time on it
- Alan's rule: someone has to own recruiting full-time, even if that someone is you
- Recruiting is farming — sow seeds today, reap the crop tomorrow
2. Under $3 Million, You Are Your Best Recruiter
Todd gets specific about what small companies face. Under $3 million, you don't have the budget to hire a recruiter or outbid big companies on job ads. The only resource you have is time. Pull into Home Depot. Wait by the truck. Have a conversation. Make phone calls while you're driving. Set aside an hour a day. That activity compounds — and eventually you're big enough to do it differently.
Key Takeaways:
- Under $3 million, you can't win at recruiting by spending money
- Time is the one resource nobody can outspend you on
- Activity compounds — every conversation is a seed planted
- 85% of the market is still under $5 million — this applies to most owners listening
3. You Can't Install Batteries Into People
Julian asks how you find five techs who carry your intensity. Alan's answer: you don't motivate the unmotivated. You recruit people with the right wiring — people who want to improve, who are receptive to training, who invest in themselves. If someone walks in and says “you don't need to train me, I'm a rock star,” the answer is go be a rock star somewhere else.
Key Takeaways:
- Motivation can't be installed — recruit for it
- Look for people who are receptive to training and willing to invest in themselves
- A $300 average ticket is fine on day one — as long as there's consistent improvement
- “You don't need to train me” is a disqualifier, not a selling point
4. Training Is Not an Event. It's a System.
Todd names the pattern he sees. Companies join a program, attend once a week, go back to the shop, do nothing for four days, and say it doesn't work. Then they blame the program. Alan compares it to Weight Watchers — get on the scale, eat donuts all week, wonder why nothing changed. The companies that grow are the ones that take the system and run it daily. Service Excellence provides the how. The company provides the discipline.
Key Takeaways:
- Training once a week without daily reinforcement is a waste of money
- The best companies run the system four days a week internally
- Only about 20% of seminar attendees implement what they learn
- If it didn't work, the first question is: how often did you actually do it?
5. The Building Is on Fire
Alan reframes urgency. If your building was on fire, would you put it out tomorrow? No. Not having a tech to put in a truck when a customer needs service is the building on fire. Treat it that way. Recruit at Home Depot. Recruit at restaurants. Talk to the server who gives great service — she might be your next CSR. The point is activity, everywhere, all the time.
Key Takeaways:
- An empty truck is the building on fire — treat recruiting with that urgency
- Recruit everywhere: Home Depot, restaurants, every conversation is an opportunity
- You're not stealing people — you're planting seeds for when they're ready to move
- Activity leads to results. Period.
6. Let's Build the Class
Todd closes with an announcement. Enough questions have come in about recruiting and training that he and Alan are going to build a class together. Ten people say yes, they set the date. The episode ends where it started: recruiting and training aren't events. They're daily systems. And the companies that treat them that way are the ones that grow.
Key Takeaways:
- Todd and Alan are building a recruiting and training class based on listener demand
- Ten committed people and they set the date
- The close is a direct invitation: if you're ready to do the work, we believe in you
- Recruiting and training, daily. That's the system.
