Promoted for wrench skill, measured on people
He's still the best troubleshooter you have. That's exactly why he takes the hard calls himself instead of building the tech who should be taking them.
For $1Mโ$5M HVAC, plumbing & electrical operators
Your best tech is now your worst manager
You promoted him because he was the fastest diagnostician on the truck. Then you handed him six people and no words. Nobody taught him what to say when a tech is late for the third time, when a callback lands on his own crew, or when someone asks for a raise he can't approve.
We don't coach. You bring us the situation, we tell you what's actually happening and hand you the exact sentences to run it.
Start the free diagnostic
9 questions ยท 4 minutes ยท scored report, no call required
He says
"Hey man, you gotta start showing up on time. This is getting old."
Why it fails
No specific behavior, no standard, no date, no consequence. That's venting, not managing โ the tech hears mood, not instruction.
He says instead
"Tuesday you were on site at 7:52. Thursday, 7:45. Our standard is wheels-down by 7:30. What's getting in the way?
[ stop talking โ let him answer ]
Here's what I need: on site by 7:30 every day this week. I'll check Friday morning. If it slips again we move to a written warning โ I'd rather not, so let's fix it now."
[ stop talking โ let him answer ]
Here's what I need: on site by 7:30 every day this week. I'll check Friday morning. If it slips again we move to a written warning โ I'd rather not, so let's fix it now."
He says
"Who ran this job? This is embarrassing. Forget it, I'll go fix it myself."
Why it fails
He absorbs the work, shields the tech from the lesson, and teaches the crew that mistakes get quietly covered. You just bought the callback twice.
He says instead
"Marcus โ the Henderson unit came back on the same fault. Walk me through what you ran.
[ let him narrate it; do not correct mid-sentence ]
We're going back at 2. You're running it, I'm watching. Then you make the call to the homeowner, not me."
[ let him narrate it; do not correct mid-sentence ]
We're going back at 2. You're running it, I'm watching. Then you make the call to the homeowner, not me."
He says
"I hear you, but that's above my pay grade. Let me talk to the owner and get back to you."
Why it fails
He hands his authority up the ladder and leaves the tech waiting on a ghost. Two weeks later that tech is answering a recruiter's text.
He says instead
"I can't approve a number today and I'm not going to string you along. Here's what actually moves pay here: callback rate under 3% and average ticket above our target. You're at 6% and well under.
[ show him the numbers on the screen โ don't describe them ]
Hold both for 90 days and I walk it to Dave with my recommendation attached. We review your numbers every other Friday until then."
[ show him the numbers on the screen โ don't describe them ]
Hold both for 90 days and I walk it to Dave with my recommendation attached. We review your numbers every other Friday until then."
The gap nobody trains for
You didn't hire a manager. You promoted a technician.
Every home service company does it, because the alternative is hiring a manager who's never held a gauge set. But the skill that earned the promotion has nothing to do with the job.
Graded on the wrong thing
Nobody gave him the words
He avoids the conversation until it's a termination
Small corrections never happen, so nothing gets said for four months. Then it comes out sideways in the parking lot and you lose a tech you could have kept.
The bill lands on you
Every gap routes back to the owner's phone
Turnover, repeat callbacks, techs going around him to you. You're still running the crew โ you just added a salary in between.
Who this is for
Read this part honestly
We'd rather lose the sale than take on a shop this won't work in.
Good fit
- $1Mโ$5M residential HVAC, plumbing or electrical
- One to five supervisors, field leads or service managers
- They came off the truck within the last three years
- You'll back the standard when a supervisor enforces it
Bad fit
- You want somebody to run the crew for you
- You want motivation, offsites and personality tests
- The real problem is pay, dispatch or the owner โ not the supervisor
- You'll override your supervisor the moment a tech complains
How it works
Three steps. Start at the free one.
Everything is asynchronous. No weekly Zoom you'll cancel by week three.
01
Supervisor Diagnostic
Nine questions about how your supervisors actually handle lateness, callbacks, pay conversations and quitting techs. You get a scored report naming the specific breakdown and the first conversation to fix it.
- 4 minutes, no call, no calendar link
- Scored result in your inbox immediately
FreeStart here
02
Supervisor Scan
We assess up to three supervisors against the standard and hand you a written report: where each one is breaking down, what it's costing, and the exact scripts to close the gap.
- Up to 3 supervisors
- Written report in 5 business days
- One 30-minute debrief
- $1,000 credited toward month one of the advisory
$2,500One-time
03
Async Advisory
Ongoing. You bring one real situation at a time โ the promotion you're unsure about, the manager who won't hold the line, the comp plan quietly creating the problem โ and get back a diagnosis, a recommendation, and the words to run it.
- 1โ2 business day recommendation, follow-up included
- 3-month minimum on both tiers
From $1,500/ month ยท 3-mo minimum
The advisory
You're not buying messages. You're buying problems solved.
Most advisory products count your questions. We count your problems. One business situation โ including the review, the recommendation, and the follow-up after you've actually had the conversation โ is one issue. Ask as much as you need inside it.
Three-month minimum on both tiers, because a manager doesn't change from reading something. He changes after running the same conversation eight or ten times and getting corrected each time. That takes a quarter. One month buys you a nice PDF and no behavior change, so we don't sell it.
Async Advisory
One owner, one problem at a time. Roughly a full advisory engagement every week for less than a day of a consultant's time.
$1,500/ month ยท 3-month minimum
- 4 new advisory issues per 30 days
- 1 active issue at a time
- Initial recommendation within 2 business days
- Follow-up on the active issue included
- Written or voice response
- Review of documents tied to the active issue
- Access for 1 owner or GM
- Full Propel leadership and hiring library
- No scheduled calls
For multi-manager shops
Advisory+
For owners and GMs making people, leadership, hiring and management calls all month long โ with managers who need their own line in.
$2,500/ month ยท 3-month minimum
- 8 new advisory issues per 30 days
- 2 active issues at a time
- Initial recommendation within 1 business day
- Follow-up on each active issue included
- Written, voice or Loom โ whichever the problem calls for
- Review of any people or hiring document: job descriptions, interview scorecards, comp plans, employee communication, manager plans, performance documentation, hiring processes
- Access for owner/GM plus up to 2 managers
- One 45-minute strategy call each month
- Custom tools and templates when the situation warrants it
- Hiring OS and full library included
How an advisory issue works
- An issue is one business situation requiring one decision. "Is my senior tech ready to run the service department?" is one issue โ including us reviewing your assessment and answering what happens after you tell him. "Also review our comp plan" is a second issue.
- One at a time. Submit, we respond, you implement, you follow up, the issue closes, the next one opens. That's what keeps your turnaround fast instead of putting you in a queue behind twelve other shops.
- Follow-up inside the active issue is included. "I had the conversation, here's what he said" is where this gets valuable. It's not a new issue and we don't count it as one.
- Each issue stays open 7 days after the initial recommendation, or until you close it. A materially different situation is a new issue.
- Unused issues don't roll over, and neither do calls.
- We pick the format. Some answers are three paragraphs. Some are a 90-second voice memo. Some are an eight-minute Loom. You're buying the decision, not minutes of screen time.
- Business days, Monday to Friday. Submit Friday afternoon, your recommendation lands Tuesday. This is analysis, not an emergency line.
- Not emergency HR or legal advice. Anything with a lawyer attached โ termination disputes, wage claims โ goes to your employment attorney first. We handle the people side around it.
- Major document creation is a separate project. Reviewing your comp plan is an issue. Rebuilding it from scratch is quoted separately.
Buy outright
Not ready for the advisory? Take the systems.
Both are included in Advisory+. Buy either on its own if you'd rather run it yourself.
Hiring OS
The screening system that stops you hiring the tech you'll fire in ninety days. Behavioral scorecards, phone screen structure, interview questions with what a real answer sounds like, and the disqualifiers most shops ignore until it's too late. You post the job and run the final interview โ the system tells you who's worth the seat.
$697 Get the Hiring OSLeadership Library
Short, single-problem guides your manager can finish on a lunch break and use that afternoon. The late tech. The callback on his own crew. The raise he can't approve. The tech who's already quit but hasn't said so. Each one is scripts and decision rules, not theory.
$297 Get the Library
Inside the Supervisor Scan
What lands in your inbox in five days
| Deliverable | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Supervisor scorecard | Each supervisor rated across accountability, correction, development and escalation โ with the evidence, not a personality label. |
| Breakdown map | The two or three specific moments where each supervisor loses control of the crew, named in plain language. |
| Script pack | Verbatim wording for those exact moments. Print it, hand it over, expect it used. |
| Cost read | What the current gap is costing in turnover and repeat callbacks, using your numbers. |
| 90-day sequence | What to fix first, what to leave alone, and how you'll know it worked. |
Straight answers
Before you ask
Is this coaching?
No. Coaching sells you a conversation. This ships a diagnosis, a recommendation and the words to run it, then follows up on what actually happened. If you want somebody to explore feelings on a weekly call, we're the wrong shop.
Four issues a month doesn't sound like much.
It's one real business decision a week, worked all the way through โ the review, the recommendation, and the follow-up after you've had the conversation. Most owners don't have four genuinely hard people decisions a month. The cap is what keeps your answer at two days instead of two weeks. If you're consistently running out, that's what Advisory+ is for and we'll tell you.
Why two business days and not right away?
Because you're buying analysis, not a text buddy. We read the situation, look at the documents, work out what's actually driving it, and send back something you can execute. That's worth two days. If you need same-week speed on multiple fronts at once, Advisory+ runs at one business day.
How much of this runs on calls?
Almost none. Base advisory has no scheduled calls at all. Advisory+ includes one 45-minute strategy call a month for you or your GM โ the only standing call in the product. It doesn't accumulate if you skip it.
We're not HVAC. Does this still apply?
Yes โ plumbing and electrical run the same structure: a promoted tech leading a crew he used to work beside. The scripts reference your trade's actual jobs, not generic "team members."
What if the manager is the wrong person entirely?
The Scan will say so, plainly, and tell you whether to develop, reassign or replace. We'd rather tell you that in week one than bill you for a year of trying.
Start here
Find out what your supervisors are actually saying
Nine questions. Four minutes. A scored report naming the exact breakdown and the first conversation to fix it. No call, no pitch on the other side.
Start the free diagnostic