157 | AI Is a Tool, Not a Strategy: Stop Collecting and Start Rolling Out : Freedom Fuel

How many times this week have you opened up ChatGDP, typed in a prompt, read what it spit out, and thought to yourself, man, I'm really doing something here. Yeah, you're not alone. I see you, I hear you, I've been there. But here's the part that nobody wants to say out loud. Ideas are worthless until somebody rolls them out. Somebody has to put them into play.

AI didn't just hand you a business. AI handed you a thousand new ways to procrastinate.

AI didn't hand you a business. AI handed you a thousand new ways to procrastinate, dressed up in a really smart sounding output. And if you don't catch this right now, you're going to wake up six months from now with a folder full of AI generated ideas in a business that looks the exact same as it did a year ago. So today we're going to talk about it. So today we're going to talk about it.

Welcome back to the Freedom Blueprint podcast and welcome to another Friday and welcome to another Freedom Fuel Friday.

Welcome back to the Freedom Blueprint Podcast and another Freedom Fuel Friday. That's a lot of words. Freedom Fuel Friday. That's lot of... That's fun. This is the show for home service owners who are done being stuck. Plumbing, AC, electrical, garage doors. If you send a technician to a customer's home, this show is built for you. And today we're going to get into something I genuinely am fired up about.

The AI trap that is quietly eating the home service industry alive. So let's get into it.

So here's the conversation I was having.

So here's the conversation I'm having over and over again right now.

I'll be in an event or a coaching call or just grabbing lunch with somebody and they're talking about.

the heck?

next time.

No, no, no.

How many times this week have you opened up ChatGTP, turned in a prompt, typed in a prompt, read what it spit out and thought to yourself, man, I'm really onto something here.

All right, 11 minutes in and now we're getting started. It's all right. Bye.

How many times this week have you opened up chat, GPT typed in a prompt, read what it spit out and thought to yourself, man, I'm really doing something here. Yeah, I'm with you. And here's the part that nobody wants to say out loud.

Ideas are worthless until they're implemented. Somebody still has to roll them out.

AI didn't just hand you a business. AI handed you a thousand new ways to procrastinate, dressed up in a really smart sounding output. And if you don't catch this right now, you're going to wake up six months from now with a folder full of AI generated ideas in a business that looks exactly like it did last year. So today we're going to talk about that. So today we're going to dive into that topic.

Welcome back to the Freedom Blueprint podcast and back to your Friday.

Welcome back to freedom blueprint podcast. And this is a freedom fuel episode. This is the short, this is the show for home service owners who are done being stuck. Whether that means you're in the plumbing, AC, electrical or garage door space. If you send a technician to a customer's home, this show is built for you. And today, today we're getting into something I'm genuinely fired up about the AI trap that is quietly eating.

And today we're getting into something I'm genuinely fired up about. The AI trap that is quiet, the AI trap that is quietly eating the home service industry alive.

Here's the conversation I'm having a lot. Here's the conversation I'm having over and over right now. Here's the conversation I'm having over and over right now. I'll be in an event or on a coaching call or just talking with an owner over lunch or just having lunch with someone. And they'll lean in like they're about to tell me a secret and they'll say, dude, I made something in AI that is incredible. And I'm always genuinely happy for them.

I love that owners are exploring this stuff. I really do. But then I ask them the next question. Cool. Where does it live? Who is using it? What did it change? And honestly, nine times out of 10, it's still sitting in a chat window. It's still a PDF on their desktop. It's still a Google doc. No one has ever opened. That's not progress.

That is a productive feeling wrapped around zero output.

Listen, I'm not picking on anybody. have done this too. AI is intoxicating. You feel productive. You feel smart. You feel like a CEO architecting something massive. But the truth is, and you need to hear this.

AI is exposing the gap.

AI is exposing the gap between people who know things and people who actually do things. And in this industry, the doers are about to eat everybody alive. And in this industry, the doers are about to eat everybody else alive.

So let me reframe this for you because I want you to win, because I want you winning, not feeling beat up. AI is a tool. That's it. That is the whole thing. It is a tool in your toolbox. It is the same as the wrench. AI is a tool. AI is a tool. That's it.

That is the whole thing. It is the same as a wrench in your technician's bag. It is the same as the wrench in your tech's bag. The same as your CRM. The same as the wrap on the side of your truck. A tool does not run your business. A tool amplifies whoever is holding it. Hand a brand new apprentice the best torque wrench on the market. You still get apprentice level work.

Hint a master plumber, a $20 wrench from the hardware store, and you're still getting master level work.

AI works the exact same way. AI works exactly the same way.

A bad operator with AI just produces bad results faster. But a good operator with AI, that's an unfair advantage. That is the owner who is going to take the market share from you while you're still tweaking the prompt. But a good operator with AI, that's an unfair advantage. That's the owner that is going to take market share from you while you're still trying to tweak your prompts. So the question is not

How do I get better at AI? The question is, am I actually a doer or have I just been?

The question is, am I actually a doer or have I just been a really sophisticated thinker? Am I actually a doer or have I just been really sophisticated thinker? Or have I just been a really sophisticated thinker?

So the question is not, how do I get better with AI? The question is, am I actually a doer or have I just been a really sophisticated thinker?

All right, so here's how we fix it. Five steps. Simple, not easy, but simple. Step one, pick one thing. Not five, not three. Uno One. Could be a follow-up sequence for unsold estimates. Could be a script for your CSRs. Could be a hiring funnel. I don't care what it is. Just pick one and close every other tab.

Pick one and close every other tab. Step two, set a rollout date.

Not someday, not once it's perfect. A date on the calendar. This week, next week, not next quarter. If it's not on the calendar, it's not real. Three, let AI draft. Let AI draft you.

Step three, let AI draft. You decide to roll it out. This is the line most owners are blowing right past right. This is the line most owners are blowing right now. This is the line most owners are blowing right now. They let AI draft and then they let AI dead.

They let AI draft and then they let AI decide. That's not leadership. That's outsourcing your judgment to a robot. AI gives you the first draft in 10 seconds. Your job is to make the call. Does it go live or not? Fourth, put it in front of a real human, a real customer, a real tech, a real lead, a real CSR until it's touched a real person in your business.

It is not implementation. It's just a Google doc and five measure, adjust, repeat. Did it move a number? Did booked calls go up? Did sold tickets go up? Did you, did your close rate move? Did you fill a position? If yes, double down. If no, adjust and roll it out again. That's the loop.

Pick one, roll it out, measure it, and repeat. That's how doers run their business. That is how AI actually becomes leverage instead of just becoming another distraction.

So here's my challenge to you this week. Before next Friday, when the next Freedom Fuel episode drops, I want you to take one thing, I want you to take one thing you've been working on with AI and roll it out. Not, not perfect, not polish, not run it past three more people. Roll it out. Get it into your business. Let it touch a real human. That's it. That's the assignment.

And when you do, I want to hear about it. Send me a message, tag me, drop me a comment wherever you are listening or watching. Tell me, tell me what you rolled out. Tell me what moved. I'll read every one of them.

So here's the one thing I want to walk away with today. AI is not your employee. AI is not your operator. AI is definitely not your savior. AI is a tool in your toolbox. And you still have to do the work. The owner who figures that out in the next 12 months

The owners who figure that out in the next 12 months are going to dominate their market. The ones who do not, they're going to be sitting on a folder full of brilliant AI ideas in the same business they had last year. Don't be that owner.

So listen, that's it for freedom fuel episode of that's it for this freedom fuel episode of the freedom blueprint podcast. If this hits you, if this hits you today, do me a favor, share it with another owner who needs to hear it. Hit that like.

Follow us, hit that follow or subscribe button so you don't miss what's coming up next. And I'll see you back here next Friday. Until then keep building and as always keep crushing it.