The Highest ROI Marketing Channel Most Contractors Get Wrong

Most contractors spend thousands of dollars every month generating leads, but what happens after those leads become customers? This week in the VIP Room, Chris Yano, Chad Peterman, and Aaron Gaynor sit down with Zac Garside, Founder and President of Send It Email Marketing, to discuss one of the most overlooked growth opportunities in home services: staying connected with your existing customer base. The group breaks down email marketing, customer retention, CRM strategy, lead generation, offer creation, automation, and why so many contractors focus on acquiring new customers while ignoring the opportunities sitting inside their own database. Zac also shares practical examples from some of the largest home services companies in the country, including how contractors are using email to generate service calls, maintenance appointments, sales opportunities, and additional revenue without increasing their advertising spend. Whether you're running a small local shop or a multi-million-dollar operation, this episode is packed with actionable marketing and business insights you can apply immediately. Topics discussed: • Why email marketing is still one of the highest ROI channels in home services • The biggest mistakes contractors make with customer communication • Creating offers that actually generate demand • Using email to reduce dependence on paid leads • Sales estimates, maintenance, and customer retention strategies • Automation opportunities most companies miss • How AI is changing marketing and content creation • Why branding and customer relationships matter more than ever • The importance of staying top-of-mind with past customers • Marketing lessons from some of the industry's fastest-growing companies FREE RESOURCE FOR TO THE POINT LISTENERS Want to put these strategies into action? Zac Garside and the team at Send It Email Marketing created a free swipe file featuring 20 proven email templates contractors can use to generate more demand, stay top of mind with customers, and drive additional revenue. withsendit.com/top-secret 00:00 - Intro 02:15 - Meet Zac Garside & Send It Email Marketing 05:30 - Why Most Contractors Ignore Their Best Lead Source 09:45 - The Biggest Email Marketing Mistakes Contractors Make 14:20 - How To Get Customers To Open Your Emails 18:40 - Why Branding Matters More Than Subject Lines 22:15 - The Difference Between Google Leads and Email Leads 26:50 - Creating Offers That Actually Generate Demand 31:10 - The Customer Database Most Contractors Ignore 35:45 - Retention vs Lead Generation 40:20 - Marketing Automation Opportunities You're Missing 44:30 - AI, Marketing, and the Future of Customer Communication 49:10 - How Top Contractors Stay Top of Mind 53:20 - Zac's Best Marketing Advice for Contractors 56:15 - Free Email Marketing Swipe File for Listeners 57:30 - Final Thoughts Thank you to our Sponsors! Basic Capital: https://basiccapital.com/tothepoint Avoca.ai: https://avoca.ai/r/tothepoint Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/ Sales Ask: https://www.salesask.com/ Chiirp: https://chiirp.com/ #podcast #business #marketing