Recognizing when and how to take a leap of faith can be tricky business, especially when it comes to actually being related to a business. For some it comes easy, others not so much. And once that leap of faith is taken, will it be a success? How do you maintain that success?
Here are a few key takeaways from a recent podcast episode of ours. Steve Worrell, President/CEO of Elite Force Staffing, speaks with host Brent Waters about what made him take that leap of faith, a few key business advantages & what it takes to be successful in the skilled trades industry.
Be Ready To Take Advantage Of That Blessing in Disguise
Steve: I was about to be newly wed and was working for an IT staffing firm at the time. We were really really busy and my boss wouldn’t give me time off for the honeymoon. I kind of understood because I was definitely passionate about the job and enjoyed what I did there. But the wife not so much. Alas, we got married on a Saturday, came back to work on a Monday and they let me go. I was in complete shock. What a wedding gift! It’s always good to come home to your wife of two days and say “hey, I lost my job but things are gonna be great honey, it’s fine!” But honestly looking back at it. It was a blessing in disguise. I always wanted to start my own skilled trades staffing company. It was something that I always thought about, just didn’t really have the huevos to do it. But my ex-boss, he actually helped motivate that for me. So once again a blessing in disguise and I’m so glad it happened.
Be Prepared For The Inevitable
Brent: This is an industry where there’s not a chance that things are going to go bad. It is going to happen.
Steve: It’s inevitable.
Brent: Exactly. Being prepared for it and understanding the dynamic and trying to be reactive in those situations. That to me, plays a big part in doing it really well versus doing it really bad.
Steve: There’s things that we’ve learned along the way or things we can do to minimize some of these issues. That’s the way that we operate. To be as successful as we are, it’s a necessity.
Dual Desk Is A Great Way Of Reducing Things Going Bad
Steve: By being dual desk vs have separate recruiters/account reps, you’re not only going out and getting your own jobs to fill. You’re filling those jobs as well. You truly understand what the client needs. And then you truly understand what type of candidates you have during your qualifying process. That allows you to make sure you’re putting the best candidate possible out for the project. Let’s say you put 10 electricians out, the client calls two days later and says “hey this guy, johnny smith, I don’t think he’s a good terminator.” And being that you recruited that guy and you understand that guy, you can say well actually, I know that he’s got 10 years of termination experience for XYZ Company. So we can then work from there and solve any issues. Knowing that the guy we provided had the needed experience. It helps minimize some of these issues that we’ve learned along the way.
Simply Care and Do As You Say You’re Gonna Do
Brent: Going across all different industries, customer service is in the toilet. It has been. If you provide just a little bit better service than other construction staffing companies, you’ll obviously do better. But if you provide excellent service, the sky’s the limit. And the interesting thing is that it’s really not that hard to do. All you gotta do is do what you say you’re gonna do. It isn’t anything really proprietary. It isn’t something that we would be afraid to tell the entire world because it’s pretty basic stuff. Obviously you really just need to care about your customer and you need to care about the employees that work on site every day. If you don’t, this isn’t for you. I’ve seen a lot of folks come and go and if you just don’t care in the long run, it catches up with you.
Steve: That’s one thing that I saw in this industry when I first got into it. There were so many competitors out there that were putting out painters as electricians. Or laborers as carpenters and they were getting a bad rap for it. So I was successful, very quickly, simply by just doing what I said I was going to do and putting the right person on the job. It’s not rocket science, but it just amazes me that nobody else was really doing that. We still have those issues to this day. Not us as a company, but our competitors. That just makes it so much easier for us.
Well said Steve & Brent. Watch the podcast episode below. Or listen to the podcast episodes here. More details. More insight. More personality.