I watched a session with Marcus Sheridan at the Home Service Growth Summit recently, a conference put on by Kenneth "Shark" Kinney intended to empower home service businesses to grow and scale more effectively. Sheridan took the title of the best presentation, in my book. The guy is a machine. He was sharp, funny, and a little aggressive; he walked the floor and put people right on the spot, ensuring no one left without absorbing the content he was clearly qualified to deliver.
If you haven’t heard of him, Sheridan is the “They Ask, You Answer” guy. His whole philosophy boils down to this: if you want to win business, be the most trusted brand in your space. Not the loudest. Not the flashiest. The most trusted.
His take on how you get there was a lot more in-your-face than I've ever heard. Here are his tricks for how to get going (intended for the home service industry, but I'm already thinking of how to implement them for my job running B2B SaaS marketing at Cinch.)
Say the Stuff No One Else Will Say
He started by talking about the elephant in the room: pricing.
How many times have you been told not to list pricing on your website because “every job is different”? Or “we don’t want to scare people off”? Or my personal favorite: “we don’t want our competitors to see it.
Cool. But your potential customers are already Googling “how much does [insert service] cost?” And if they can’t find an answer in ten seconds, they bounce. Every time. They do not care how unique your offering is. Not until they know you're talking about price.
Sheridan calls this out for what it is: fear. Fear of saying too much. Fear of being too transparent. But if you’re not answering the questions people actually care about—things like:
- How much is this going to cost me?
- What’s the catch?
- What are my options?
- Who else should I consider?
- What’s the best value?
—then you’re losing trust and leads.
One business he worked with (his own pool company, by the way) made $35 million from a single “That Depends” pricing page. So yeah, maybe worth a try?
Pro tip: If you really can’t give a flat number, fine. But give a range. Or explain what causes the cost to go up or down. Or build a tool to help people self-estimate (more on that in a second). Just talking about it, even if you don't give actual answers, is better than nothing.
Lean Into What They’re Already Googling
This might’ve been my favorite out-of-the-box idea from the session:
Sheridan put a page on his pool company’s website listing all of their top competitors. The names of businesses they'd come across with a google search anyway, and what type of customer they are ideal for. What makes them different.
Why? Because people are searching exactly that: “Best pool builders in [city].” So rather than pretending your competitors don’t exist, why not show up in that search and own the narrative?
Yes, he says, some people may read that and pick a competitor. But newsflash: they were probably going to do that anyway. The trust you build with everyone else is what you gain. And let’s be honest: who doesn’t want to be the one brand in the market bold enough to be honest?
Originally, Sheridan said not to include yourself on the list but to keep it third-party and neutral. But now, with AI scraping sites for comparison-style snippets, he suggests do add yourself (briefly, at the end). Just don’t do that obnoxious “and we’re the only one that checks every box!” thing. Be real. Be useful. Be part of the conversation.
I’m absolutely stealing this idea for Cinch. Just saying it now.
Use Video Like You Mean It
Sheridan said 80% of all internet traffic in 2025 will be video. That’s… basically everything.
And yet, most local businesses are barely touching it.
The opportunity here is huge, especially in industries where trust and visuals matter. Pools. Roofing. Spas. Salons. Cleaning. Landscaping. Pet grooming. Car washes. Anything where people want to see what they’re getting.
And not just polished promo videos either. Real, helpful, short-form stuff that answers questions, shows your process, compares options, or introduces your team. That kind of content is what separates a “random business I found on Google” from the one someone actually wants to work with.
Need a place to start? Try answering the most common questions you get on a video, one at a time. Post them on your website, your social channels, and (bonus points) use them in follow-up emails.
Let People Take the Lead
Sheridan said 75% of buyers want a “seller-free” experience. They don’t want to be pitched. They want control. They want to browse, compare, estimate, and schedule without having to talk to a human first.
This isn’t just a big-company thing. It’s not something “we’ll do when we scale.” It’s happening now. The businesses that let people:
- Self-select what services they need
- Self-estimate pricing
- Self-schedule appointments
...are winning.
Imagine this: You’re a pool builder. What if your website walked people through a quiz—What size pool? What shape? Do you want lighting? Heating?—and at the end gave them a personalized cost estimate and a timeline? Even if it’s rough, they’ll feel way more informed, and you’ll have a way warmer lead.
Now imagine this for your business. What questions could you walk people through to help them self-select what they need, or self-educate before ever reaching out?
Spoiler: That kind of content converts. Sheridan predicts that 90% of home service businesses will have a pricing estimator on their website in the next five years. Might be time to get ahead of it.
Be a Human (Not a Logo)
This part wasn’t fluffy, even though it sounds like it might be. Sheridan talked about 1:1 video in email: just short, personal clips where a real human says hi, explains next steps, or introduces themselves.
Imagine you’re a technician or a sales rep. Before you show up at someone’s house, you send a 15-second video: “Hey, I’m Mike! I'll be there at 3 to take a look at your system. Here’s what to expect.” That’s it. Now they’ve seen your face, heard your voice, and feel a little more comfortable letting you in.
Small thing. Big trust-builder.
Final Thought (and a Note on Credit)
Marcus Sheridan’s approach is practical, bold, and grounded in actual buyer behavior. I walked away from this session with a notebook full of ideas, many of which we’ll be testing soon. All credit goes to him for putting this framework into the world and making it feel not just doable, but obvious in hindsight.
If you’re running a local or multi-location business, here’s the real takeaway: stop dancing around what your customers want to know. Answer the real questions. Give people control. Use video. Build trust.
And please—for the love of leads—don’t make me click through five pages just to figure out what something might cost.