The home services industry’s market is projected to increase to over $1 trillion by 2029. But while demand for services like HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work is skyrocketing, many contractors fail within their first five years. This is even more concerning as most businesses fail to scale due to a lack of a structured roadmap.
That is why Michael Fox, through Corberry Digital, has redefined the game, integrating marketing with an operational strategy to ensure that home service businesses thrive. The company is a full-service digital marketing agency specializing in HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies.
For decades, home service businesses have been considered small, local operators who rely on word-of-mouth referrals, occasional radio ads, and traditional advertising. However, this has shifted as today’s top contractors are expanding regionally, even nationally, with total industry sales exceeding $500 billion.
In 2023, the home services industry saw its first billion-dollar acquisitions, proving that those who master the formula can command 17 to 20 times their profit in a sale. But with rising competition and digital advertising costs skyrocketing, simply buying traffic isn’t enough. “To win in this market, you can’t just throw money at ads and hope for the best,” says CMO Michael. “What contractors don’t realize is that marketing today is directly tied to their internal operations. If your call center can’t convert at 80%, or your average ticket price is too low, you’re throwing money away.”
There is another bigger issue with the traditional marketing agencies; they focus on getting clicks rather than building businesses. A typical scenario is: a contractor hires an agency, doesn’t see any return on investment, and ends up firing them, jumping from agency to agency in hopes of a different outcome. “This is what happens when you just ‘buy ads’—you’re not really fixing the real problem,” explains Michael.
Corberry Digital has come up with a solution wherein it doesn’t just get leads for its contractors but makes sure that every dollar spent translates into scalable revenue growth.
The company integrates coaching into its services, helping clients understand the process and optimize the traffic to have maximize profitability. “The reality is, contractors are great at actually repairing HVAC systems or plumbing issues. However, they struggle with the business side, such as pricing their services, converting calls into jobs, or structuring a sales team. That’s where we come in,” Michael states. “We call ourselves a fractional CMO, managing our clients’ end-consumers’ journey.”
Corberry has a four-step process that makes sure that every contractor they work with actually scales profitably. These four steps are further broken down into eight stepping stones, whether it be customer service scripting or giving them technician upsell strategies.
Building a strong foundation is the first step to a successful business, and it starts with a high-performing website. Many small contractors have barely a 10-page website, which does not cover every service and customer query. Corberry builds authoritative, content-rich websites in a way that can attract customers through SEO engines, engaging them with creative writing and appealing visuals.
Corberry then identifies profit leaks as most contractors don’t realize they’re losing money internally. This could mean inefficient sales calls, below-average ticket pricing, or poor follow-up. The contractors don’t realize that they need to charge, keeping in mind factors such as salaries, advertising, technology, and other customer expectations. “The bigger players in this industry are charging way more than the small contractors,” Michael explains. “A small contractor might be doing jobs for $400 when the actual unrealized cost should be $1,500. If you’re not pricing properly, no amount of marketing will save you.” Corberry pinpoints where revenue is being lost and addresses it.
As a digital marketing agency, Corberry understands that marketing is only effective if it pleases the customers’ journey with the HVAC contractor. The company amplifies traffic through high-ROI digital marketing strategies. Michael adds, “With a single login, we provide businesses with a unified marketing cloud which manages their SEO, PPC, website design, hosting, emails, and content marketing.”
Scaling and expansion are the final steps for most companies. Corberry helps contractors strategically grow from one location into multiple million-dollar enterprises.
Corberry takes on its clients like partners. Michael even confirms, stating, “We only work with contractors who want to invest in growth – sharing data and treating this as a long-term strategy and partnership.”
The home services industry has undergone significant changes, and those who adopt the right strategies now will dominate their markets and build generational wealth, while those who cling to outdated models will be left behind. “There is no doubt that the plumbers and HVAC entrepreneurs are becoming America’s new millionaires,” the founder says. “But to do so, they need to scale the right way with the right partners alongside.”
For contractors looking to future-proof their businesses, Corberry Digital has a roadmap to long-term success, and those who adopt it first are the ones who will win.
