Tommy Mello Shares His $1 Billion Marketing Strategy

Offer your best first then work down if you must

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Marketing Strategies you’ll learn today on The Sales Podcast

  • Big fan of traditional marketing

  • Wizard of Ads

  • “Google is God”

    • PPC

    • Google Guarantee (LSA)

    • Google My Business

    • Straight-up organic (He does $2.6 million/mo from here)

  • Still does ValPak, direct mail, etc

  • Differentiate

  • Use a local number for the neighborhood

  • Get a 1,000% ROI from ValPak

  • He doesn’t want to be the “Wal-Mart” and the “Quality Brand”

    • Right

    • Fast

    • Cheap

  • Have good books

    • P&L

  • Direct and fixed costs

  • Add in your profit

  • If you can’t get to 15% margins you’re failing

If you can’t get to 15% margins you’re failing.”

  • He doesn’t sell on price

  • Effective sales training is fundamental

  • He went to his distributor and got something nobody had

  • Start with “best” and go down to “better” but never “good”

  • Sell what you’d sell to your mom

  • Used his sales and marketing skills to get great people

  • 8 Steps to a 5-Star Customer Program

  • Go over and above

What else can we do for you?”

  • Have a price book

  • Look at all your numbers

    • Call center conversions

    • Usually, your average ticket is too low

    • Look at your conversion rate

    • What are your acquisition costs

    • You need to be doing 15-18% marketing when you’re entering a new market and 10% on average

  • He has manuals for everything

  • Ask great questions

  • Sell like a doctor

  • Do a needs analysis

  • Your prospects must like and trust you

  • Be known as the best quality

  • Has his core values

  • Already in 14 states

  • He doubled his marketing during the pandemic

  • Take the people with you

  • He loves taking care of his people

  • He trains his people like crazy and he retains his people like crazy

  • He drives a used Nissan Titan with a salvaged title

  • He lives in an apartment he owns

  • He drinks a beer with his guys

  • Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t

  • He’s building leaders

  • Had a landscaping company

  • His friend recruited him over to the garage door business

  • Started it in 2007 not knowing what they were doing

  • Got into debt

  • Mom and step-dad moved from Michigan to help him

  • He learned about CRMs and learning

  • Leaders are readers

  • He likes to be a master/rifle shot so he expands horizontally

  • He focuses on after-market repairs and upgrades

  • He grows organically

  • He’s a platform company so he is worth 12x even when he buys at 4x earnings

  • He’d show up to his master’s program greasy

  • He built it all up from the ground up

  • He did it all himself

  • He didn’t get out of the field completely until 2014/2015

It’s so fun to hire amazing people.”

  • The dream needs to become a vision.

  • The vision needs to become a dream.

  • The dream needs to become a plan.

  • Get organized.

  • Hire around your weaknesses.

  • The KPIs in the CRM is the scoreboard

  • It’s fun

  • Teach it to your people

  • He pays $1,500 to his people for new hire referrals

  • He has tracking numbers for his staff to get commissions

  • He has a recruiting process to hire for good fits

  • Personality assessments

  • Ride alongs

  • Three-week apprenticeship is to weed them out

  • He’s always recruiting while eating out, getting his hair cut, etc.

  • His average employee is 23 and wants to be cared for

  • Find out what your people want and help them get it

  • He buys $2,400 worth of tools for each of his guys

  • Systems, Procedures, Checks, and Balances

  • He runs warranty calls first

  • 1% of customers will always be mad. They’re victims and it’s sad. “Creative justification.”

  • You don’t “need” a new car, etc. You “want” it.

  • Compound interest. Save your money and grow smartly.

  • Buy appreciating assets.

  • SACRIFICE!

  • A lot of people don’t have what it takes. Discipline. Accountability. Work ethic.

  • Order the book, “Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

  • Accept responsibility for everything in your life

  • Most businesses fail

  • “The Augusta Law”

  • He has a team dedicated to the trolls

  • He understands that mistakes are made and he listens and lets them vent and offers a solution

  • A 1-star review costs money so address it

  • Consumers have a lot of power now

Links Mentioned In The Sales Podcast