If your 2026 marketing plan starts with a random budget number, you're doing it backwards.

In this episode, Mike Stiers and Anthony Brown show contractors how to plan growth by working backward from your sales goal using your KPIs, then turning those numbers into a realistic marketing budget, operations targets, and weekly accountability.

What you'll learn

• The "lead to dollar" machine: the only numbers that matter (leads, set, run, close, revenue)

• How to use your 2025 actuals to set a real 2026 plan

• Marketing % guardrails: 7% maintain • 10% grow • 13%+ dominate

• Why cost per lead rises as you scale, and which levers can help offset it

• "Edge of the Week": AI tools that book more after-hours calls without adding headcount

• Rehash & database marketing: turn old estimates into Q1 revenue (we have a brand new 2026 solution for this 

• Weekly scoreboards that coach (not just punish)

00:00 Start with sales goal, work backward
01:12 Edge of the Week: AI lead management (after-hours & overflow)
05:18 Your business is a lead-to-dollar machine
08:10 The 5 must-track KPIs (lead, set, run, close, revenue)
11:45 True cost per lead (all sources ÷ all leads)
13:20 Marketing guardrails: 7% / 10% / 13%+
17:05 Forecast reality, not fantasy (10% / 20% / 30% growth scenarios)
21:30 Efficiency shifts as you scale (what actually changes)
25:02 KPI Calculator: turn data into targets
28:40 Operations discipline: answer rate, speed-to-lead, confirmations
33:10 Sales consistency > charisma (visuals, options, financing)
39:05 Rehash & database marketing that closes
43:22 Weekly scoreboards: accountability + coaching

Pro Tip: Don't build 2026 on hope, build it on math.
Run your actual numbers through the KPI Calculator and choose your lever: invest more, convert better, or adjust the goal.

Free Home Services KPI Calculator: https://www.greenbaumstiers.com/home-services-industry-kpi-calculator/

Example 2025 Business Recap + 2026 Marketing Plan: https://www.greenbaumstiers.com/marketing-tips/2025-recap-and-2026-strategic-plan-for-home-service-contractors/

Connect With Your Hosts: Mike Stiers & Anthony Brown

Podcast sponsored by: Greenbaum Stiers Strategic Marketing
Creative, Data-Driven Marketing and Business Solutions For Contractors Who Want to Dominate Their Market.