Simplifying Life Through Technology

SoundVision's Culture

• SoundVision LLC

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On this episode of “SoundVision Tech Talks,” Mark, Michelle, and Andrew sit down to discuss the culture at SoundVision.

What does company culture look like when it moves beyond slogans and shows up in daily decisions? In this episode, we discuss how SoundVision operates: how our core values of honesty, excellence, and respect shape every hire, every service call, and every client relationship.

We walk through the processes that turn good intentions into reliability: our 90-day culture fit process, quarterly employee analyzers, and behavior-based hiring that ensures new teammates understand what “great” truly means. You’ll hear how we protect our team, saying no to misaligned projects and ending partnerships that compromise our standards, and how we build trust through consistency, from photo audits and checklists to proactive communication when expectations shift.

This episode also explores service as a strategy: why simplicity, responsiveness, and long-term reliability define our success. We share how a service-first model transformed our client experience and why retention, not just installation, is the real product in home technology.

Ultimately, this is a conversation about what it takes to live the Golden Rule in business, how to create an environment where people thrive, clients feel cared for, and excellence is the default.

To learn more about SoundVision:

https://www.svavnc.com/

Check out our Instagram to see our recent projects:

https://www.instagram.com/soundvisionllc/

To listen to more “Simplifying Life Through Technology” podcasts:

https://open.spotify.com/show/7fIkJuLZ7lZ8xbafz62muQ

Contact Us Today:  (704) 696-2792 Ext. 1 | Info@svavnc.com | soundvisionlkn.com

SPEAKER_01:

We are now. We're live. Gosh, why weren't we recording that last part? Great. Okay. All right. Andrew. Where are we going with this, Andrew?

SPEAKER_00:

From prostitutes to culture.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, well, that's a culture. Yeah, that is. It's not ours, but it is a.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. Let's get into it. Let's do it. So today we'll be talking about.

SPEAKER_01:

That wasn't a good answer. No, that wasn't. So today we'll talk about it.

SPEAKER_02:

At Sound Vision, we believe culture isn't just a buzzword. It's the foundation of everything we do. So let's get into culture at Soundvision.

SPEAKER_00:

That sounds so corporate, Andrew.

SPEAKER_02:

Actually, I liked it a lot.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, God.

SPEAKER_02:

I liked it.

SPEAKER_00:

Cringe.

SPEAKER_02:

Don't worry, I always re usually redo my intros by myself. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Feel better in the privacy of your own room.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

So Andrew sent me a uh an email of which classically I didn't open for like four months. And it was the um outline of the culture here at Soundvision, which I thought was really cool. Once I read it, I was like, wow, I should open this a while ago. Better late than ever. But I guess um I do feel like culture is the start that ever. I feel like culture is the cornerstone of everything that you can achieve. And if you don't there everybody has a culture. You either you either make it or you allow it to be made. And I feel like that we have really focused over the years, especially over the last maybe seven, eight, nine, ten years, uh, of being very intentional about our culture. As I've read stuff, as I've learned stuff, as I've grown through trials and tribulations, both personally and and professionally, I I realize just how important it is. Um we've got Michelle in here today, which is very exciting. So exciting. And Michelle is a huge part of our culture because our culture is this sort of amalgamation of everybody in it. And we've gotten it to a point where we're we're very comfortable and we know what it is. Um, and and I'm struggling to put it into words because sometimes it's hard to define, but but you you know, you just know it and you feel it. And when someone comes in and they're not it, and we've had that, not necessarily bad people or anything, they just don't fit our culture. Um, it it it really throws a monkey wrench in everything we're doing. Michelle, jump in, please.

SPEAKER_00:

So culture, I'm not gonna say it's corporate jargon, but it's it's definitely I don't know what that is. What was that? Uh culture is so much more than a word. I I think you people throw it around and they just like they throw around core values. Um, but if you aren't watching it, it can absolutely destroy your business. We have had people that weren't a culture fit and they did some damage over the years. And we've learned over time to be more cognizant of what we value and if if we share those values with the people that we're bringing on. We are very strict about a 90-day uh culture fit when employees start at Sound Vision. It's not a given that it's going to work out. We want it to work out. We will do everything we can to make it work out. That being said, um, there have been folks that just, you know, we figured out it wasn't going to be a good culture fit in parted ways. Because in the past we learned that if we didn't do that, it affects other departments and morale and a whole litany of other things.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's um, you know, we're we're doing this because we want to define to our listeners, to our customers, to our potential customers, who we are so that um they can either relate and and identify and say, man, that's some that's a company I'd like to work with because of the way they are, or maybe not, uh, but either way, uh you you get a sense of of who we are. Uh the attitude and the energy that that everybody has here uh pulling in one direction is really hard as you as you scale, as you grow. Uh it you know, when it's one, two, three, five people, uh, it's one thing. But as you get these plateaus of 10 and 15 and 20 and and more, it's it's really difficult. And like Michelle said, like one person, it's like that drop of oil in a in a pool of water. It's like it, you know, it's it seems really small, but it it takes over. Uh, and and that has been something that we have gone through and it's been painful. Um, we do talk about Michelle, you you alluded to culture and you alluded to um core values. We do talk about both those things with any person that's coming in, any new hire. It's very early in the hiring process. We discuss what they are, we tell them that we're going to um we're we're gonna hold people to that. Um, and then we I know that after someone is new, usually I try to do it about a week or two in. I'll sit them down for 30 minutes or 45 minutes and I'll kind of go through uh I'll I'll ask them, you know, how do they feel about here? And I'll kind of reiterate sort of what we what we expect. And I tell everybody that I ask about everybody, like I I talk to other people and I'm like, hey, you know, how is so-and-so to work with and and how do they fit into what we're doing, and that sort of thing. Um but it's it is definitely permeates every part of our business. Our culture is absolutely one where we help each other. It's one where all of our core values, that is commitment to excellence, process oriented, open and honest, can do, will do, and we have fun, are literally we use them in everything we do. And and that includes working with customers. Like we want to make sure that that we're having fun working for our customers, and our customers are having fun working with us. Uh, and that, and so this is a it's a big thing here. Um, I'm I don't want to be the only one talking. By the way, uh the Halloween sound effects of my mic thing moving, which now which now is not happening, is brought to you by Andrew.

SPEAKER_02:

Mine doesn't do it.

SPEAKER_01:

Awkward silence, he can cut that out, Michelle.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, it'll be cut for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Come on, Michelle.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh okay.

SPEAKER_01:

We're waning. We're not, it's it's kind of drab.

SPEAKER_00:

All right.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that what I was thinking it would be?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, okay, so uh because we're we're talking about words that we can talk about behaviors a little bit. Behaviors are really kind of you touched on our core values, and and again, it sounds like corporate jargon that everybody has started to use. And it's it's it can be, it can certainly be words that you put on a wall and you smile and pat yourself on the back and tell everybody that you've got it all figured out. Uh, from an actual practical standpoint, at our quarterly leadership meetings, we weigh every single employee with a people analyzer against our core values. And it's very easy to see once you identify what you value, um, if there are any issues. And we've had follow-up conversations with employees over the years when we recognize, like, hey, something's off. No, it doesn't look like they're having fun. No, they don't seem to be process oriented. Or they're not open and honest, or they're not open and honest.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, I mine is uh process oriented. I get dinged for not being process oriented from time to time. Yeah, I bring it up because I don't want to focus on it. Yeah, well, hey, someone in this podcast may have called me out. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

Just saying multiple times. Mark talks a great process game. Holding him to it is is fun.

SPEAKER_01:

Look, I'm Pareto. I I'm 80-20, I'm all in. It's that 20 that sometimes I I deviate. Yeah. So I yeah. So I'm trying to get better, but I'm glad you brought that up because we do. We we do that um with our employees. We also evaluate projects. So over the years, there have been a number of projects that uh have been substantial in size, and for various reasons, not the least of which is sometimes we just don't feel we're a quote unquote cultural fit with the customer, we've decided to pass on them. And I don't know how many small businesses like choose to do this, but as just a quick pro tip, if if you haven't said no to a customer in a while, you may want to consider that. It's you know, there there's that shiny object thing, and you go, man, that'd be a good project. Maybe it's uh maybe it's very lucrative, um, you know, but it's just not in your wheelhouse, whether it's the product, whether it's the person, whether it's the location, like whatever. Um, and I think we have been better for that. So that's that's something else that we do.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, 100%. I mean, we we have had customers in the past who weren't a good fit. Um, when you when you have hypothetically somebody who's swearing at your technicians, oh, there's a good one. They take that home. And it we have a very limited talent pool on the one hand, and on the other hand, we actually care about the people that work here, and it's just not part of our culture to allow you know abuse of the employees to go on, regardless of what you're paying.

SPEAKER_01:

I a hundred percent agree. That over the years has happened a handful of times. And in the beginning, I am not ashamed to say that I, you know, marginalized that or I, you know, made allowances for that because it's always your best customer or your most lucrative customer. It's it's never the easy one where the guy just you know didn't spend a whole lot of money or or you know, whatever, whatever it was. It's not always the money part, but um, but over the years, that's we've we've just said there's a no-tolerance policy on that. We have to protect our team and we have to kind of put our money where our mouth is, or our you know, walk the walk kind of thing. And that that happens from time to time. And that's really, I think, when your culture is actually defined. When when push comes to shove, and you have to make a decision. What decision do you make? And I think we've done a pretty good job of that over the last number of years.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's uh I'm glad you said that. It starts at the top. So if we're we're not exemplifying that, you know, how do we expect our employees to, you know, walk that walk for us? Uh I've worked in places where culture was not something that was a priority and the people that were running it were the worst part of the culture and they set the tone. And then you just get in a scenario where the people that are are working at a company, if if it's rotten from the top down and they're enduring abuse on a daily basis, they're not gonna perform as well. The product is not gonna be as good. It's just a very detrimental situation to everybody involved.

SPEAKER_01:

I think anybody that's of a certain age uh has been, you know, had enough life experiences will have had something like this, and this may or may not make the cut. But I had a uh a situation that was life-changing probably about 25 years ago. I was a young sales rep and we were doing this this um launch, uh, and I was kind of the the first, you know, the tip of the spear talking to the customer, very large customer, very large. And I I really didn't have control of kind of the stuff behind me. I was just sort of the face. Uh, and I was lied to by my company at the time. Uh, I was told a certain thing was gonna happen, which then I relayed to this customer, and uh it wasn't ever gonna happen. Uh I was in a hotel room. This is like uh what was the movie with it uh the the where they the the the rabbit where they they bur uh um oh gosh um I have no idea what you're talking about uh it was Roger Rabbit?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, no. What are we talking about? Alice in Wonderland?

SPEAKER_01:

It was uh the lady was uh they had the affair.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, fatal fatal attraction.

SPEAKER_01:

Fatal attraction, thank you. And you remember, remember when she's in the room and she's like sitting on the floor and she's turning the lamp on and off?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, vaguely, vaguely.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, uh well, I wasn't turning the lamp on and off. I was just sitting in a dark room. I was sitting in a dark room on a bed, and I had to make this phone call to this this very large customer, and I had to tell him that they had planned like advertising, and this stuff wasn't gonna be there. And I literally thought I'm getting fired, and I've never been fired. I'm like, I really think I'm gonna get fired. Now, I could lie and use the same story that was told to me. And I'm telling you, I had the devil and the angel on the shoulder thing going on, and I had no idea what I was gonna do. And I called the customer, and in the in the like that minute, I said, I'm gonna tell the truth. And whatever happens, happens, and I'm gonna tell the truth. So in a dark room, I called and uh I talked to Jackie Lewis. Jackie, if you're listening, you'll remember this call. And I told him, and he kind of sat there for a second, and then he and then he said, and this was the life-changing experience for me. He said, We already knew it. And he said, just the fact that you made this phone call and you told the truth tells us what kind of person we're dealing with. And he said, he went on to say, um, you're not gonna lose your job because one of two things will happen. Either one, we'll pull our account, or two, you'll come work for us. Oh so um I was uh I I re that moment has replayed in my mind for 30 years now. Anytime we have a situation here where you could do one thing or another, and what choice do you make? Uh and and there and the easy ones are like when the money's involved, you know. Hey, do we, you know, do we do this and it's gonna cost us some money, but it's kind of the right thing to do? Like, what do we I just always say do it. Uh there's very, very rare instances where we don't go above and beyond because I feel like that's the right thing to do. Um, so and I think that's part of the culture that we've developed here because we try to tell all the technicians, hey, if you got to go the extra mile, go the extra mile. Like we'll, you know, we'll figure it out. We may need to talk about why that was, and you know, did we make a mistake with scope or or did we promise something and we shouldn't have promised or whatever?

SPEAKER_00:

Like that happens, but uh it's important that we yeah, we're definitely customer-centric on you know, from that perspective in service. We've talked about that a lot at length. Um periodically, we send out surveys to get feedback of how we're doing from customers.

SPEAKER_01:

We do.

SPEAKER_00:

And we we don't just shove it in a drawer or not look at it. We actually look at it, we still look at it on a weekly basis and keep track of the comments from the feedback and if there's a negative comment, like we call them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we call the customer and we were like, okay, how do we how can we fix this or what can we do? We had a situation where the lady uh about some uh shades, right? And it was like five years?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, something like that. Uh some time had passed.

SPEAKER_01:

Some time had passed, and and her shades weren't working, and she had never told us, like, we didn't know, right? We sent out this survey and and she told us they had never worked, and she was dissatisfied, and she was an unhappy customer. And we called her and we literally went out there, and it was it actually was a pretty easy fix, as I remember, and now they work, and she's now she is a proponent. Uh, but yes, we do, and I you know, you were talking about just throwing out the words and not living up to them. I mean, everybody says we're customer-centric, but not everybody has 232 five-star Google reviews backing that up with people saying it after the fact.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, it that's definitely something we focus on uh for the the our customers, but also for our staff, um, is the quality of work, the quality of what we're doing, the quality of living with the product, you get the thing and it's in your house. And then if if it doesn't work or operate the way your your initial expectations were and you're dissatisfied, dissatisfied with it, then you're sitting there thinking about how this was just a waste of money. Or you're thinking that you're gonna call us and we're not gonna care, or you don't even bother to try, and that couldn't that's not um the way that we do business. We definitely want to know what you're feeling about it, if you're happy with it, we want you to be happy with your purchase uh and with the service that we can provide.

SPEAKER_01:

And we do things intentionally to follow up with folks, whether it's like a soft follow-up, like a newsletter, or whether it's a survey, uh, whether it's a call after a service call. We we are manic about you know following up and and hey, how did that visit go? Did everything get resolved, that kind of thing. Um because we do care that folks get the value out of the investment that they made in us. We a number of years ago we redefined ourselves as a service company because we were we we brought customers in and we actually asked them, like, what are you know what makes us valuable? Like, why do you do business with us? And the two things that constantly came up were they want products that that are easy to use and they want to be able to get in touch with us when something doesn't work and they can get service provided to them. And so after a number of folks saying that over and over and over and over, I said, okay, well, those are the two things we need to go after. And so we have very intentionally done that.

SPEAKER_00:

I'll I'll ask a question. Who do you think is subjective? Who do you think is the biggest rock star that works at Sound Vision? Biggest rock star.

SPEAKER_01:

Single person? Single person. Single person, biggest rock star, I would go with Michael Dowd.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, yeah. He's definitely, if you have had a service issue, he is the person that's calling you back and getting you on the schedule and troubleshooting with you over the phone. Uh I was gonna also say Paul Martin, who's our legal service technician, when he's at our VIP events, the customers just love him. But if you do actually go look at our Google reviews, one thing you'll notice are the names of the people that work here. And that is uh a theme that speaks to culture because it goes hand in hand.

SPEAKER_01:

I am so glad that Michelle came up with that name. What if a customer today on August on August, on October 13th, wanted to get in touch with Paul Martin? Could they?

SPEAKER_00:

No, they could not. He is on a cruise in Cartagena.

SPEAKER_01:

He's on a cruise in Peru, right? Colombia? Colombia. I think no, it was Columbia. Thank you. Sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

We need a map.

SPEAKER_01:

And okay, which is cool. So he's on vacation. I mean, that's yeah, everybody gets vacation, but yes.

SPEAKER_00:

But but he is on his his uh five-year rejuvenation sabbatical benefit.

SPEAKER_01:

What is that they have in the case?

SPEAKER_00:

So after an employee has worked here for five years, uh, they're given an extra two weeks off to, in addition to the regular PTO, uh, to recharge and rejuvenate. And it's a thank you from us for the time that they've put into the company and the success that they've helped build.

SPEAKER_01:

This goes straight to the culture. Uh, we did this in our leadership meeting a couple of years ago. We came up with we had a whole thing about how can we um improve what we deliver to our c to our uh employees. Uh how can we give more to them? And we thought through a lot of different options and we came up with um the sabbatical, which is not I mean, it's not uncommon. There are companies that do that sort of thing every so often. But I don't know that in our industry it's super common. And we we said, okay, we're gonna give every you know, everybody that's worked here for five year tranches uh an extra two weeks. But the kicker is they have to take those two weeks together, so it's not like an extra day here, day there. We want you to uh disconnect, you know, don't take your phone, don't check anything, just go away for two weeks on something that you want to do. And Paul created a very cool trip with his dad and some of his friends and kind of a life uh bucket list sort of thing, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, he's on a cruise on uh a river cruise.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yeah, those pictures, you see those, they look really cool. And you know, that's that's another thing that we do, like small things, but we use Slack internally, that's our internal communication. And Michelle, I'm pretty sure you came up with the just for fun channel. I mean, it's been there a really long time now. But we you know, originally we just used it as hey, project X, and this is the notes for Project X, and but over time we've we've evolved through that, and now we have this Just for Fun channel, and people post everything in there, yeah. You know, all kinds of stuff, trips and cat pictures, and you know, things with their kids, and uh and it's a hundred percent culture because there's always comments on it, uh a Zen garden is in there, you know, just just it's it's it's really cool. Um one other thing that comes to mind is on our social media a couple years ago, uh we started doing the profiles. Is that the right thing where we're doing like and it's incredible when you look at the likes, because we do look at well, you know, what what performed the best, and you know, all that kind of stuff. And near the top all the time is people with their pets and people like doing like our tech's doing like real life things, and we're like, wow, you know, we thought it'd be the you know, the cool back of the rack or this wild theater, and they do well, but it's incredible how good the ones just about the people are.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, on a on a weekly basis at our on our weekly staff meeting on Fridays that we have with the entire team, we'll do an icebreaker where we'll go around the room with some oddbog oddbog questions so that we get to know each other in some way on a or laugh on a weekly basis. And then we have a shout-outs section uh for employees to call each other out. And it's I don't know, over time, I think everybody has shouted everybody else out, but it's just another means and a way for uh people to acknowledge each other's contributions to what we're doing every day.

SPEAKER_01:

Man, it is so um I I really feel like that is so important. It just makes people feel good. Yeah. You know, it it it goes to a deeper thing than just, hey Andrew, like cool post the other day. I mean, that you when you hear your name and someone just says something positive about you, there's just something that that does I that that that happens. This is a little deeper than that, but um, when I coached, uh we we always started like literally every every session we did, any kind of session, we started by holding hands and we were around this one little area and we would uh we would say to our father, and then we would would go around uh and we would allow people to like just throw out intentions. And I'm talking about high school kids, high school guys. And you know, originally like nobody says anything, and then someone says something silly, you know, and as you go along, but given enough time, like some of the things that actually came out after you know six months of this being together is like you would never imagine the stuff that people would would you know get off their chest or or throw out there. I mean, it was again deeper, but it it went to that culture, like that in that setting, that's why people wanted to like play for each other because they were connected on something more than just hey, I'm gonna just go out and kick the ball around. And I think here it's similar, you know, as we build each other up, I think people want to work for each other and they want to do better and they want to be committed to excellence, which again is one of our core values. And they're okay with being open and honest. Like it's those things, those silly things, those fun things that help us get better and set us apart. At least that's my feeling.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I would agree. Uh sometimes it's the awkward things that help us grow too. Oh, yeah. It's when there's a problem and you know, open and honest, get it off your chest. We'll have the awkward meeting and sometimes multiple awkward meetings to help resolve whatever it is. But if you have people walking around harboring resentment, it's just gonna turn into a cancer.

SPEAKER_01:

We rip the band-aid off. We do. If you're a customer listening to this and you have had a problem that prefer that hopefully we've we've solved, if you've had a problem with your job, we've talked about it. Like it comes up as a team. Oh my gosh. Uh, we have a thing on in our Friday meetings. Um, we call it uh uh uh warranty, uh warranty labor. And what that is, is anything that we've done in the last week that services had to go out and fix, and we didn't bill for it. It was it was a free service to the customer, but was as a result of our guys not doing something. So let's just say they um been a while. Yeah, yeah, actually, yeah. Well, that's the other thing. The whole Peter Drucker, like what gets managed, gets you know, gets fixed. So uh, you know, it used to be like uh Apple TV. You put an Apple TV in and you don't there on an Apple TV that you can time it out, it's got this timeout feature. And when it comes defaulted, it's like an hour or something. So if you forget, it like shuts itself off. Well, in automation systems, you never want the thing to shut itself off. So you have to go into that little little setting and change it to never. Well, this hasn't happened in years, but that used to happen. And then the customer would be like, Why is this not working? And we would have to go out there and literally change a setting, which takes, I mean, if you know where it is, it takes 12 seconds. So we would tell everybody that our service team had to go out and and do this, and we can't make that mistake again. So now everybody knows about it, and it doesn't happen going forward, hopefully, or it certainly happens less.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's not a it's not a means of shaming. It is a means of for us to get better, have some accountability, which is why we also review pictures of jobs and the back of your racks after we've been to your house at the same meeting. On the on the for the employee side, we've got shout-outs, we've got birthdays, we've got anniversaries, we've got um sharing personal things, celebrating each other's new babies, like the there's the whole employee celebration aspect. But then there's also on the flip side to that, the accountability where we're looking at to help each other get better. So if a rack doesn't look the way that we would want it to look, we're looking at the pictures of it like, hey, was there a reason that we did it this way instead of maybe that way? And then also reviewing if we had to go out and fix anything that we should have caught the first time.

SPEAKER_01:

Proactive rather than reactive. We are constantly saying that in here. And I'll I'll go back to coaching on on you were talking about like accolades and accountability. Uh, I would tell, I told parents all the time in our like first meeting, I said, Man, I am going to be harder on your kid than anybody's been on them. I want them to know and learn that they can go farther than they think they can. I want to challenge them in ways that they've never been challenged before. I want to help them grow and learn to be. In this case, it was it was you know, young men of society that we could. And be proud of. But I will tell you that they're going to run through the wall for me because no matter how hard I'm going to be on them, at the end of the day, I'm going to grab them and give them a hug and tell them I love them and tell them that that you know that I I care about them and this is why we're doing it. So you can be, you can hold somebody accountable as long as they know that you care about them and you're doing the other side, like it, it it really works, and it's part of culture. A lot of times it's just the negative side, and we don't talk about the positive side. So we're real mindful of that to be positive as well, as much as we can.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, wins. What are our wins? What are our wins? I feel like that's one of my complaints in general is that I don't think that we celebrate our wins uh as much as I would I would like to see. I was telling Andrew before we started that we need to start doing toasts for our wins, just to have that memory of, hey, we did this, it went really well, you know, you guys got this job done, you know, uh, and it was really tough, you know, toast to you or or just more celebration of when things go right because it's so easy to fall into the trap of when things don't go right.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's spiral. Man, it has changed over the years. We are doing these large projects that have tons of detail, uh, and there's just so many parts of them, uh, from network coverage to how does lighting get installed under, you know, under cabinets and so that it looks right. And uh there's just so much. It's very easy to miss something. And we do checklists and we do job reviews and we do, I mean, there's so many little details. So if you're a customer that is that is listening and is detail-oriented or has a very detailed project, that that's what we're built for. But it's not only like saying it, we have the processes behind it to to be able to pull those things off. Uh, the the drawings and diagrams and load schedules, and I mean, they're just so much. Uh, but that comes from a lot of dedicated people that are doing incredibly good work um with an even better attitude.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, uh, have you how many successful companies are as successful when they don't have a staff that sticks around? When they have high turnover and you see a different person on your job uh or a different service person, or they can't keep people, or they can't service you because they don't have the people, or they can't return phone calls because they're putting out fires because they can't keep people. Um hiring and retaining and growing talent is so important. Uh it's not, it is the product. The people are the product of what we do, and their abilities as they grow are are what we are giving you for the long term that we're gonna be around, they're going to be here, we are going to only get better. Um, but when you have companies that are just looking to get the job, companies that are just look coming in with the lowest bid, companies that are don't come out and finish it.

SPEAKER_01:

That way, don't come out and finish it.

SPEAKER_00:

Your buttons, your keypads aren't engraved. Oh my God.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh it's so easy. It's it's such a a predictor of how your future relationship is going to be with them.

SPEAKER_01:

I am a big Marcus Lomonas fan. Uh he used to be on the profit on MSNBCs, and I don't think he's doing it anymore, but uh he's the inner camping world, and his motto is people, products, and process. And that is very much what we are, uh what we are here. So um, anyways, I I don't know if we if there's anything else I think we've we've kind of gone through.

SPEAKER_02:

I think for me, the biggest takeaway what I see with both clients and um other employees is that when they recognize our culture, the trust and support is easily built.

SPEAKER_01:

So oh, it's very nice, Andrew. Well, thank you. You know, one one last thing I I'll say is when we have when there's a situation that happens with an employee, and we've had, you know, we've had numerous ones over the years, all anything you can probably think of. Um we really like that is paramount that we address it. I mean, see I'm talking about legitimate, like real situations. You know, every once in a while there's a I don't know that somebody changes banks and they they you know their payroll doesn't go because that they didn't fill out the form for the you know, whatever. And and we're like on it immediately because I recognize um that it's those little times when somebody really needs you, like how do you react in that moment? And when you do that, you build up a lot of uh a lot of credits so that you know someone needs to work late or they gotta do, they gotta go out of town, or they gotta, I don't know, whatever. They're they're more than more than willing to to do that. At least the folks in our culture. So it needs to give and take.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. Anything else, Michelle?

SPEAKER_01:

No, that's Andrew's. We're done. For those of you that have been following the podcast, he's got this little he turns his head too. You can't see that, but he turns his head and he goes, anything else?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, Andrew's gonna cut that out of the podcast and hear him see it. Yes, well, yes. Oh, this has been a good one. Thank you, Andrew. Oh, yes, thank you guys.

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Mark DiPietro

Host
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Michelle Ferlauto

Host
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Andrew New

Producer