🎥 Recap: From Hourly Pay to Performance Pay
Last week we held our first webinar, and honestly? I was nervous. We'd never hosted an online event before. I was worried Jack and I would just be talking to each other.
Then 50+ business owners signed up and so many of your stayed for the whole 60-minute session.
Missed it? Or joined and want the recording? Hit reply to this email and you'll get:
🎥 Full webinar recording (around 60 minutes how to implement performance pay scorecards)
📋 Exclusive bonus: A 20+ page Performance Pay Implementation Guide
⚠️ We're only sending these to people who reply, no forms, just hit reply and say "send me the recording."
In this issue, I want to share the biggest insights from our performance pay session. Because performance pay is the one of the most important things you can do to drive growth and profit for your business.
Here's what we covered, plus the key takeaways that could make 2026 your most profitable yet:
Why Performance Pay Works (And Why You Can't Keep Avoiding It)
Before diving into the how, let's talk about the why.
During the session I shared the story of F.H. Furr, a huge HVAC company based in Washington DC that does $160 million in revenue. Their founder, Darius, was nervous about switching to performance pay. But when he finally made the move, here's what happened:
He doubled revenue without adding a single truck.
Over two months, his teams installed over a million dollars more with the same number of crews. Not because they worked longer hours, but because they were finally incentivized to work smarter.
And here's the thing, every major player in home services is doing this. Tommy Mello and A1 Garage Door buisness, F.H. Furr, all the businesses scaling rapidly unanimously agree: if you want maximum performance, you can't just pay hourly.
Here’s what a bunch of contractors I spoke with at the ACCA Conference earlier this year said about performance pay:
So why are so many owners still on the fence?
The Three Biggest Objections
During the webinar, I asked everyone in the chat: "Are you doing performance pay? If not, why not?"
The answers were exactly what I expected:
"I want to, but don't know how to start"
"I'm worried about losing employees"
"I tried it before and retention became an issue"
We’ve worked with 200+ service businesses and I can tell you firsthand, these are all solvable problems.
Why Hourly Pay Kills Growth
Whenever I speak to an owner about implementing performance pay, I always ask this question… When you pay someone hourly, what behavior are you incentivizing?
The answer: You're incentivizing them to show up and put in time. That's it.
Are you incentivizing them to:
Complete jobs faster and more efficiently?
Upsell customers to better solutions?
Provide exceptional service that leads to 5-star reviews?
Sell maintenance contracts that create recurring revenue?
Show up on time to the first job of the day?
Minimize callbacks and rework?
In short, no. In fact, you're incentivizing the opposite. If your tech can stretch a 4-hour job to 6 hours, they still get the same money. If they can avoid the "difficult" conversations about maintenance plans or upgrades, they get paid the same.
Meanwhile, you're pulling your hair out wondering why your average ticket size isn't growing, you're getting callbacks on 14% of jobs when the industry standard is 3-5%, and nobody wants to sell maintenance contracts.
The problem isn't your people, it’s your incentive structure.
The Psychology Behind Performance Pay
Here's what most business owners get wrong about performance pay… They think it's just about money.
Sure, money is the way we keep score. But performance pay also unlocks three powerful psychological drivers:
Autonomy: When pay is tied to performance, your techs have control over their income and can directly impact how much they earn through their output.
Mastery: Performance pay creates a clear feedback loop — doing you best work = earning more money. Master new skills = higher income potential. Your techs will start wanting training, not doing all they can to avoid it.
Purpose: When someone can see how their individual performance directly impacts their paycheck, their family's financial security, and the company's success, their work has meaning beyond just "showing up for 8 hours."
Overcoming Employee Resistance
Let me address the elephant in the room: "What if my employees hate this?"
This is one of the top fears I hear from business owners, and I get it. Change is scary, especially when it involves people's paychecks. And even more so if you’ve tried to implement it before and it didn’t work out.
But here's what I've learned from hundreds of performance pay plans… If employees don’t like it, your plan was designed wrong.
Performance pay should make your best employees more money, it should give them more control over their income, and it should reward the behaviors that make them successful.
Here's how to get employee buy-in:
Start with the "Why"
Don't just announce the new plan, explain the reasoning behind it:
"Look, we're growing fast, and I need everyone to grow with us. Hourly pay doesn't give you guys the opportunity to share in that success. This new plan means that when you perform better, you earn more. When the company does well, you do well. It's not about me making more money, it's about all of us making more money together."
Show Them the Math
Use real examples based on current performance: "Last month you generated 15 5-star reviews and completed 20 jobs with zero callbacks. Under this new plan, you would have earned an extra $500 on top of your regular pay."
Your techs need to see concrete numbers, not concepts.
What to Do Right Now
I could keep talking about theory, but when it comes to performance pay the best time to start this was two years ago. The second best time is right now.
Q4 is coming and 2026 is on the horizon. And if you're still paying hourly heading into next year, you're leaving money on the table.
Three action steps:
Stop overthinking it. Every successful contractor we work with says the same thing: "I wish I'd done this sooner."
Start simple. Pick one metric (like callback percentage) and tie a meaningful dollar amount to it. Test it for a month.
Get the data right. Whether you use ShareWillow or build something yourself, make sure employees can see their progress in real-time.
The companies growing fastest in 2025 have figured out performance pay. The ones struggling are still paying everyone the same regardless of performance. Which camp do you want to be in?
P.S. We recorded the whole webinar. If you want the link, just reply to this email and I'll send it over. And if you want to see exactly how we'd design a performance plan for your business, book a call with our team here.
No sales pitch, just education. If it's not a perfect fit, we'll tell you.
P.P.S. Thanks to everyone who joined live. We'll definitely be doing more of these.
On the Podcast: Ryan Englin
In the latest episode of the ShareWillow podcast I’m joined by Ryan Englin, founder of Founder and CEO of Core Matters. We dive deep into the retention crisis many trade businesses are facing, and how mentorship programs and performance pay can help you keep your best people from walking out the door.
Check out the episode below or listen on Spotify:
ShareWillow helps 200+ service businesses design performance pay plans that actually work
Most service businesses struggle with inconsistent technician performance, high turnover, and unpredictable revenue. ShareWillow solves this by aligning your team's incentives with your business goals through data-driven performance pay.
Ready to see how performance pay can transform your business? Get in touch: 👇