Dec. 19, 2024

Ep 19 - Cultivating the Trade, Culture, and Big Ass Alliances with Rusty Page

Ep 19 - Cultivating the Trade, Culture, and Big Ass Alliances with Rusty Page
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Season 2

Discover the journey of Rusty Page, the mastermind behind Page Electric, as he shares his transformation from a master electrician at the University of Kentucky Hospital to a business owner with over $4 million in gross revenue. Rusty's story is one of resilience and strategic vision, spurred by a timely nudge from his friend Chris, an executive at Big Ass Fans. Listen to Rusty's reflections on overcoming monopolistic competitors, the significance of strategic partnerships, and his dedication to teaching and nurturing new talent in the electrical trade—an essential element in his recipe for success.

Explore the dynamics of a company that achieved platinum status by embracing every opportunity and delivering exceptional customer service. Rusty unveils the logistical triumphs and challenges of handling demanding clients like Amazon, emphasizing the importance of the right equipment and teamwork. This episode brims with actionable insights into building strategic alliances, like one that garnered $750,000 with a 73% profit margin, and proactive strategies that elevate businesses beyond complacency in the competitive landscape of the electrical industry.

Rusty also highlights the transformative power of communication and company culture in fostering a thriving business. From transparent communication practices to a supportive work environment, Rusty shares how Page Electric creates customer loyalty and employee satisfaction. With stories of personal dedication and mentorship, Rusty invites fellow electricians to reach out for guidance, underscoring his commitment to uplifting the industry and the profound satisfaction derived from guiding apprentices. Join us for an inspiring conversation filled with practical insights and heartwarming tales that illuminate the path to becoming a million-dollar electrician.

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00:00 - Million Dollar Electrician Podcast Introduction

11:12 - Platinum Installer's Profitability and Efficiency

18:56 - Customer Service in Electrical Work

28:46 - Company Culture and Employee Engagement

36:53 - The Value of Teaching in Trades

45:25 - Effective Communication in Electrical Business

49:42 - Direct Access to Rusty Page

WEBVTT

00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:12.313
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to the Million Dollar Electrician podcast where we help home service pros like you supercharge your business and spark up those sales.

00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:20.606
I'm Joseph Lucani and, together with my co-host, Clay Neumeier, we're here to share the secrets that have helped electricians sell over a million dollars from a single service van.

00:00:20.786 --> 00:00:30.942
Now it's time for sales, it's time for scale, it's time to become a million dollar electrician.

00:00:30.942 --> 00:00:46.143
If you're listening now and you should be, welcome Rusty Page to the show of Page Electric, you heard it just about five years in business Last couple of years I think you're around 4 million gross revenue does in staff.

00:00:46.143 --> 00:00:47.005
Is that right?

00:00:47.005 --> 00:00:52.564
Yes, sir, that's roundabout where we're at Absolutely Awesome Out of Kentucky.

00:00:52.564 --> 00:01:04.712
Here's what you're going to get from this show Besides just how to treat people right, how to attract the kind of people you want to treat right, how to retain that level of staff, how to set this roadmap for them to want to stay.

00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:07.566
But Rusty didn't always have it easy either.

00:01:07.566 --> 00:01:11.926
He's going to walk us through how he started, why he got started A big myth.

00:01:11.926 --> 00:01:16.287
In that first year, the first six months, I believe he had a major challenge here he had to overcome.

00:01:16.287 --> 00:01:17.472
But not only that.

00:01:17.472 --> 00:01:24.963
You've built a strategic alliance with a major company that some of us know a lot about and others don't know anything about.

00:01:24.963 --> 00:01:33.108
So I'm so interested to get into that, and not only how to develop an alliance like that, but how to dominate and absolutely dominate.

00:01:33.108 --> 00:01:36.311
I mean, you guys are going to hear all about this and how Rusty did it.

00:01:36.311 --> 00:01:42.495
On top of that, rusty has been teaching second year apprenticeships in the electrical trade for the last seven years.

00:01:42.495 --> 00:01:43.557
Is that right, rusty?

00:01:43.557 --> 00:01:44.117
Did I get that?

00:01:44.156 --> 00:01:45.457
all yes sir, that's correct.

00:01:45.457 --> 00:01:51.183
Awesome, you're doing great things.

00:01:51.183 --> 00:01:52.308
You're a perfect candidate for this show.

00:01:52.308 --> 00:01:53.051
We couldn't be more excited.

00:01:53.051 --> 00:01:58.111
So welcome to the show and thank you for starting us out with the all-important matter of human resources and what to do with them.

00:01:58.111 --> 00:02:05.528
Will you take us back to the beginning and walk us through why you got started with Page Electrical and how this kind of fell flat right away for you?

00:02:06.349 --> 00:02:07.432
Absolutely so.

00:02:07.432 --> 00:02:13.703
It started just after COVID, so roughly 2020, mid to late 2020, early into 2021.

00:02:13.703 --> 00:02:17.412
I was the master electrician at the University of Kentucky Hospital.

00:02:17.412 --> 00:02:18.401
I was one of the masters.

00:02:18.401 --> 00:02:21.185
There were 12 total at the time master electricians.

00:02:21.185 --> 00:02:34.760
I mean it's 600,000 square feet of hospital space, so we had quite a bit of you know, we needed 12 electricians to do our jobs every day, not including all outside contractors.

00:02:34.760 --> 00:02:37.426
So I was one of the 12, loved my job.

00:02:37.526 --> 00:02:38.770
It was my retirement job.

00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:42.503
Like I didn't work real hard, I was always in good conditions.

00:02:42.503 --> 00:02:45.330
You know I didn't have a port ofa-john that I had to.

00:02:45.330 --> 00:03:01.393
You know to go to like things like that and every electrician out there knows exactly what I'm talking about Like to not have to have air conditioned bathroom every day and have a regular, you know, seven to three thirty, never overtime, unless you know they asked me was just that that was the retirement job.

00:03:01.393 --> 00:03:06.787
Like I was in it and I had a friend of mine, chris, who was an executive.

00:03:06.787 --> 00:03:10.600
Uh, he was pretty high up the level with uh, big ass fans which, uh, some people know about, some people don't.

00:03:10.600 --> 00:03:16.792
It is a large 24 foot tip to tip um industrial fan.

00:03:16.792 --> 00:03:18.114
It's called an hvls.

00:03:18.114 --> 00:03:19.402
It's high volume, low speed.

00:03:19.402 --> 00:03:20.627
It spins really slow.

00:03:20.627 --> 00:03:26.027
It puts out a ton of air, just period they're phenomenal products that's their product, absolutely.

00:03:26.087 --> 00:03:28.951
So me and him have been friends for a very long time.

00:03:28.951 --> 00:03:36.902
Our kids actually went through daycare together, like when when my son was six weeks old and when he went into daycare Chris's son was like nine weeks old.

00:03:36.902 --> 00:03:39.188
They went, they literally daycare all the way up.

00:03:39.188 --> 00:03:47.247
So we kind of just we were dads that you know, kind of occasionally talked and we bonded and you know, I did some electrical work for him and things like that.

00:03:47.407 --> 00:03:54.840
And he came to me one day I'm a master electrician at the time at the University of Kentucky and he came to me and he says hey, I really need you to start your own company.

00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:57.741
And I said dude, I'm in my retirement job.

00:03:57.741 --> 00:04:00.543
I, you know, I don't want to like they didn't get.

00:04:00.543 --> 00:04:07.306
I mean, I'm getting paid really well to do basically nothing which you know, at a certain level in your career, you're like this is it?

00:04:07.306 --> 00:04:08.548
This is where I want to be.

00:04:08.548 --> 00:04:13.530
It's, you know, I could do more, this is where I wanted to be, and I was very happy with that.

00:04:13.530 --> 00:04:20.954
And he says, well, we have this other installer that they're our only installer, so they're setting their prices.

00:04:20.954 --> 00:04:24.435
They're not, you know, hitting their deadlines because they don't have to.

00:04:24.435 --> 00:04:35.869
You know they're doing a lot of things that big ass fans as a company didn't want but they couldn't control because they were the only person there was.

00:04:35.869 --> 00:04:37.072
No, they had the monopoly in the area.

00:04:37.093 --> 00:04:43.428
And so we went back and forth and you know me being me and who I am, and outgoing as I am I just decided you know what I'm a master electrician.

00:04:43.428 --> 00:04:47.117
If I don't like it, I can always find a job and I can always go back.

00:04:47.117 --> 00:04:50.485
You know, within reason, obviously, you leave on good terms, you know.

00:04:50.485 --> 00:04:52.932
So that situation was always there.

00:04:52.932 --> 00:04:55.449
So I said you know what I'll do it, let's, let's start it.

00:04:55.449 --> 00:05:00.572
So I quit in January 15th of 21.

00:05:00.572 --> 00:05:03.206
And was it 20?

00:05:03.206 --> 00:05:04.410
Jill, was it 20 or 21?

00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:07.060
My wife's in her office around the corner.

00:05:07.060 --> 00:05:09.665
So anyway, I quit january 15th.

00:05:09.665 --> 00:05:12.992
February, 4th page electric exists just straight up.

00:05:12.992 --> 00:05:14.600
That was us, um, we.

00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.571
We set our you know our secretary of state.

00:05:17.571 --> 00:05:19.697
We opened the llc february 9th.

00:05:19.697 --> 00:05:21.961
I took on my first customer, now joe.

00:05:21.961 --> 00:05:29.875
I know you don't know our background and what's went on, but Chris did say hey, you start your own company and you come in, we'll give you.

00:05:29.875 --> 00:05:31.646
There's a ton of work.

00:05:31.646 --> 00:05:33.920
We have this many thousands and millions.

00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:35.425
Oh yeah, we know that story right.

00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:36.744
We've all heard that one.

00:05:37.165 --> 00:05:38.329
So, it's just fine.

00:05:38.329 --> 00:05:48.610
It's not like I didn't trust him or anything, but I went through the process and for the first six months of owning my own company I got zero big-ass fan jobs zero.

00:05:48.610 --> 00:05:54.992
So from february 9th, which is the first day, I went out and just did side you know I used to call it side work.

00:05:54.992 --> 00:05:56.500
It was just work at that point.

00:05:56.500 --> 00:06:06.333
But you know, you know a couple service calls here and there in the neighborhood, you know things like that and um, you have, for six months august of that year I got my first big ass fan job.

00:06:06.333 --> 00:06:11.668
And so between February and August I had to learn to run a company.

00:06:11.668 --> 00:06:13.132
I had to learn to market.

00:06:13.132 --> 00:06:14.704
I had to learn to pay bills.

00:06:14.704 --> 00:06:16.250
I had to learn to pay myself.

00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:22.202
I had to still have the same lifestyle that I had when I worked at UK and the check just showed up in my bank account.

00:06:22.202 --> 00:06:27.848
I showed up, I go to work, run a little pipe, pull a little wire, whatever it is, boom, paycheck.

00:06:27.848 --> 00:06:32.653
Now I had to do all that, just straight grassroots, and that was challenging.

00:06:33.254 --> 00:06:35.877
The only positive that I had going into it that.

00:06:35.877 --> 00:06:43.329
You know everybody's a lot of people that want to start a business.

00:06:43.329 --> 00:06:43.992
They can't get over the fear.

00:06:43.992 --> 00:06:45.377
I never had the fear, just because that's just not who I am Like.

00:06:45.377 --> 00:06:46.742
I mean, the fear was never really there.

00:06:46.742 --> 00:06:49.831
My wife asked me you know, hey, how are we going to do the pay?

00:06:49.831 --> 00:06:52.605
I said I'll pay myself, exactly what I made at UK.

00:06:52.605 --> 00:06:55.112
If it doesn't work, I'll figure it out.

00:06:55.112 --> 00:07:04.853
You know well, I'll go get another job whatever it is, but like I never took another penny more than I made before I started the company, so that was pretty important on how I'm going to reinvest into the company.

00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.228
But when it came through, when I worked at UK, I had a bunch of neighbors and side jobs.

00:07:15.228 --> 00:07:15.569
I never did them.

00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:27.887
But what I would do is I'd call my other electrician friends that were all single or had a new family or needed that extra money and I'd say, hey, you know, ronnie or Travis or Jason or whoever, hey, I got this customer that needs this done.

00:07:27.887 --> 00:07:28.288
Do you want?

00:07:28.288 --> 00:07:29.071
You want to do the work?

00:07:29.071 --> 00:07:31.805
And they were all like absolutely send me all the work.

00:07:31.805 --> 00:07:38.771
And I had a little deal with those guys that I would send them jobs, big or small, it didn't really matter, it was a side job.

00:07:38.771 --> 00:07:45.514
They would give me $75 as like a referral fee and they would just charge the customer whatever they saw fit, whatever they saw fair.

00:07:45.514 --> 00:07:49.050
From that $75 on was all theirs.

00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:51.165
So it didn't affect me.

00:07:51.165 --> 00:07:51.687
It's a solid deal.

00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:55.425
But the customers were calling me because I was the contact.

00:07:55.425 --> 00:07:59.747
So when I started the company now these customers are still calling me.

00:07:59.747 --> 00:08:03.084
The only difference is I'm not giving it to Travis and Ronnie and those guys.

00:08:03.084 --> 00:08:05.726
It was just that was my work orders at those times.

00:08:05.767 --> 00:08:08.831
So it wasn't horrible getting started.

00:08:08.831 --> 00:08:16.240
But you know those neighborhood, those I don't know.

00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:17.124
Do you have next door, the next door?

00:08:17.124 --> 00:08:18.086
Yeah, that's not something I want to pursue.

00:08:18.086 --> 00:08:18.507
So yeah, exactly.

00:08:18.507 --> 00:08:22.982
But when you're starting, put your name next door, put your name on a Facebook page.

00:08:22.982 --> 00:08:24.444
That's all it takes.

00:08:24.444 --> 00:08:27.232
And you know, everybody's got that GFI on the front porch.

00:08:27.232 --> 00:08:27.713
That doesn't work.

00:08:27.713 --> 00:08:29.547
Everybody's got the ceiling fan needs changed.

00:08:29.547 --> 00:08:31.367
Everybody's got the laundry room light that needs changed.

00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:38.100
That's how I started straight up and I was very simple and I was very honest with every single customer.

00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:41.865
It was here's what I charge, here's how long it should take me.

00:08:41.865 --> 00:08:48.326
If it takes me more, it'll cost you this period, like there's no reason to blow smoke up anybody's butt.

00:08:48.326 --> 00:08:50.913
And oh well, I don't really know what it's going to take.

00:08:50.913 --> 00:08:52.105
I'll have to get my hands dirty.

00:08:52.105 --> 00:08:54.006
No, should be this much.

00:08:54.006 --> 00:08:55.405
Shouldn't be more than this much.

00:08:55.405 --> 00:08:56.764
I'll be somewhere in the middle.

00:08:56.764 --> 00:08:57.707
Are you happy with that?

00:08:57.707 --> 00:08:58.861
And that's how it starts.

00:08:58.861 --> 00:09:02.128
And you've really got to starting off.

00:09:02.128 --> 00:09:05.653
You've got to drill that into your customers and be consistent.

00:09:05.653 --> 00:09:12.773
If I'm going to lose money, it's on me, because I told them $200 and now it's costing me $220 in labor and material to do it.

00:09:12.773 --> 00:09:13.354
Guess what?

00:09:13.354 --> 00:09:16.691
I'm not charging them the extra $20 because my word is my bond.

00:09:16.691 --> 00:09:19.769
If I say I'm going to do it for this, I'm going to do it for that.

00:09:21.001 --> 00:09:21.706
I love that about you.

00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:23.666
A lot of long nights doing that.

00:09:23.666 --> 00:09:30.821
But Cone Boss.

00:09:30.821 --> 00:09:31.524
So a lot of long nights doing that.

00:09:31.524 --> 00:09:33.451
So, but big-ass fan job and here's where it takes a twist.

00:09:33.451 --> 00:09:34.533
And clay knows what I'm talking about.

00:09:34.533 --> 00:09:35.277
So I got a job, we killed it.

00:09:35.297 --> 00:09:50.162
Um, they internally have big-ass fans, have a, have a company meeting within the you know the directors and the project managers, coordinators, things like that about every six months and they go over the pluses and minuses and the goods and bads of all of their installers in every region and things like that.

00:09:50.162 --> 00:09:56.913
And my buddy, chris, was in that meeting but he was kind of in the back and he had to kind of keep it zip, but he was texting me while it was going on.

00:09:56.913 --> 00:09:58.480
He was like hey, we're in a meeting right now.

00:09:58.480 --> 00:09:59.702
We're talking about installers.

00:09:59.702 --> 00:10:07.995
And one of the other guys just happened to look at the numbers and he literally said hey, why is Page Electric only had one job?

00:10:07.995 --> 00:10:16.442
And one of the coordinators, like I, gave him a job, and and then Chris spoke up and said no, you didn't give him a job, I gave him the only job on this list.

00:10:17.605 --> 00:10:23.394
And so what happened was is all the coordinators were, they all had their installer, which was the previous guy.

00:10:23.394 --> 00:10:24.392
So they were all like just giving it to that installer.

00:10:24.392 --> 00:10:24.806
There's multiple coordinators were.

00:10:24.806 --> 00:10:25.240
They all had their installer, which was the previous guy.

00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:26.769
So they were all like just giving it to that installer.

00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:27.971
There's multiple coordinators.

00:10:27.971 --> 00:10:33.231
They were giving their jobs to that installer because they're like, oh, the other coordinator will give Paige a job.

00:10:33.572 --> 00:10:38.091
So they all thought someone else was giving me a job and no one was giving me a job.

00:10:38.091 --> 00:10:43.664
Well, luckily this meeting happened and the guy that was in charge that found the numbers.

00:10:43.664 --> 00:10:44.466
He's the numbers guy.

00:10:44.466 --> 00:10:46.028
His name's Brian.

00:10:46.028 --> 00:10:48.432
I don't know if he's still there or not, but Brian said hey.

00:10:48.432 --> 00:10:51.365
He said in six months we're going to have this meeting again.

00:10:51.365 --> 00:10:56.043
He said Paige, better have 50% of all the jobs in their area.

00:10:56.043 --> 00:11:00.941
Let them hang themselves if they're no good and let them strive if they're great.

00:11:00.941 --> 00:11:04.188
He said let them fail, let them succeed.

00:11:04.188 --> 00:11:05.751
You don't make that decision for them.

00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:12.054
And literally from August of that first year to the next six months.

00:11:12.054 --> 00:11:15.904
So there's platinum installer and then there's just gold installer.

00:11:15.904 --> 00:11:20.562
Platinum gets every job that they have in your district, your region, your state, whatever.

00:11:20.562 --> 00:11:24.893
They have it set up as the installer right below them, the gold installer.

00:11:24.893 --> 00:11:33.506
They get anything that the platinum installer says no to or anything that the scheduling just doesn't permit, and just go ahead and give it to the next guy that we don't have to worry about.

00:11:33.506 --> 00:11:42.610
So in six months we took over platinum status from the other installers and in one year we never once said no to a job from them, never once.

00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:46.962
Like we didn't turn down any job If they said hey, we got a job for you.

00:11:46.962 --> 00:11:48.447
Yes, sir, no problem, let me get it scheduled.

00:11:48.908 --> 00:11:51.270
Period that literally has to be like the ultimate valve.

00:11:51.270 --> 00:12:11.033
Can you imagine being the other guy for a second where you're like I have a complete monopoly, I can charge whatever I want, I don't have to do it on time, and then suddenly this new company comes in, not only takes 50% of the leads but does such a good job in their customer service that now, within one year, they only take your spot and refuse to pass any jobs down.

00:12:11.033 --> 00:12:12.964
So the valve is completely shut.

00:12:13.565 --> 00:12:22.732
It's insane how people literally hang themselves, trying to just skirt by doing the minimum, when they would have thrived just choosing a little extra further.

00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:29.527
This is a huge point I got to jump into, and first, I think it's only right that we thank Brian.

00:12:29.527 --> 00:12:32.783
So, brian, if you're listening, page Electric loves you.

00:12:32.783 --> 00:12:35.870
Thanks, brother, for doing the right thing and sharing the workload.

00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:41.429
That said, though, how many people are listening that had a door open?

00:12:41.429 --> 00:12:45.028
Maybe it's just a crack and maybe didn't have this clarity at the upper level.

00:12:45.028 --> 00:12:52.042
Who is your Brian in that strategic alliance that you're trying to break wide open and have the shot to prove?

00:12:52.042 --> 00:13:02.772
But also, the other side of this is the fact that, like Joe touched on and I'm going to hit it again you did not act in complacency on that either.

00:13:02.772 --> 00:13:07.422
You took full advantage by showing up, and there's a deeper truth here.

00:13:07.422 --> 00:13:12.533
That is just understanding what your counterpart in this arrangement requires.

00:13:12.533 --> 00:13:14.783
What is their weakness?

00:13:14.783 --> 00:13:17.931
How do you improve so that it's a mutual benefit?

00:13:17.931 --> 00:13:23.299
And I think we'll continue going down this path and understanding just how big of a benefit that's become to you guys.

00:13:24.561 --> 00:13:27.803
Yeah, we've been named their platinum installer for the past four years.

00:13:29.606 --> 00:13:34.038
So how much revenue per year, would you say on average, comes from this one arrangement?

00:13:35.225 --> 00:13:37.354
Last year alone was three quarter of a million dollars.

00:13:37.354 --> 00:13:41.070
See, that's not small.

00:13:41.070 --> 00:13:42.455
No, not at all.

00:13:42.455 --> 00:13:45.154
Last year alone was $750,000.

00:13:45.154 --> 00:13:49.174
Now do you want to know what our margin is on jobs like that?

00:13:49.655 --> 00:13:52.955
Absolutely, because that's a big factor of it 73%.

00:13:54.590 --> 00:13:55.513
Gross profit margin.

00:13:55.974 --> 00:14:02.777
Gross profit margin Nicely done and we provide some material, like angle iron.

00:14:02.777 --> 00:14:06.350
There's some hardware, some certain things we have to provide.

00:14:06.350 --> 00:14:10.283
Most of our work is traveling angle.

00:14:10.283 --> 00:14:15.366
You know a little bit of material at labor, traveling labor and being there when they need it done.

00:14:15.366 --> 00:14:17.873
So, like right now, my big ass fan crew.

00:14:17.873 --> 00:14:20.788
It's usually a two-man crew and we can separate them.

00:14:20.788 --> 00:14:23.414
They both have a vehicle so we can hit smaller.

00:14:23.414 --> 00:14:25.648
You know, one day, two-day jobs individually.

00:14:26.671 --> 00:14:28.134
I put four guys on it Right now.

00:14:28.134 --> 00:14:31.850
I got my one van with a helper, another van with a helper, so they're all four guys.

00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:33.094
They're doing 28 fans.

00:14:33.094 --> 00:14:34.356
They have to be done by the end of the month.

00:14:34.356 --> 00:14:40.812
They actually just called in a minute ago, while we're on the phone, I went in and buzzed them over it because they know what I've got going on.

00:14:40.812 --> 00:14:43.251
But they have a 28-fan job.

00:14:43.251 --> 00:14:47.489
They started on the 13th See today's, the 18th.

00:14:47.489 --> 00:14:48.634
Today's my father's birthday.

00:14:48.634 --> 00:14:49.754
Happy birthday Dad.

00:14:49.754 --> 00:14:51.697
Happy birthday Dad.

00:14:51.697 --> 00:14:53.519
They've been working on it for five days straight.

00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:55.422
They will be done on the 23rd.

00:14:55.422 --> 00:14:57.892
They do not have to go all the way to the 31st.

00:14:57.892 --> 00:14:58.875
They've been killing it.

00:14:59.605 --> 00:15:24.908
How many fans again, Sari 28 fans in seven different buildings, seven different locations, which means I have to coordinate seven different scissor lifts, seven different moves, seven different fan openings and closings, but 28 fan total, and they all have to be done by the end of the month because they're all inside of an amazon so these are all amazon jobs would you mind if I ask you a question on that, because I think that's actually something that a lot of people would want to know.

00:15:25.328 --> 00:15:26.572
As far as the technical aspect.

00:15:27.053 --> 00:15:35.875
I actually really enjoyed installing big ass fans, because they are a phenomenally built product and, though they have a ton of control boards inside of them, they truly are like it.

00:15:35.875 --> 00:15:36.475
It's.

00:15:36.475 --> 00:15:41.229
Casablanca used to be the best and now this is absolutely blown out of the water.

00:15:41.229 --> 00:15:45.628
But one of the biggest concerns that people run into is how to physically do the lift.

00:15:45.628 --> 00:15:52.190
Obviously, people can use scaffolding, you can use your laddering, but they are heavy and substantial when you have your long down rods.

00:15:52.190 --> 00:15:57.158
So have you invested in interior scissor lifts that can be mobilized in the home?

00:15:59.005 --> 00:15:59.729
Not in a home.

00:15:59.729 --> 00:16:01.333
We have a 21 foot.

00:16:01.333 --> 00:16:08.399
It's a little giant skyscraper that we use for any big ass fans that are essence or below.

00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.452
We typically don't do their third larger industrial that way, but anything Essence or below.

00:16:13.452 --> 00:16:21.345
I got a 20-foot 1-foot ladder and a strong back that says I can get it up to the top of that ladder Okay fair enough.

00:16:21.404 --> 00:16:25.076
So their smaller industrial fans are about 260 pounds.

00:16:25.076 --> 00:16:27.091
They're not lightweight.

00:16:27.091 --> 00:16:29.251
We actually have scissor lifts.

00:16:29.251 --> 00:16:31.874
I mean we have purchased, we have multiple scissor lifts.

00:16:31.874 --> 00:16:33.291
We have a 40-foot scissor lift coming.

00:16:33.291 --> 00:16:38.269
That's our newest addition to the, to the.

00:16:38.269 --> 00:16:38.791
I want to see.

00:16:38.791 --> 00:16:39.351
That's where it happened.

00:16:39.351 --> 00:16:45.929
So, um, and have you ever linux or you know rhino lining linux, that kind of yeah, I mean, I've been, you'd rhino boarding for floors.

00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:47.173
Is that what you're meaning?

00:16:47.173 --> 00:16:49.046
No, like the bed liner, you put your truck.

00:16:49.046 --> 00:16:49.506
That has that.

00:16:49.827 --> 00:16:53.034
Oh yeah, okay, yeah, I used our last scissor lift.

00:16:53.115 --> 00:17:06.469
I actually took it to the linex place and actually got the whole thing covered in linex like rucksack because, like it's mine now, I don't have to have all the stickers and the high biz and the you know united rental or you know, you know some belt rental.

00:17:06.469 --> 00:17:07.531
I don't have to have those anymore.

00:17:07.531 --> 00:17:13.836
It's my scissor lift, I made it my own, so we roll in there and it's just that's another thing that it catches their eye.

00:17:13.836 --> 00:17:15.951
Oh, that's a scissor list I haven't seen.

00:17:15.951 --> 00:17:16.954
And they start looking at it.

00:17:16.954 --> 00:17:20.330
Then they see page and then you know, yet again, live and rent free.

00:17:20.330 --> 00:17:21.589
It's just one of those things again.

00:17:22.545 --> 00:17:27.448
So I want to call attention to another thing, because we touched on it, but I don't want to breeze past this.

00:17:27.448 --> 00:17:29.811
People need to hear this and and really understand.

00:17:29.811 --> 00:17:33.818
We talked about gross profit margin In residential service.

00:17:33.818 --> 00:17:38.663
A lot of the best performers are 60, 65% really earning that.

00:17:38.663 --> 00:17:42.895
Now to get to 73%, did you say?

00:17:42.895 --> 00:17:53.894
There's another factor that comes into play, because often we're talking about increasing our pricing, we're talking about incentivizing our team to do things quicker, right and better.

00:17:53.894 --> 00:17:55.778
We're talking about incentivizing our team to do things quicker and better.

00:17:55.778 --> 00:18:01.403
We're talking about material management and reducing additional runs, etc.

00:18:01.403 --> 00:18:20.602
But it sounds like by being this platinum level big ass fans installer and main partner in that, the ability to keep doing the same work over and over and over, is actually increasing your standard and increasing your profitability.

00:18:20.602 --> 00:18:23.028
Absolutely, absolutely.

00:18:23.127 --> 00:18:29.386
And so we started our gross margin at the beginning with big ass fans was about 40, 40, 45.

00:18:29.386 --> 00:18:30.488
You know, a typical.

00:18:30.488 --> 00:18:31.549
I mean it's a really good.

00:18:31.549 --> 00:18:33.833
It keeps the bills, you know, paid.

00:18:33.833 --> 00:18:35.494
It keeps everybody happy.

00:18:35.494 --> 00:18:37.097
You know they're, they're, you know we're.

00:18:37.097 --> 00:18:41.832
And it's not that they increase their prices, we didn't increase our prices with them.

00:18:41.832 --> 00:18:47.365
It's actually, you know, year over year they changed their own prices on what they were going to pay us to do certain installs.

00:18:48.047 --> 00:18:55.468
So actually it's our guys being more efficient and me providing the tools that I know that they're going to need, because, I mean, I'm certified too.

00:18:55.468 --> 00:18:58.313
No joke, I will get up in a scissor lift.

00:18:58.313 --> 00:19:01.904
I will get hands dirty every day of the week, that's.

00:19:01.904 --> 00:19:07.049
Another thing is I'm not just an owner of a company, I don't just sit in front of a computer, I'm out in the field every single day.

00:19:07.049 --> 00:19:14.477
I was in the field working on vans this morning, uninstalling ladder racks and reinstalling ladder racks on, you know, changing from one van to another.

00:19:14.477 --> 00:19:19.201
But you know I'll get up there and I know what it takes to do the job.

00:19:19.201 --> 00:19:25.310
I know what it takes to make the job more efficient, just like they do.

00:19:25.330 --> 00:19:28.344
And we have a meeting, you know about every three weeks we have small meetings within the company.

00:19:28.344 --> 00:19:37.885
It'll be me and two guys, me and three guys, me and four guys, you know, and they're different sectors, and we'll have lunch.

00:19:37.885 --> 00:19:38.827
I'll take everybody to lunch.

00:19:38.827 --> 00:19:39.609
We'll go to Hooters or whatever.

00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:40.992
We'll grab a beer and we'll have good bads and uglies.

00:19:40.992 --> 00:19:41.894
What do you got going on?

00:19:41.894 --> 00:19:43.405
What do you need from me?

00:19:43.405 --> 00:19:44.892
How can I make it more efficient?

00:19:44.892 --> 00:19:47.161
Period, because they'll tell you.

00:19:47.161 --> 00:19:59.057
Every single person that works for you, every person in the field, no matter what sector service calls, industrial, commercial, residential, if you're a pool electrician, you have certain things that you can do.

00:19:59.057 --> 00:20:03.596
Man, if I had this, I'd be better If I had that, I'd be better If I had this, I can do it faster.

00:20:03.596 --> 00:20:11.233
I mean, I know we talked about it, clay, but Joe, every one of my employees has 40 hours worth of work at the beginning of the week, every one of them.

00:20:11.233 --> 00:20:13.837
If they get done in 30 hours, what happens?

00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:19.688
Now I would suspect, based on how you're leading with this, that they still get the 40 hours.

00:20:20.210 --> 00:20:21.153
Bingo they go home.

00:20:21.253 --> 00:20:21.596
I love it.

00:20:21.757 --> 00:20:22.298
Why would I?

00:20:22.298 --> 00:20:25.390
Why would I penalize them for being really good at their job and efficient?

00:20:25.390 --> 00:20:28.445
If they can get 40 hours worth of work in 30 hours, they can go home.

00:20:28.445 --> 00:20:31.813
My employees don't choose to go home.

00:20:31.813 --> 00:20:32.534
They can.

00:20:32.534 --> 00:20:34.136
They all know that they can.

00:20:34.136 --> 00:20:35.038
So what do they do?

00:20:35.038 --> 00:20:36.086
They call the next guy.

00:20:36.086 --> 00:20:38.031
Hey, what do you got left on your job?

00:20:38.031 --> 00:20:39.134
Can I come help?

00:20:39.134 --> 00:20:43.271
They'll just show up on the other job site help him rock out his 40 hours.

00:20:43.271 --> 00:20:45.766
He might be sitting at 36, 38 hours to get his done.

00:20:45.766 --> 00:20:48.010
Now he's got two extra guys showing up to help.

00:20:48.010 --> 00:20:49.755
Now he's getting done in 32.

00:20:49.755 --> 00:20:52.361
Then now I've got four guys available.

00:20:52.361 --> 00:20:55.208
Now those four guys call the other two guys, the other three guys.

00:20:55.268 --> 00:20:56.391
What can I do to help you guys?

00:20:56.391 --> 00:21:05.269
You know any guys that I got a dentist appointment, I got a doctor's appointment, I need to go to court, I got jury duty, whatever they got going on.

00:21:05.269 --> 00:21:06.752
We have a phrase don't be a buddy fucker.

00:21:06.752 --> 00:21:18.471
If you've got something going on, get with the guys in your line and say, listen, I got some stuff going on.

00:21:18.471 --> 00:21:19.696
I don't want to screw you because we run two main crews.

00:21:19.696 --> 00:21:23.631
I don't want to leave one guy by himself with you know, three Tesla chargers to do in a day and no help.

00:21:23.631 --> 00:21:24.653
That's brutal.

00:21:24.653 --> 00:21:26.097
Nobody wants that.

00:21:26.097 --> 00:21:30.471
So we tell it like if you got something going on, be just out and honest with it.

00:21:30.471 --> 00:21:31.713
You got something going on.

00:21:31.713 --> 00:21:32.336
How can I help?

00:21:39.984 --> 00:21:41.528
How can I transfer a guy over to help you?

00:21:41.528 --> 00:21:42.891
How can I go in the field and help them?

00:21:42.891 --> 00:21:43.592
Period, hey, I hope, go ahead.

00:21:43.612 --> 00:21:50.332
I hope that term goes viral and I hope that many, many electricians use that hey, listen, I thought about no joke.

00:21:50.332 --> 00:21:51.053
I, this is a.

00:21:51.053 --> 00:21:51.976
This is an embroidery shirt.

00:21:51.976 --> 00:21:54.369
I thought about getting my page electric logo screen printed.

00:21:54.369 --> 00:21:56.674
I'm on the back, but don't be a buddy fucker, just straight up.

00:21:56.674 --> 00:21:58.467
Yeah, like, why not?

00:21:59.147 --> 00:21:59.869
you know that's more.

00:21:59.869 --> 00:22:07.604
If you would definitely turn heads, I give you that that'd be cool standing behind you in the supply house and being like I gotta talk to this guy.

00:22:07.604 --> 00:22:09.627
I don't know what about, but I gotta talk to this guy.

00:22:09.647 --> 00:22:12.772
That's something yeah, it reminds me of starting out in the trade.

00:22:12.772 --> 00:22:17.748
Even you know, one of the first splices I taped, I remember my journeyman being like what's this no end for a friend?

00:22:17.748 --> 00:22:20.916
Yep, you screw in the next guy.

00:22:20.916 --> 00:22:22.749
It just takes time.

00:22:22.749 --> 00:22:24.233
You're taking time from the team.

00:22:24.945 --> 00:22:31.991
When we're doing residential and we're doing new construction or remodels, like we all know what it takes to get the job done.

00:22:31.991 --> 00:22:58.471
But we also know, if we just do that little extra step, that little extra effort and I don't charge for it and that's why I kill a lot of people on is I'll do the extra thing that it takes that if I have to come back to this house for a service call, I'm in and out Like I know I'm done so like I'll parallel every single plug with a pigtail period on every house, because if I come back and that plug's not working, I'm changing a plug.

00:22:58.471 --> 00:23:01.665
It's $125 service fee, I'm out the door, I'm.

00:23:01.665 --> 00:23:03.450
10 minutes, 125 bucks, I'm gone.

00:23:04.152 --> 00:23:05.454
You're not finding the localized.

00:23:05.454 --> 00:23:07.605
Which one is daisy chain, which one's not.

00:23:07.605 --> 00:23:08.826
Which one has a loose neutral?

00:23:08.846 --> 00:23:12.048
Yeah, like the like, the little, I don't, I can't.

00:23:12.048 --> 00:23:22.734
I don't know who teaches this, because I drill into all of my apprentices that I teach If you stab in a wire and I see you, it's over, like there's no reason to stab in a wire.

00:23:22.734 --> 00:23:30.319
There's occasionally a reason to stab in a wire, but you better be stabbing it into a lever lock way ago and extending that wire, that's it.

00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:35.563
So pigtail everything because now, if that plug is bad, it's the plug.

00:23:35.563 --> 00:23:46.627
Change the plug, go on with your day, you're done, instead of having to be like oh well, this plug's bad, well, it's because it was in a closet three rooms over, because they, they, they series to everything.

00:23:46.627 --> 00:23:47.711
It's.

00:23:47.711 --> 00:23:54.434
It's very simple to trouble to prevent things from happening, and we do that on every job, every time, that's trained.

00:23:55.325 --> 00:24:05.836
You know, the thing that really stands out as well is we're going into it from an efficiency standpoint, but I like to look at things as well from the customer service standpoint, because really, when you're serving a higher level, you justify the premiums you're charging.

00:24:05.836 --> 00:24:11.412
And the thing that stands out in what you're doing is all the electricians that are listening to this.

00:24:11.412 --> 00:24:14.214
All know the team that daisy chains Like.

00:24:14.214 --> 00:24:18.400
We've all seen it, we've all experienced it, we all know we're supposed to parallel it.

00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:28.219
But if you really soul search, how often are you truly paralleling every single circuit you run or every outlet you're connecting?

00:24:28.219 --> 00:24:41.996
And the fact that you're doing it for all of them is very impressive and it shows the standard to the level of service you're trying to provide, cause that is not an easy thing to do because it does take a little extra time, but, just like the service loop, it's a little bit extra for the future service ability.

00:24:42.305 --> 00:24:46.744
It takes extra time, it takes a little bit of extra material, but it prevents so many problems.

00:24:46.744 --> 00:24:55.258
But here's the problem the people that are seriesing all of those circuits and we all know those guys those are also the same guys that are not doing the troubleshooting.

00:24:55.838 --> 00:24:56.138
Correct.

00:24:56.159 --> 00:24:56.900
That's the problem.

00:24:56.900 --> 00:25:04.010
If you send the same guy that seriesed it to go troubleshoot it, he's going to be like oh, I was in this house, I borrowed this house five years ago.

00:25:04.010 --> 00:25:05.130
I know exactly where to go.

00:25:05.130 --> 00:25:07.393
He doesn't, because he seriesed everything.

00:25:07.393 --> 00:25:16.432
He's got to do the same troubleshooting that anybody that comes in behind them has to do.

00:25:16.432 --> 00:25:24.083
Now my guys know let's spend the extra time, the extra effort right now, which is minuscule on a scale of profit, minuscule Like people look at it as oh, we just stab them all in, we'll be this much faster.

00:25:24.083 --> 00:25:28.155
Yeah, you might be four hours faster at getting the job done, I might be four hours slower.

00:25:28.155 --> 00:25:46.458
But now I've got a service call five years from now that takes me 10 minutes and super profitable, which is just building on my work, and you have the same service call five years from now that's going to take a guy that doesn't know what happened three hours because he has to trace out every plug, every switch, every light all the way until he finds that spot.

00:25:46.458 --> 00:25:48.500
He might get lucky, like we all have.

00:25:48.500 --> 00:25:50.240
You know he might.

00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:51.501
Oh, it's probably right here.

00:25:51.501 --> 00:25:58.507
Oh, there's the loose wire, and he got lucky.

00:25:58.507 --> 00:25:58.989
We've all done that.

00:25:58.989 --> 00:25:59.471
But if he didn't.

00:25:59.471 --> 00:25:59.751
I've had one.

00:25:59.771 --> 00:26:00.595
I walked into a house I joke you not.

00:26:00.595 --> 00:26:00.936
I told the lady.

00:26:00.936 --> 00:26:05.488
I said here's what happened, right up front I said I know a neutral or a wire has come unstabbed from one of these stabbing things.

00:26:05.488 --> 00:26:08.372
It could take me 10 minutes or 10 hours.

00:26:08.372 --> 00:26:09.053
That's what I told her.

00:26:09.053 --> 00:26:18.306
Five and a half hours later, five and a half hours later of troubleshooting, I found it and guess what?

00:26:18.306 --> 00:26:21.681
I felt really bad because I had to charge her for five and a half hours of troubleshooting Even though one minute in, I knew what the job was.

00:26:21.681 --> 00:26:22.885
I knew what the problem was.

00:26:22.885 --> 00:26:24.130
Matter of finding it.

00:26:24.932 --> 00:26:40.770
You know, the cool thing on top of that is, if you really put yourself in the customer situation, you're also reducing the inconvenience they have to experience Because, let's say, sake of argument you're also reducing the inconvenience they have to experience Because let's take of argument you have what someone has a home office and you have everything paralleled and you have one outlet that fails.

00:26:40.770 --> 00:26:59.510
There's a difference between one outlet doesn't work and I'm plugging a cord right next to it, versus my room doesn't work and now I can't work from home and I need the same day repair and I'm going to be charged a premium to do it all because the electrician wouldn't take the extra time to not series it.

00:27:00.012 --> 00:27:10.772
Absolutely, and I provided the customer service like this for so long and I've done clay this before and I know you don't know it yet, but my customers don't ask how much anymore.

00:27:10.772 --> 00:27:13.028
None of them, nobody asks how much.

00:27:13.028 --> 00:27:15.688
They say here's what I need done.

00:27:15.688 --> 00:27:16.269
Can you do it?

00:27:16.269 --> 00:27:19.797
Absolutely yes, and when can you start?

00:27:19.797 --> 00:27:21.647
Those are the two questions my customers ask me.

00:27:21.647 --> 00:27:25.115
I'm not really expensive, but I'm not cheap.

00:27:25.115 --> 00:27:29.109
But I tell them right to their face Listen, if you need cheap, you can find cheap.

00:27:29.109 --> 00:27:30.211
I'm not that guy.

00:27:30.211 --> 00:27:34.017
I will do it right, I will do it very quick and you'll be very happy, period.

00:27:34.017 --> 00:27:37.181
Never do they ask how much.

00:27:37.342 --> 00:27:41.490
If I get a customer that says, hey, can you give me a quote on something, I can give you a quote.

00:27:41.490 --> 00:27:46.028
But if they say, hey, can you come by and give me an estimate, take a look, give me a price and try to hem it off.

00:27:46.028 --> 00:27:47.470
We are not the right customer.

00:27:47.470 --> 00:27:49.653
We are not the right customer for you.

00:27:49.653 --> 00:27:51.355
You are not the right customer for us.

00:27:51.355 --> 00:27:59.507
And you know we can weed those out pretty quickly because we're here for efficiency, we're here to get whatever problem you have done.

00:27:59.507 --> 00:28:00.829
We're here to make a profit.

00:28:00.829 --> 00:28:01.953
We're here to go to the next job.

00:28:02.915 --> 00:28:13.096
You know it ties in with big ass fans as well, because part of the branding is you're supposed to have the felt white gloves that come standard with it, like every single technician needs to have those felt gloves because of the way that the metal is.

00:28:13.096 --> 00:28:41.612
But the thing is it's so cool that not only are you actually wearing white gloves, but you seem like one of the very few people who truly understand delivering white glove experience, because if customers are not asking you what it is or how much the cost is, then you've established yourself in your community within a particular demographic, that you are their person and that they know you're a safe bet, and they've experienced enough of the competition to say I'm never going back to that.

00:28:42.614 --> 00:28:45.269
That's a phenomenal branding flag that's been stuck into my head.

00:28:45.269 --> 00:28:45.992
That's a great point.

00:28:46.094 --> 00:28:47.541
So this is my business card.

00:28:47.782 --> 00:28:48.484
It's very simple.

00:28:49.046 --> 00:28:52.970
It's just my logo right on the back and then obviously I get information on the front.

00:28:52.970 --> 00:28:55.673
So I used to do my personal information.

00:28:55.673 --> 00:28:57.974
This is me, and then my guys would have this is them.

00:28:57.974 --> 00:28:58.675
This is so.

00:28:58.675 --> 00:28:59.797
This is a generic card.

00:28:59.797 --> 00:29:02.740
This is just a what we certify in, what we're good at.

00:29:02.740 --> 00:29:03.901
Give us a call period.

00:29:03.901 --> 00:29:08.645
Every one of my guys can hand this part out at any point.

00:29:08.645 --> 00:29:13.409
So when I started the company, I was like man, I really need that slogan, I need something that does it, that just hits.

00:29:13.409 --> 00:29:25.676
So at the beginning I used to be, you know, I used to tell people like, listen, when it comes to electric, you know a guy, I was that guy and that kind of hit for a little while, but it never stopped, but I guess, subliminally.

00:29:25.836 --> 00:29:38.234
And you know everybody like, you're right, I just give them the service that they expect for the money they're paying and I just am the guy, without having to tell them hey, when it comes to you know a guy, don't forget about me.

00:29:38.234 --> 00:29:38.856
You know a guy.

00:29:38.856 --> 00:29:42.788
I don't have to be that guy, I am that guy, just without them even thinking about it.

00:29:42.788 --> 00:29:42.969
Now.

00:29:44.851 --> 00:29:46.494
That's phenomenal, I love that With that.

00:29:46.737 --> 00:29:50.839
I'm going to pause this for a moment because we always do this little segment wins of the week.

00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:54.076
I've got a couple to share, rusty, and then I'm going to get a couple of questions for you.

00:29:54.076 --> 00:29:54.919
I'm going to bring you back.

00:29:54.919 --> 00:30:00.599
We're going to lean back into the personnel piece and why the 40-hour weeks are so important to you.

00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:04.232
I know there's a burner behind that as well, so I want to dive.

00:30:04.232 --> 00:30:08.797
But we've got two of our OGs to discuss this week Dorian, I believe this one's.

00:30:08.836 --> 00:30:15.403
Just yesterday he said in our wins chat just landed another job for 22K and a bronze for 4K.

00:30:15.403 --> 00:30:22.457
I received that at 5.44 am my time, so that might be about 8 am Dorian's time.

00:30:22.457 --> 00:30:26.919
Good looking day and just congratulations to him.

00:30:26.919 --> 00:30:34.183
Dorian prefers to and still sells all of his jobs himself and has the team in the background helping him with that.

00:30:34.183 --> 00:30:36.999
So really good job on that one, dorian Congrats.

00:30:36.999 --> 00:30:40.137
And actually this one is from today.

00:30:40.198 --> 00:30:46.996
This morning Another OG of ours, dan Totten, one of our gold level clients, one of his techs, one of his sales tech.

00:30:46.996 --> 00:30:51.351
Tech sold 67K before noon and has two more calls to go.

00:30:51.351 --> 00:30:58.044
He did a 57K full home rewire with service replacement and a 10K portable gen setup.

00:30:58.044 --> 00:31:00.815
Now I'll remind you guys, those are big wins.

00:31:00.815 --> 00:31:09.760
But every one of those that we share every time is typically accompanied by six or five other options that the customer chose.

00:31:09.760 --> 00:31:13.659
The one that we're sharing Always premium, mid-range and economy.

00:31:13.659 --> 00:31:16.578
For those reasons we just help people buy.

00:31:16.578 --> 00:31:18.457
There's never sales pressure in that.

00:31:18.457 --> 00:31:24.674
So those guys truly deserve a round of applause for just showing up for their customers and being a premium provider.

00:31:25.979 --> 00:31:26.540
Back to it.

00:31:26.540 --> 00:31:30.611
My little infomercial is done here to pump some people up with some evidence.

00:31:30.611 --> 00:31:33.296
But the 40-hour weeks.

00:31:33.296 --> 00:31:35.098
There's two parts of this.

00:31:35.098 --> 00:31:37.403
One is why is that important to you?

00:31:37.403 --> 00:31:48.902
And two is how the hell do I get my team to choose not going home early but rather to go help the rest of the team go home a bit earlier, rather than take the full 10 hours for myself?

00:31:49.569 --> 00:31:50.794
Well, it's just company culture.

00:31:50.794 --> 00:31:53.000
It's just the culture that we've personally built.

00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:58.499
Is, you know, I have the guys that I have A because I could.

00:31:58.499 --> 00:32:03.298
I mean I can't necessarily pay more, I don't necessarily have the better benefits than other companies.

00:32:03.298 --> 00:32:04.340
I mean I have competition.

00:32:04.340 --> 00:32:06.935
All the competition know me just like I know them.

00:32:06.935 --> 00:32:08.641
Guess what I used to work for them too.

00:32:08.641 --> 00:32:10.034
Competition, all the competition know me just like I know them.

00:32:10.034 --> 00:32:10.855
Guess what I used to work for them too?

00:32:10.855 --> 00:32:11.638
So, and I teach their apprentices.

00:32:11.638 --> 00:32:15.210
So it's not like you know, I, I haven't picked the cream of the crop.

00:32:15.210 --> 00:32:19.362
People come to work for me because of our culture.

00:32:19.362 --> 00:32:21.709
They know, hey, I got 40 hours for the work.

00:32:21.709 --> 00:32:23.073
I could go home at 32.

00:32:23.575 --> 00:32:30.538
They're the ones actually choosing not to, but at the same, time if my guy goes home at 32, there's not one person that's going goes home at 32, there's not one person that's going to criticize him for it.

00:32:30.538 --> 00:32:33.093
There's not one guy that's going to be like oh well, why didn't you come help me?

00:32:33.093 --> 00:32:33.795
Because, guess what?

00:32:33.795 --> 00:32:35.179
That guy has 40 hours of work.

00:32:35.179 --> 00:32:42.554
If it takes him 40 hours, it's no different than working for anybody else in any other trade, in any other company.

00:32:42.554 --> 00:32:44.416
That's just how we set it up.

00:32:44.416 --> 00:32:47.240
Eight hours a day, five days a week, that's 40, 40 hours.

00:32:48.323 --> 00:32:52.477
So my guys go ahead, so I was just going to ask then.

00:32:52.477 --> 00:32:55.432
So why do you think people want to work for Page Electric then?

00:32:56.954 --> 00:32:58.238
Um, for that reason they have.

00:32:58.238 --> 00:33:00.823
So one of my guys actually told me.

00:33:00.823 --> 00:33:03.996
He said I like working for you because it feels like I work for myself.

00:33:03.996 --> 00:33:08.214
I'm not micromanaging, I'm not choking him down on.

00:33:08.214 --> 00:33:09.558
Why are you not doing this?

00:33:09.558 --> 00:33:10.411
Why are you not doing that?

00:33:10.411 --> 00:33:18.050
I expect a certain level of expertise, a certain level of customer service that he needs to provide.

00:33:18.050 --> 00:33:19.134
That is the page electric way.

00:33:19.134 --> 00:33:27.492
It's not specifically me, it's just what's right, it's what's right to the customer, it's what's right to the, to the, and those are the guys that that may have.

00:33:27.492 --> 00:33:30.621
You know, not everybody's a customer front person.

00:33:30.621 --> 00:33:31.351
They're not.

00:33:31.351 --> 00:33:39.278
You know, not everybody can articulate what the customer needs to hear or say they know how to do the electric but they may not be able to explain to the customer.

00:33:39.357 --> 00:33:42.516
Here's why I was broken, here's why I fixed it, here's why it won't break again.

00:33:42.516 --> 00:33:46.743
Not everybody can do that and that's OK and that's okay.

00:33:46.743 --> 00:34:02.759
But my guys know that, like, give that top tier level of customer service, because it's their next door neighbor that's gonna call us next week, that pays our bills, it's their grandma, it's their sister, it's every referral that they're gonna give me is the reason we do that to you.

00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:08.201
Now You're getting the best customer service, because this is one of my favorite things that I do.

00:34:08.201 --> 00:34:09.972
This is crucial.

00:34:09.972 --> 00:34:17.635
So when I have a repeat customer and I have lots of them I tell them straight up like, hey, no problem, I'll take care of you.

00:34:17.635 --> 00:34:23.277
I will give you the repeat offender rate and I call that customer to their face a repeat offender.

00:34:23.277 --> 00:34:26.590
And not one time has that ever backfired.

00:34:26.590 --> 00:34:29.701
I'm not going to say that it won't in the future, but they love it.

00:34:29.701 --> 00:34:31.757
Like that's one of those things they eat up.

00:34:31.757 --> 00:34:33.235
It's like oh, I'm the repeat offender.

00:34:33.235 --> 00:34:35.518
Now I'm not going to lie to you.

00:34:35.518 --> 00:34:36.956
I don't give anybody a discount.

00:34:36.956 --> 00:34:40.701
I give military personnel a discount because I am a military veteran.

00:34:41.670 --> 00:34:45.414
Half of my employees are military veterans, the other half are felons.

00:34:45.414 --> 00:34:46.358
That's a joke.

00:34:46.358 --> 00:34:46.978
Some the other half are felons.

00:34:46.978 --> 00:34:47.259
That's a joke.

00:34:47.259 --> 00:34:48.179
Some of them are, some of them aren't.

00:34:48.179 --> 00:34:48.599
I don't really care.

00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:49.099
Guess what.

00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:52.063
Half of us got caught at something Half of us did.

00:34:52.063 --> 00:34:53.643
That's just the way life is.

00:34:53.643 --> 00:34:57.387
We all have the same go-getter characteristics.

00:34:57.387 --> 00:34:58.831
I don't care what your background is.

00:34:58.831 --> 00:35:00.096
Are you good at what you do?

00:35:00.096 --> 00:35:02.824
Can you serve the way I need served?

00:35:02.824 --> 00:35:05.632
Can you execute the way we need to execute it?

00:35:05.632 --> 00:35:06.954
You're hired period.

00:35:06.954 --> 00:35:09.458
I don't care what kind of background you came from.

00:35:09.458 --> 00:35:12.884
I want to know what you can do now.

00:35:13.224 --> 00:35:25.297
I truly wish that that mindset was more present in the States as well, and I really feel like that would help a very large underserved community, because, once again, felons are not animals.

00:35:25.297 --> 00:35:30.621
They're people who just had a situation that happened to them, you know what I mean, so you're not looking at it.

00:35:31.170 --> 00:35:32.655
We had social media when I was a kid.

00:35:32.655 --> 00:35:36.818
We'd all be screwed A lot of things that I'd probably go to jail for.

00:35:36.818 --> 00:35:44.438
So I mean, that's everybody, that's you, that's Clay, all of us have done something that we're like glad we didn't get caught doing that.

00:35:49.369 --> 00:35:50.878
Whatever it is, even if it was stupid, I'm with you a hundred percent.

00:35:50.878 --> 00:35:52.407
I really just want to say I personally respect you for what you're doing.

00:35:52.407 --> 00:35:52.869
It's really important.

00:35:53.989 --> 00:35:57.958
Absolutely, and there's no tax benefit to it.

00:35:57.958 --> 00:35:59.702
There probably is in some states.

00:35:59.702 --> 00:36:00.811
I can't say that there's not.

00:36:00.811 --> 00:36:06.853
I think for some reason, if you hire felons a certain percentage and veterans a certain percentage, there probably are taxing.

00:36:06.853 --> 00:36:08.235
Where I'm at doesn't matter.

00:36:08.235 --> 00:36:16.695
Those people are the people that have that strive and that go get them and that gumption that I need and want as an employee.

00:36:19.500 --> 00:36:19.780
Love it?

00:36:19.780 --> 00:36:20.722
Yeah, great share.

00:36:20.722 --> 00:36:30.291
And, speaking of people, I also want to know about the apprentices that you train and why you choose to be a teacher and what importance or value that brings to your life, rusty.

00:36:31.335 --> 00:36:31.615
All right.

00:36:31.615 --> 00:36:39.559
So when I got out of the military I actually became a mailman because that's like job number one you're a former military, you become a mailman.

00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:42.492
Love that job, phenomenal job.

00:36:42.492 --> 00:36:45.601
But I talked to my wife and I'm like I don't really know what I want to do.

00:36:45.601 --> 00:36:49.016
I didn't have aspirations beyond delivering the mail.

00:36:49.016 --> 00:36:52.543
I knew that wasn't really going to be my like end all be all career.

00:36:53.150 --> 00:36:54.815
But I always wanted to teach.

00:36:54.815 --> 00:36:56.699
I always wanted to teach math specifically.

00:36:56.699 --> 00:36:57.621
I don't know why.

00:36:57.621 --> 00:37:00.215
I guess I just was at a young age.

00:37:00.215 --> 00:37:01.539
I loved my math teachers.

00:37:01.539 --> 00:37:04.391
I love just doing the math in my head was amazing.

00:37:04.672 --> 00:37:12.170
I had that teacher, you know, growing up like, oh, like, oh, you know, you need to show me how to do your work because you're not like gonna be walking around with a calculator in your pocket later on in life.

00:37:12.170 --> 00:37:12.731
Guess what?

00:37:12.731 --> 00:37:14.936
Yes, you are so you know.

00:37:14.936 --> 00:37:17.891
But you know I did it in my head just because that's who I am.

00:37:17.891 --> 00:37:27.557
I'm a mechanical, numbers oriented person and so I wanted to teach math and so I looked into and there were just so many hoops and so much education you had to go through.

00:37:27.557 --> 00:37:29.523
I'm like, oh, you know, I'm not going to do that.

00:37:29.523 --> 00:37:32.940
So electrician was the closest thing to what I did in the military.

00:37:32.940 --> 00:37:38.981
So I became an electrician and when I went through apprenticeship school, I went to the same school that I teach at.

00:37:38.981 --> 00:37:43.922
When I went through, as soon as I graduated, the director said hey, have you ever thought about teaching?

00:37:43.922 --> 00:37:46.217
Because I'm a teaching journeyman.

00:37:46.217 --> 00:37:54.211
Everybody knows a teaching journeyman.

00:37:54.211 --> 00:37:55.657
Everybody knows a teaching journeyman versus just a journeyman.

00:37:55.677 --> 00:37:57.061
I work for a guy named Mike Smith, which is the most generic name.

00:37:57.061 --> 00:37:58.525
So it could be any Mike Smith, but he was scatterbrained Smith.

00:37:58.525 --> 00:38:02.463
He would start here and jump to there, and jump to here and he would never tell me why he's doing what he's doing.

00:38:02.463 --> 00:38:04.690
So, as an apprentice, that was brutal.

00:38:04.690 --> 00:38:06.653
I had to think all right, why I couldn't?

00:38:06.653 --> 00:38:06.954
I hate.

00:38:06.954 --> 00:38:07.996
Hey, mike, why are you doing that?

00:38:07.996 --> 00:38:10.219
Because I there was never.

00:38:10.219 --> 00:38:12.563
You know, I never learned from Mike.

00:38:12.563 --> 00:38:17.396
I had to teach myself by watching him do, which is the worst way to learn.

00:38:17.396 --> 00:38:19.862
So I you know my eyes coming up.

00:38:19.989 --> 00:38:26.260
I always told myself man, if I ever have my own apprentice, I'm going to make sure they know why I'm doing what I'm doing.

00:38:26.260 --> 00:38:27.581
I'm going to show them.

00:38:27.581 --> 00:38:29.224
Here's why I'm doing it.

00:38:29.224 --> 00:38:30.271
Here's the easier way.

00:38:30.271 --> 00:38:36.791
Here's what I found to make hard, don't make this mistake, because that's how you should be taught.

00:38:36.791 --> 00:38:41.061
If you're in a trade, you should be taught don't do this.

00:38:41.061 --> 00:38:42.324
Don't cut this wire.

00:38:42.324 --> 00:38:44.032
Well, why don't cut that wire?

00:38:44.032 --> 00:38:45.014
Well, I told you not to.

00:38:45.014 --> 00:38:46.054
I want to know.

00:38:46.054 --> 00:38:51.625
Don't cut that wire because you'll jack up this piece or this piece of equipment or you could cause a short.

00:38:51.625 --> 00:38:53.052
You know, I want to know why.

00:38:53.052 --> 00:38:56.297
And so I've always been.

00:38:56.458 --> 00:39:01.264
You know, ever since coming into the trade, I've been a teaching journeyman and, you know, a teaching apprentice.

00:39:01.264 --> 00:39:03.034
I was an apprentice who taught other people.

00:39:03.034 --> 00:39:04.057
This is what I saw.

00:39:04.057 --> 00:39:05.260
Here's what I found.

00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:15.380
And when I was given the opportunity to come to the school, I said, hey, I'm not a master, I'm just.

00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:15.992
I was a licensed journeyman.

00:39:15.914 --> 00:39:18.009
Finishing my third year third year in Kentucky, you can take your journeyman test early.

00:39:18.009 --> 00:39:20.416
My last day of third year of apprenticeship school, I passed my journeyman test.

00:39:20.416 --> 00:39:22.447
So fourth year of apprenticeship school was a breeze.

00:39:22.447 --> 00:39:24.713
I just had to show up, but I'm not that guy either.

00:39:24.713 --> 00:39:42.815
So going through fourth year, our, our fourth year instructor, his mom was dying and so he needed all the help he could get to get all the other guys on board in class to learn the material to, you know, cumulatively, go over what we needed to do to pass that curriculum and make sure.

00:39:43.137 --> 00:39:44.503
And I was that guy I just had.

00:39:44.503 --> 00:39:49.300
I just, you know, it was a natural inclination to me to to step up, help out.

00:39:49.300 --> 00:39:50.976
Oh, you know, let's look at this.

00:39:50.976 --> 00:39:55.081
And and so when they asked me to teach, I didn't drop, I didn't even hesitate.

00:39:55.081 --> 00:39:56.335
I talked to the wife.

00:39:56.335 --> 00:39:59.880
I said hey, you know, you know they asked me to teach.

00:39:59.880 --> 00:40:00.481
What do you think?

00:40:00.481 --> 00:40:03.193
And we, you know, decide hey, you know, yeah, absolutely.

00:40:03.193 --> 00:40:07.420
And I didn't know I was good at it, I didn't know I would enjoy it, I didn't know that.

00:40:07.420 --> 00:40:17.237
That really, and I tell my, my director now we have a different director from when I was taught I said, listen, I would do this for free.

00:40:17.237 --> 00:40:20.831
You all pay me a ton of money, don't get me wrong, I like the money, but I would teach for free.

00:40:20.831 --> 00:40:29.570
Like if I ever just like sold the company and just had millions of dollars and I have to, I'd still teach.

00:40:29.570 --> 00:40:33.101
As long as my wife is okay with it, I would still teach, because the second you have an apprentice that you've been teaching for three or four months.

00:40:33.101 --> 00:40:38.041
That doesn't even work for me, that doesn't have any of my, they don't have any background on me.

00:40:38.391 --> 00:40:39.693
And you see them get it.

00:40:39.693 --> 00:40:47.237
And you see that light bulb go off when you ask that code, question or that requirement of whatever we're talking about.

00:40:47.237 --> 00:40:48.780
When you see it, it's worth it.

00:40:48.780 --> 00:40:50.913
Right then, that's the second that I got paid.

00:40:50.913 --> 00:40:57.076
That light bulb hits on that apprentice that everybody has, the apprentice that they're like man, is this kid?

00:40:57.076 --> 00:40:58.038
Is he even getting it?

00:40:58.038 --> 00:40:59.081
Is he just dumb?

00:40:59.081 --> 00:41:00.411
What's going on?

00:41:00.411 --> 00:41:01.974
And then they get it.

00:41:01.974 --> 00:41:04.400
And then the next question they get it.

00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:05.563
You're like it's over.

00:41:05.563 --> 00:41:11.074
That kid has just moved from I don't know what I want to do with my life to a career.

00:41:11.074 --> 00:41:13.583
Right then he, literally you can watch him jump.

00:41:13.583 --> 00:41:23.355
This is now a career because now he gets it it's no longer a job that he got or his buddy got for him, or the guy at church said hey, come be an electrician.

00:41:23.355 --> 00:41:25.420
It's not a job anymore, it's now a career.

00:41:29.789 --> 00:41:30.010
I love that.

00:41:30.010 --> 00:41:31.737
Yeah, good share, share, good share, and you're in the right place, rusty, so thank you.

00:41:31.737 --> 00:41:32.077
Personally.

00:41:32.077 --> 00:41:45.579
I want to thank you, I know, for for what we represent and growth in in this trade, specifically for electricians, by electricians, and you certainly, uh, are in the right place and and well represented here, brother, so thank you for that.

00:41:45.579 --> 00:41:51.855
Um, it brings, brings a couple other questions, but ultimately I've got a hard one for you.

00:41:51.855 --> 00:41:59.255
Now I'm going to make you think if you could go back five years, four years, and give yourself a message.

00:41:59.255 --> 00:42:03.463
In the first six months you got three keys you could give yourself.

00:42:03.463 --> 00:42:04.851
What would they be?

00:42:04.851 --> 00:42:05.530
What would you accelerate?

00:42:05.530 --> 00:42:06.391
What would you get rid of?

00:42:06.391 --> 00:42:06.913
What would you change?

00:42:06.913 --> 00:42:07.333
What would they be?

00:42:07.333 --> 00:42:08.014
What would you accelerate?

00:42:08.014 --> 00:42:08.574
What would you get?

00:42:08.594 --> 00:42:08.713
rid of?

00:42:08.713 --> 00:42:09.215
What would you change?

00:42:09.215 --> 00:42:09.554
This is a great.

00:42:09.554 --> 00:42:17.521
Let me start with what would I say and I say this to my apprentices that I teach all the time Know your value and know your worth period.

00:42:18.702 --> 00:42:26.291
Because a customer is not calling you to their house to help fix something Because if they did that, they would already try to fix it.

00:42:26.291 --> 00:42:30.655
They're calling you to their house because you have the knowledge to fix it.

00:42:30.655 --> 00:42:35.940
That doesn't mean you're like, oh, it's my neighbor, I'm going to do it for 20 bucks.

00:42:35.940 --> 00:42:44.115
No, your neighbor is the same $125 that the guy that you've never known is $125, that your father is $125.

00:42:44.115 --> 00:42:55.027
They're all the same price because that's what my worth is, to you, to my neighbor, to my father, because if I didn't charge them that, that's because they could do it.

00:42:55.027 --> 00:42:57.195
I mean, if they could do it, they wouldn't have to call me right.

00:42:58.179 --> 00:43:00.809
So the best advice I ever got was actually from a customer.

00:43:00.809 --> 00:43:10.637
We were riding from where we one of his job sites over to where we parked, which is they were just different buildings, and I said man, like you know, we've known each other for years.

00:43:10.637 --> 00:43:15.414
I said, dude, I was already in the neighborhood, I've already finished my work for the day.

00:43:15.414 --> 00:43:17.710
I've gotten enough that I don't need to charge you for this.

00:43:17.710 --> 00:43:28.844
He's like listen, he's like if I call you to my house, I expect to pay you a hundred bucks period, no matter if you're there for one minute or one hour, my brain tells me, as a customer, a hundred bucks.

00:43:28.844 --> 00:43:34.139
That's the best advice that I've ever gotten because, like I was really early and I was charging.

00:43:34.661 --> 00:43:46.237
I think I was $60 service fee and $60 an hour, so it was 120 bucks was roughly what the average like just quick service call less than an hour would have been is 120 bucks.

00:43:46.237 --> 00:43:50.097
And for him I was like man, I just 75 bucks, you know.

00:43:50.097 --> 00:43:54.791
And he's like I'm giving you a hundred bucks because I expected before you showed up, to pay you a hundred bucks.

00:43:54.791 --> 00:43:57.943
He said, and if it turned into 200 bucks then so be it.

00:43:57.943 --> 00:44:02.235
And to see that from the customer side as a business owner.

00:44:02.797 --> 00:44:13.583
It changed everything and even to this day, like I said, I tell my apprentices know what you're worth, because they're like you know you get those customers like oh, if you do this for a good price, I've got all of this work up ahead.

00:44:13.583 --> 00:44:23.460
Sure, you do, but until you hire me for that, you're not getting a special price today and I have builders that tell me hey, I've got seven houses for you.

00:44:23.460 --> 00:44:26.632
Awesome, every seven houses will cost you X amount of dollars.

00:44:26.632 --> 00:44:28.876
Period, you're not getting bulk rate.

00:44:28.876 --> 00:44:29.936
I'm not that guy.

00:44:29.936 --> 00:44:37.585
If you want it done right, you want it done fast and you want no problems in the whole process, and call me if you have a question, I'm that guy.

00:44:37.585 --> 00:44:41.777
You're paying for my customer service.

00:44:41.797 --> 00:44:44.346
You're not paying for just my abilities.

00:44:44.365 --> 00:44:49.692
Really powerful, Sounds like a strong message and in 2025, about to happen here.

00:44:49.692 --> 00:44:51.853
Right, we're approaching Christmas and New Year's.

00:44:51.853 --> 00:44:56.097
Like a hundred bucks even won't fill the van.

00:44:56.097 --> 00:45:10.034
You can't cover your burdens for the hour with a hundred bucks, so we really have to check that pricing in our approach to these service calls and I think that's great advice, Rusty service calls and I think that's great advice, Rusty.

00:45:10.034 --> 00:45:18.862
What other advice, as we're running out of time here just for the end of this what other advice do you have for electricians listening to this today to improve, to follow in your footsteps, to better their business?

00:45:21.010 --> 00:45:24.657
So I mean honestly, communication is number one.

00:45:24.657 --> 00:45:28.733
I had customers when I first started that I would answer the phone.

00:45:28.733 --> 00:45:30.358
Hey, page Electric, how can I help you?

00:45:30.358 --> 00:45:32.677
Hey, rusty, page Page Electric, what can I do for you?

00:45:32.677 --> 00:45:37.661
And so many customers early on were like, oh my God, you answered the phone.

00:45:37.661 --> 00:45:39.297
Or oh my God, you called me back.

00:45:39.297 --> 00:45:44.195
Or oh my God, you're going to be the person, like you showed up to do the work.

00:45:44.556 --> 00:45:53.474
Absolutely, communication has been 95% of all of my business.

00:45:53.474 --> 00:45:56.380
A customer doesn't care if you can't get to them for three weeks or a month, they don't care.

00:45:56.380 --> 00:45:58.753
All they need to know is I have an electrician coming.

00:45:58.753 --> 00:46:01.666
They're going to take care of it Three weeks from today.

00:46:01.666 --> 00:46:02.831
He told me he'll be here.

00:46:02.831 --> 00:46:05.297
Two weeks from today, on Wednesday period.

00:46:05.297 --> 00:46:07.322
He's going to be here, he's going to be here.

00:46:08.012 --> 00:46:14.199
The communication has been if you can communicate with every customer, like I said, they don't care.

00:46:14.199 --> 00:46:16.974
I tell customers right now hey, listen, we're three weeks to a month out.

00:46:16.974 --> 00:46:22.255
You need a ceiling fan dome, or three weeks to a month out, that's how booked up we are.

00:46:22.255 --> 00:46:24.501
And they don't care.

00:46:24.501 --> 00:46:26.271
They're like, absolutely, put me on the list.

00:46:26.271 --> 00:46:31.094
And the customers that say, all right, well, I'll call back in three weeks Guess what?

00:46:31.094 --> 00:46:31.817
Three weeks from now.

00:46:31.817 --> 00:46:37.079
We're six weeks out from today's date now and a couple of customers have learned the hard way.

00:46:37.079 --> 00:46:46.518
But communication is what I can tell anybody and everybody If you answer the phone, you return that phone call, you return that text, you return that email, you're going to get the business.

00:46:49.224 --> 00:46:49.746
Really good.

00:46:49.746 --> 00:46:51.168
I appreciate that, Joe.

00:46:51.168 --> 00:46:52.873
Any more questions for Rusty on this one?

00:46:53.715 --> 00:47:02.672
I mean, really, what I've learned from Rusty is just you need to serve at the highest level, and I'm so impressed and really honored that you'd be willing to join us and share these kinds of knowledge.

00:47:02.672 --> 00:47:05.199
I don't have any more questions.

00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:29.958
I just want to say, if nothing else, I truly respect what you're bringing to the industry, because it's not just the knowledge, it's not just the skills, it's not just the culture, it's the why you do it, and I think that's the most important part of all this, because if you can follow and execute on that level of a why there is no future that's not attainable for you, absolutely, and I'm very impressed with everything you've done.

00:47:29.958 --> 00:47:30.840
You have my respect.

00:47:31.422 --> 00:47:31.643
Thank you.

00:47:31.643 --> 00:47:36.896
If someone wants to learn more about you, Rusty, or reach out, do you invite that contact.

00:47:37.438 --> 00:47:37.858
Absolutely.

00:47:37.858 --> 00:47:39.695
Listen.

00:47:39.695 --> 00:47:56.101
I go to these events for the IEC, which is the Independent Electrical Contractors, which is where I teach, by the way, national events, and we have guys that just come in, that are just starting a business and they're like, hey, this is probably a pretty good convention.

00:47:56.101 --> 00:47:56.541
I've had literal guys.

00:47:56.541 --> 00:47:59.371
I had a guy that I'm like listen, call me, I'll mentor you, I'll answer a question, I will FaceTime you if you have a problem.

00:47:59.371 --> 00:48:00.570
I'm that guy.

00:48:00.570 --> 00:48:03.853
Anybody and everybody, I don't care, internationally.

00:48:03.853 --> 00:48:07.056
Three o'clock in the morning my phone rings answer, answer.

00:48:07.056 --> 00:48:08.117
It is what it is.

00:48:08.117 --> 00:48:08.936
My wife hates it.

00:48:08.936 --> 00:48:10.418
That's what pays our bills.

00:48:10.418 --> 00:48:11.478
I'm going to answer the phone.

00:48:11.478 --> 00:48:13.440
Anybody can reach out to me.

00:48:13.440 --> 00:48:19.003
I'm dead serious and you'd be surprised if you said someone that like oh, you know, I'll reach out.

00:48:19.063 --> 00:48:23.086
No, they won't, but if you reach out to me, I answer my phone every time, all the time.

00:48:23.086 --> 00:48:30.302
What's the best way to get ahold of you, rusty, go to our website, pageelectricllccom.

00:48:32.148 --> 00:48:37.835
Awesome, and contact form will take me to an email address, et cetera or their phone number listed.

00:48:37.949 --> 00:48:39.318
Contact form comes directly to my phone.

00:48:41.070 --> 00:48:42.376
That's a responsible owner.

00:48:42.769 --> 00:48:45.298
Direct elevator to the executive suite Direct.

00:48:45.510 --> 00:48:48.344
So I tell customers they call me on my personal cell phone, which is not listed on the website, and they're like customers.

00:48:48.344 --> 00:48:52.157
They call me on my personal cell phone, which is not listed on the website, and they're like hey, do you do electric?

00:48:52.157 --> 00:48:52.818
I'm like, yes, I do.

00:48:52.818 --> 00:49:06.038
I said, but if you're calling this number, it's either because you are someone or you know someone, because my OG customers, my original customers, my personal cell phone number was on the side of my vans for the first year of my business.

00:49:06.038 --> 00:49:08.768
So you either are someone or you know someone.

00:49:08.768 --> 00:49:13.327
If you're calling me directly and guess what, Typically those customers I go do myself.

00:49:13.327 --> 00:49:14.751
I'm the one doing the service call.

00:49:14.751 --> 00:49:16.637
I'm the one doing the service upgrade.

00:49:16.637 --> 00:49:19.351
I'm the one climbing on your roof doing your solar install.

00:49:19.351 --> 00:49:21.617
I'm the one doing your generator install.

00:49:21.617 --> 00:49:33.661
Because anybody that takes the time to give me a referral to my personal number, I'm going to take the time to make sure to treat them like every other customer that we have at PageElectric.

00:49:35.487 --> 00:49:36.530
Well, you heard it here first.

00:49:36.530 --> 00:49:38.735
Guys, please don't abuse this man.

00:49:38.735 --> 00:49:39.257
Reach out.

00:49:39.257 --> 00:49:40.902
If you need some help, he's happy to help you.

00:49:40.902 --> 00:49:42.215
Do not abuse the privilege.

00:49:42.215 --> 00:49:49.860
We have such great guests here that keep sharing the most personal contact methods like phone numbers et cetera.

00:49:49.860 --> 00:49:53.521
You just got direct access to Rusty Page himself and Page Electric.

00:49:53.521 --> 00:49:55.836
Rusty, thank you so much for joining us.

00:49:55.836 --> 00:50:02.036
You truly truly did bring a ton of value here for electricians everywhere and I hope we get to do this again sometime.

00:50:02.878 --> 00:50:03.280
Absolutely.

00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:05.398
Hey, listen, I don't just walk the walk.

00:50:07.251 --> 00:50:09.074
There it is tattooed on his forearm.

00:50:09.074 --> 00:50:11.661
Folks, I'm fully invested, I love it.

00:50:11.661 --> 00:50:12.762
I love it, man.

00:50:12.762 --> 00:50:17.670
And that's a wrap for today's episode of the Million Dollar Electrician Podcast.

00:50:18.030 --> 00:50:22.481
We hope you're buzzing with new ideas that charged up to take your business to the next level.

00:50:22.550 --> 00:50:27.135
So don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share the show with fellow electricians Together.

00:50:27.135 --> 00:50:28.733
We'll keep the current flowing.