The Battle Plan Marketing Podcast

This is the last episode in our deep dive series on Million Dollar Contracting — and we’re finishing where real growth actually happens: People. In this final conversation, Kim Hopkins breaks down how to: Attract quality employees (without begging) Hire the right people — not just available bodies Build a team that thinks like owners Retain great employees for the long haul Create customer success...

Welcome back to our Million Dollar Contracting series with author and contractor Kim Hopkins. In this episode, we dive into the chapter that separates struggling businesses from seven-figure operators: PROFIT . Kim breaks down: Why “breaking even” is a trap How most contractors underprice without even knowing it The 10% rule for long-term success (most skip this and pay the price) How to build a p...

We’re back with another no-BS episode in our Million Dollar Contracting book serie s—and this one hits where it hurts: getting paid. Author and 40+ year Operator Kim Hopkins returns in Episode 171 to break down: How he went from losing $80K at a time to collecting every penny The common collection mistakes that bleed your bottom line What to do when a GC, management company, or homeowner stalls (...

In this power-packed episode, Tom Howard (VP at ServiceTitan + serial service business acquirer) lays out how he and his team took three underperforming HVAC companies and flipped them into a $25M machine—fast. You’ll learn: How to spot opportunity in a dumpster fire of a business What radical transparency and equity can do for your team How AI is outperforming human CSRs—and cutting costs The rea...

Think great work is enough to grow your service business? Think again. In this episode, we sit down with Kim Hopkins, author of Million Dollar Contractor , to break down the three skills every local service pro must master to scale— people skills, technical skills, and admin systems. Kim built a multi-million dollar electrical business from the trunk of a sedan—and he’s sharing the no-fluff strate...

We continue the “Million Dollar Contracting” book review series with special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & Owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA, in business for over four decades. In this episode Kim we cover Sales, chapter 8 of his book. Kim shared the lessons he learned on what customer types are ideal and which ones to avoid and the signals each one gives off te...

We continue the “Million Dollar Contracting” book review series with special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & Owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA. In this episode Kim shares two of the most important lessons he’s learned in four decades of running his electrical services company. We also touched on a few key points of Chapter 7 of his book, this chapter is on Interne...

We continue the “Million Dollar Contracting” book review series with special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA. Nearly the entire episode was devoted to the essential ingredients of a high-converting website for contractors. From fundamental structure, to essential conversion elements, and how pretty it should look are all discussed...

In this interview we explore Chapter 5 on Promotions of this “Million Dollar Contracting” book review series with special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA. 40+ years of promotional wisdom was shared once again in this episode. What channels wasted money and where he found his best returns through the decades. Kim talked about growi...

Today we provide Chapter 4 of this “Million Dollar Contracting” book review series with special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA. Promotion is the subject of chapter 4 and we had a fun time discussing many of the methods Kim has successfully used over the last 40+ years. More of the good stuff here. Enjoy! Buy The Book: https://www...

Today we provide Chapter 3 of this “Million Dollar Contracting” book review series with special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA. Marketing is the subject of Chapter 3 and Kim shared his four decades of experience highlighting the need for a mixture of slow and fast marketing and why budgeting for marketing is crucial to long term...

Today we review chapter 2 of the book "Million Dollar Contracting" with its author and special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & Owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA. From this chapter, titled “Setting Up Your Contracting Company Properly” we discussed seemingly simple but very important things like naming your company for future use, domain names, profession...

Today we start a special book review series with special guest and author, Kim Hopkins, Founder & Owner of The Electric Connection out of Los Angeles CA. Kim started his electrical services company in 1979 and today, nearly 45 years later, it thrives and operates with minimal involvement from him. Kim decided at this point in his life he’d like to share the knowledge he acquired over all of th...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Jakob Kirschner, Peak Advisory Fractional CFO out of Woodland Park CO. When it all comes down to it, we’re all essentially in the profits business, so knowing our numbers and consulting with those who specialize in them best is a smart move. Learn what a Fractional CFO is and how they’re an essential ingredient to make your service business more profit...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Osh Sawa, of Mile High Plumbing, Electrical, & Air out of the greater Denver area. Discover how Osh, his wife, and his best friend John started plumbing and grew it in just a few short years to expand into HVAC and now electrical with a good sized team. They developed referral relationships within the community to create a constant stream of incomi...

Today, we have a special guest on the podcast: Rebecca Ramirez of Rambo121 Moving & Storage Company in the greater Phoenix AZ area. Five years ago, Becca and her husband Oscar quit their jobs, bought a moving truck, and started on their path to owning and operating a successful moving and storage company. See how they sought out relationships with referral partners to keep a steady stream of b...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Dominic Arsenault with Domination Plumbing out of Leominster MA with locations in 3 cities. In just five short years Dominic has started and grown his plumbing & HVAC company from zero to 28 employees and expanded into three cities. You can quickly see why he’s been so successful and his growth so rapid, because Dominic is all about taking care of...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Don Hilderbrand, from PlumbSmart out of Asheville NC. Asheville NC and dozens of cities and towns across the southeastern U.S. were hit hard or completely devastated by Hurricane Helene. In this discussion, Don talks about how unprepared most of us are for such events and how you can take action to help ready yourself, your business, and your community...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Erik Bon Fleur, MBA, owner-operator of Andy Frattin Plumbing in Ormond Beach Florida. After spending over a decade in the corporate world, Erik caught the entrepreneurial bug and went on a path to buy and then run a service business. We explore his path, why he chose a plumbing company, and where he took it from there. He grew the company fast by imple...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Brett Neal, CPA, and Co-owner of High Velocity Accounting, who specializes in working with home service companies. Running a service business is hard, and getting the numbers right is the most important ingredient to success. Working harder when the numbers are off just accelerates the challenges and stress. Accounting and bookkeeping are usually not t...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Ian Schotanus, the “H.R. Guy”, and co-owner of The Big Picture Consulting. Is your company compliant with payroll and Human Resources? If you have employees, you are subject to payroll, safety, and other H.R. compliance laws. Today’s episode discusses many of the legal requirements of operating your Home Service company and some simple solutions to cov...

Today we have two special guests on the podcast, Angie Snow and  Michelle Myers, Co-Founders of The CSR Academy. If you ever wanted to know how to grow your business fast without spending more money on ads, this is the episode for you. If you ever wanted to know how small investments in your team can pay massive dividends for years, this episode is for you. If your booking rate is below 70 percent...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Chris Vozzo, Owner & GM of Poseidon Plumbing in Mebane NC. Chris is a superstar when it comes to branding his business and turning customers into raving fans. We had a great discussion about how he and his team go above and beyond to make customers know and feel that his team cares about them and their property. Chris shares the little things he an...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Erica Leonor, the Director of Business Development with GoodLeap.com, a consumer financing company specializing in helping home service companies fund more customer projects. If you’re looking for fast, frictionless, in-home approval of financing for your customers, this episode is for you. GoodLeap has served over one million homeowners to get the fin...

Today we have a special guest on the podcast, Lynn Wise, Founder of Contractor In Charge, who specializes in helping home service companies use A.I. and trained professionals to capture, qualify, and book more leads. Contractor In Charge also helps you keep the books and get control of your numbers with their own in-house accountants. Lynn was co-owner of a plumbing and HVAC service company and si...