In this part two, Jack sits back down with Chris Cisneros of Diamond Plumbing—this time diving deep into acquisitions, market entry strategy, and leading seasoned techs as a 23-year-old service manager. Live from the Miami Meetup, they unpack how to decide between greenfield vs. acquisition, what it really takes to keep teams post-close, and how to think about radius, logistics, and install crews when you’re expanding into Palm Beach County from Miami–Broward.
They talk real risks (like “everyone quit in week one”), LOI-to-close learning, buying profit on day one vs. recruiting from scratch, and the sales-first approach Chris uses to win buy-in from techs in their 30s and 40s.
💡 What You’ll Learn
- Greenfield vs. Acquisition: When buying a book of business beats starting from zero—and when it doesn’t
- Team Retention Post-Close: Why size and maturity of the target matters for culture conversion
- Market Mapping: Using a 2-hour radius, jump points, and install-crew logistics to enter adjacent counties
- Recruiting Alternatives: When a dedicated recruiter outperforms an acquisition—for headcount only
- Change Management: A sales-led playbook for earning respect as a younger leader
- From LOI to Day 1: What to learn before you write the check (and how to avoid six years of trial-and-error)
💼 Shoutout to Appletree Business Services
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💼 Shoutout to Quick Staffers LLC
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💼 Extra Special Thanks to Service Scalers!
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🎙 Host & Guest
Host: Jack Carr — https://x.com/thehvacjack
Guest: Chris Cisneros — Diamond Plumbing (IG & LinkedIn: Chris A. Cisneros)
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JQ 21 Transcript
Jack Carr: [00:00:00] Do you have trouble dealing with technicians
Chris Cisneros: who are in their thirties and forties? They're getting a new boss means you got 23. Really, the way I've proved it for the people that are open but not fully convinced is really just proving to them that they can learn some things from me. I've been
Jack Carr: doing this longer than
Chris Cisneros: you've been alive, boy.
Yeah, it was really hard with the first future missions.
Jack Carr: You have organic growth and you have growth through acquisitions. Are you guys considering that as you are kind of getting to a spot where it makes sense?
Chris Cisneros: As we move, push into Palm Beach, uh, which is the county right above B Broward, we might do it through an acquisition.
Jack Carr: Welcome back to Jack Acquisitions. I have Chris from Diamond Plumbing here today. What's going on, Chris?
Chris Cisneros: Yeah, it's been, uh, it's been a great time with you and talking to you and kind of digging your brain.
Jack Carr: It's been fun, man. We had, uh, what, 12 people at this meetup? Um, all owners all. Running businesses was, was good.
I mean it, there's some good back and forth.
Chris Cisneros: Yeah, absolutely. Some work betters too. And you, it's, it's honestly like if people look at 'em competitors. Yeah. But it's, it's, it's really [00:01:00] just that the great networking Nice. In this industry.
Jack Carr: I think if the market was like a really small, tiny town in the middle of nowhere, maybe a problem.
But like
Chris Cisneros: this market is, it's huge. Yeah. Yeah. Like people don't understand how fragments it and massive as smart it
Jack Carr: is. So you started your business. Six years ago with your dad, correct? Yes. I was 16 years old. 16 years old. Started your business, which is wild. I still can't get over that either. Um, one of the most common and expensive mistakes that I see in acquisitions in the home service space is not getting serious about accounting.
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Just head on over to AppleTree business.com, talk to Patrick. Click the link, let them know Jack sends you and they will take care of you. We talked about this today, like. You have organic growth and you have growth through acquisitions, which is what we focus here on a lot of the project. It's what I've done.
There's lots of opportunity. And are you guys considering that as you are kind of getting to a spot where it makes sense?
Chris Cisneros: Absolutely. You know, acquisition is, is, is, is something where you don't get that speed? Uh, actually yeah. Or organically rather. Uh, and that's something that we're looking at, especially as we're looking more north in our markets.
Okay. So we're, we're South som in Miami. We go all the way up to Broward, but as we move, push into Palm Beach, uh, which is the county right above Broward, we might do it through an iron acquisition. [00:03:00]
Jack Carr: Interesting. And so have you already started, uh, shaking those trees or what, what's your in initial kind of strategy here?
Chris Cisneros: Yeah, so, so right now our, our biggest strategy is to learn 'cause that's what we did. Yeah. That, that makes sense. By, uh, when we started the business, we didn't learn first. We just started guessing and, and, mm-hmm. Um, so that's what we're not gonna do now. We're not gonna,
Jack Carr: you don't wanna do that. Learn on acquisitions.
Yeah, that is a good call. 'cause uh, usually everything's PG when you do that, so, uh, but okay. So you're learning, you're learning through the podcast systems. Where, where are you getting your, your information from? Yeah,
Chris Cisneros: so really just talking to people like you, you know, the, the, this industry is just amazing because of the people we have who, where it's, it's open arms and it's come and learn.
You know, we're not, we're not scared to, to talk about our secrets, so to speak. Yeah. Uh, so just networking people like you and, and the podcast and John?
Jack Carr: Yeah. And so you were talking offline about your, your strategy and why you wanted to acquire a company. What, what's that reasoning?
Chris Cisneros: Uh, main reason [00:04:00] is, is, is, is recruitment is hard moving is how, uh, so like when you acquire, obviously you, you gather this team of people that are already producing a profit, hopefully.
Um, if you're acquiring a business, um, so just implementing profit right away as opposed to refueling and.
Jack Carr: Yeah, especially in new markets. Some of that does, uh, pencil. Um, that being said, you've had some different conversations here today. Yes. And you're talking to someone who, when I acquired everybody, quit it.
Exactly. So, I mean, how are you planning for that?
Chris Cisneros: If that's the strategy? I mean what Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just learning, learning from people like you and seeing what, no offense here, but what you did wrong or what you could have been better. Um, so that when we go into. To, to purchase, acquire a business. What can we do differently to, to have the people stay on, but not only stay on, but really buy into us the Myers, uh, I don't know what the strategy is yet.
To be completely honest.
Jack Carr: The, their strategy and the strategy is gonna be based on size of business you buy. Okay? Right. So the smaller the business, the, uh, less [00:05:00] likelihood that they have the same, they, they've probably never even heard of Joe scenario. Right? And they don't know the techniques and, and strategies involved.
And so when you're buying small. You're going to have to go in there. It's maybe an older business, maybe that's had someone like your dad running it for the last 30 years who doesn't wanna raise prices and doesn't wanna do this, and doesn't wanna do that. So it makes it really difficult to make them convert into it.
Whereas if you find a pre-established business in the five, 6 million, you know, dollars kind of top line category, you have a higher likelihood that they're 15 or 16 techs are gonna convert. Right? Um, that's my only advice other than you could just buy, get a recruiter instead.
Chris Cisneros: Um,
Jack Carr: and, uh, work on recruitment through that way rather than acquisition.
So
Chris Cisneros: talk about how that would work though. 'cause you know that if you're, if you're greenfield, I mean, that's the
Jack Carr: hard part is like, that makes sense from a greenfielding standpoint. It's not so much that you need the recruitment, you need the profit right out the gate. Yeah. Um, but there is another option, right?
So what we've seen work [00:06:00] before, and I'm not speaking against acquisition. I think that if you, I think that when we're, we're, you're talking, you're saying recruitment, but I think the actual answer is. You want a green field with profit day one. Correct. And, and, and, and the people who can continue to generate that profit.
Not that you're looking to expand your team through acquisition, because if you're looking to expand your team through acquisition, right, there's either, there's easier ways to do it. You can hire recruitment full-time or recruiter full-time for not very much who can go into that county. And drum people.
Like that's the easy part. Uh, but they won't be on our systems. They won't actually be in any kind of system because they're all gonna, the individuals trying to figure out your company.
Chris Cisneros: Yeah. My, my thing with that is you really have to have a kind of an area manager or somebody to a Sure. Um, and that's, I guess that is also a method, but, uh, I think it just from a logic perspective, it's possible to acquire a business.
I think it makes much more sense to hit the ground running that [00:07:00] way. And you already have database customers? Yep. That. That know the name. Even if you rebrand, it's like, Hey, we rebranded from this name. You know? So
Jack Carr: yeah. There's
Chris Cisneros: definite,
Jack Carr: definite ways to make that go smoothly. Yeah. And so as you're kind of chewing on this, if you haven't started the search, you're just, we've
Chris Cisneros: ruffled some
Jack Carr: feathers.
Chris Cisneros: Uh, okay. Very likely. Oh, no, Lois, nothing like that. Um, I think it's something that we really don't wanna make the same mistake when we did building the business. And we really wanna get a full grasp, grasp of what an acquisition looks like from LOI to. Essential Exit.
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Quick staffers can help you cut that overhead, boost conversions, and scale your business fast. So don't waste another lead. Visit quick staffers.com and transform your business today. And so with, with going into that new county and buying a business. Um, or potentially buying a business. Like do you have a strategy?
'cause the first strategy that they're going have to come up with is like, how do I fly the business? Yeah. Like where, where, what are you thinking going into that?
Chris Cisneros: Um, so we're looking for two hours away from our current location. Um, that way it's, it's, it's, it's commutable, uh, at it daily commute, but it's commutable, uh, potentially Leafly as well.
So why so far? That's, that's the first question. Maybe, maybe I'm wrong in that, in that thinking, uh, the reason we. We're looking for so far is 'cause we're usually, right now we're on a d radius of drive time. Uh, so we, we want to do the [00:09:00] same with this location, so then they can almost meet in the middle or not meet in the middle.
Meet up deep. Yeah. So
Jack Carr: you're trying to like Radius, radius and have Correct. The both of 'em meet. You got it. But. Is there, I mean, this is the, the question for market and, and you guys personally, I mean, could you see a benefit though, in going into Brower County first Yeah. Hitting that and then jumping to the next county up, or is there, or you guys already have a, 'cause the way I think about it, right, so this is a Peterman uh, strategy, right?
Is he started and green started greenfielding, but what he was telling, talking about the greenfields, they're all within like an hour. It's like an hour, an hour, an hour, an hour down. So that he can actually send his installers to go, that's, that's to those locations, right? So if you're at two hours. So I feel like it's a kind of a jump for a technician to be able to go, unless the job is like the cover.
Chris Cisneros: So, so we run our business kind of like John, where we have an install proofs. Mm-hmm. Uh, even though it's a plumbing business. Um, and our installs are very complicated. We do tunnels, we do, uh, you know, very complex. [00:10:00] Uh. Residential jobs, solar, we're the least invasive company or one of the least invasive companies, uh, in the, in the market.
So that install crew could potentially go if there's an overflow to that location, even though it's two hours away.
Jack Carr: Yeah, that makes sense. For like, install crews, crews of high value jobs. So, okay. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm in instead of that. That's awesome.
Chris Cisneros: The reason not to go in straight into Broer is 'cause we currently serve Broer.
Yeah. Uh, so we have, even though our location is down in Kendall, which is like 30 minutes cell phone, where we are now, which is Durra. We have technicians here in indoor row stationed parking up their homes here. Uh, so Fort Lauderdale is 30 minutes away, which is in Broward. So we're kind of already in Broward even though we don't have a physical location there.
Jack Carr: As you grab the 30 minutes up location, we start that location. It's not technically a degree field. It could just be a GMB style location with some, maybe some office liked office staff. Yeah. You know, a small place where they could kind of get tools and, and do and trash. But then you become now a jumping point for [00:11:00] the next one.
I'm, I'm not pushing you in that direction, I'm just curious as to the reasoning why
Chris Cisneros: it's, it's either or. Yeah. We might do that. We might do acquisition. The reason we're thinking about acquisition really is just 'cause we've had a long six years of hiring and firing and i a firing.
Jack Carr: Um, so greenfielding is, would be so difficult,
Chris Cisneros: so brief fielding.
It feels like another six year of the same. So we, we, that's what, that's why we live in net acquisition is 'cause you have me a team. You know, tens to 20 people that are making craw around neighbor
Jack Carr: on someone else's strategy and Yeah. Yeah. 'cause that's always the worry, right? Is you go into the purchase.
Um, I, I mean, Peter's talked about it openly as well, but he, he recently bought a business. He was telling you that here, and everybody quit on his day one too. It was only four technicians, but still like, that's a large, I think it was week one.
Chris Cisneros: Well, he had way more technic that he, he was only left with four technicians.
Oh, he is left with four technicians. Yes. Yeah. Indirectly or something.
Jack Carr: Yeah. So, you know, it's always a worry moving into that, [00:12:00] especially when there's a heavy change. Um, if, you know, and when I say heavy change, it's like,
John Wilson: yeah.
Jack Carr: People who are trying to do things a certain way versus the, the old way, if there's any kind of moving in the business.
Um,
Chris Cisneros: I think that's what I'm good at though, you know? Oh yeah, I have to do it with my dad, you know, and then it has to do it with, anytime there's a change in the business, it's, it's usually, it's unfortunately come from me. Oh. Not all of them work out, but most of them. Yeah. You know, so I thought, I think I'm good at what, you know, change, manage it, if that's the formal way of saying it.
Um, it, and really my strategy, it, it's really is a sales strategy. You have to sell your team and get the buy-in. It's really just, Hey, do you wanna make that money?
Jack Carr: It that for a lot of people it is that definitely, you know, um, mo and those are a lot of times the people you want your business monetarily driven.
Technicians,
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Jack Carr: Uh, this is personal and, uh, don't answer if you don't feel it. You need to, but do, do you have trouble? Dealing with technicians who are in their thirties and forties. Great question.
Who, you know, they're, they're getting a new boss. Is you at 23?
Chris Cisneros: Yeah, I was waiting for the question. That's a great question. It's, it's my hardest thing to deal with. Uh, there, there's some people that, you know, in the interview. 'cause I do, I do most of the first interviews, uh, you can kind of tell that it's gonna be an issue and that's kind of where my, my, uh, my constraints is in the business where I'm not able, I'm not gonna be able to solve that strain.
Wow. Especially to my, my father is a. Doesn't have the most fluent English, so it's not like they're gonna be dealing with him all the time. Um, I am the service manager, so they are gonna be doing me every single day, but really the way [00:14:00] I've proved it for the people that are open but not fully convinced that they're gonna be able to deal with me all the time, uh, because of the age difference, is really just proving to them that they can learn something from me.
Mm-hmm. Um, and that I'm not the typical, you know, the typical stereotypical father son business relationship where his son is just, uh, I dunno how to put it isolated.
Jack Carr: Yeah. Nepotism he got in the business because he is his son, right? Yeah.
Chris Cisneros: Nepotism and not working and yeah. So once they see that it's a different dynamic.
Yeah. Um, that's kinda when they get sold and they kinda get surprised, but there's some people where they just immediately stereo evidence, you know me,
Jack Carr: let's see how we can solve it. I've been doing this longer than you've been alive, boy. Yeah. I only laugh at this because when I was, uh, you know, I came outta college and, uh, that was what I could do.
Is I went in and managed a team of technicians, uh, facilities, technicians, but the same thing. We have 20 facilities technicians that were, you know, most of 'em older or same age as my parents. And they came in there and they required a, uh, [00:15:00] certain handling and gentle touch. Um, but that, that's interesting.
Chris Cisneros: And, and it's easier as we grow 'cause there is flu of labor. It's like, okay, this is a business, you know, you're not. It was really hard with the first few two missions.
Jack Carr: Honestly, I think you answered it the right way though. It, you come in there, you show them, okay, I'm knowledgeable, I'm a hustler. Like I'm gonna provide you an opportunity to make money.
Like I'm don't mess with me. And then it seems to all fall into place and, and I don't
Chris Cisneros: say it. They see it. Yeah. You know, it's, it's, it's really a, a show, not
Jack Carr: show. No tell.
Chris Cisneros: Yeah.
Jack Carr: Very percent. Awesome, man. So it sounds, just to recap, uh, you were talking about acquisitions, you're talking about. Uh, potentially moving a few hours away.
Yeah. You're looking to day one, get some profit on the board. Yeah, I think it's a great idea. Keep us in the loop. Yeah. We're gonna bring you back in six months when, when you go through with this and, and we'll have a follow up. We'll see where we fall. Yeah, well, we'll do, we'll do like, uh, six months and one week.
So we'll see after that week if you're still, is still. And good mood. So I appreciate, I appreciate the time though. It was, it was awesome getting to talk [00:16:00] to you. Absolute advice. If people can wanna find you, want to hear more about you and your business, wanna reach out to you for any reason, maybe they have.
A business in, or excuse me. Yeah, in Palm Beach. Palm Beach, yeah. That they're looking to sell. Yeah. Uh, where can they reach you?
Chris Cisneros: Chris? A Cisneros, my full name, Instagram and Lyft. Awesome man. See,
Jack Carr: great. Feel like a shirt, like and sub and, uh, thanks for listening.
