ServiceOne Air Conditioning & Plumbing
Building a business that puts the customers first
Entrusting the marketing experts
When Billy Gouty realized his pilot dreams were no longer on course for take-off, he took the HVAC skills he learned while working on military aircraft carriers and set his sights, not in the air, but on business ownership.
After learning the HVAC business ropes from a mentor in Georgia, Billy and his wife set out to make a name for themselves in Orlando, Florida. Starting from scratch, Billy built his business into a team of three and started to look at how to get customers.
Developing the business and using his skills to benefit his community was a breeze, but Billy quickly learned that the marketing tactics he had learned– direct mail, postcards, and word of mouth–would not quite cut it anymore. After doing more research, he realized digital marketing was the only way he was going to get his name and business in front of the right people. “I was trying to handle all the marketing, I was trying to handle being the installation manager….and it’s just more hours on the phone when I’m not here. I was trying to handle everything.”
Billy decided to put his trust in a marketing agency to help with his business growth goals.
‘Get out and push the car together’
Billy’s introduction into the marketing agency world wasn’t a pleasant one. The first two agencies he partnered with failed to understand his goals and provide honest answers or data when he asked where his money was going. The third one provided good initial results, but they didn’t have the manpower or resources to get Billy where he wanted to go. “We started to see great progress, but they were just limited in resources of where they could take us to the next level.”
And then the economy took a dramatic downturn.
On a quiet Wednesday afternoon, Billy had to sit his team down and let them know that come Friday, they weren’t going to get a paycheck. It was a conversation he couldn’t believe he was having, and despite being told to file for bankruptcy, he knew he couldn’t continue to let himself or his team down. “I had these two guys working for me, and one comes up and says to me, ‘You know, boss, it’s going to be okay. Sometimes we just all gotta get out and push the car together.’ And I’ll never forget that.”
Through sheer determination and sacrifice, Billy was able to keep his doors open. “I kept reminding myself that the pendulum only swings one way for so long before it goes back in the other direction. And we did get through it.” As his business slowly recovered, Billy continued his search for the right marketing partner.
Exceeding expectations
After searching for the right partner, Billy narrowed it down to three contenders and quickly realized he wanted Scorpion in his growth corner. “To find partners that actually want to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish, and you can see that they’re helping you to do that, is huge. And I’ve never experienced that ever in the 20 years I’ve been running this company.”
Now, ServiceOne is steadily growing towards their goals, including putting their customers first and giving them a great experience. “I think the people that we bring in are the difference that separates us from everybody else. The person you talk to on the phone, the managers, the teams…what’s the expectation of the customer? We don’t just wanna meet it. We want to exceed it.”
With their partnership with Scorpion, Billy is proud to continue to serve his local community. “We’re seeing an increase in leads year over year, the cost per lead is going down, Google rankings are going up, it’s been a really great experience.”
But for Billy, past experiences are not meant to be forgotten and he’s grateful he and his company came out stronger for it. “We’ve been in those situations; we’ve overcome those situations. They’re really far in the rearview mirror today, but you never forget those lessons that you’ve learned, especially the hard ones.” Now, he has a marketing partnership with an agency that cares about his goals, provides transparency for his team in measurable metrics, and shares his core values of customers first. “We’re both pulling the rope in the same direction.”
“When we saw what Scorpion could bring to the table, the measurable metrics, the dashboard, and their willingness to meet with us as often as we needed to meet, we were in sync.”Billy Gouty
Owner, ServiceOne Air Conditioning & Plumbing
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