Does AI Kill Profits?

Rob Castelao from Good Guy Plumbing joined me on the latest ShareWillow Podcast episode. 

He set up the business eight years ago and has now scaled to a team of 14-people all operating in the same 5-6 mile radius in the South Bay of LA. Rob’s built an impressive business that’s integrated itself into the local community and racked up over 1,000 five-star reviews. 

But what caught my attention wasn't his growth numbers or his killer branding (though both are impressive)...

It was his contrarian take on AI and where the industry is heading that made me realize we might all be thinking about this wrong.

While everyone's rushing to implement chatbots, automated scheduling, and AI-powered everything, Rob sees a massive opportunity going the other direction.

"Everyone's getting really numb to AI and the lack of human interaction,” he says. When customers phone a business like Good Guy Plumbing it’s often because they have a problem. “People want to hear a human at the other end of the phone so they know someone actually cares,” adds Rob. 

Think about your own experience as a consumer, when your water heater dies at 8 PM on a Sunday, do you want to navigate through an AI chatbot? Or do you want to talk to a real human who understands your stress and can actually help?

Rob's betting big that customers are getting fatigued by all the automation. The more digital everything becomes, the more valuable human connection becomes. It's basic supply and demand and most companies are supplying the wrong thing.

Rob's philosophy is simple but powerful: "Customers will probably never remember what was done, but they're always gonna remember how they felt."

While his competitors are focused on technical expertise and efficiency, Rob's team is optimized for emotional connection. And guess what? Technical problems get solved either way, but only Rob’s approach leaves a last impression and customers that refer their neighbors.

Here's how Rob trains his team to create emotional connections with customers:

It all starts with the greeting: Instead of the standard "How can I help you?" Rob's CSRs say: "Thank you for calling Good Guy Plumbing. How can I make your day better?" It's a small shift, but positions them as a business that cares about the customer's overall experience, not just their plumbing problem.

CSRs that know the trade: Rob teaches his customer service reps basic plumbing knowledge. Not so they can diagnose problems over the phone, but so they can ask intelligent questions and a level of understanding around their problem. This builds trust before the technician even shows up.

A focus on first impressions: When it comes time to start each job, Rob’s techs have it all mapped out in detail from how to park, how to approach the door, the way you know, the distance you stand from the door, everything is set in stone to deliver a great customer experience. 

While most companies are creating generic, sometimes AI-generated content, Rob's going deep on authenticity:

"We're really pumping out content. We're doing behind the scenes videos with our guys. What are they doing? Who are they? We want to build it so people think, 'they seem like a really great company. Like good, nice people.'"

His social media strategy focuses on showing the people behind the business. If they follow Good Guys Plumbing on social channels, customers see the actual technicians who might come to their house, watch them solve real problems, and get a sense of the company culture. 

Rob's success suggests a massive opportunity for service companies willing to zig while everyone else zags.

While your competitors are investing in automated scheduling and AI chatbots on their websites, a better strategy could be to double down on the things that’ll differentiate you:

People will always prefer to buy from people. And no matter how good AI gets, it’ll never be able to match genuine, human empathy. So where possible, try to lean into the things that set you apart from overly automated, PE-backed competitors. 

Want to dig into anything we’ve shared today? Let’s hop on a call to discuss how ShareWillow can help.