Brandon Leslie, owner of Steel City Plumbers, discusses how his company is disrupting the plumbing market in Pittsburgh by providing exceptional customer service and creating a positive work culture for his technicians. They focus on interacting with customers, providing options, and going above and beyond to exceed expectations. The company values work-life balance and offers perks like a lounge area for technicians and home cleaning services for their wives. Brandon shares insights on their marketing strategy, including using Google Local Service Ads and Google Ads to target homeowners, and leveraging social media for branding and recruitment. He also highlights the importance of coaching and implementing systems to grow the business. He emphasizes that marketing and coaching are the two key areas to invest in for business growth. Brandon also discusses the value of branding and being present in the community. He shares his journey from working in fast food to becoming a plumber and starting his own company. Brandon provides advice for aspiring plumbers and business owners, highlighting the importance of being coachable and open to new ideas.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Changing the Plumbing Market
02:02
Providing Exceptional Customer Service
03:20
Creating a Positive Work Culture
07:39
24/7 Availability and Digital Tools
10:07
Marketing Strategy: Targeting Homeowners
14:26
Giving Customers Options
21:05
The Importance of Coaching and Systems
24:49
The Importance of Marketing and Coaching
27:36
Building a Strong Brand and Community Presence
30:51
From Fast Food to Plumbing: Brandon's Journey
44:40
Advice for Aspiring Plumbers and Business Owners
Keywords
plumbing, customer service, work culture, marketing, Google Local Service Ads, Google Ads, social media, coaching, systems, plumbing, marketing, coaching, branding, business growth, community involvement, journey, advice
Brandon Leslie, owner of Steel City Plumbers, discusses how his company is disrupting the plumbing market in Pittsburgh by providing exceptional customer service and creating a positive work culture for his technicians. They focus on interacting with customers, providing options, and going above and beyond to exceed expectations. The company values work-life balance and offers perks like a lounge area for technicians and home cleaning services for their wives. Brandon shares insights on their marketing strategy, including using Google Local Service Ads and Google Ads to target homeowners, and leveraging social media for branding and recruitment. He also highlights the importance of coaching and implementing systems to grow the business. He emphasizes that marketing and coaching are the two key areas to invest in for business growth. Brandon also discusses the value of branding and being present in the community. He shares his journey from working in fast food to becoming a plumber and starting his own company. Brandon provides advice for aspiring plumbers and business owners, highlighting the importance of being coachable and open to new ideas.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Changing the Plumbing Market
02:02
Providing Exceptional Customer Service
03:20
Creating a Positive Work Culture
07:39
24/7 Availability and Digital Tools
10:07
Marketing Strategy: Targeting Homeowners
14:26
Giving Customers Options
21:05
The Importance of Coaching and Systems
24:49
The Importance of Marketing and Coaching
27:36
Building a Strong Brand and Community Presence
30:51
From Fast Food to Plumbing: Brandon's Journey
44:40
Advice for Aspiring Plumbers and Business Owners
Keywords
plumbing, customer service, work culture, marketing, Google Local Service Ads, Google Ads, social media, coaching, systems, plumbing, marketing, coaching, branding, business growth, community involvement, journey, advice
Enmanuel Tejada (00:02.276)
So now it's recording. I'll do the intro.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:09.7)
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Digital Toolbox Podcast. My name is Emmanuel Tahara. I am the host at this podcast. Today we have a special guest. We have Brandon Leslie over at Steel City Plumbers in Pennsylvania. So Brandon, go ahead and introduce yourself.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (00:27.343)
Hi, I'm Brennan Leslie. I'm the owner of Still City Plumbers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And we're just out here killing it, trying to change the market in our city.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:38.948)
Haha, let's go. And what do you mean by that? Changing the marketing in your city.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (00:43.503)
because like the plumbing, you know, Pittsburgh, I guess is, it's a small town with, I guess you would say big city appeal. And a lot of the companies like there's major hitters that have been in the market for years and years and years. And I guess they're used to doing things and treating their customer in a certain way. And we're trying to change that and disrupt the whole market and bring that service back to the customer and actually bring.
And for our technicians, bring a good atmosphere and a good place for them to work where there's no limits. There's no limits on what they can make. And it's more than just a nine to five, getting a truck and do the plumbing and go home. So we're big on family life and just bridging that gap between working and playing, I guess you would say.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:42.948)
No, for sure man. And so what does that mean? That first part that you mentioned that the current plumbers are the people that have been doing the plumbing for a lot of the customers that you work with in the past. What was their service like? They just didn't care about the client. They just wanted to get the job done and get out of there, but you guys bring more personality into it. Is that what it is?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (02:02.736)
Right, but when we go in, I guess, into a customer's home, we basically try to interact with the customer and basically get on their level and provide them options that allow them to choose our best way to serve them and go above and beyond. That's like one of our key goals is to do the best for the customer and always go above and beyond.
And I say that in the way of say it's an older lady and she needs something moved in the house. Take that two seconds and move that box for her or whatever just to make them, because we need this just as much as they need us, we need them as well.
Enmanuel Tejada (02:50.948)
100 % 100 % yeah and I definitely know what you mean. In fact before I went full time with my marketing agency I used to work in IT and a lot of the guys they were just average right. If their job was to do one two and three they would do one two and three and if you asked them to do four that would be a problem they're like no man that's you know I'm not doing that but you know me I'm like I'm trying to go I'm trying to go above and beyond so and that sounds what like you guys are doing too and can you tell me a little bit more about the culture because you said that's a big thing to write family life.
making sure the guys feel like they have a passion for plumbing and not just, come in, in by eight, out by four. How do you accomplish that?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (03:29.969)
Well, basically, we work eight to four, no nights and weekends, no on calls. We're setting up a lounge area for our guys to have somewhere in between calls to go. We just try to bring a different presence. So we offer a lot of bonuses and spits for our guys to just get ahead.
And even like for example, one of our SPFs that we're testing is actually home cleaning for their wives. Like once a month, we'll have a cleaning company come in and take care of their house so they can take their wife out on a date. Because you know, like in our industry, we get so deep into work and we forget about kids and life and family. And that's very important.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:25.668)
That's extremely important. Yeah, that's extremely important. I love the fact that you're taking initiative on that. I've actually never heard that before. Having the cleaning company go and clean the house of the employees so they can go out on a date. Man, that will make somebody stay at that company for a long time. That's pretty cool. And how does that work? Then do you guys, like how many of you guys are there? How many employees do you guys have?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (04:52.818)
Right now we have three techs and two office staffs.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:57.412)
into office apps and you're a tech as well or are you more hands off now?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (05:01.586)
Well, I'm still currently in the field for now. For now, so.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:05.444)
For now, you got plans. And what do you think you'll be hands off? If ever.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (05:12.914)
I don't know, man. I'll be honest with you. Last year, my goal was to be out of the field. Yeah, last year in January, my goal was to be out of the field in June by my birthday, June 5th. And I didn't get that goal, but it's looking pretty close that June 5th this year might happen.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:25.188)
Hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:33.26)
Man, let's go. And so what would work and life look like for you if you weren't in the field? What would you be focusing your energy on?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (05:44.946)
I would say if I wasn't in the field, I'll be more or less focusing my time on helping my techs to grow their skills and focus on the 50 other tasks in the business as far as more on the marketing side. I guess you would say guerrilla marketing side and just taking this company to new heights.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:58.596)
Hahaha.
Enmanuel Tejada (06:07.14)
Let's go, man. That's what it's all about. I love hearing that. And probably, I mean, I don't know if you guys are doing a commercial tour, Jazz Residential. What are you guys doing right now?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (06:15.763)
Right now, we focus on residential service, because we found in our...
Enmanuel Tejada (06:20.644)
Do you guys do any kind of work at all?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (06:23.667)
I'll say here and there I might dabble in something, but I'm very, very selective on my clients. Very selective.
Enmanuel Tejada (06:27.044)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (06:31.46)
Really? Gotcha. And I was going to say maybe that's even one thing that you may even focus more on. Maybe the scaling up on the commercial side if you have more time. But how come you're so stringent with the clients that you take on? Is that for a specific reason?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (06:47.955)
Because we like we strive to do same -day service So if you know like commercial usually the jobs are drawn out multiple days We want to be a we were striving to be available to be able to get that call and somebody's heading in that job in 10 15 minutes You know and so like taking on those projects ties at the time I don't that's one one of our our kind of key things we do. We don't I don't want my time tied up
I want to be available to catch the call right now. So that's the way, that's just the best way to be profitable in this industry. Putting money in the bank tomorrow. You know what I'm saying? Doing work today, putting money in the bank tomorrow. Not dealing with a client that wants to pay 30, 60, 90 day terms. And I'm essentially fronting your job and waiting to get a payout.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:39.428)
Man, that is so true. And is that kind of what allows you guys to, to, like for example, a call comes in and you guys are so quick to dispatch that the person doesn't even have time to call anybody else, another plumber. You guys are already on your way.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (07:57.524)
Right, because pretty much essentially, we always answer our phones. There's always somebody to answer the phone 24 hours a day, even though we don't work 24 hours a day, but somebody's always answering that phone. Yes, we got a call.
Enmanuel Tejada (08:09.572)
Really? Even like at night? Even... Can you get into that? Like how do you guys fulfill on that demand of picking up calls in the middle of the night? Do you guys have like virtual assistants or something?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (08:21.013)
we have a third party answering service that they're connected right into our CRM and they'll take the call and book it right on our schedule. So say for example, like last night somebody called Sunday night, like our phones in the office are shut off. It goes straight to them. So somebody called last night at eight o 'clock and by nine o 'clock I got an email, such and such client booked for tomorrow between
eight in one. So then we just go in dispatch a technician to that job first thing in the morning and we head out.
Enmanuel Tejada (08:59.78)
Wow, as opposed to if you wouldn't have had that answering service, they probably would have called a couple other plumbers and had one of them had the same service for overnight phone answers, they would have gotten that job. Man, that's spiffy right there. And what CRM do you guys use, by the way?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (09:07.285)
Exactly.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (09:20.021)
I'm sorry, sir, we use field posts. Field posts.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:23.204)
Field host? Field post, And you guys have been using that for a while, like how does that compare to other ones?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (09:29.941)
We've been on Fieldpost for I'll say maybe like three or four months.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:35.588)
Also, it's kind of relatively new, you would say, for you guys.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (09:37.749)
right to us and we use, I use a couple of different other ones in the past, but they're pretty decent. Like it has a lot of features and techniques and to make your life easier. Like even with our system, we have integrated, like all our techs have tablets, everything's digital. We don't do no pen and paper. So you can actually call a client via tablet when you're on your way to the job or at the job. In our dispatch,
there's a button you hit, you hit on your way, it sends an automatic text to the client with a picture of your technician and letting you know like, hey, your technician Brandon's on the way. So they know, they know, okay, let me get ready, he's gonna be here soon. So that's like kinda like what that service piece I was telling you, like, cause you know, you know, when you're, when you're waiting for somebody to come into your house, you're like all day and you're antsy, like, when is he coming? When is he coming? I don't wanna miss the call, I don't wanna miss the door. You know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (10:18.116)
Hahaha.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (10:36.79)
Just making it easier on them.
Enmanuel Tejada (10:39.348)
Yeah, man, that's awesome and it's very customer centric and that that says a lot to the customers right when they it's kind of like that Amazon experience, right? It's like so streamlined that to them. It's like holy shit. I mean this company's this company's got this company's organized And so Brandon you as the CEO of Steel City plumbers, what does a day in your life look like?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (11:03.991)
I wake up, check my tablet, see what's on the board, dispatch my text to wherever I need to go, dispatch myself if I need to, check my marketing, check my bank accounts, and just go, man. I just go. When I wake up, I literally go. I drop my kids off in the morning, I'm headed to a job, or I'm looking up something until I get home. Some nights, I, you know.
Enmanuel Tejada (11:23.556)
Okay.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (11:32.471)
I don't get home, I don't get home too late, but I can't sleep anyway, so I just go.
Enmanuel Tejada (11:39.684)
You just go, man, that's awesome. And how does that, when you say that you check your tablet, what do you check? Are you checking your emails? Are you checking the CRM? Are you checking to see what happened, pretty much?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (11:51.063)
Yeah, email CRM, basically checking my numbers from the previous day, checking if my guys sold options, like gave them, because we required them to give at least three options on every job, checking to see if they gave three options, if they were good options, seeing if they converted, if they didn't convert, or if they didn't convert, why they didn't convert.
Enmanuel Tejada (12:15.748)
How do you track that though? How do you track the different options?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (12:18.615)
In our CRM, I can go back into any job. Basically, in our CRM, it stores all the data. So I can see when they deliver the option, I can click on it and see what estimates they gave, what three options they gave the client. If the client chose an option, what option they chose. I can see when they paid. I can see...
I can see all the pictures, because I require my guys to take millions of pictures. Like literally, you can put a million pictures under a job and it wouldn't even matter to me. The more information we have, the more we can track. So if they took the pictures, I get instant notification if they got a Google review, if they asked for a review. I can check everything basically, as if I was actually on that job.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:16.58)
Wow. And on that same topic, when you ask your technicians to give the customer different options, do you find that sometimes the customer gets confused? Because they don't really, they probably don't know much about plumbing to be able to decide what's best.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (13:33.688)
I wouldn't say, I don't think they get confused, but it's just one of those things. When you walk into somebody's home, you never know their budget. Because I'ma just be honest with you, nobody wants to spend money on plumbing. You know what I mean? Nobody. It's just one of those things. Because it's one of those things where you can't see and you don't notice it until it's broken. You know what I mean? And then when it's broken, it's bad. Most times it's bad. It's not like a...
Enmanuel Tejada (13:57.828)
Easy.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (14:02.36)
you know, like a simple little thing. So give them an option. That just puts the ball in their court to be able to choose, one, what their budget allows and what they feel comfortable getting done.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:18.788)
I see. Instead of you charging, yeah, I see what you mean now because if you gave them one option, they're going to be like, what is this guy trying to screw me or this guy's trying to rip me off.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (14:21.944)
It's, yeah. Right.
Exactly, because when you give somebody one option, you're basically putting that line in the sand, like, hey, you want me to fix this, this is what you got to do. But there's always more than one way to, I guess, skin a cat that makes sense. You know what I mean? Like, in a sense, like, so like, it's just more of a softer approach and like you're letting them choose. Like, yeah, sometimes you get a client and they're like, well, well, what do you recommend? And me, I always say, hey, look,
If I wasn't here, honestly, this is your best option. This option might be a little bit better or it might be an upgraded option, but this might be your fix. And then the first option would probably be like your band -aid, like, hey, you really don't have the budget to really fix this, but this might get you by a little longer. You know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (15:17.988)
I see what you mean. Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense now in my head, giving them multiple options. And you put it in a great way too. That's a great analogy. Like you don't see the pipes. So it's like until it breaks, you don't see it. So when it does break, it's like, fuck, like, damn, now I gotta pay for this. And how does that work actually? Like if somebody's renting.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (15:35.384)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (15:41.988)
Well, no, I guess when you guys receive calls, I guess if and it's for a home, I guess the landlord is usually the one that calls you guys, right? Not the person that's renting or how does that work?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (15:50.842)
Well, generally we try to market to homeowners, but we do get calls from like tenants and we'll go out and look at the jobs. But before we do any work, we always let them know, hey, we need to get your landlord's approval to work on their property.
Enmanuel Tejada (15:57.22)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:07.332)
So even if they're even if the renter themselves was like, you know, you're here just fix it you can't touch it
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (16:12.57)
No, what we would like to, we would basically take that five, 10 minutes and talk to the landlord and educate them on the situation and send them digitally. We can send them the estimate or agreement for us to take, to do work and they can sign it digitally. So.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:29.156)
And then they would pay or the tenant would pay?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (16:33.53)
depending on whatever arrangements they make with their tenants. Sometimes I get, I've took calls where I had tenants that were adamant on paying and then vice versa. So.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:47.652)
Gotcha. Gotcha. Very interesting. Very interesting. And then let's talk a little bit about you said on your day you check what the guys did. You check the CRM, you check your emails. We talked about those. You said you also check your marketing and that's one thing I want to touch on because of course this is a podcast that's kind of leaning toward digital marketing as well for home services. And I know you have a killer setup. So let's talk about that. So can you kind of break down how you guys bring in leads? Cause I would imagine you're not cold calling people anymore.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (17:17.499)
No.
Enmanuel Tejada (17:17.892)
yourself or door knocking.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (17:20.379)
You know, so basically we're, we, like I said before, we market to homeowners and I have a whole marketing team that's not in house and they basically run ads for customers in our area and they either click on our ads, go to our website or actually my search plumber near me. And then we try to stay up on that in that top three or on that mat pack. And basically that's what we push for. We push for that.
Enmanuel Tejada (17:45.86)
Yeah, yeah.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (17:50.331)
heavily because it's very important. It's very important.
Enmanuel Tejada (17:53.892)
Dude, yeah, and then where are you guys running ads? Are you guys doing Facebook? Are you guys doing Google ads? Are you guys on social media ads?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (18:01.307)
We're definitely on social media, but most of our we found that Google LSAs and Google ads are our best revenue bringers and more Facebook and Instagram. That's more like a branding play, like just to get our name, get our name out there or like to target plumbers, the potential plumbers that come work for us. So that's how we. Right, right. Because generally, yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:15.492)
Hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:23.428)
because they are the ones on social media. Probably. Yeah, because like, yeah, and that's the thing. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (18:29.244)
Yeah, because generally somebody's not going to go on social media, but like, I need a plumber near me. They're going to go to Google. You know, like, like.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:33.54)
That was very good.
Exactly. Yeah, that's the one thing that I like especially a lot of the older plumbers that that know that they should have they should be doing some marketing The their first thing is like all I gotta create a Facebook. I gotta create an Instagram account I gotta start marketing there, but I'm like who goes on Instagram and types in Plumber near me like you just said like nobody does that same thing with people that argued like that they're hardcore Angie's list or hardcore home advisor and I'm like
I you know, yes put some allocate some money there but allocate the majority into something like local service ads or Google ads or Facebook ads because even on Angie's list people don't go on Angie's list. Well, some people do that some people go there directly but it's a small a much smaller pool than people that like see a pipe broken and they go on Google. shit, the pipe is busted. What do I do or something like that? Yeah, you target a bigger audience and most plumbers think that.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (19:21.307)
Right.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (19:27.164)
Right, right.
Enmanuel Tejada (19:31.908)
just because you have Angie's List, just because you have HomeAdvisor, those are the only options and they're not. Plus the downside too is that they'll take somebody will like a, a tenant will fill out a form on Angie's List and then they sell that same information to 10 people.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (19:46.524)
Right? I know. Look, that's why I've never signed up for Andy's List. They've been trying to get me for eight years, bro. And then so many reps have called me. I don't even know. You know how they just find your number. Really, like so many reps have called me and I never understood that. I never understood. So you're going to sell this one lead to 10 people and whoever's the fastest and you can close the lead gets it. That's not fair to me. I'd rather put my, I'd rather put my, I guess put my flyer out there.
Enmanuel Tejada (20:09.06)
Exactly.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (20:15.485)
and hope that somebody clicks on it versus, you know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (20:17.988)
Exactly exactly. Yeah, instead of knowing guaranteed that you're gonna sell that shit to multiple people plus Plus it might even ruin the reputation of the brand a little bit of like the plumber or whoever it is Because if you're that 10th person that's calling them, they're pissed off. Like why the fuck are you calling me? I I you call ten people called me somebody already fixed it Like why are you still calling me and who knows they might leave a bad review. They might talk shit about the brand who knows? You know how people are?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (20:33.533)
Right.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (20:45.724)
Right.
Enmanuel Tejada (20:46.372)
Well, it's just a recipe for disaster, I would say. But man, and so how do you keep track of this? Because you're very educated by the way Brandon on this. Like you're the first person to tell me the word map pack. Usually when I talk to people, they're like, what is that? Like, what are you trying to say? But you mentioned it. So how do you kind of educate yourself on that?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (21:05.757)
I'll just be honest with you, man. It's just coaching, man. Getting the right people in your corner to teach you how to grow your business. Because us as plumbers, these are things like I never had anybody to teach me how to run a business, you know what I mean? And coaching, I'll say I've been done coaching for the last year. This is going into my second year of actually having a legit coach versus me just having people that I consider a mentor.
You know what I mean? Having a legit coach and actually learning from them and learning from their mistakes and actually implementing it and just doing.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:36.452)
Hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:45.06)
and running those plays. Yeah. And you know what? Let's talk about that Brandon too, right? Because of course you're going to be going to the Dominican Republic. I believe it's coming up in the week and, and how did you encounter your coach? How did you find him? And is that a coach specifically for plumbers or what type of coaches?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (22:04.35)
Yes, my coach, I'm a part of MDP. It's called Million Dollar Plumbers and Million Dollar Plumber, but they're just they're transitioning to Million Dollar Pro. So actually it started out as just just for plumbers, but now they're branching off into different into the, I guess, service industry as a whole. But through their systems, they have mapped out systems and just going through the different modules and meeting with my coach once or twice a month.
Enmanuel Tejada (22:14.98)
Mmm.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (22:34.27)
It just brought me to new levels and being open to listening and saying, hey, you need to do this at this point and not just say, nah, I don't want to do that. Actually listening, it was able to really transform my business and bring us to like where we're at currently.
Enmanuel Tejada (22:45.188)
Thanks.
Enmanuel Tejada (22:51.14)
And is that what type of call is that? Is that a one on one call? Is that a group call?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (22:55.839)
We have a mix of both actually. I have one -on -one calls and then we have group calls in a small environment, maybe between five and 10 people at max. So this is a whole group of people that you can, people that think like you and are trying to have the same goal. So you're in a comfortable place, especially in a group setting, you're in a comfortable place where you can actually say, hey, this is how I'm feeling today.
and they can understand and know the struggles that you go through owning a business or running a business.
Enmanuel Tejada (23:32.548)
that's super interesting and then wow and so how does it work then like is it the same coach every single call with you or is it like a team of coaches that you get access to?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (23:42.847)
Well, I personally have one coach, but there's so many meetings. Like there's literally, I'll say literally in the system, there's like, like there's so many different breakdowns and meetings. Like basically we had, I had like my one -on -one meeting. I have a meeting with all the, I guess companies that are associated directly to my coach. And then we have a group meeting and that's with all the coaches in the system.
and their people, and then they have like a, they have weekly trainings where anybody can go to. That's involved in the system.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:19.748)
Not sure.
And then what are some examples of the systems that they kind of have in place that you've implemented into your business?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (24:30.144)
Like for example, how to deal with your customers, how to pricing, basically marketing and different resources in that.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:43.876)
Got so it's not like they manage your social media. It's not like they manage your ads. They kind of show you the importance of those things. And if you could do it yourself or you can outsource this to somebody.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (24:49.567)
No.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (24:55.36)
Right, basically they basically give you the playbook and you gotta implement it with your people, basically.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:03.556)
gotcha, gotcha. And you said you've been doing that for two years. So let me ask you this question, because a lot of people, especially in the black community, Hispanic community, are super fucking scared of spending money on a coach or on self -improvement. If you could go back to the beginning when you first started your company, would you have hired your coach right away if you knew about the benefits that it would bring?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (25:27.169)
Yes, the two things, if I could go back in the time, I'll say eight years, I'll go back eight years, close to eight years. Well, I'll say six years. If I can go back six years, the two things that I would spend money on is marketing and coaching. Nothing else matters in this industry, because if you're not bringing in customers and you don't know what to do with the customer, you're not gonna know what to do with the money. You're not gonna have any money, you know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (25:43.396)
Foo.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:57.956)
Can you repeat that last part you said if you have the customers, you won't be able to do what? What was that?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (26:01.729)
I was saying, if I can go back, the two things that I would spend money on is marketing and coaching. Because if you don't market to customers and potential plumbers, you won't have any money. You won't make any money. If you don't have any jobs to do, you're not going to make any money. And if you don't know how to handle either one of those, you're still not going to convert. You can spend money on marketing if you don't know how to.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:20.516)
Yeah.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (26:31.553)
true decline or schedule the appointment, then you're not gonna convert. So it'll just be a waste of money. So you need those two things. Those two things are key. I'll say those are the two things in my business that really brought us to the next level and not being scared to spend money. I guess like you said, when we come from certain areas, when we get a little bit of money, we wanna hold on to it. But no, money's a tool.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:59.812)
Yeah.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (27:01.665)
Spend it. Spend it because that marketing could bring, you know, can bring three to four dollars for that one dollar you spent.
Enmanuel Tejada (27:11.396)
Literally. Yeah, literally. And then when we add bigger numbers, that same formula is still true. You put in $1 ,000, you're going to get $3 ,000 out or $4 ,000 out. That same multiple is still there. So that's a great analogy. Man, so that's super valuable there. And is that the same group of people that you're going to be going on vacation with? You guys are going to be doing an in -person event?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (27:36.098)
Yes, we have an event in the Dominican Republic.
Enmanuel Tejada (27:40.228)
shit, my boy Brandon. Cash for my boy Brandon in the Medicare Republic. Man, let's go. So Brandon, tell me, man, tell me, tell me. So now that you're gonna have more time, like, what, and I don't know why I asked you the question earlier, but like now that you're gonna have more time, because you're gonna be not so much in the field doing service calls by yourself, you're gonna maybe be with a couple of your technicians, having them improve, what else do you think you would do? Like, are you thinking of getting into real estate?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (27:41.986)
Hehehehe.
international traveler.
Enmanuel Tejada (28:09.38)
or you're just going to double down on your business, bring in more employees, more trucks, more clients, maybe go commercial with it. What do you have in mind?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (28:16.066)
Well, first of all, I'll tell you, I'm already in the real estate. I had a couple of rentals. Real estate was my first love, man. Real estate's my first love. But it's just at the time when I started getting into real estate, plumbing made me more money. And I know real estate's more or less, it's a long -term gain. So I'll always be in the real estate, but basically I would just,
Enmanuel Tejada (28:20.804)
Aw, shit.
Enmanuel Tejada (28:31.844)
Mmm.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (28:46.307)
I'm planning on pushing my marketing to be honest with you. I want to push my marketing and just really, really, really show up in my community and try to be here for my city. That's what I'll be spending most of my time on.
Enmanuel Tejada (29:00.196)
man, I can already see it, man. You pull up, you have a, there's like a community event. You guys pull up with the trucks, you guys will have the shirt on, you know, doing things there. And that's the beauty, man. And one last thing, and then we'll change topic on it is like the beauty about marketing is like, and especially advertising is that you only pay for that client once and then you get all their information. You can retarget them with not more ads, but you can do email campaigns with coupons. And you, once you win their trust,
You're their plumber now whenever they have an issue, they're going to call you. They're not going to go on Google and type in plumber near me. They're going to call brand there. They're going to call steel plumbers. And that's awesome. So are you guys doing anything like that to kind of stay in front of your customers? Like do you guys give discounts or coupons, anything like that?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (29:46.852)
Right now we are doing mailers and giving out cards and coupons. And like I said, we do a lot of retargeting with Facebook. That's how we basically, because I feel in this time and age, Facebook's like the Yellow Pages. You know what I mean? Like how Yellow Pages used to be. Like everybody would go to the Yellow Pages when they wanted to find something. It's just like, I guess I heard this quote before. You need at least four to five touches just to get a client. You know what I mean? Just...
Enmanuel Tejada (29:55.428)
No.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:15.14)
And I've heard the exact same thing as well.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (30:18.116)
So like in our industry, branding is key. Branding, good branding, attach yourself to your city and just being present, you know what I mean? Like being part of mine, like just being in somebody's sight line sometimes could really help you for them to pick you over somebody else.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:36.356)
100 % 100 % 100 % agree with all of that man. And let's talk a little bit about Brandon in high school. Like, like, who was Brandon Leslie in high school? Like how did you become the man that you are today?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (30:51.364)
Man, I was, I don't know, man, I was a, I was that smart, quiet kid, I guess. Like I knew everybody, I was cool with everybody, but I really kept to myself. I was always in my mind, always thinking.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:05.508)
Mmm.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (31:07.365)
So, and then even my parents, they never, nobody ever knew what I was thinking or what was going on with me. I remember one time I got in trouble and my parents didn't see my, like they were like wondering like where my grades were at. And then I pulled it out and showed them and like, dang, he's doing all right. Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:25.284)
Man, that's funny. So it's like, you got in trouble, but your grades were still good that they couldn't really get mad at you. We're like, yeah.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (31:34.725)
Yeah, like, yeah, I guess I don't remember exactly what happened, but they were like, well, what are you doing in school? We don't know nothing's going on. And I just pulled it out like here, I got B, A's and B's like.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:44.9)
Hahaha
Let's go. And then what about after high school? Did you ever go to college or did you go to straight school? What was your take after you graduated?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (31:56.517)
All right, so after high school, I went to, the day after my graduation, I started school at, I guess, a local college for filmmaking for a summer program. So like they were gonna set me into their filmmaking program if I came to the summer classes. After completion of the summer classes, I was more into like girls and having fun.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:09.316)
Mmm.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (32:24.71)
And my advisor told me, hey, I think you need to go to community college. There's some issues you have with like your grammar and spelling that you need to work on before you come to college. So it kind of like discouraged me in a way. But so I ended up taking a year off after that. And then I decided I wanted to work on cars because I grew up in that Fast and the Furious area.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:53.092)
I'm sorry.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (32:53.534)
So I went to a trade school for autobody and end up the dorms we lived in was a culinary school. So I ended up working at the culinary school, going to trade school, going to trade school during the day and then working the culinary school at night. Finished that program, came back home, couldn't get a job in autobody. Well, I caught one shop.
They said, only way you're gonna get a position here is if one of us dies and I'm not going anywhere. Yeah. So imagine a 21 year old kid, you're talking about to a 21 year old kid is like, dang. So then from there, I got a job at Arby's as a manager. Cause I was like, all right, well, if I'm gonna get a job, I'm gonna be a manager. I don't care. I'm not just gonna be an average employee. I worked there for eight years.
Enmanuel Tejada (33:23.396)
What the fuck?
Enmanuel Tejada (33:39.364)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (33:48.996)
Eight? Eight years?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (33:48.998)
We're real big on customer service. Yeah, I was there for almost eight years.
And then towards the end of my time there, I think I just got so bored, man. I was so bitter. You know how you go to Fast Food Now and everybody's so mean and upset and you're like, dang, man, I don't deserve this. I'm trying to spend my buddy with you. I got to that point, and it went from before where people would just come in just to be there, just to talk to me, you know what I mean? To that point, and I said, and I told myself, once I got to that point, if I ever got...
Enmanuel Tejada (34:11.716)
Yeah!
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (34:24.679)
that miserable and bitter, I would leave. So I ended up trying to get in school for HVAC and went there, went to community college for that, took a class, took plumbing as an elective and fell in love with it, man. I just fell in love with getting water from A to B and the whole history of plumbing and the aqueducts and how basically,
Enmanuel Tejada (34:34.148)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (34:52.58)
Yeah.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (34:53.735)
plumbing took us out of the dark ages. You know what I mean? Just by moving waste from one point to the next. And from there, I just knew, once I started plumbing, I knew I wanted to own a plumbing company.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:08.804)
wow, so you actually wanted to get into HVAC. And as we know plumbing is a part of HVAC, so you fell in love with the plumbing aspect of HVAC. Wow.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (35:09.638)
Yeah. Yeah.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (35:16.455)
Right, right.
And then I just went full board plumbing and got in a furniture, worked under a major plumbing company in the city. And then when they didn't want to give me a raise, once I got my license, they didn't want to give me a raise. Well, they gave me a raise, $1 .50 raise or $1 .25 raise after already being underpaid versus my counterparts. And I'd say, well,
Enmanuel Tejada (35:39.78)
Hahaha
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (35:49.928)
I've been doing a lot of sat work and I'm making more money in three days between Friday, Saturday and Sunday than I make all week. So I just left. I put my two weeks in and by the way, they made me stay for two weeks too. Yeah, they made me stay. He's like, I just knew like my boss at the time, he had the reputation for somebody putting her two weeks notice in and just firing him that day on the spot. So I was hoping that happened to me because I had like four jobs to do.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:05.124)
We'll be back after that.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (36:19.304)
And he made me say, well, I'm going to his I think you're making a bad decision. So I'm gonna make you stay for two weeks. And that happened on a Friday. I went to work on a Monday and I was like, man, I can't stay here. But I was at the job. There is looking around like, yo, I got work to do, man, and just left like that. At the end of that day, I left and never came back.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:19.524)
Hahaha
Enmanuel Tejada (36:25.284)
Aw, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:40.484)
Holy shit, so he wasn't gonna have you do any work, he was just gonna make you stay in the warehouse just for no reason?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (36:44.968)
No, he wanted to make me stay on the job site I was on for two weeks, because I guess in his mind, I was making a bad decision, leaving, putting in my two weeks and leaving. So he thought that he was going to give me two weeks to reconsider, reconsider my decision. But he didn't know that I already was making money on my own before I left.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:09.956)
Wow. And so how old were you when you went into a training school for being for HVAC?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (37:18.473)
Man, I think I might've been like 23, 23, 24.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:24.26)
2324.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (37:26.409)
No, I had to be a little younger. I was probably about 22.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:29.764)
okay. But I thought you said you did eight years at Orbeez though.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (37:34.121)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was, because I think I was maybe like 20. Yeah, it was, I think I was like maybe 20. I had to be like 22. When I was at Arby's, I got, I was maybe 20, 20, between 21 and 22 when I got out of school. Because when I, the first time I went to school, trade school, it was only like a, it was only like an 18 month program. So it was a small window of time. Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:59.78)
That was for auto body, right? That was the auto body one? okay. Gotcha. And so at what age did you start your own plumbing company? Like how old were you at that point when you had your license already and all that?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (38:13.225)
Okay, I started, cause when I started in school for plumbing, I said I'll have my master's license when I was 25. I mean, when I was 35. 35, and I ended up starting my company two years before that. So I wasn't even a master when I started my plumbing.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:31.652)
Is that a normal thing or no?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (38:34.122)
Well, no, well, generally I would say no, because most master plumbers, once you become, once you take the test and become a master plumber, then you generally try to start your own company. But there, but in Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, you can start a plumbing company and not, and have a master on record. Like basically you hire a master plumber and he works for your company. And that's what I did.
Enmanuel Tejada (39:01.188)
Gotcha. Gotcha. And dude, one thing I gotta say too, Brandon, is like, you went to trade school three times. Like, that's cool to me. Like, what made you know that you wanted to do some sort of trade? Because you went back three times. The first two you weren't right about, but the third one you were, or you felt comfortable with.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (39:23.946)
Right, well, basically, ever since I was younger, I always been like, I have a technical mind, like I can take stuff apart and put it back together. So like the technical aspect of it was really nothing for me, you know what I mean? Like I always understood, okay, if I can, if I remember how this was put together, I can probably take it apart and put it back together. So, and then as far as plumbing school, like when I went back that last school, when I went back in the...
Like when I was in HVAC, when I was in for HVAC, it was only maybe, I only took maybe like three or four classes and then I jumped into the, just straight into the plumbing. Like I left. So I might've, right, yeah, I didn't complete it. Yeah, I didn't complete it. Like I ended up leaving. I ended up leaving because you can get an apprenticeship in plumbing. Like basically it was like, for the plumbing side of it, you can get in an apprenticeship program and go to school. So it's like, basically if you go to community college for plumbing,
Enmanuel Tejada (40:00.766)
so you didn't complete it, you just dropped it.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (40:19.627)
then they'll take a year off of your school. They'll take a year off of your apprenticeship. And of course, I didn't qualify for that. So I technically had to do it due to actual four years.
Enmanuel Tejada (40:31.652)
shit, to get your license? Wow. And how difficult was that? Because here in New Jersey, to get a plumbing license, it's kind of really, really fucking tough. You gotta go to school, you have to work specific hours. So that means that after work, you have to go to school, or before work, you have to go to school. How difficult is it in PA?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (40:33.93)
Yes.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (40:50.635)
It's pretty much the same. You go to school two nights a week and then you work during the day. But you got to accumulate like 5 ,600 something hours to be eligible to take the test. But my mindset, like when I took my journeyman's test, my mindset is like, this is my mindset. You study for four years to pass one test. You know what I mean? Like you can pass it. Four years to pass one test.
and I passed it. And I took that, yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:22.084)
on the first try? How difficult was it?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (41:26.988)
It wasn't that hard, man. Like you literally, you study for four years to pass one test. You know what I mean? Like just, just, just repetitive. Like I'll say, that's one thing my wife, like we made flashcards and just went over questions after questions after questions, went back to all my tests and just kept going over questions and questions and questions. So, and it was pretty much the same with the master's test. It's like you study for four years and you worked under another master's program for two years to take one test. That was my mindset. That was the way.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:34.084)
I mean...
Enmanuel Tejada (41:46.34)
Man, that is awesome.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (41:57.068)
I got through it, like to basically, to, you know what I mean, to like pretty much psych myself in and like, yo, you got this, bro. Four years, one test. You know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (42:07.236)
Man, that is freaking awesome. And how does that test look, by the way? Is it a written test? Do they test you with physical things too when you take that big final exam?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (42:19.084)
Basically, I think it's like maybe 150 multiple choice questions. Then you have maybe like four, four to, it's been so many years, like, but you have like maybe a four or five plumbing drawings you got to create and then like charts you have to do.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:37.06)
so it isn't just multiple choice. There is also some aspects that you have to do charts or you have to do. What about physical? Is there no physical tubing done or anything like that?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (42:39.659)
Right.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (42:43.371)
Right, like you have to do.
No, no, no.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:48.388)
Okay. Man, that's cool.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (42:50.349)
But even with those, even with those, like basically how I got past it was I basically said, okay, because it's all broken down by points. Like the 100 point test might be worth like, let's say 60 points. Like you probably gotta get a hundred, for a simple math, like you got 100 points, the written part might be worth 60 points. And then each of the smaller little charts or drawings might be worth five to 10 points a piece. So I said, so when I got into it, I said, all right, long as I get,
70 to 80 on the main test and then I just basically broke down what their charts and drawings are. I'm good at this part of it, I'm good at that part of it, I'm good at this part of it, I'm not so good at this part of it so I won't spend so much time on that part of it and just got it done, you know.
Enmanuel Tejada (43:36.516)
Just got it done, dude. I love it, bro. You pushed through it. And I know it was that easy too, right? Cause that's four years to get one license. But without that one license, you couldn't start the business though, right?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (43:48.077)
Right, right. Well, I couldn't start the business and run it the way I wanted to run it because I'll basically be at the mercy of, kind of at the mercy of that master of commerce. So if I hired a master of commerce to work for my company, then he would have some sort of control. And if we fell out, he could just, I'm pulling my license from your company. You know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (43:50.66)
Cheers!
Enmanuel Tejada (44:09.412)
Mmmmm
Literally damn man, that's that's That's very interesting and Brandon I know we're coming up on our time because I want to be respectful of your time here But what are some if you were to start over as a plumber? Let's say that you're let's say that you were 21 and you knew that you wanted to be a plumber You're already in school. You're already an apprentice. What would you recommend for somebody to speed up the process of? Launching themselves to start their business right away as soon as they get their license
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (44:40.142)
I would say branding. Branding and marketing are like the two biggest things you can do in your company. Like coming up with a very, very, very good name, not like Joe's Plumbing or something simple. Coming up with a really good name, good logo is the key. And I would say start off slow. Don't push to grow super fast. Like start off slow, it's better to grow.
It's better to build, I guess you would say if you're building a pyramid, it would be better to build wide and tall versus trying to build tall because you're gonna, you know what I mean, you risk so many setbacks throughout your journey when you could have built slower and wider and got there a little slower, but your company would be a lot better in the end.
Enmanuel Tejada (45:36.324)
say to a plumber that's now 30 years old he has one or two trucks maybe two or three guys and he's looking to scale what would you recommend to that person?
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (45:50.735)
I would say, I would say, get out your feelings, be willing to listen. This is a new day and age. Marketing's different from when we were younger. You know what I mean? Like, you gotta bring good people around you and listen to what they're telling you. We don't know it all. Like, this new AI generation is crazy, bro. Like, just be coachable. Be willing to at least listen, you know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (46:14.348)
Thank you.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (46:21.326)
Listen to new ideas.
Enmanuel Tejada (46:21.716)
Be willing to just listen yeah, man, that's actually funny that you mentioned that I was listening to I don't know you feel about him But Andrew Tate I was listening to one of his videos this morning. He said people are broke because of one of three reasons they're either too lazy and They don't want to put in the work or they're too Stupid and they don't want to listen to people that are telling them to do specific things to get the outcome like they're They just They don't listen
or they're too arrogant. So it's funny that you mentioned that they're like, you know, be coachable, be able to, to receive advice and not take it personally. Right. It's not that somebody doesn't like you, it's just that if something doesn't work, it doesn't work. That's all. But man, that was some great advice, Brandon. And thank you so much for coming on, man. Do you have any closing thoughts for the audience? How can they get in contact with you? All those things.
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (47:13.68)
You can reach me on our website at stillcityplumbers .com. You can email me at Brandon at stillcityplumbers .com. You can actually, that's Facebook, Still City Plumbers. We out there.
Enmanuel Tejada (47:28.004)
Haha, brand new.
Let's go, let's go and that's proof right there that branding is important. You're the same on all platforms You got the uniform on the trucks. You guys have a beautiful truck by the way that really caught my attention You see that shit going on the street. I'm like, yeah, that's my plumber right there But yeah, man Brandon, thank you so much for coming on man. I really appreciate your time audience I hope you guys enjoyed this episode Reach out to Brandon if you guys need anything from him or if you guys live in that area number one plumbing number one plumber in Pittsburgh
Steel City Plumbers Brandon Leslie (47:45.423)
Heheheheh
Enmanuel Tejada (48:01.156)
That's Brandon and stay blessed guys. Peace.