Listen to the full episode of the podcast on the Practical Founders Podcast website.
The Practical Founders Podcast, hosted by Greg Head, offers listeners insights from founders who’ve built successful software companies without the backing of significant funding. In a recent episode, Greg spoke with Landon Taylor, the co-founder and CEO of Snoball, a fast-growing SaaS company. Landon’s journey is an inspiring one, having transitioned from running service-based businesses to founding Snoball, a word of mouth marketing platform that automates referrals, reputation marketing, and reviews for home services companies.
Quick Inspiration
In this episode, Landon covers several key topics, including transitioning from services to software, the value of focus in growing a company, and how intentional word of mouth marketing can dramatically increase referrals. He shares valuable lessons from his journey and offers inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs. Below are Landon’s top 10 quotes that serve as inspiration for anyone building a business:
- “Failure is not fatal. Everybody who's been successful has failed multiple times.”
- “There’s so much power with focus and with knowing who you are. And that trickles down to everybody in the org.”
- “Nurture a conversation with your customer so that word of mouth is not by default but by design.”
- “It takes at least three touch points after the job is done to get your first referral from a homeowner. It takes time to nurture and earn the top of mind.”
- “It’s the combination of nurturing and a really buttoned-up program that are important to have.”
- “The human touch is going to become more and more paramount. So having a human in the loop is important.”
- “If you give that gift [of a referral] and that gift is fumbled and mishandled, you’re not going to give more.”
- “AI is going to continue to proliferate. Consumers are going to catch on to, okay, this is just another bot.”
- “Make the conversation contextual to the situation of that customer, so they’re not just getting a cookie cutter response at a cookie cutter time in their life cycle.”
- “Controlling your own destiny as a company when it comes to customer acquisition is something that’s deeply deeded in our DNA as a company.”
3 Key Insights
Landon’s journey with Snoball wasn’t a straight path, but rather a process of learning, adapting, and refining the company’s model. He shared several key insights that guided him along the way, offering valuable lessons for entrepreneurs in any industry.
1. Focus Is Everything
Landon emphasizes how critical it is to focus on what you’re good at and understand your business’s core strengths. When Snoball first started, it was easy to get distracted by numerous opportunities. “When you're living in a world of abundance of opportunities, it's easy to be the chasing-the-squirrel guy,” Landon says, referencing the distraction that can come from chasing too many ideas. Through working with Greg, Landon realized the importance of honing in on home services, saying, “There’s so much power with focus and with knowing who you are.”
2. Adapting the Model: The Broken Road
Landon describes Snoball’s journey as a “broken road,” highlighting how the company had to pivot multiple times before finding the right model. Initially, the team built an app for sales reps to run their own referral programs, only to discover it wasn’t working as expected. “We built a mobile app on the iOS store, spent a quarter million dollars over the course of eight months, talked to hundreds of sales reps, and it never took off,” Landon recalls. Through this process, they realized that most reps and technicians weren’t willing or able to take on the extra responsibility of managing referrals.
This led Snoball to shift to a “done for you” model, where the platform handles referrals on behalf of sales teams. As Landon explains, “The white space here is done for you… essentially giving the rep an assistant.” This adaptation proved critical to the company’s success. Instead of expecting users to manage the system themselves, Snoball created a service that takes care of everything — delivering better results and building more trust with clients.
Want to take your word of mouth marketing efforts to the next level? Let Snoball help! Schedule a demo to see what Snoball can do for your business.
Schedule Demo3. The Human Touch Still Matters
In a world increasingly dominated by automation, Landon emphasizes the importance of maintaining a personal touch in customer interactions. While Snoball uses AI and automation to streamline many processes, a human element is always present to ensure that conversations feel authentic and personalized. “AI is going to continue to proliferate… the human touch is going to become more and more paramount,” Landon says. By blending AI with human oversight, Snoball ensures that customers feel valued and understood, not just processed by a machine. It’s this attention to personal interaction that makes the service stand out in an increasingly automated landscape.
This human touch is especially crucial in industries like home services, where trust is essential. “AI can't replace a plumber that comes to your home and fixes your piping or somebody putting stuff on your roof. So the trades are not going anywhere,” Landon points out. Home services are deeply personal, and the tradespeople delivering them rely on customer trust. That’s why word of mouth referrals are so powerful in these industries — customers want to recommend a person, not just a service. Snoball capitalizes on this need for trust by ensuring the referral experience is as personalized as the home service itself, creating a connection that AI alone can’t replicate.
Pro Tip:
AI can be helpful in streamlining processes, but customers can detect when a bot is talking to them. Maintain the human touch to ensure conversations with customers are authentic and personalized.
3 Actionable Takeaways
Landon didn’t just talk about theory — he also shared practical steps that any entrepreneur can implement right away. These actionable takeaways reflect the strategies and mindset that have helped him overcome challenges and grow Snoball into the successful company it is today.
1. Embrace Failure
Landon stresses that failure is a natural part of the entrepreneurial process. “Failure is not fatal. Everybody who's been successful has failed multiple times,” he states. Entrepreneurs should see failure as a learning opportunity rather than a setback. By embracing this mindset, you’ll be more willing to take risks, learn from mistakes, and ultimately grow your business.
2. Focus on Continuous Nurturing
Don’t stop after the first touchpoint. Landon’s advice is clear: “It takes at least three touch points after the job is done to get your first referral from a homeowner.” Entrepreneurs should develop systems that maintain ongoing conversations with their customers to stay top of mind. This approach has helped Snoball increase referrals, and it can do the same for any entrepreneur focused on building strong customer relationships.
3. Be Intentional About Your Process
Word of mouth marketing doesn’t happen by accident. Landon advises, “Be intentional about the design [of your referral program].” Every business can benefit from creating a system that encourages referrals, reviews, and reputation-building efforts in a structured, repeatable way. Many businesses believe that if they do their service well, referrals will naturally come. However, Landon suggests taking the time and building an intentional process to ensure the referral program is a well-oiled machine.
Recap
In this episode of the Practical Founders Podcast, Landon Taylor shares invaluable insights on focus, relationship-building, and the importance of personal touch in an increasingly automated world. Entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses can learn from Landon’s journey, especially his emphasis on intentional marketing efforts and the power of consistent, patient nurturing. As he shows, success comes from knowing who you are, staying the course, and building a system that works for you — whether through referrals, reviews, or reputation.
