The Advisory Board | Expert Franchising Advice for Franchise Leaders

In this episode of The Advisory Board Podcast, Dave Hansen sits down with friend (and quietly relentless operator) Dustin Ingle, co-founder of Insulation Commandos, to unpack what operational excellence actually looks like when you’re building a franchise system from the ground up.Huge thanks to ClientTether for sponsoring this episode—because when the mission is faster follow-up, tighter ops, and better owner support, the right systems matter.what you’ll hear in this episode1) a support model that makes people do a double-take (and still stays profitable) Insulation Commandos is running an unusually high support ratio—roughly one to two home office staff per franchise owner—and still operating “in the black,” even with 26 owners. The big idea: profitability and heavy support aren’t opposites if the model is built intentionally.2) onboarding that eliminates the “waiting around to start making money” problem Dustin breaks down their six-week ramp-up and the bottleneck most franchisors underestimate: trucks, wraps, equipment, shipping, and timing. Their fix was deceptively simple and wildly effective: a centrally located corporate operation in Clarksville, TN where trucks and equipment are delivered, wrapped, staged, and prepped. Owners come to training… and drive home in a turnkey, wrapped truck with tools, uniforms, and materials ready to roll.3) training that goes beyond “classroom confident” Their launch training is split into two phases:phase 1 (virtual): sales training with heavy role-play, installation basics, and building science certification (BPI level 1) phase 2 (in person): deep building science + hands-on work, including a full practice house built inside the warehouse (crawl space + attic), then two full days on real jobs—start to finish, including collecting payment and getting the google review. 4) “month one revenue” isn’t a wish—it’s a plan Instead of a one-size-fits-all marketing push, they tailor launch strategy by market tier. In dense markets, lead volume helps. In smaller markets, they lean hard into grassroots + local partnerships: chamber, bni, retail booths, yard signs, door hangers, postcards, homebuilder associations, and more—starting at least two weeks before opening.5) referrals are the long game (and the real margin play) Because insulation is often “one-and-done,” recurring growth comes from b2b referral partnerships: restoration, hvac, pest control, builders, home inspectors, roofers. Dustin calls out hvac as a major “honey hole,” and notes owners with strong partnerships tend to have significantly lower marketing spend as a % of revenue.6) they treat every launch like a mission… with an after action review Straight from military playbooks: an aar after launches (and again around 90 days) to capture what worked, what didn’t, and what to adjust. Training evolves based on the real questions owners ask post-launch—measured by tracking how many calls an owner needs in the first 90 days and steadily driving that number down.7) the “swat team” concept for post-launch growth support As owners mature past year one, the problems get bigger (more trucks, bigger facilities, team growth). So they’re launching a four-person swat team (ops + sales + field leadership + dustin) to do week-long onsite “missions” in territories—hands-on help across sales, operations, and local networking.8) the call center move that doubled booking rates They started with a third-party call center (solid, “industry standard” results). Then they brought the call center in-house, trained agents through the same building science and franchise onboarding, and powered it with ClientTether. Result: booking rates jumped from roughly 20–30% to 60–70%, with a lift in close rates too—because the first call sets expectations, builds trust, and frames the job as “building science,” not a commodity quote.rapid-fire takeawaysstreamline logistics so owners launch faster and cash-flow sooner train for real life: simulate, then execute on live jobs tailor marketing by market type; grassroots wins in smaller territories build b2b referrals early for durable, lower-cost growth run after action reviews so every launch improves the next don’t outsource your first impression if you can build a better one in-house Guest: Dustin Ingle Host: Dave Hansen Sponsor: ClientTether 🙌