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Yeah, I mean that's that's our number one source of of new leads is people reaching out.
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It's really just reputation, right?
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We don't have some giant marketing budget.
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You're probably not seeing us pop up on Google uh anywhere.
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You know, if you type in elevators, you're gonna see four big companies before you get to our name.
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Um, but um a lot of it's just reputation, people talking and they're happy with us.
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I'm not happy with my elevator company.
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You have any recommendations?
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Um so that that's really where I'd say probably 80% of our new business comes from.
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It's just people finding us, hearing about us, and and wanting to reach out.
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Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
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I am your host, Matt Allred.
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In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
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Today we are joined by Aaron Bailey, sales director at Star Elevator, based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Aaron holds a degree in mechanical engineering and began his career with TK Elevator immediately after graduating.
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With over a decade of experience in sales and sales management, Aaron takes pride in sharing his experience with customers, helping them make informed decisions about their elevator systems.
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Well, Aaron, welcome to the show.
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Yeah, thanks for having me, Matt.
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Thank you.
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I'm I'm excited to be able to talk a little bit more.
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You've you've got an a unique background from uh the times we've talked before, and and I always like uh like sharing uh interesting stories.
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So let's start off with uh just telling us how you got started in the elevator industry.
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Yeah, so uh I graduated in 2011.
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Uh my background's mechanical engineering.
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Um, I'm I went to go work for TK Elevator in their uh product applications department, which is it was uh great, great learning experience to to start my career.
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It was really the the custom application.
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Whatever the customer wanted, uh unique application, uh, we would make the design to uh to build it.
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Um and then from there I moved into um new product design uh about a year after um starting there.
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And this was uh Atlanta, I assume?
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Is that where uh no, it's headquartered in um headquartered in uh Germantown, Tennessee.
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Um just just kind of one of the uh suburb of Memphis, um, about 50 miles from their uh their main manufacturing facility.
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Okay.
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So that was that prior to I mean, prior to building the the test tower and everything in the Atlanta area then.
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Correct, yeah, yeah.
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So they still do the manufacturing uh from what I understand in in Middleton, Tennessee.
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Uh, but they did move the R and D to Atlanta.
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So I was not not there when they built that magnificent uh facility they now have in Atlanta.
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Understood, yeah, yeah.
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So when you were going to college, I mean, did you grow up saying, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna be an elevator person?
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No, no, I mean, definitely not.
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I mean, I think it was more of a path of least resistance to get a to get a job.
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My dad had worked worked there um uh for a couple of years at that point.
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And um, yeah, I mean it seemed it seemed interesting.
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I mean, it's uh, you know, I like mechanical things and elevators have a lot of mechanical parts to them.
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So it seemed like a good good thing to at least get in and and get experience in.
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Yeah.
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What what was your dad's role?
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I mean, was he in the field, in the office, in the tower?
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So he was in charge of um he'd worked there a couple of years as a consultant in their process for process improvement.
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Uh, and then by the time I had started, he had moved into a role as um um managing their order, their order management uh team.
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So um when you're placing an order for something that goes into that group, and um he was overseeing that at the time.
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Very cool, very cool.
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So uh had a little bit of an inside, you know, to you know, somebody that could at least put a word in and uh stand it out in Tennessee.
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And how long did you I guess work there before you started to like it?
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I mean, uh it's not uncommon for people to start a job out of college and go, oh my gosh, this is not for me.
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Yeah.
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Um, you know, it was uh I I'll never forget the first uh when I started, I would say, you know, you you're you're onboarding the typical corporate onboarding stuff, um, but a day or two.
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And then after that, they they sent me out to the factory in the test tower for two weeks.
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So I watched a guy build a uh geared machine and assemble it together.
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I'd see them form up uh steel for building a platform for an elevator.
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So it was kind of kind of the the intro was you know, hey, you go here's you know, I did some layout drawing stuff to see what an elevator was, and then they sent me over to the field and the test tower for a couple weeks to this is what it is that you're seeing on a piece of paper.
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So really a uh really a fantastic onboarding experience for my first first job.
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So that kind of kind of hooked you as it almost sounds like it's like this is amazing.
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Yeah, yeah, it's it's fun, right?
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You get to um, and that that's I did I did enjoy that role the three years I was in it, you know, when when especially I moved into new product where it was, you know, you're designing something on a computer and 3D modeling software, and then you're building the manufacturing prints, and you're gonna go out and watch the people build it and put it together and find out where you messed up.
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Right.
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No, it's gotta be really rewarding.
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Uh, you know, my my oldest son studied engineering for a couple of years, and he was just he he kind of got disheartened when he realized that a lot of engineers never get to see what they, you know, they're just drawing it or whatever, and it goes somewhere else, and they may never get to really witness it, but to watch the whole process has got to be super exciting.
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Yeah, yeah.
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A lot of oh yeah, it was um the the project.
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I was on one project for about a year and a half uh for a new product, and that was uh fantastic experience.
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Getting to start from the beginning all the way through going to our test tower to see a crew install it and take notes on oh, we need to tweak things a little bit to to you know make improvements before we uh make this uh release product.
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That's very cool.
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How would how long did you work in in Tennessee then in that environment?
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Uh just over three years.
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So really right, kind of right at I don't know, a year, three years in a month or so.
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Uh and I I was trying to, you know, I I never really saw myself staying in engineering my whole career.
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It's just not a not the ideal personality fit.
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I I did always want to get into sales.
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Um, but that was a challenge.
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I made it pretty clear for the last six months I was there.
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I said, I'd like to move into a to work at a field office.
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I'm open to location, I'd like to go into a sales position.
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Um, and there really weren't any opportunities presented, um, which hence why I uh when I was looking, uh Otis had a position for a project manager and new installation that I met, you know, they were I met all the requirements, and I figured, hey, I can get into a field office and you know move into sales on that path, right?
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Kind of a another stepping stone.
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Right, right, right.
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So is that what took you to California?
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Yeah, yeah.
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It was we were looking at uh my my wife and I wanted to move out more west.
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So Denver at the time, we really wanted to move there.
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Um, Seattle is with another potential.
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Um San Francisco just kind of came up.
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Um, went out there, did a did an interview, and um, you know, really, really enjoyed it.
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Um, and figured, hey, let's let's take the risk and uh give it a try.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So what what do you love most about the West Coast?
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I mean, from what you told me, you grew up in Georgia.
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So it's it's a little bit different.
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Yeah, definitely different.
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Um uh, you know, growing up in Georgia, I still did a lot of outdoor activities, big into backpacking when I was younger.
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Um, so I mean, really that's and that's kind of what we do here.
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We just have access to a lot more and honestly, just more comfortable weather to enjoy it more often.
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Um so uh yeah, I mean that's that's really what we love, love out here is just the access to just you know, world-class, just natural beauty that that's within two, three hours driving distance.
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So we we end up doing a lot of vacations, like you know, Lake Tahoe or the Northern California coast.
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Um uh we went to um Yosemite last year.
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So those are kind of the the the things that we really love about about this area.
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Uh that and the food.
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Food.
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We're big, big into food, like to cook.
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Um, so I mean it's um it's kind of crazy.
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The farmers markets here, especially you go compared to other places, is you can buy anything and it's grown within a hundred miles a year.
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Wow.
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Um, so that's uh a big a big draw for us that we we really enjoy as well.
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That is awesome.
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So you don't you don't see yourself coming back to Georgia anytime to stay long?
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Um, you know, I never never gonna rule that out.
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Um, but it's it's you know, I obviously, you know, if there's you know, you tell me there's this great career opportunity that's you know, I'll pay you three times what you make.
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Well, okay, well, that changes things.
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Sure, I'll move where you want me to.
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But uh no, I mean, realistically, probably not.
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Yeah, yeah.
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No, that's awesome.
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I mean, it's awesome that you found a place you love.
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And I mean, you you've also told me that that the the elevator industry in particular is is a little different in the Bay Area.
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Tell tell me more about that.
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What does it mean?
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Yeah, and and again, this is more I don't have experience that much.
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I mean, I talk with other people from other places, but I think there's a couple of things that make the market unique is that in a small geographic area, you have a very different feel and approach to how you would sell.
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Um, right.
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Right.
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You might like San Francisco and San Jose, for example, lots of big property management companies.
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Uh, that's who you're gonna be interfacing with, but you might be in the Oakland, Berkeley area, and it's maybe 50% or more of the time, you're talking with the owner of the building.
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Okay.
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So it's just it's it's fun because you're kind you kind of get to um play it, play a little bit different process, uh, depending on how who you're selling to.
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Um, so I think that's pretty unique.
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Um the other piece that that is is especially San Francisco, uh, somewhat Oakland, is we have a lot of old buildings, 100 plus year old buildings, very consistently like that.
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Um, I think we had mentioned, I know we mentioned basement drum elevators.
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I think you said you saw it in a museum post.
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Well, you know, we have we have 70 plus of them, um, which is which is always, you know, it's something to see that this is literally over a hundred years old, installed probably shortly, you know, a lot of them installed after 1906, the fire and the earthquake.
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Um, and they're still in operation.
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And um, those are probably my favorite modernizations to do as well, because those are uh they're all they're similar, but none of them are the same.
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So it you kind of always see something new uh with these old elevators.
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So explain just a little bit to me, and partly because I'm I'm a little bit ignorant when it comes to what you know is really done in a modernization.
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I mean, uh, on one hand, my mind says, Oh, you probably got the shaft and you you start from scratch, but but a lot of times you know, somebody told me the other day, well, it's just it's more about the controller, right?
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It's more, you know, if you're swamping out the controller, then hey, it's a modernization.
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So, so what I'm hearing though is the basement drum stays there.
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You'll you'll no, we we not we replace it.
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I mean, those are full okay.
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It's almost we we really call them a conversion because it's a drum.
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The the difference in in movement between a drum and a traction is different.
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So there's no modern equip like a 1960s elevator, we can replace the machine.
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There's a very similar like for light conversion with a drum, it's custom application.
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So that's what I was gonna ask.
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Is yeah, how do you how do you replace an old drum that's a hundred years old?
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But yeah, so yeah, we we don't.
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Um, so you know, at a bare minimum, it's it's all the mechanical components.
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Um, but we've had times where either by customer requests or because it has wooden rails, not steel, uh, we've done what is actually a new installation in an existing voice way.
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Um so yeah, every one is just just so different.
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Um and then yeah, to go back to your question, you know, modernization though, can mean a lot of different things.
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In general, at a minimum, it's replacing your control system.
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Um, right.
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Where you go from that is dependent on, well, something I'll ask the customers is what what do you want the end result to be?
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Do you want it to perform like a brand new elevator?
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Well, you're gonna be replacing a lot more.
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Or do you want to just get a modern controller so it has you know boards and parts available in case stuff fails, then we can go that route.
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But be aware you have all of these other systems that are 60, 70 years old.
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Right, right.
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No, it's fascinating.
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It's gotta be fascinating just to see the history.
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I mean, if you're dealing with elevators that are that old and then obviously brand new cutting edge and everything in between, that's gotta be, I think, a challenge from certainly from a service repair perspective.
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Because if you're not doing a modernization, well, then you may be repairing the old drum system, which is a little crazy in my mind.
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Yeah.
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Uh again, we've we've done that before.
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So um kind of just just speaks to the quality of the people that we have in the field doing the work, is um they they have experience with this.
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Um, and we do have a lot of them on service that are 100% original and in general, um, outside of a major component failure, they're pretty reliable, just well, well made, you know, they don't make stuff like this anymore.
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That's awesome.
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That's awesome.
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So, what what do you love most about the elevators, the elevator industry?
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I mean, you've you've obviously come, you've stayed.
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What have you come to love?
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Yeah, I mean, uh, there's a couple of things.
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Um, I'd say probably what my you know, my favorites is is the sales process with customers.
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Um, I will, you know, my view has always been is it's my job because because it's a niche market, most people don't know anything about elevators.
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It's a box that takes me up and down.
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I don't think about it unless it's broken.
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Um so it's it's enjoyable for me to go and sit with customers and explain what they're getting and what they're looking for and the pros and cons of everything.
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Um, and really just take a consultative approach and uh help them make the best decision that they can based on the information I give them.
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Um I may not always agree with the decision, but uh at least you know my job is to help them at least have some information so they can make a decision.
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Um and I'd say the other part um is I I really enjoy the team aspect internally at the company.
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Um, just the the time, the the partnership that we have between our operations people and you know the sales staff and how when issues occur, you know, we all take a little piece of the problem and work together and come up with a solution.
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Um, so the teamwork aspects is is a lot of fun and it's really rewarding.
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So tell me um tell me a little bit more about that because uh what I want to dig into just a little bit is you know, you you worked for a very large company, but then you've also worked for a smaller company and then you left and you went back, you know, it may and maybe that's a unique pathway, but you've kind of seen both.
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Um tell me about the difference between teamwork and one versus the other in in your experience.
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Yeah, um, you know, it's um I have been fortunate enough working when I was at TK uh doing modernization sales, I was pretty fortunate to have a really good operations team.
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Um, so I I really I think it's dependent on your situation where you go.
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Um, you know, it's really it's really about people, not what products you're selling.
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Uh, better people are gonna provide better service to customers than whichever product you want to tell me is this much better than that product.
00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.559
Um, so I've I've had a good experience.
00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:21.519
Um I think you know, a big a big difference though is just kind of flexibility in how you run the business.
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Um, you know, there's not a lot of an independent.
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Um we don't dig quite as much into, oh well, we're only at, you know, X percent margin on this job.
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We really can't offer them that that free two hours of standby versus you know, an independent, it's like, well, we want to wanna keep this customer happy, want to have them forever on service.
00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:47.039
Um, it's worth it to if this makes them happy, it's a small price to pay.
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Um, and you can just go ahead and and do it.
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No approvals, no anything like that.
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And I think that that makes it a lot um, it I guess it shifts your focus on, you know, the end goal is customer satisfaction, not right purely, you know, how much money can we make on this one little piece of the pie.
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Right.
00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:23.279
Well, if you're yeah, if you're worried about, I guess, winning X margin on every single interaction, it's it's a little harder to to pay it forward to to go out of your way and allow them to see it because you you're not, you know, if if it comes down to to that much.
00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:29.039
But um do you do you find that you you're able to do that a lot more and still be profitable?
00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:30.720
Yeah, absolutely.
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:36.000
Uh, because with that comes opportunities that you would have never had.
00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:42.160
Um, there are plenty of customers we've had where we've done one modernization with them, for example.
00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:43.839
Um, it went well.
00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:58.079
And then three years down the road, you know, we've picked up four other service accounts and they're telling us to give them a bid on another modernization that they're not even gonna take out to bid because they they're they trust us and know that we'll do a good job.
00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:09.279
So it's it's really kind of your you really want to be thinking if you play the long-term game, you're not gonna really have to worry about you know, squeezing this much more on every little sale.
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.079
Is that you know you're just gonna win the work organically?
00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:13.119
Yeah, yeah.
00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:27.519
Have you ever had a situation where you, because of your flexibility, you were able to win an account or win the mod, or or you know, maybe they needed, you know, some kind of, hey, can you do something a little more custom around this?
00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:29.759
And and so and so can't do it.
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.240
But if you can do it, we're gonna give you the business.
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:33.200
Yeah, yeah.
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:41.039
Uh, I think you know, definitely on on some of the more challenging projects, uh, basement drums or other other very difficult projects.
00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:46.079
Um, you know, you have flexibility with kind of your your pricing, the billing structure.
00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:48.000
We can be more flexible with that on.
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:55.200
Um, not that we're we're not in the business of loaning money, but we're we're willing to, you know, not ask for 50% up front.
00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:56.799
And that's a you have to pay us.
00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:57.920
What does that look like?
00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.599
What what can you do that maybe you couldn't do at some of the others?
00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:12.160
I I think a lot of it I probably could do, but it gets to a point, especially as a rep, that you have um a lot of noise around you at once.
00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:21.920
And sometimes it's just you don't have the time to go through the multiple levels of approval to get something to say, hey, they're willing to do this, but they're only willing to give us 10% down.
00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.880
Uh, we can structure the payments like this and they'll accept it.
00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:37.039
You know, I items like that is just it's a lot, it's a lot cleaner when um it's you know, one one quick phone call to my boss or or that, and hey, this makes sense, let's do it.
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:38.880
And you know, away we go.
00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:48.319
So it's not that that maybe others can't, as much as like you say, you got a special approval, got some red tape, and and is the rep really willing to fight for that?
00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:55.680
It if it's that big of a fight, well, I could probably be out doing some other things, and you know, maybe this one's not worth it.
00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:56.160
I don't know.
00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:56.960
I'm just curious.
00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:57.920
Yeah, yeah.
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:14.720
No, I I think that's that's probably the biggest thing, and that's something I've seen is probably the biggest difference is the amount of time that I can spend on, you know, value added things for the customer or getting uh actionable items done within the company is you know, that's really that's what I spend all my time on.
00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:05.280
Yeah, I mean that's that's our number one source of of new leads is people reaching out.
00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.120
It's really just reputation, right?
00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:09.279
We don't have some giant marketing budget.
00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.800
You're probably not seeing us pop up on Google uh anywhere.
00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:16.879
You know, if you type in elevators, you're gonna see four big companies before you get to our name.
00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:22.320
Um, but um a lot of it's just reputation, people talking and they're happy with us.
00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.920
I'm not happy with my elevator company.
00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.359
You have any recommendations?
00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:31.679
Um so that that's really where I'd say probably 80% of our new business comes from.
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.240
It's just people finding us, hearing about us, and and wanting to reach out.
00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:42.159
Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:44.240
I am your host, Matt Allred.
00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:59.920
In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:06.319
Today we are joined by Aaron Bailey, sales director at Star Elevator, based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:12.560
Aaron holds a degree in mechanical engineering and began his career with TK Elevator immediately after graduating.
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With over a decade of experience in sales and sales management, Aaron takes pride in sharing his experience with customers, helping them make informed decisions about their elevator systems.
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Well, Aaron, welcome to the show.
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:26.319
Yeah, thanks for having me, Matt.
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Thank you.
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I'm I'm excited to be able to talk a little bit more.
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You've you've got an a unique background from uh the times we've talked before, and and I always like uh like sharing uh interesting stories.
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:43.920
So let's start off with uh just telling us how you got started in the elevator industry.
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Yeah, so uh I graduated in 2011.
00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:49.359
Uh my background's mechanical engineering.
00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:59.920
Um, I'm I went to go work for TK Elevator in their uh product applications department, which is it was uh great, great learning experience to to start my career.
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It was really the the custom application.
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Whatever the customer wanted, uh unique application, uh, we would make the design to uh to build it.
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Um and then from there I moved into um new product design uh about a year after um starting there.
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And this was uh Atlanta, I assume?
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.639
Is that where uh no, it's headquartered in um headquartered in uh Germantown, Tennessee.
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Um just just kind of one of the uh suburb of Memphis, um, about 50 miles from their uh their main manufacturing facility.
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Okay.
00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:42.639
So that was that prior to I mean, prior to building the the test tower and everything in the Atlanta area then.
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Correct, yeah, yeah.
00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:48.800
So they still do the manufacturing uh from what I understand in in Middleton, Tennessee.
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Uh, but they did move the R and D to Atlanta.
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So I was not not there when they built that magnificent uh facility they now have in Atlanta.
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Understood, yeah, yeah.
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.919
So when you were going to college, I mean, did you grow up saying, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna be an elevator person?
00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:06.560
No, no, I mean, definitely not.
00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:10.400
I mean, I think it was more of a path of least resistance to get a to get a job.
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My dad had worked worked there um uh for a couple of years at that point.
00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:19.280
And um, yeah, I mean it seemed it seemed interesting.
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I mean, it's uh, you know, I like mechanical things and elevators have a lot of mechanical parts to them.
00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:29.599
So it seemed like a good good thing to at least get in and and get experience in.
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Yeah.
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What what was your dad's role?
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:35.120
I mean, was he in the field, in the office, in the tower?
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So he was in charge of um he'd worked there a couple of years as a consultant in their process for process improvement.
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Uh, and then by the time I had started, he had moved into a role as um um managing their order, their order management uh team.
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So um when you're placing an order for something that goes into that group, and um he was overseeing that at the time.
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Very cool, very cool.
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So uh had a little bit of an inside, you know, to you know, somebody that could at least put a word in and uh stand it out in Tennessee.
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And how long did you I guess work there before you started to like it?
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I mean, uh it's not uncommon for people to start a job out of college and go, oh my gosh, this is not for me.
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:23.360
Yeah.
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Um, you know, it was uh I I'll never forget the first uh when I started, I would say, you know, you you're you're onboarding the typical corporate onboarding stuff, um, but a day or two.
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And then after that, they they sent me out to the factory in the test tower for two weeks.
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So I watched a guy build a uh geared machine and assemble it together.
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I'd see them form up uh steel for building a platform for an elevator.
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So it was kind of kind of the the intro was you know, hey, you go here's you know, I did some layout drawing stuff to see what an elevator was, and then they sent me over to the field and the test tower for a couple weeks to this is what it is that you're seeing on a piece of paper.
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So really a uh really a fantastic onboarding experience for my first first job.
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:11.279
So that kind of kind of hooked you as it almost sounds like it's like this is amazing.
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Yeah, yeah, it's it's fun, right?
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You get to um, and that that's I did I did enjoy that role the three years I was in it, you know, when when especially I moved into new product where it was, you know, you're designing something on a computer and 3D modeling software, and then you're building the manufacturing prints, and you're gonna go out and watch the people build it and put it together and find out where you messed up.
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Right.
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No, it's gotta be really rewarding.
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Uh, you know, my my oldest son studied engineering for a couple of years, and he was just he he kind of got disheartened when he realized that a lot of engineers never get to see what they, you know, they're just drawing it or whatever, and it goes somewhere else, and they may never get to really witness it, but to watch the whole process has got to be super exciting.
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Yeah, yeah.
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A lot of oh yeah, it was um the the project.
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I was on one project for about a year and a half uh for a new product, and that was uh fantastic experience.
00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:14.879
Getting to start from the beginning all the way through going to our test tower to see a crew install it and take notes on oh, we need to tweak things a little bit to to you know make improvements before we uh make this uh release product.
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That's very cool.
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How would how long did you work in in Tennessee then in that environment?
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Uh just over three years.
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So really right, kind of right at I don't know, a year, three years in a month or so.
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Uh and I I was trying to, you know, I I never really saw myself staying in engineering my whole career.
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It's just not a not the ideal personality fit.
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I I did always want to get into sales.
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Um, but that was a challenge.
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I made it pretty clear for the last six months I was there.
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I said, I'd like to move into a to work at a field office.
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I'm open to location, I'd like to go into a sales position.
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Um, and there really weren't any opportunities presented, um, which hence why I uh when I was looking, uh Otis had a position for a project manager and new installation that I met, you know, they were I met all the requirements, and I figured, hey, I can get into a field office and you know move into sales on that path, right?
00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:11.519
Kind of a another stepping stone.
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Right, right, right.
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So is that what took you to California?
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Yeah, yeah.
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It was we were looking at uh my my wife and I wanted to move out more west.
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So Denver at the time, we really wanted to move there.
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Um, Seattle is with another potential.
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Um San Francisco just kind of came up.
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Um, went out there, did a did an interview, and um, you know, really, really enjoyed it.
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Um, and figured, hey, let's let's take the risk and uh give it a try.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So what what do you love most about the West Coast?
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I mean, from what you told me, you grew up in Georgia.
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So it's it's a little bit different.
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Yeah, definitely different.
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Um uh, you know, growing up in Georgia, I still did a lot of outdoor activities, big into backpacking when I was younger.
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Um, so I mean, really that's and that's kind of what we do here.
00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:08.959
We just have access to a lot more and honestly, just more comfortable weather to enjoy it more often.
00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:22.160
Um so uh yeah, I mean that's that's really what we love, love out here is just the access to just you know, world-class, just natural beauty that that's within two, three hours driving distance.
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So we we end up doing a lot of vacations, like you know, Lake Tahoe or the Northern California coast.
00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.439
Um uh we went to um Yosemite last year.
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So those are kind of the the the things that we really love about about this area.
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Uh that and the food.
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Food.
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We're big, big into food, like to cook.
00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:45.919
Um, so I mean it's um it's kind of crazy.
00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:53.519
The farmers markets here, especially you go compared to other places, is you can buy anything and it's grown within a hundred miles a year.
00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:54.080
Wow.
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Um, so that's uh a big a big draw for us that we we really enjoy as well.
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That is awesome.
00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:04.080
So you don't you don't see yourself coming back to Georgia anytime to stay long?
00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:08.399
Um, you know, I never never gonna rule that out.
00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:17.440
Um, but it's it's you know, I obviously, you know, if there's you know, you tell me there's this great career opportunity that's you know, I'll pay you three times what you make.
00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.200
Well, okay, well, that changes things.
00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:20.799
Sure, I'll move where you want me to.
00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.679
But uh no, I mean, realistically, probably not.
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Yeah, yeah.
00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:25.279
No, that's awesome.
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I mean, it's awesome that you found a place you love.
00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:34.080
And I mean, you you've also told me that that the the elevator industry in particular is is a little different in the Bay Area.
00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:35.519
Tell tell me more about that.
00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:36.960
What does it mean?
00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.960
Yeah, and and again, this is more I don't have experience that much.
00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:54.320
I mean, I talk with other people from other places, but I think there's a couple of things that make the market unique is that in a small geographic area, you have a very different feel and approach to how you would sell.
00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:55.279
Um, right.
00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:55.759
Right.
00:09:55.919 --> 00:10:01.200
You might like San Francisco and San Jose, for example, lots of big property management companies.
00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:10.960
Uh, that's who you're gonna be interfacing with, but you might be in the Oakland, Berkeley area, and it's maybe 50% or more of the time, you're talking with the owner of the building.
00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:11.840
Okay.
00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:23.679
So it's just it's it's fun because you're kind you kind of get to um play it, play a little bit different process, uh, depending on how who you're selling to.
00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:25.759
Um, so I think that's pretty unique.
00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:36.000
Um the other piece that that is is especially San Francisco, uh, somewhat Oakland, is we have a lot of old buildings, 100 plus year old buildings, very consistently like that.
00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.759
Um, I think we had mentioned, I know we mentioned basement drum elevators.
00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:42.399
I think you said you saw it in a museum post.
00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:57.360
Well, you know, we have we have 70 plus of them, um, which is which is always, you know, it's something to see that this is literally over a hundred years old, installed probably shortly, you know, a lot of them installed after 1906, the fire and the earthquake.
00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.639
Um, and they're still in operation.
00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:10.080
And um, those are probably my favorite modernizations to do as well, because those are uh they're all they're similar, but none of them are the same.
00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:14.000
So it you kind of always see something new uh with these old elevators.
00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:22.080
So explain just a little bit to me, and partly because I'm I'm a little bit ignorant when it comes to what you know is really done in a modernization.
00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:32.240
I mean, uh, on one hand, my mind says, Oh, you probably got the shaft and you you start from scratch, but but a lot of times you know, somebody told me the other day, well, it's just it's more about the controller, right?
00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:36.320
It's more, you know, if you're swamping out the controller, then hey, it's a modernization.
00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.759
So, so what I'm hearing though is the basement drum stays there.
00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.080
You'll you'll no, we we not we replace it.
00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:43.519
I mean, those are full okay.
00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:47.279
It's almost we we really call them a conversion because it's a drum.
00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:51.360
The the difference in in movement between a drum and a traction is different.
00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:56.799
So there's no modern equip like a 1960s elevator, we can replace the machine.
00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:01.679
There's a very similar like for light conversion with a drum, it's custom application.
00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.440
So that's what I was gonna ask.
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:06.960
Is yeah, how do you how do you replace an old drum that's a hundred years old?
00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:09.519
But yeah, so yeah, we we don't.
00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.519
Um, so you know, at a bare minimum, it's it's all the mechanical components.
00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:24.000
Um, but we've had times where either by customer requests or because it has wooden rails, not steel, uh, we've done what is actually a new installation in an existing voice way.
00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:28.159
Um so yeah, every one is just just so different.
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.519
Um and then yeah, to go back to your question, you know, modernization though, can mean a lot of different things.
00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.879
In general, at a minimum, it's replacing your control system.
00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:37.840
Um, right.
00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:44.399
Where you go from that is dependent on, well, something I'll ask the customers is what what do you want the end result to be?
00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:46.480
Do you want it to perform like a brand new elevator?
00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:48.879
Well, you're gonna be replacing a lot more.
00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:58.000
Or do you want to just get a modern controller so it has you know boards and parts available in case stuff fails, then we can go that route.
00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:03.919
But be aware you have all of these other systems that are 60, 70 years old.
00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:05.120
Right, right.
00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:06.480
No, it's fascinating.
00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:08.639
It's gotta be fascinating just to see the history.
00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:20.320
I mean, if you're dealing with elevators that are that old and then obviously brand new cutting edge and everything in between, that's gotta be, I think, a challenge from certainly from a service repair perspective.
00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:27.279
Because if you're not doing a modernization, well, then you may be repairing the old drum system, which is a little crazy in my mind.
00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:27.759
Yeah.
00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.399
Uh again, we've we've done that before.
00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:38.879
So um kind of just just speaks to the quality of the people that we have in the field doing the work, is um they they have experience with this.
00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:51.600
Um, and we do have a lot of them on service that are 100% original and in general, um, outside of a major component failure, they're pretty reliable, just well, well made, you know, they don't make stuff like this anymore.
00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:52.480
That's awesome.
00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:53.039
That's awesome.
00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.360
So, what what do you love most about the elevators, the elevator industry?
00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:59.759
I mean, you've you've obviously come, you've stayed.
00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.879
What have you come to love?
00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.039
Yeah, I mean, uh, there's a couple of things.
00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:11.600
Um, I'd say probably what my you know, my favorites is is the sales process with customers.
00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:19.120
Um, I will, you know, my view has always been is it's my job because because it's a niche market, most people don't know anything about elevators.
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:21.200
It's a box that takes me up and down.
00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:23.440
I don't think about it unless it's broken.
00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:32.799
Um so it's it's enjoyable for me to go and sit with customers and explain what they're getting and what they're looking for and the pros and cons of everything.
00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:42.879
Um, and really just take a consultative approach and uh help them make the best decision that they can based on the information I give them.
00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:52.720
Um I may not always agree with the decision, but uh at least you know my job is to help them at least have some information so they can make a decision.
00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:00.960
Um and I'd say the other part um is I I really enjoy the team aspect internally at the company.
00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:14.960
Um, just the the time, the the partnership that we have between our operations people and you know the sales staff and how when issues occur, you know, we all take a little piece of the problem and work together and come up with a solution.
00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.879
Um, so the teamwork aspects is is a lot of fun and it's really rewarding.
00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:35.519
So tell me um tell me a little bit more about that because uh what I want to dig into just a little bit is you know, you you worked for a very large company, but then you've also worked for a smaller company and then you left and you went back, you know, it may and maybe that's a unique pathway, but you've kind of seen both.
00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:41.840
Um tell me about the difference between teamwork and one versus the other in in your experience.
00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:53.279
Yeah, um, you know, it's um I have been fortunate enough working when I was at TK uh doing modernization sales, I was pretty fortunate to have a really good operations team.
00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:58.399
Um, so I I really I think it's dependent on your situation where you go.
00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:04.000
Um, you know, it's really it's really about people, not what products you're selling.
00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:12.080
Uh, better people are gonna provide better service to customers than whichever product you want to tell me is this much better than that product.
00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.559
Um, so I've I've had a good experience.
00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:21.519
Um I think you know, a big a big difference though is just kind of flexibility in how you run the business.
00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:25.200
Um, you know, there's not a lot of an independent.
00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:32.879
Um we don't dig quite as much into, oh well, we're only at, you know, X percent margin on this job.
00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:42.960
We really can't offer them that that free two hours of standby versus you know, an independent, it's like, well, we want to wanna keep this customer happy, want to have them forever on service.
00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:47.039
Um, it's worth it to if this makes them happy, it's a small price to pay.
00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:49.440
Um, and you can just go ahead and and do it.
00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:51.120
No approvals, no anything like that.
00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:04.640
And I think that that makes it a lot um, it I guess it shifts your focus on, you know, the end goal is customer satisfaction, not right purely, you know, how much money can we make on this one little piece of the pie.
00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:05.519
Right.
00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:23.279
Well, if you're yeah, if you're worried about, I guess, winning X margin on every single interaction, it's it's a little harder to to pay it forward to to go out of your way and allow them to see it because you you're not, you know, if if it comes down to to that much.
00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:29.039
But um do you do you find that you you're able to do that a lot more and still be profitable?
00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:30.720
Yeah, absolutely.
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:36.000
Uh, because with that comes opportunities that you would have never had.
00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:42.160
Um, there are plenty of customers we've had where we've done one modernization with them, for example.
00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:43.839
Um, it went well.
00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:58.079
And then three years down the road, you know, we've picked up four other service accounts and they're telling us to give them a bid on another modernization that they're not even gonna take out to bid because they they're they trust us and know that we'll do a good job.
00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:09.279
So it's it's really kind of your you really want to be thinking if you play the long-term game, you're not gonna really have to worry about you know, squeezing this much more on every little sale.
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.079
Is that you know you're just gonna win the work organically?
00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:13.119
Yeah, yeah.
00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:27.519
Have you ever had a situation where you, because of your flexibility, you were able to win an account or win the mod, or or you know, maybe they needed, you know, some kind of, hey, can you do something a little more custom around this?
00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:29.759
And and so and so can't do it.
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.240
But if you can do it, we're gonna give you the business.
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:33.200
Yeah, yeah.
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:41.039
Uh, I think you know, definitely on on some of the more challenging projects, uh, basement drums or other other very difficult projects.
00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:46.079
Um, you know, you have flexibility with kind of your your pricing, the billing structure.
00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:48.000
We can be more flexible with that on.
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:55.200
Um, not that we're we're not in the business of loaning money, but we're we're willing to, you know, not ask for 50% up front.
00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:56.799
And that's a you have to pay us.
00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:57.920
What does that look like?
00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.599
What what can you do that maybe you couldn't do at some of the others?
00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:12.160
I I think a lot of it I probably could do, but it gets to a point, especially as a rep, that you have um a lot of noise around you at once.
00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:21.920
And sometimes it's just you don't have the time to go through the multiple levels of approval to get something to say, hey, they're willing to do this, but they're only willing to give us 10% down.
00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.880
Uh, we can structure the payments like this and they'll accept it.
00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:37.039
You know, I items like that is just it's a lot, it's a lot cleaner when um it's you know, one one quick phone call to my boss or or that, and hey, this makes sense, let's do it.
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:38.880
And you know, away we go.
00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:48.319
So it's not that that maybe others can't, as much as like you say, you got a special approval, got some red tape, and and is the rep really willing to fight for that?
00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:55.680
It if it's that big of a fight, well, I could probably be out doing some other things, and you know, maybe this one's not worth it.
00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:56.160
I don't know.
00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:56.960
I'm just curious.
00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:57.920
Yeah, yeah.
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:14.720
No, I I think that's that's probably the biggest thing, and that's something I've seen is probably the biggest difference is the amount of time that I can spend on, you know, value added things for the customer or getting uh actionable items done within the company is you know, that's really that's what I spend all my time on.
