Tony Hoty Consulting

05/28/2026

We had lots of fun at the photo shoot for the grand opening of our newest 24 Hour Showroom in Mentor. Poor Daisy actually thought she was going to get a bath 😆🤣🐕🚿

05/26/2026

There are very few people in any industry whose impact can truly be described as transformational. In the home improvement industry, that person is unquestionably Dave Yoho.

At 98 years old and still working, Dave has had a massive influence on the worlds of marketing, sales, leadership, training and operations in our profession. For more than half a century, Dave’s brilliance, mentorship and vision helped shape the framework for what healthy, high-integrity home improvement companies should look like. His fingerprints can be found on countless systems, methodologies, organizations and success stories throughout our industry.

On a personal level, Dave Yoho has meant a great deal to me as well. Beyond his extraordinary accomplishments, Dave has always been kind, accessible, generous with his wisdom and genuinely willing to help others succeed. At a time when I was building my own consulting practice, Dave represented proof that it was possible to create something meaningful while serving the industry at the highest level.

I am honored and excited to join so many others in celebrating Dave Yoho’s life, legacy and enormous contribution to the remodeling industry as we know it today. I am excited to hear him speak on stage one final time.

I hope you will join me in Chicago from June 2–4 as we come together to pay tribute to a true pioneer, mentor and legend.

Thank you, Dave, for a lifetime of leadership, service and impact. Your work has changed lives, businesses and an entire industry for the better.

05/23/2026

Your customer is always the hero. You are merely the guide. Get this right and your brand will soar, as if you’re the one wearing the cape. - Donald Miller

05/21/2026

SPEED TO MEET.

One of the most overlooked metrics in lead generation is the amount of time between when the appointment is SET and when the appointment is actually RUN.

Elite companies understand this concept. Struggling companies ignore it.
The longer the gap between “date set” and “date demo’d,” the higher the cancellation rate becomes. Period.

Why? Because time kills momentum.
Time creates doubt.
Time allows competitors to enter the picture.
Time gives prospects opportunities to reconsider, procrastinate, or disappear altogether.

But when appointments happen FAST, the emotional momentum from the original interaction is still alive. The urgency remains intact. The homeowner still remembers WHY they agreed to meet in the first place.

This becomes even MORE critical with manufactured leads generated through:
✅ Canvassing
✅ Home Shows & Events
✅ Retail
✅ Outbound Calling Campaigns

Those lead sources require effort, energy, payroll, training, and coordination. Every extra day between set and sit increases your risk and inflates your marketing costs.

The companies producing elite results understand that reducing SPEED TO MEET lowers cancellations AND lowers cost per sale simultaneously.
One of the simplest ways to improve this metric is through better scripting and tighter appointment control.

Instead of asking:
“When would you like to meet?”
Train your marketers to use alternate choice questions like:
“We’ll be in the neighborhood the rest of today and tomorrow… which works better for you?”

Or:

“We’ll have a representative nearby tomorrow. Would afternoon or evening be more convenient?”

These questions create the feeling of control for the prospect while strategically stacking the deck in your favor regardless of which option they choose.
That is not manipulation.
That is leadership.
That is process.
That is professional appointment setting.

If you want your marketing to explode with better results, focus on DECREASING your SPEED TO MEET.

And if you’re wondering why your appointments keep blowing up, canceling, or falling off the schedule entirely…

The answer is usually hiding in the long duration of time between DATE SET and DATE RUN. For more comprehensive strategy on reducing speed to meet, join us at www.LeadGenExpo.com

05/19/2026

Get the marbles out of your mouth!!

Every day, thousands of lead generators walk into work and immediately start talking to real consumers before they are mentally sharp, physically warmed up, or verbally prepared. Then leadership wonders why conversion suffers.

Want to know one of the biggest differences between average cultures and winning cultures?

RITUALS.

The best companies don’t “hope” their team performs well. They rehearse well.
They role play daily.
They practice daily.
They sharpen daily.

Because the first customer interaction of the day should NEVER be the warm-up round.

In sports, music, theater, aviation, and the military, rehearsal is expected. Yet in home improvement, some companies throw a canvasser, call center rep, event marketer, or sales rep straight into battle cold… then act surprised when they fumble their words like they’ve got a mouthful of marbles.

You’ve got to get the marbles out of your mouth BEFORE the consumer interaction.
The elite cultures understand that role play is not punishment… it’s preparation.

Daily pre-shift role play creates:
• Sharper communication
• Better objection handling
• Faster thinking under pressure
• Greater confidence
• Higher conversion
• More consistency across the team

The goal is simple:

Practice on your peers… not on your prospects.

It absolutely kills me when companies complain about low conversion rates, but when you secret shop the team and inspect what you expect, the communication is clunky, hesitant, awkward, and unprepared.
Revenue problems are often rehearsal problems.

If you want to win with lead generation, daily role play cannot be optional.

Spit the marbles out and slurp up the results instead.

For more insight on effective training techniques, join us at www.LeadGenExpo.com

05/16/2026

ALWAYS. BE. RECRUITING.

There is never a bad day to find a superstar and the best place to start searching is within your own personal network.

Sure, Indeed is an option. ZipRecruiter another. Even LinkedIn and Facebook are great resources.

However, nobody understands your company culture like the people living it every single day.

Your team is the best place to start. Yet, far too many companies leap over the opportunity with employee referrals and race straight to job boards to solve their people problems.

Maybe your place of business could be your highest performing job board, if you would only treat it like one.

I have visited hundreds of home improvement companies all over this great land and it pains me to get 5 different answers from 5 different staff members, when trying to recount the company policy for employee referrals.

This is something that everyone should know by heart because it is constantly discussed, recognized and celebrated.

For more tips on effective recruiting strategy, join us at www.LeadGenExpo.com

05/15/2026

Focus on the “WHY” not the “WHEN”.

One of the biggest mistakes we make as home improvement professionals, is losing sight of our prospect’s primary motivation.

Their primary motivation is what drives their decision to act.

Far too often, we get so excited when we learn that our prospect has an interest that we rush to timeline and timeframe without fully understanding WHY they are interested in the first place.

Ultimately, it is the consumer’s pain that motivates them to take action. For that reason, you should discuss WHY it hurts, WHY it matters, how it impacts, before concerning yourself with WHEN they plan to act.

If you focus on the “WHY” the “WHEN” takes care of itself!

For more valuable insights, join us at www.LeadGenExpo.com

05/13/2026

This is absolutely bananas!!!

“How did nobody think of this sooner?”
Take a look at this package of bananas.

For over a century, consumers have been buying bananas the exact same way… in bunches. And for over a century, millions of healthy fruit lovers have dealt with the exact same frustration:

🍌 Some bananas are too green.
🍌 Some are perfect.
🍌 Some become bruised and spoiled before you can eat them.
🍌 And part of your money ends up in the trash.

It was accepted as “normal.”

Then one day, a simple grocer looked at the problem differently.

He didn’t invent a new fruit.
He didn’t alter the ingredients.
He didn’t engineer a longer shelf life.
Instead…

He simply selected (7) bananas at different stages of ripeness and packaged them together intentionally — giving consumers ONE perfectly ripe banana for every day of the week.

Pure genius.
Same bananas.
Different packaging.
Different strategy.
Different customer experience.

THIS is marketing.

Take note.
Bear witness.
Study it carefully.

Your company does not necessarily need to be completely reinvented.

Your product may not need to change.
Your service may not need to change.
Your industry may not need to change.
But perhaps the way you PACKAGE the value…

The way you ORGANIZE the experience…
The way you POSITION the solution… that needs to make more logical sense to consumers.

The businesses that win are rarely selling something entirely different.

They simply present familiar things in a more intelligent, consumer-friendly way.
Speaking of things that expire…

There are only a few seats remaining for LEAD GEN EXPO 2026.

Claim your tickets now… before nature takes its course. 🍌www.LeadGenExpo.com

05/12/2026

05/11/2026

Change is possible and May 14 is your starting point.

Join us for a fireside chat designed to help you make the change you've been dying to see in your business actually happen and finally understand why previous efforts didn't stick.

This is an honest conversation between experts who've lived these challenges from both sides. No demos. No lectures. Just tools and frameworks you can take back and use.

You'll walk away with:
✅ Why mindset and culture are where change begins
✅ A framework and team survey tool you can apply immediately
✅ How to build the right structure so implementation actually works

This free webinar is 45 minutes. The time for change is now — and it starts here.

👉 Register: https://lnkd.in/gAMuRQG6

Chris Rice Tony Hoty Lindsey Hulet