“We're getting like 70% of them are getting rejected now. So we're like winning 30%”
♫
Said on Owned and Operated
Sample evidence: what local trade business owners said on podcasts this month
Verbatim, by Gerard Blokdyk of The Art of Service, publishes this free sample of podcast moments from local trade operators, each with speaker, show, date and a link that plays the exact second. The sample below is pulled live from the library every time the page loads. Agencies that sell AI, funnels or lead generation to local businesses can order the full Main Street Agency Brief for USD 497, covering pains, recipes, lanes, traffic and a build agenda for one trade.
Updated
This month's sample from local trade operators
Pulled live from the library: first-hand moments from the last 30 days, one per show. Each plays from the exact second.
- “If it's a little under two weeks, just raise your prices a little bit.” Sherman Burkhead on Booked Out: A Podcast for Home Service Business Owners by Sure Shot Systems with Ben Desjardins, 2026-10-29 Listen at 27:53
- “We try to keep it around 8 to 10% for most of our businesses… we take their marketing budget down when we need to get them more efficient with their calls.” Jason Fox on AI & Marketing for Home Service Pros, 2026-10-20 Listen at 11:59
- “We're trying to get 70% or higher. And we’ll see that those days we’re hitting 75, 80%” Brian Burton on Owned and Operated, 2026-10-22 Listen at 46:07
- “Meta ads have a ghost rate of like 50 to 60%... If you use the landing page… higher intent, higher conversion.” Allison Diamond on Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast, 2026-10-13 Listen at 36:57
- “And there is such a shortage of electricians. And you wait three weeks for the most basic task, ... This is where AI comes in.” Daron Acemoglu on Silicon Valley Girl: AI, Tech and Career Growth, 2026-10-09 Listen at 15:49
Use it if
- Every AI agency pitch sounds the same.
- Owners say the leads are junk.
- You need owners' own words, not your claims.
Framework
The Trade Signal Board
It pins each moment to a dispatch board by trade, and every card carries the four things that make it checkable: speaker, show, date and second.
How should an agency use this sample?
- Play two moments before your next pitch, at the second.
- Lift one owner's own words into the first slide, with the link.
- Note which pain repeats across trades.
- Order the full brief for the trade you sell into most.
The sample changes as the library updates every day, so the moments below may differ from last week's.
Frequently asked questions
Where can agencies find what HVAC owners say?
In the Verbatim library, which keeps short, attributed quotes from 900+ business podcasts, including owners and operators of local trade businesses. This page shows a free live sample. The Main Street Agency Brief, USD 497, gathers a full month of evidence for one trade, every quote linked to the second.
Is the sample free?
Yes. This Verbatim sample page is free to read with no sign-up, and every moment on it plays from the exact second it was said. To get local trades moments every Monday, add the local trades topic to the free Verbatim Monday brief from the topic page.
What does the One brief add?
The Verbatim Main Street Agency Brief, a USD 497 One brief focused on one trade, adds a month of evidence for that vertical, matched to your agency's offers: pains, recipes with numbers, new lanes, traffic recipes and a build agenda with ready-to-run build prompts. It is read by a person before it is sent.
How often does the sample change?
Every time the page loads it pulls the latest first-hand moments from local trade operators in the last 30 days, and the Verbatim library updates every day. A moment drops off when it is older than 30 days or when a newer one from a different show takes its place.
Can I quote these moments in a proposal?
Yes, as short quotes with attribution and a link to the moment, the way Verbatim shows them here. The full episode belongs to its publisher, so link to it rather than copying it. Every link plays from the exact second, so a client can check the quote in one click.
The full month for your trade
One trade vertical, USD 497, delivered within two business days.
Order the Main Street Agency Brief