Chris Creekmur with Atlanta Drone Cleaning, Brock Tilley with Scrubs Soft Wash, Brody Moore with B. Moore Pressure Washing and Marshall Helms with GA Pressure Washing

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:24] Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Cherokee Business Radio. Stone Payton here with you this morning. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors program, our ongoing small business initiative Defending Capitalism, promoting small business and supporting our local community. A special thank you to all of our Main Street warriors and of course, our 2023 Main Street Warriors title sponsor, Diesel David Inc. Please go check them out at Diesel David dot com. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast. First up on today’s show with Atlanta Drone Cleaning Mr. Chris Creekmur How are you, man?

Chris Creekmur: [00:01:09] Feeling great. How are you?

Stone Payton: [00:01:11] Stone I’m doing well. You’re looking good. You’re sounding good. I’ve been excited to have this special edition. We’re doing this on a monday instead of the typical Tuesday House show. Tell us a little bit, if you would, Mission purpose. What are what are you and your team out there trying to do for folks?

Chris Creekmur: [00:01:27] Man Well, the power of Washington industry, pressure, washing industry, how you want to call it. There’s a lot of guys, a lot of businesses starting out, a lot of people not really knowing a direction to go in maybe or niche to carve themselves into maybe just looking for guidance, looking for help. So the mission really is to collaborate in an industry where competition is fierce. A lot of guys down each other or don’t work together. I think the bigger mission and idea is to work together to collaborate and help each other out. That’s just how good humans should work, and I think the success is just increased by the more network you have. So let’s say you get a job you can’t do or you need help on, Hey, hey man, can you help me out? Or Hey, my trailer is not working. You want to do this job for me kind of thing? So it just really makes when you serve others, they want to serve you and then just kind of goes full circle, and then they can send you on that path, whether you continue your relationship or not. That’s all we can hope for.

Stone Payton: [00:02:24] Well, I got to tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation at Million Cups. You came in with this gizmo look like it was out of a science fiction movie. It was much bigger than anything I had ever seen in the in the drone category. That’s one of the tools that that that you deploy in the work that you do.

Chris Creekmur: [00:02:41] Yeah. Yeah. So, like I said, it’s just a tool. You’re not going to use a hammer to install a light bulb, are you? So you’re not going to use a drone to clean every single thing. But it is a high tech technology that’s been around for a couple of years now, and it’s just one of the tools that I use in my business and I can share with others and help them versus me kind of keeping it for myself. I decided to go out there and offer it to anyone else because there is a high cost to it. It’s not for everybody. It’s a very niche service and it has its target market.

Stone Payton: [00:03:11] So speaking of collaboration, do you find yourself working with people in the real estate arena because they’re trying to clean up houses or that kind of thing, or people who do video work for whatever reason? Do you find yourself working with folks like that as well?

Chris Creekmur: [00:03:27] So collaboration as far as clients go, I mean, I am putting myself in a position to do commercial and industrial work only, mainly because that’s what my tool is good for, right? Right. A lot of other guys may have a harder barrier to entry because you have higher costs as far as insurance need to go and all your back and stuff. But I mean, real estate agents can be great for just a curb appeal package like in the driveway, clean the front of the house, all that stuff. Someone looking to sell their home, someone looking to buy, and also just keeping it maintain. You keep the house clean. It’s going to maintain the paint and the coatings. The windows aren’t going to get dirty over time and be harder to clean.

Stone Payton: [00:04:03] How does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a guy like you? How do you get the new commercial clients?

Chris Creekmur: [00:04:11] Marketing for my business is very unique. The drone sells itself. It’s very simple. We just have a very soft approach and ask people, Hey, how can I help? This is what we offer, blah, blah, blah. And then people just open up like a book. It’s incredible because we’re not pressuring people. And honestly, I don’t care if they say no, but I love it when they say yes, because if they say no, then they’re not my client anyways. I’m not going to try and convince them otherwise if they want to use someone else. Cool. There’s plenty of other people that do great work. And once I show a video and just kind of explain how we can save liability costs, efficiency, all that stuff, that it really does kind of makes sense because there’s a lot of dangerous methods out there rappelling, getting a big, expensive crane scaffolding. All this stuff is becoming outdated as this new technology grows.

Stone Payton: [00:05:00] Now that you’ve been at this a while. What are you finding the most rewarding man? What are you enjoying the most about the work?

Chris Creekmur: [00:05:07] These guys sitting here next to me. It’s rewarding to help others out and not take all the work for yourself. I could easily market and try and dominate an area, but it’s just really. I don’t think that’s possible, in my opinion. You can be the biggest company, but there’s no way you can corner this industry. There’s there’s so much work for everybody and everyone can have a good piece of the pie and have a good life. They can make a good living. They can provide for their family, they can do all that stuff. So the most rewarding part is seeing other guys grow their business and help them out. And then we help each other out basically.

Stone Payton: [00:05:43] Fantastic. Well, let’s bring them into the conversation. Tell us who you brought with you man.

Chris Creekmur: [00:05:48] I got Brock Tilley here with Scrubs Soft Wash him and his dad have started an incredible business, and I’ve been able to help them out. We got Brody Moore with b. Moore Pressure Washing and then we got Marshall Helms, who’s the green thumb of the group. He started back in October and wants to provide a way to provide more financial freedom for his families, from what I understand.

Stone Payton: [00:06:11] So, Brock, I kind of hate to do this, but I’m going to do it anyway. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida. My dad was a heck of an athlete. Everybody in town knew him then. He was a high school basketball coach. Then he was a superintendent of schools. So I was asked all the time, Are you Pete Payton’s son? So I got to know any relation to Eric Tilley?

Brock Tilley: [00:06:28] Yeah, 100%. I love when people ask me that because my dad’s one of my best friends, but also he’s the mentor in my life helping me just with the whole business side, but also just grow as a person. So whenever I get asked all the time, but it’s I love that question because it’s like, yeah, that’s that. That is my dad. And I’m very fortunate to be able to go in to this company with him because he had a landscape company for 22 years and he sold it a couple of years back and I wasn’t going to college. I just graduated this past year and I was wanting to get into the workforce and I was fortunate enough to have him be like, Let’s let’s do it together. And he was kind of showing me the ins and outs and things that he picked up just from owning a landscape company for that long.

Stone Payton: [00:07:06] Well, that explains the biceps, too. I got to tell you guys, y’all can’t see this on the radio, but this guy looks better in a t shirt than any of the rest of us. So that explains No, I think the world of Eric. I don’t know him that well, but he is so well respected in this community and is doing such great work and helping so many folks out. So talk a little bit, though, about that support. I feel like that is so important, especially for a for a new entrepreneur to have some type of support system and how marvelous it is that it’s that close right there in the immediate family. Say more about that.

Brock Tilley: [00:07:36] Yeah, you’re right. It’s a big thing because so so many kids nowadays, especially young men, just don’t have the proper guidance. They don’t have that that father figure. Even if they do have a dad, they don’t they don’t have that relationship. And I mean, I thank God, really every day just for for the bond that we have, because it’s it’s unlike any bond that I ever had with any kid my age. It plays a big part in my success. But it also I mean, iron sharpens iron. So it’s he helps me, but I help him every day. So it’s a big part.

Stone Payton: [00:08:06] So how do you guys attack it? Do you do you have specific roles or do you kind of divide and conquer and go do the same thing out in the marketplace? Or how have you decided to approach executing?

Brock Tilley: [00:08:17] Yeah, so we got started around September. So it’s it’s newer, but as of now it’s been both of us cleaning whenever we find jobs and there’s been there’s been jobs when I go out alone and he’s he’s a lot of the back end stuff helping scale scale the company do it the right way because he’ll he’ll tell you with his landscape company he hit he hit his his max. You know what I mean. All the phone calls went to his phone. All the customers call his personal cell phone. So it was just he grew a successful landscape company, but he didn’t scale it to where to take it to the next level. And so he’s he’s kind of more that back in part to when eventually as we grow, when we grow how to mentor the the new technicians coming in, how to just just grow with the right way so that we don’t have to be out there spraying houses every single day.

Stone Payton: [00:09:08] Yeah. How did you get connected with Chris?

Brock Tilley: [00:09:10] So networking groups, there’s, there’s networking, there’s, there’s these groups that we, that, that we meet at every single week. There’s one in downtown Woodstock, one in downtown Canton, and one downtown ball ground. And my dad met Chris just through the groups, just through there. And, you know, Chris was you know, he was needed some help here or there. And he was kind enough just to ask me to come out for a few jobs. And he really helped, you know, show me the ropes, show me just how to how to do the work the right way. And so that was how we met.

Stone Payton: [00:09:42] Yeah. And when it comes to cultivating those relationships and really building those relationships further, the nice thing about all of those communities that you described, there are good brew houses and every one of those communities, right Chris?

Chris Creekmur: [00:09:54] Yes, sir. Get a plug for reformation. Yeah, that’s where we meet.

Stone Payton: [00:09:59] Fantastic. Well, thanks for joining us, man. I’m really looking forward to this conversation. I’ve got a thousand questions I’m going to ask you guys in a little bit. And I know there’s some things that you’ll probably share that I’m not even thinking of in our next guest is Marshall, if I got that right, talk to us, Marshall. And this is pretty new for you. Take me back to the beginning, man. What compelled you to get into this business?

Marshall Helms: [00:10:18] Yeah. So the story is pretty unique. I didn’t plan on getting into pressure washing when I did. I actually got let go of the company that I used to work for, that I was there for about eight, nine months, but I was already thinking about doing pressure washing for myself. And once I got like, oh, I was like, All right, well, this is what we’re doing now. So I kind of got pushed into the deep end on it. But back in October is when I really started researching everything because I had a bunch of free time at that point when I got let go. And I’ve slowly been learning a bunch about the industry and continuing to learn and still very new to the whole industry. But that’s really the short story of how I started. And I got to meet Chris at the Canton Business Club and he was actually, I think right next to me, which was so cool that, you know, another pressure washer that’s been in this game for a long time was standing right next to me. So I got to meet Chris and then Eric came right over to me and all three of us just hit it off and started talking, which was just so cool that my first ever club meeting was with those guys and I got to meet him and talk with him.

Chris Creekmur: [00:11:37] It’s funny, I want to add that I had no idea who he was and never seen him, and I just stood right next to him. And me and Eric usually stand together because we just, you know, but it’s just funny. Like he goes, Oh, my name is So-and-so with George Pressure washer. And I go, Oh, all right. It’s just kind of like we funny how we all find each other somehow and stand next to me. People are meant to talk to. So it was really cool when I met Marshall.

Stone Payton: [00:12:00] So, Marshall, what are you learning in terms of interacting with customers? Do you see some of the same sets of questions or maybe even misconceptions or myths that you have to bust about what their view is of what you can do? What you should do is I guess what I’m asking is, is there some education involved when you’re when you start to work with a new customer?

Marshall Helms: [00:12:22] Yes, there’s definitely a lot of education. And these guys can probably tell you more than I can. But in a little bit that I’ve learned, I’ve found that a lot of people don’t realize how dirty anything is. You start cleaning it.

Stone Payton: [00:12:35] Yeah, clean a piece of it, and then you see the rest, right?

Marshall Helms: [00:12:38] Yeah. And a lot of times people will ask you to come clean something like their driveway, and then you can point something else out while you’re there. And just recently, I cleaned a church and I said, I can clean your sign while I’m here as well. And they’re like, It’s dirty. And they came out and looked at it. You can see all this green on it, on the white background. So there is a lot of education in it that I’m learning as well. But the clients really never realize how dirty some things are.

Stone Payton: [00:13:09] But all right, let’s bring the headliner in. And you ready to talk to Brock? Brock, Lean in there and tell us a little something about your business, man. How long have you been at it, and how did you get started?

Brody Moore: [00:13:19] So I started back in October of 2021, and it was a straight like side hustle. I was just wanting to do something different than working for someone. I was working with my dad, doing body body repair on Teslas and stuff like that. And so I was I wanted to do something different. And so he was like, Hey, I’ll pay you to pressure, wash my driveway. You just go buy a little service cleaner at Home Depot and I’ll pay you for it. I was like, okay, So I did that and I did his patios and found that it was really satisfying. So I took that same server cleaner and a server or a pressure washer from his house and went down the street and started knocking on doors. And sure enough, in four or five weeks I did, I would say probably 20 jobs. And I was like, Wow, good.

Stone Payton: [00:13:59] Lord.

Brody Moore: [00:14:00] Yeah, this is profitable. And so I found I was like enjoying it and I enjoyed talking to new people and meeting new people. So that’s when I went and got a full LLC and insurance and all that stuff. And in December of 21 and have been at it ever since.

Stone Payton: [00:14:13] And how was Dad about losing his employee or did you still help him out?

Brody Moore: [00:14:17] So there’s been a couple of times where I’ll go up to the shop. I know everybody in the shop, so I’ll go and help out and stuff like that. But he was honestly supportive. He was like, You got to go do your own thing, make your own path in the world. And so he was sad losing me because it was a great bonding experience for us. But then again, he he was excited for me to start my own journey.

Stone Payton: [00:14:33] So we’ve talked a little bit about collaboration. Can one or more of you guys share an example or two of how you’ve come together, either with someone in this room or someone else to to collaborate on something?

Brody Moore: [00:14:45] I mean, Chris is shot. I mean, I know me and Brock work. I don’t I’m not sure about Marshall yet, but I mean, we’ve done probably, what, four or five jobs together. So for. In the couple of months we’ve known each other.

Chris Creekmur: [00:14:56] Yeah, I had one job come up. It was multiple properties. I wanted it done really fast, so I reached out to Brody and I don’t do what’s called surface cleaning or flat work. So these guys offer that. I don’t.

Stone Payton: [00:15:06] That’s great.

Chris Creekmur: [00:15:07] It’s great for me to plug in with them because I can get the job, sub them out, they can get them. So that’s where I called Brody and I was like, Hey, man, I got this one project I need help with can be there. So it was great because he was there and it’s kind of a funny story because we went to this site and usually I look for water spigots and water sources so you can fill your tanks up. You don’t want to fill them up and drive, wears out your trailer and all that stuff.

Stone Payton: [00:15:30] So that makes sense.

Chris Creekmur: [00:15:31] Anyways, we get there, there’s no accessible water source. They’re all turned off for whatever reason. I don’t know. There’s like no store owners willing to help us out. So where Brody worked, you used to work across the street from with his dad, like he just mentioned is the shop that, you know, he used to work at. So he is. Hey, man, you know, there’s a shop across the street. I’ll contact the owner, see if we can get water there. So just like a beautiful moment, because if I never would have asked them, I would have been in a really bad spot on that job. So that just proves the power of collaboration right there. And then Brock, I brought him out on a couple of first jobs. The first time he saw me work was with a drone. He’s probably like, What in the world is this industry like? Do I need to get one of these? Like, so it’s really cool to show him the technology I have and the processes and then we’ll do the same for Marshall to eventually we’ll get there.

Stone Payton: [00:16:20] So. Brock, I don’t know if I asked you before or not. I know I asked Chris, What are you enjoying the most, man? What’s the most rewarding for you about all this?

Brock Tilley: [00:16:30] Obviously just making the house shine so satisfying, but it’s just, it’s always just seeing the customer’s face after after it’s clean. That’s that’s always just one of the best parts. And because one of the things we try and do with every single job is we think of one thing that, that we can go above and beyond. So like, we won’t tell them that, that we’re cleaning this one thing, but we’ll find something at the house like usually the mailbox or if they have like, like a little like stone pathway, we’ll just like, throw that in. If it looks super moldy or dirty, we’ll just clean that just without without them knowing. Just because they’re like, Oh, I didn’t know it was that dirty. So we always try and find something some way to go above and beyond that, take that extra step.

Stone Payton: [00:17:12] I love that we call it surprise and delight here at the Business RadioX Network. And I mean, it just has so much power and it feels good to do it, right? Yeah, that seems neat. All right. So what’s next for you in your business? Have you got some grand plans to to create the Tilly pressure Washing Empire?

Brock Tilley: [00:17:31] I mean, we got some awesome some awesome jobs lined up. We have this this nice pool contract that we’re cleaning, like a bunch of pool furniture, getting all all these all the pools ready to be.

Chris Creekmur: [00:17:45] How do you guys get that?

Brock Tilley: [00:17:47] How do we get that? We’re actually my dad and I. So we live in we live close to the original community. And this past summer we were swimming in the pool as a four hour workout. We were swimming laps.

Stone Payton: [00:17:57] With your shirts off. I’m sure I’ve seen these pics.

Brock Tilley: [00:18:00] Swimwear, shirts on is uncomfortable.

Chris Creekmur: [00:18:01] It’s embarrassing. Don’t stand next to them when you have your shirt.

Stone Payton: [00:18:03] Yeah, I get it.

Brock Tilley: [00:18:05] And so the people who take care of the pool, they’re actually you know, we struck conversation with. Somehow he was passing by and actually said, hey, you know, you look good. He said. So we just struck conversation with him and he told us that he’s got over 170 different pool locations across Georgia, and they’ve all done it in house the past ten years. However long they’ve been in business, they’ve they’ve done it all in house. They’ve sent out a crew of their own people to go and clean up all the equipment and cleaning out some of the bathrooms and set out all the furniture, getting it ready for for when the pools open. And he was like, this is the first year we’re going up. We’re going to try to, you know, branch it out or give it to somebody else, see how it works. And we’re still working through all of the details with them and everything. But yeah, that’s that’s that’s that’s one of the next things that we’re trying to do.

Stone Payton: [00:18:54] Sounds promising. Man Yes, sir. So, Marshall, what are some of the big unknowns? Man What are some things you got to get figured out to keep keep on this trajectory? Do you have a lot of questions about anything from marketing to the the operations side of the business? What’s what? What’s on your mind at this point?

Marshall Helms: [00:19:13] There’s a lot of things that are on my mind right now just being so no, I’m trying to be a sponge to everything that I can. I really have tons of questions and things I’m just trying to figure out and really just have to fail to figure things out sometimes and then try and ask these guys here if they’ve ran into these problems so that I can try and prevent it. Yes, we have, you know, learn, learn quickly. But there’s nothing really right now. It’s kind of just everything. And since I’m a one man show, my wife helps me as well. But just as these guys know, you wear a ton of hats, you do a lot.

Brody Moore: [00:19:54] So and destroy some clothes with some bleach, that’s for sure.

Chris Creekmur: [00:19:57] Get some good clothes. Yes, sir. Yeah, that’s a budget item.

Marshall Helms: [00:20:00] Yeah. So nothing specific, but just trying to be a sponge to the industry.

Stone Payton: [00:20:04] So what was that like? If you don’t mind my asking, Coming home to your wife and saying, No, no, got laid off, but I’m not going to go get another regular job. We’re going to do this business thing. What was that conversation like?

Marshall Helms: [00:20:15] She was on board for it, for sure. It took about two weeks or something for me to be like, I think we should go in this direction. And I continue to apply to other jobs. But I’d say about a month and a half later is when I finally made the decision and the Lord made it really clear to me that that’s the route that I needed to go. So that’s what I did. It was a clear sign I forgot, but. I never. I’ve always wanted to go back to entrepreneurship. When I was a teenager, I used to do a landscaping business. It was it was small. It was just myself. But I love doing it. And ever since then I’ve wanted to get back into it and I kind of got forced to go back into it. But so far I’m loving it.

Stone Payton: [00:20:58] Yeah. So, Brody, you mentioned some wardrobe being destroyed. Any other failures, challenges, mistakes that you’ve made that have stuck with you? And you might you might share with the next entrepreneur.

Brody Moore: [00:21:11] So having one branded clothing makes you look more professional. And then but also when I started out, I was destroying some of my good clothes. Like I had a $50 Carhartt hoodie that now looks like a bad elementary school project because of the bleach. And I was wearing nice jeans. And so I went to Wal mart and bought the cheap Wrangler jeans and wore those for a while. But definitely having the right clothes, the one keep you dry, and then also just to keep you comfortable. So because you can destroy clothes quick in this industry, that is for sure.

Stone Payton: [00:21:44] I’ll bet. So in terms of collaborating and helping each other out, and maybe this is more of a Chris question, but I’m opening it up to everybody. Are there some things that are not actually executing the work, but more the operations, the planning, the the running, the business side of the the business that that you’ve come to to learn or just really critical and important and people need to know this and and you need to have it kind of carved out.

Chris Creekmur: [00:22:12] It’s a loaded question. It’s hard to answer. The one off answer. So I can say this. It’s everyone has their own journey. And I think you go through that journey and you’re going to fail. You’re going to fail a lot. But it’s not how you fail. It’s not how you fall down. It’s how you get back up, you know, how are you spending the days? How are you spending time behind closed doors That’s going to reflect what you’re doing outside when you’re on the job, when you’re talking to customers, when you’re at these networking meetings, when you just find yourself like the day to day habits, you start building and growing on and you start realizing, Oh, well, I tried, that didn’t work. I got those clothes. Maybe I should try something a little cheaper because I want to raise my marketing budget, you know, or how do I get to the next better equipment? You know, how do I sell the big jobs? It’s all. It’s all mentality, man. It all starts and ends in your mentality. And unless you’re like Brock and his and his dad, where your marketing strategy is just to show off your ripped bodies and get these concerns. So apparently we just got to work on ourselves, guys. Gosh. But no, it’s all mentality, man.

Chris Creekmur: [00:23:11] And it breaks down to how you talk to yourself because that’s going to reflect how you talk to customers. You know, how your. Building value. How you’re saying you’re going to get stuff done. How do you constitute that price you’re going to charge? Because we’re not cheap. You know, our equipment is expensive. We have costs. We’re a business, right? And at the end of the day, we have to think like businessmen versus just pressure washers going out to clean a driveway for the cheapest price. That’s not how you stay in business for a long time. So really it just comes down to mentality. I’ll say that again and again. And for me, being able to change mine over the past three years, being able to a point where I can give my knowledge and not worry about. You know, detrimentally. My success or my business was a big, big, big obstacle because like I said in the beginning, a lot of guys keep the secrets or whatever, you know, it’s themselves. And I just don’t believe that’s how you should operate. So I think that just giving, giving, giving and walking on faith like these guys have said is. Just take an action, too. You know, you can’t cross the finish line unless you start somewhere.

Stone Payton: [00:24:17] I just so admire that, that ethos of wanting to serve, wanting to help other people. Is this something that evolved in you or have you always kind of approached life and business that way?

Chris Creekmur: [00:24:28] Definitely did not always approach it like this. I worked in restaurants for a long time and being a chef is very cutthroat. It’s very toxic environment depending on what type of restaurant you’re in. And I’ve worked on fast food from Subway up to nicest steakhouse you can work out in Colorado, possibly. And during that time, as a chef, I kind of had to change my mentality as I grew through the ranks. And I had to start sharing my knowledge and what I learned in order to get to that position. But it was still like, you know, I’m going to keep this. I’m going to be very strict and pungent and to the point and a lot of swearing. So I’m not going to do that here. We’re going to keep it nice and clean. But yeah, to that point, it really evolved once I started my own business and I’m like, man, how do I how do I grow it? Because I knew there’s things I didn’t want to do that other guys offered. Yeah. And getting to that point does take time. And it takes courage to be vulnerable. And being vulnerable is scary because people then see that as a weakness. But I think it’s a true strength. And the more people that do it, I think the more this industry can thrive and people can rely on each other and collaborate and make sure pricing stays where it should be. And, you know, for example, there’s a chemical company that opened up up the road. Both these guys like, Hey, man, you hear about this right in the backyard? I was like, Yep, that’s awesome. You know? So just little tidbits, information sharing that and saying, Hey, we got each other’s back is really cool.

Stone Payton: [00:25:52] Absolutely.

Brock Tilley: [00:25:54] Well, I mean, it’s it’s just nice to have and having the friendships that we all have because. Like like Chris said. Little the little bits of advice that that we can all give each other just it’s better than having enemies, you know what I mean? Because if you’re not friends with us or not us, but like, if you’re not friends with one another or kind and think of all the good things, good opportunities you can miss out on. So it’s it’s nice just having the bond of relationship that we all have.

Chris Creekmur: [00:26:22] Yeah. Yeah. It’s not all, you know, we go to these networking events and you’re not going to do business with every single person. It’s impossible. So I think to remain at a relationship mindset versus approaching everything transactionally, you know, these guys are my friends now and I it’s awesome. Like, I can’t wait to grow with them and see what they do with their business and also start hanging out, maybe going to the pool, wearing my shirt, but I’m going to keep bringing that.

Brock Tilley: [00:26:49] Oh gosh.

Chris Creekmur: [00:26:49] But no, it’s, you know, and then we got friends like Diesel David, who runs an amazing diesel shop right down the road. By the way, if you have a truck, go visit him. He’s great. You know, you start meeting these awesome people in the community. What’s so funny, you start meeting these other people in the community and it’s not all transactional. It’s about just building relationships that may lead to friendship. They don’t. They pour into you and you are able to pour into others. And it’s just that’s what it’s about.

Stone Payton: [00:27:15] And Dave’s pretty fit. I don’t know about Diesel. I don’t know if I’d call him Diesel, but he’s pretty fierce Diesel. So Brock, I got to believe with Eric involved, you guys must have the operations side of of your enterprise button down, right?

Brock Tilley: [00:27:30] Yes, sir. And that, that that was where Chris played a big role into our company just because the knowledge that I was able to learn with him over the summer I was able to imply that with us, with, with our company because my dad yeah, he landscape but he still he still didn’t know soft washing or pressure washing, you know what I mean. He, he just knew the business side of it so that, that helped a lot. And I mean our, our goal, our main mission is just to. Help help kids who kind of need like that, that middle stepping stone in life, who don’t necessarily know what it is they’re wanting to do after high school or what they’re wanting to do. You know, if whether it’s college or not, we we want to be be that be like that mentor for those kids. Help them just teach, help teach them just good relationship skills, communication skills, showing up on time, doing the right thing when no one’s watching. That’s that’s kind of our goal for the whole company.

Stone Payton: [00:28:26] All right. So I mentioned I had some questions. Here’s my first one. I don’t understand the difference between pressure washing, soft washing the the all these different I hear different terms. Can you guys break that down for me?

Brody Moore: [00:28:42] So pressure washing is worth a higher sigh. So I mean, like when you service clean concrete or a pressure wash, a harder surface, you’re going to be using more pressure. But with soft washing it, I would say the CI of a of a like a garden hose almost. But you’re using a chemical to get rid of mold, mildew, algae, anything like that. And so with like siding, vinyl siding is very delicate. So if you use a high pressure, you can end up damaging the paint on the siding or even splitting the actual siding. And so using the technique called soft washing allows you to effectively clean a roof house, anything of that nature in a safe manner. So I mean, pressure washing is shingle roof will destroy the roof. There’s a lot of people out there that will actually just pressure, wash a roof, and then you need to get a new roof because it’s that destroyed. So Chris has taught me a lot about using different percentages on chemical and different soaps to use and how to properly clean a roof and and siding of a house and all that stuff. Well, pressure washing a driveway is really where I started, and that’s where I really the roots of my company is, is I completely started with driveways and a whole lot of concrete sidewalks, curbs, all that stuff. But I still learn something new. Brock and his dad did something different than I normally do. They go back side to side versus forward and backwards, so there’s a whole lot of different things you can do as far as learning. And so that’s one thing that’s great about having these guys is even someone who’s been doing it a while because they can learn something new every day. So the different processes, there’s a lot of different ways to do it.

Stone Payton: [00:30:17] So yeah, and every situation is different, right? Every it there’s different situations require different techniques, different tools. And if you’re on a job, you may need some of both or all of these, right? Because I’m right on the driveway, my sidewalk, my roof, my son, I just had this this, this premonition of a nightmare scenario where I go to a Home Depot or Lowe’s and rent the pressure washer and I come home and I tear up my siding, aside from is just hard work and I’d have to keep my shirt on.

Chris Creekmur: [00:30:51] Yes, keep your shirt on.

Stone Payton: [00:30:52] Right. So, I mean, that’s one of a bunch of reasons to let the professionals do it right. Stay in your lane and let the pros come out and talk you through it.

Chris Creekmur: [00:30:59] My favorite thing when I used to knock doors and do a lot of residential in the beginning of my favorite thing and housewives would say, Oh, my husband’s got a power washer, he can do it. Oh, okay, well, here’s my card. If you guys need help and you drive by those houses and they never do anything like you said, it’s like, why? Why do that work? If you have if you don’t have the right equipment, it can take hours versus hiring a professional company. Come in and do it less than an hour and they’re going to charge you because that values equipment is not cheap.

Brock Tilley: [00:31:29] And I mean, also another thing that that what’s what’s nice about having both the being able to pressure washing and soft wash is what we can do with the driveways we call it pre treating the driveways. So we put some some of the chemical down on the.

Stone Payton: [00:31:43] Driveway and I don’t know the first thing about I wouldn’t know what chemical they may not even sell it to me.

Brock Tilley: [00:31:47] Yeah well I know a lot of people would just just do pressure and water on driveways and not that that’s a bad thing, but if you don’t take your time with it and if you don’t go insanely slow, you’ll you’ll I call them wispy, you’ll just get like a little wispy on the driveway. And this is circular, little spinny. And that looks awful whenever it’s done.

Brody Moore: [00:32:05] Yeah, I see it most at commercial properties because there’s people who will go super fast and they’ll go down and try to rush through it and make the money, but they’re not doing it a quality way. And so, yeah, seeing that as the worst thing ever.

Brock Tilley: [00:32:18] And when, when you, when you pre-treat it with that chemical, you spray it on there, it just helps pool all the dirt, all the mold. And then, then you can really not fly, but you can go a lot quicker once, once the chemical has been sitting on there. I mean I’ll never forget that one. Chris and I did a job together. He was cleaning a roof and I was out of chemical. Like I couldn’t I couldn’t find any. I was out. And so he was able to spray some of his chemical down on the driveway. And then I was able to go over it. And it just I mean, it was beautiful afterwards, but.

Chris Creekmur: [00:32:46] It’s like, So can a dish. Yes. It easier to clean.

Brock Tilley: [00:32:48] Yes. Yeah, that’s that’s a great way to describe it.

Stone Payton: [00:32:50] So how often should we be doing this? Like like my home. How often should I be doing the roof, the. Sidewalk that kind of deciding is it or does it vary?

Brody Moore: [00:33:00] I’d say it depends on a lot, depending on the shading of your house. If there’s a lot of trees around your house and you’re going to want to do it more often, if your house is open in the sun, there’s not going to be as much of you don’t have to do it as often, I would say. Don’t you all agree? Yeah.

Marshall Helms: [00:33:12] Yeah.

Brock Tilley: [00:33:13] Besides that north side, that north side of the house is always the moldy. Oh, yeah. That was one thing Chris taught me.

Stone Payton: [00:33:18] Now, why is that?

Brock Tilley: [00:33:19] Do we know the sun, how the sun rises? And you know what I mean. There’s one side of the house that’s in the shade a lot more than the rest of the house.

Stone Payton: [00:33:27] How about that?

Chris Creekmur: [00:33:28] Yeah. 99% of roofs that you see are dirty. It’s on the northern side.

Stone Payton: [00:33:32] On the north side, I’ll be north. And same thing with commercial properties. If they’re more shaded and have more trees and all that, then it’s going to need attention more often.

Brody Moore: [00:33:41] Oh yeah. I mean, so like Brock was saying the north side and there I’ve got, I’ve been on a big commercial project over in Roswell and they have six roofs that are wanting cleaned and all of the roofs. There’s not a whole lot of trees around them, but all of the roofs on the north side need to be cleaned. They’re very, very dirty and they haven’t they’ve probably never done them because I had talked to the property manager and they were like, We’ve never done them. So they’re wanting to get them done at some point here in your future?

Stone Payton: [00:34:06] Well, sure.

Chris Creekmur: [00:34:08] I think education is just the biggest thing that I’ve learned that provides value to your clients. The more you can educate them and not really upselling, but just like Marshall is saying, like you see something, say something, what’s the worst thing it’s going to happen is no, okay, whatever. Maybe next time. But educating them on how cleaning an annual cleaning or bi annual cleaning can really help protect the paint can make things last longer. It just looks great. You know, you don’t want your customers coming into a dirty multi building, right? So it’s all about mentality and appearance of how they just show respect to their business and it’s a write off. So there’s there’s plenty of benefits to think about. And then you got window cleaning which can be done to obviously you want to look out clean windows. So there’s a lot a lot of things that go into it and. It can be seen as a lot of esthetic or preventive maintenance.

Stone Payton: [00:34:58] So say more about sales and marketing. Anybody on the panel here? There’s what you do to get into the initial conversation. And I want to I’ve got a couple of questions about how to really network properly here in just a moment. But so there’s that initial conversation. But then it sounds like for you guys, some of it is on site being seen in the neighborhood, being seen at the commercial property, and then how you conduct yourself on site and striking that balance. You don’t want to be like the I was going to say, the Jiffy Lube guy. I guess they’re never going to get a sponsorship here. But sometimes when I go to like the Jiffy Lube, I feel like all they’re doing is trying to sell me the next thing and the next thing you want. You don’t want to necessarily come off like that, but you want to provide the best value you can. So yeah, speak to that a little bit. The whole sales and marketing, the whole sales and marketing thing.

Chris Creekmur: [00:35:47] Chris wants to go.

Marshall Helms: [00:35:48] I’ll touch on. I don’t have much to give because I’m still trying to figure it out. But for me it’s kind of just been everything. I’ve been going after people on Facebook, Instagram, talking to people in person.

Stone Payton: [00:36:00] So.

Marshall Helms: [00:36:02] I’ve tried to exhaust everyone that I know, everyone that my family knows, and I’m getting to the point where I need to start doing ads and talking to these guys here and see what has worked for them. Because I’m only three months into it. I’m so green to to it all. So just trying to learn and do what I can right now.

Brock Tilley: [00:36:23] Another good way is just going out on a sunny day in neighborhoods, driving around, and when you see someone outside, just stop rolling on your window and be like, Hey, can I give you a free estimate? Who’s going say no to a free estimate? You know what I mean? Yeah, Not I mean, so and just. That’s that’s that’s that’s a great way because people see your logo, see your truck, and it’s just getting out there, getting your name out there. Even if they say no, it’s still just they’ll remember you.

Brody Moore: [00:36:47] So all these networking groups that we go to, I mean, there’s been a lot of them that I mean, between meeting Chris and getting jobs through him and then other real estate agents and all that type of things, networking, getting your name out there that way is a very beneficial way. I started to go back in the networking groups, I think back in August or so, and since then my business has exploded. Oh really? It’s helped out a lot with meeting people and getting my name out there and all that stuff. And then also Google my business, having the the reputable company and having the five star reviews and all that stuff. It shows that you do good work and people are happy with your work. You put photos up there before and after pictures of your work and stuff like that. That helps that a lot as well.

Chris Creekmur: [00:37:33] Credibility. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Referrals. Credibility. I mean, sales and marketing. Everyone’s got to figure out what works for them based on what they’re trying to really do. You know, in the beginning, I knew I wanted to do roof cleanings because honestly, that’s where the highest ticket item is. And from my opinion, I think that’s the best way to get into someone’s house. Say, Hey, yeah, your roof is dirty. It’s very obvious. Also, did you think about this and this and this? And usually you can upsell them and say, Hey, this is dirty. And it’s very easy to point those things out once you have that proper knowledge on how to do it. It just takes a little bit of crawl, walk, run mentality of I’m going to start here and work my way up. So, I mean, I exhausted all my friends and family and referrals are king, you know, word of mouth. And I plugged in with property managers and roofers and people that maybe could benefit from my service by adding on to theirs.

Stone Payton: [00:38:22] There you go.

Chris Creekmur: [00:38:23] So it works out good in the beginning.

Brock Tilley: [00:38:25] Well, and I know a lot of people, too, don’t even know that that roof cleaning is even an option. It will be like.

Stone Payton: [00:38:32] I never heard of it until I moved here, right?

Brock Tilley: [00:38:34] Yeah. And it’s like you can spend ten over $10,000 on getting a whole new roof, or you can spend under 1000, or maybe right out of 1000. How dirty, How big? To get it clean, it’s going to look good as new. So it’s still trying to get that that word out there. So many people aren’t familiar with soft washing. It’s newer, but it’s about 5050. But people I’ve talked.

Chris Creekmur: [00:38:54] To, certain pressure washing is known by the masses. It’s really I hate it, to be honest. But I mean, once you understand, like what it is and what it actually accomplishes versus what people think it is, is a whole nother a whole nother thing. And like, there’s really not much data. On if the roof is affected by this algae, if it is a detriment to its lifespan until it turns into like lichen or moss in a very later stage. But it’s mainly esthetics and people want their houses looking good. So that’s really the kind of clients that we go after, is people that are proud of their houses, proud of their properties and really don’t mind spending the money because you have other guys out there promoting very cheap services and that kind of puts a bad taste people’s mouths and they go out there and they leave the lines, they leave the swirly, they leave the whatever.

Brody Moore: [00:39:39] The $99.

Chris Creekmur: [00:39:40] Guy. Yeah, yeah. It’s, you know, the bait and switch method where they say, Oh, it starts at this. And then they come in there and they give you $700 quotes like, oh, not most, or they actually do it for 100 bucks. And I just don’t see how they stay in business long term.

Brock Tilley: [00:39:52] And like Chris said, our equipment is expensive. I mean, you could totally get a guy who with with a brush and a bucket of soap can get up on your roof and scrub it and it’s going to take hours and full days worth of work. But you can do it for 100 bucks or you get the 3000, $4,000 equipment and you stand on the ground and you shoot your chemical 25 feet up in the air and you’re going to clean it a lot faster and better. And it’s just it’s just quality.

Chris Creekmur: [00:40:16] Well, it’s a liability to, you know, you fall off someone’s roof. Who’s liable?

Stone Payton: [00:40:20] Homeowner did not know that.

Chris Creekmur: [00:40:24] Yep.

Stone Payton: [00:40:25] So on the networking front, it sounds like you guys have really cracked the code on on utilizing those platforms to build real relationships, build the credibility and connect with the with the community. And I got to believe there are folks who try to do the networking and it doesn’t work out for them. So how do you approach that? Is part of it. Yeah, go to the big group, but make sure that you connect with people one on one or and further, how do you guys actually approach the networking?

Brock Tilley: [00:40:59] Yeah, so you have to. Go outside your comfort zone. And for a lot of people that’s hard because no one wants to be uncomfortable. But you have to be uncomfortable if you want to grow and find those ways to meet one on one. Those people aren’t always going to come up to you to meet, so you’re going to have to step out of your comfort zone. You have to walk up and be like, Hey, I want to talk with you and get to know you better. Let’s go get some coffee. Let’s go, let’s let’s go get some lunch. And that’s that’s that’s not easy for everybody, but the ones who it is, you can tell the ones who do step outside of their comfort zone. The ones who do do the hard stuff.

Chris Creekmur: [00:41:38] It shows Brody and I met for the first time. He just walked up to me, was like, Hey, man, we’re talking right now. I’m like, okay, all right. So, no, it was funny. We just ended up talking. He had a few questions and we met at Business Club, by the way, Wednesdays 8 to 9 a.m. at Reformation by the mill. And he walked over to me, asked me a few questions, and he’s like, Hey, man, you have some more time. So I think we spent like an hour and a half hour talking easily and at least, Dude, bro. All right, come on, I got to go. But it was just great. Like, he was just so eager to to ask questions and so willing and open to hear what I had to say. And I was like, Man, it’s awesome that I can provide an impact. On him. So who else can I provide that impact for? And like there’s one on ones is really where you see the magic happen and you start to get better with your communication skills. You start getting better at being comfortable with being uncomfortable and kind of growing outside your comfort zone. Like Brock was saying, that’s like, I think that’s the biggest thing. Just walk up to someone, Hey man, I think your story is really cool. I want to hear about it.

Stone Payton: [00:42:40] Well, you bring up a very important point. I think when you are doing these one on ones and you’re building and strengthening those relationships, the the the mindset and the focus should also largely be centered on what can I do to help this person and not how can I, you know, WANG Dangle my way into another another gig, right? I mean, that’s important that that that we listen to their story and try to figure out a way to help them, whether it involves our thing or not. Would you all agree with that?

Chris Creekmur: [00:43:09] 100%? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

Brock Tilley: [00:43:11] My dad said it best. I mean, networking group is just a bunch of professional firm makers. Go there to make friends, meet people. Yeah. And in return, you, you, you get business for them and you get business for yourself. So you make money making friends.

Chris Creekmur: [00:43:25] So it’s also fun to, like, learn other people’s business and you really tune in and listen to what their needs are and you can provide a referral for them. You can provide yeah, you can get insight. It’s just, I don’t know. I love it.

Brody Moore: [00:43:37] Well, go into those networking groups. As we all know, tax season’s coming around, so you are able to find people who can help you with your taxes. And then if you end up wanting to buy a home, there’s mortgage people, real estate agents. So having those connections outside of our business will definitely help you there, too. Just being able to have the connection. Oh, I know a guy for that. Oh, I know our guy for that. They’ll always be able to help.

Stone Payton: [00:43:56] When a lot of times I find it when I’m talking to someone, I get to hear all about their origin story, all about their struggle, kind of, you know, if there was a tipping point or something that that caused them to create a new beginning and you really do get to know them. Also, I’ve learned quite a bit about people’s causes, causes that are really important to them. And when you reach out and genuinely try to serve them in that way, that’s that’s helpful too. And then some of them are leading causes, you know, like some of them will be an executive director of this cause or or that charity. And that always, aside from the intrinsic rewards, from helping out a cause, I mean, it just feels good.

Chris Creekmur: [00:44:33] Yeah. Giving back to your community is. This just feels good. Yeah. It’s a it’s a thing everyone should try and practice. That’s something I’m implementing in my business, and I just can’t wait to see where it goes.

Stone Payton: [00:44:44] Yeah, And it almost always, almost never in a straight line, it feels like. But it seems to always come back to you in some way, like ten fold. Somehow, someway.

Chris Creekmur: [00:44:53] Write the laws of the universe are funny men and I don’t question it. I just, I abide by them and I try not to break them. But I think this past year I developed a law of giving. And like you said, it returns to an ex, whether it’s, you know, financially or mentally or spiritually. Whatever you’re putting out there in the universe is it’s going to come back and it’s going to find you because you’re putting it out there. You put it out there, you’re going to keep trying and going to keep trying, and eventually you’re going to see those results somewhere, some way. You just don’t know when.

Brock Tilley: [00:45:26] The only way you want is if you give up.

Stone Payton: [00:45:28] That’s right.

Marshall Helms: [00:45:29] Truth.

Stone Payton: [00:45:30] Truth. Well, Brock mentioned a moment ago something about professional friend makers. I feel like that I and our listeners have four good friends here. I really appreciate all of you, all of you coming in and sharing your story. Don’t be a stranger. Come back. Come back with a delighted client. Sometime we’ll talk about their business too, if their or their calls and learn a little bit about their story and talk about the collaboration, the work together. Before we wrap, though, I want to make sure that we get everybody’s contact information so our listeners know how to get in touch with you, even if they just want to have a conversation about anything that we’ve talked about and of course that they’d like to engage your services. And we’ll start with with Brody. Where are you? What’s the best way to connect with you?

Brody Moore: [00:46:14] Man I’m on Facebook, I’m on Instagram, and then my mobile number is 4049982088. Also be more pressure washing at gmail.com. Any of those ways to reach out to me.

Stone Payton: [00:46:24] I love it when people give their phone number. This is a guy that is willing to connect and have a real relationship. That’s fantastic. Marshal. Where can we find you, buddy?

Marshall Helms: [00:46:33] Yeah, anyone can find me at G. A pressure washing on Facebook, Instagram. I’m working on the dot com part. Don’t have the website up yet, but working on that and phone number is 6782626979 17. And you can get me at a g pressure wash 22 at gmail.com.

Stone Payton: [00:46:57] All right Brock.

Brock Tilley: [00:47:01] Yeah we’re on Instagram and Facebook. It’s scrub soft wash and look us up Google Scrub Soft Wash LLC. Our phone number mobile number is 4706806464. Thank you, guys.

Stone Payton: [00:47:17] Well, and also, I was checking while we were talking on GoDaddy we are ripped dot com is available. So if you want like a short URL.

Brock Tilley: [00:47:27] Yeah. Hey we do clean, but also if you want to walk outside with the shirt on, let me know.

Chris Creekmur: [00:47:32] Shirt off shirts off cleaners dot com.

Stone Payton: [00:47:35] I like it. I like it. All right. And the ringleader here, Chris, what’s the best way to connect with you, man?

Chris Creekmur: [00:47:40] The best way. Just go on my website W WW Atlanta drone cleaning com you can see videos there’s a lot of call to actions my contact information the areas we service. I’m also on LinkedIn my personal profile Chris Creekmore and Atlanta drone cleaning. People can text or call me 678 800 4560.

Stone Payton: [00:48:01] Well gentlemen and Chris, it’s been a delight to have you all in the studio today. This has been fun. It’s been informing, It’s been inspiring. Really appreciate you guys coming to share your story. And I’m quite sincere. Don’t be a stranger. Come back and see me some time.

Brock Tilley: [00:48:16] Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Stone.

Stone Payton: [00:48:17] My pleasure. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today. And everyone here at the business Radio X family saying we’ll see you again on Cherokee Business Radio.