The Real MF’ers Episode 1: Charles Covey

Leading a successful construction or manufacturing business can be tough. To survive, sometimes you have to be a real MF’er. We get it — we’re real MF’ers, too. MF’ers do what’s right, pay it forward, lead through action, and get the job done.

Wait … what did YOU think we meant by MF’ers? 😉

In THE REAL MF’ERS, Scott Peper sits down with leaders from construction, manufacturing, and related service providers to see how they built their business, what they are doing differently, and why it works.

Full Transcript Below

Scott Peper  0:39   Hello, everybody. And thank you for joining us today. I’m really excited to have one of our guests Charles covey from Alphapex — Founder, President, great friend. We’re going to talk about all kinds of exciting things today is from Whack-a-mole to unicorns to how you can grow your construction business, marketing, marketing during COVID, safety. Just differentiating yourself to be what a kick-ass construction company looks like not only in the old days, the new days, but now moving forward here through the Coronavirus.

So, Charles, welcome.

Charles Covey 1:11  Hey, great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Scott Peper 1:14  Great. You’re welcome, man. I really appreciate you joining us. You are the perfect guest to the start this series off. You know, when we think of, we talk about Mobilization Funding all the time, and we always refer to it as MF or — really what happened was our customers would just call us MF or friends, investors, people would say Oh, MF and shorten it. And then we have the idea, albeit six years after we started, that maybe we should start coming up with a bunch of a group of folks called Real MFers. Well, you are the first Real MFer Charles

Charles Covey 1:43  Very cool to see that to see that terminology. Like when I first saw when I first saw the invite I thought you know that’s that’s really good branding, matches MFer and their company. Couldn’t have done it better.

Scott Peper 1:55  I probably would get some cool gear and shirts made up around this whole theme which of course, we’ll definitely share with you and get you some stuff. So I’m actually very fortunate and glad that our clients have referred to us as MFers and shortened our company name has it turned out to be pretty good. If you would just for the audience, would you take a couple minutes and just let them know about yourself, your business where you’re at? And then we’ll dive into some questions that I have for you based on some of the things I know about you personally and collectively and really get into it.

Charles Covey 2:25  I started construction at 16. So I grew up on a farm and you know, on a farm, if you got something to do, you got to do it yourself. There’s nobody coming to help you. So we just learned how to build stuff, build barns and we fix cars and we built fences, we did all this stuff that was necessary with our hands. So, going from that to construction was really a very smooth transition. When I was 16 I started framing houses and just loved it. Just love constructions love the people. I love being able to see that building appear from nothing is right in front of you. And I’ve just always identified with that and just passionately love the business and the people in it.

So I really started — you know, that hammer swinging history really guides a lot of the stuff that I do now because yeah, I was that guy, I was the lowest man on the totem pole, making a few dollars an hour, you know, on that roof in the Texas sun. And so I’ve been in that position. And that’s really how we’ve built the business, is really prioritizing the field and prioritizing the people that actually grind this out every day. So, I think that perspective has been good. As far as the business itself, you know, I was working in commercial construction for a large general contractor. And I learned a lot and I was always looking, you know, what are those ways that I can get into business for myself, what are those ways that I can, can be an entrepreneur, and waterproofing came up pretty often as a problem area. Come on guys, is there anybody that can take care of this scope and get it done well, and I just wasn’t finding those guys. So, I thought that was our opportunity. That was a chance for us to really disrupt a little bit this market.

If you think about our particular space, so Dallas Fort Worth North Texas area. Very busy, always been a good construction, how a lot of growth here for the last 2030 years and the waterproofing space — there’s three or four competitors, and they’re all 25 or 30 years old. And they’re still doing it about the same way they’ve always done it. So that was a really good spot for us, you know, to be the innovator to be the disrupter, to kind of jump in that space and and turn it upside down a little bit. So we don’t have to completely revolutionize it, but we just have to do things a little bit better, a little bit more innovative. And that’s how we ended up where we’re at.

So, it’s just really taking the approach of, of every day trying to be a little bit better of seeking out what are the processes that can change? It turns out, almost everything can stand a little bit of change. So, we find out what those key elements are, and we try to change them a little bit and get more efficient, get better.

Scott Peper 4:37  Yeah, and it doesn’t have to be brand new, just doing the same thing in a different better way.

Charles Covey 4:43 Agreed. Agreed. Yeah, we just seek that out every day. Most of the things that I’m doing, that you’re doing, every single day can be improved on. Like, let’s not pretend that the human race has just perfected existence. There’s so many things that we do that we can improve on. So we’re always seeking out, What are those things? And what are the ones that really impact the bottom line and really impact the people around us and impact those buildings that we build? We try to find those.

Scott Peper 5:09 Well, it’s funny one of the things that I always admired about you and your story, I obviously share a similar background in construction. At least working in and around, my father had a commercial glazing business and I worked in and around that business all the time on the job sites and really develop the same passion for construction that you did. Albeit I ended up in this field, or in and around it in a much different way. But the genesis of the enticement to it was there. One of the things that I always found really intriguing about you is you did find this waterproofing space. And as you mentioned, I’ve always heard in and around our world here in the last six years, just that scope being very difficult, and if you can find someone that does it, they either don’t do it as well as they could or as wanted. Just it’s just hard and you seem to have figured out the hard but also how to maximize that opportunity to deliver a great product, do it efficiently and run a great business.

You started to touch a little bit on the origin of how you got into the waterproofing side. But can you talk a little bit about where you saw the problem area was and then how you decided to get yourself up to speed quickly on what waterproofing is, how to make it better? And then most importantly, how did you execute on that?

Charles Covey 6:26   Yeah, the biggest deal that I was seeing as a as a project manager, as a superintendent for GC, I did both of those roles is that the subcontractors in the waterproofing space, they didn’t have the clients interest in mind. They had their own interests in mind for damn sure.

But you know, where was that customer service? Where was that high level of care for what helps the client be better? So yeah, of course, they wanted that change order for them. But what about the client? What about the person, you know, who hired them on the job? How do we make them better? And it was really easy for me mentally to go from that approach. I don’t know why some people have that have an issue with that approach. But I’m in the business for my clients, plain and simple. And really, that was the spot that we saw. Nobody’s really operating at a high level of customer service. But it’s not that complicated. So if you come at it with the right, right mindset, it’s really been game changing, I think in our space. And it’s, it’s been a wake up call for a lot of subcontractors in our area to really elevate their game to a higher level of customer service.

Scott Peper 7:24  Did you find that to be in every scope or just particularly waterproofing? That opportunity?

Charles Covey: 7:31  There’s Yeah, great question. I think there’s space for improvement in every scope. Waterproofing is unique a little bit in that it’s not a scope that the GC has time to really understand on an infinitely detailed level. But the devils in the details with this scope, you have to know them. And so if they don’t have a trusted partner that they can go to, now it’s on them to try to figure this shit out. And that is not an easy thing with our scope just because there’s so much minutia and if it leaks, it’s a million dollar problem just that quick and so on. Having that trusted partner that could really elevate their customer service game and still be knowledgeable and still be a high quality installer. I think that was a spot that was underserved. And our clients can attest, it’s been a really, really welcome thing for them in the marketplace to have somebody like us to turn to, hey, we’re not we’re not perfect. We have a lot of human beings that do things wrong a lot because they’re imperfect. Me especially. But I think that mindset of Hey, we’re in it, to serve our clients and to really help them be better at their job. I think that’s the key.

Scott Peper 8:34  You know, it’s funny to hear you say that because I talk to a lot of our clients and just general contractors, people in general and, you know, few humans think that way, whether it’s on the general contractor side or the subcontractor side.

Maybe it’s the GC thinking about it for the owner, or the sub or really the GC thinking about how important the sub is on the contract for that on the project for them. I think if, one of the things I like to talk about, is if everyone would just sit down and have a real conversation and stop hedging against each other, as a third party on a construction project, seeing it from both sides, and really have an invested interest in in nothing more than just the success of the project. Because for us, we Yes, we have a client that is our direct borrower, but that general contractor and the owner on the project is just as much of a client of ours, because we are completely linked to one thing and one thing only, and that is the performance on the project. If that project performs that means our subcontractor performs that means the GC performed, that means the owner got what they wanted, and money flows all the way down the hill to everybody and everybody’s happy. And it’s what I always find is the lack of communicating sometimes on some of these projects, causes the issue. It’s like, well, I don’t want to tell them that and I want to I’m gonna fight this and push against that. And if everyone just sit down and say, You know what, this is what I’m great at  this is what I’m not, this is where I need help this where I don’t, it seems like it’d be so much easier for a construction project.

Charles Covey 10:00   Now I think you’ve hit that right, that nail right on the head. Because for us, I think that, at the very least, can we just get the real, the real stuff? Like, why do we have to like, well, you’re not gonna hold my card with my chest, I don’t want to let him know, Let’s just be real, let’s just be honest with each other, let’s just be upfront about the problems that we see. Because ultimately, that that upfront communication, getting all that out on the table, that’s what the project needs to move. And so trying to hold on to some information, because that might help us later … That’s bullshit. You know, like, we’re trying to get our client and their building to the end in a profitable and expedient manner with a quality building, like, you need the information to flow. And so I think that that’s something that I don’t know, like subcontracting and general contracting is gotten to a really interesting point where it’s a combative space, sometimes. You see this, you see jobs go south, and really, it’s really not the job going south. It’s the relationship going south is the communication going south. And if you can hedge that by just being real and just being upfront, just being honest with the client about what’s going on, and let all that information just be on the table as a discussion point. I think that perspective, maybe we’re not, we’re not perfect. We have communication issues at times. But I think that being upfront and real with our clients is a really big differentiator.

I think of an example, like, a lot of times when we’re doing contract buyout, I’ll tell the client, hey, you know, I really think that you should hold us accountable for this particular thing. Let’s make this language pretty broad, because, you know, you need us to finish this result and cover this whole scope for you. So let’s make this language a little bit broad, because I know that’s good for you. And then on this thing over here, it’s a little vague, like, you kind of got me wrapped into this other guy’s scope. Let’s clarify this one here. So I’m trying to buy a contract. It’s good for them and me. And it’s not that complex. Let’s just all work together as a team, we got the same goal, get this building built profitably at a quality level, and it’s not that complicated.

Scott Peper 11:52 You know, when you and I first met one of the things I admired, I don’t even know if you remember this part of the conversation, but as in your office, we’re talking through the scopes, just having a general conversation about the construction and one of the things I thought was really interesting about your particular scope and what you have to manage around. I always hear a lot of people talk about is they’re always blaming the other trade Oh, they’re slowing me down this trade slow me down, I don’t have the site or they screwed this up so I can’t do my thing. You know, more than any other scope, you probably touched just about one every other trade on that job. I mean, whether it’s walls erection, roofing, electrical, plumbing, your ceiling — for everyone doesn’t know what waterproofing is. I mean, your ceiling, the structure, you’re making it waterproof, obviously. So you’re you’re on the walls are around the windows, you’re near the joints, you’re near the roof lines, anything that connects anything. You have the opportunity to blame everybody for any problem you want. But yet, when you and I talk, you never blame anybody. Never.

Charles Covey 12:48  Never. We, we have to be careful with that. You know, like sometimes somebody screwed up and I can’t start because they didn’t do their job. But I’m not just going to send a letter. Hey, we’re delayed this other guy sucks. I’m going to come out and say, Hey, this thing needs to go, these four changes need to be made, and then we’ll be able to start as soon as possible. Yeah, sometimes there has to be some, some work back and forth, but doesn’t have to be in a combative manner. We can just say, Hey, this is the facts. I need this to keep moving. Let’s do it together. It’s like, you know, providing the solution instead of just putting the blame. But you see that you’re right. I mean, the blame gets pushed in, in the contracting space. So many times like, well, it’s just somebody else’s problem. We try to own the problem, you know, like some other trade has a thing. Let’s walk it through, let’s make sure that we’re there. Make sure it gets done right. and own the problem. We want to carry that on our shoulders. And I think our client appreciates that.

When a client comes at us and says, Hey, guys, you didn’t do this thing. I mean, if it’s true, I’m gonna take the client side, like, yeah, you’re right. We screwed that up. Now I look right at my PM. Like, what the hell is going on? And why aren’t you taking care of this client? There’s going to call them out because it’s real. That’s actually what happened. And to take the client side, I’m not going to push back and and pretend that we didn’t screw up because yeah, we’re human, and we mess some things up and we’re gonna own that shit. We’re going to fix it quick and move to the next.

Scott Peper 14:03  You talked about some of the early days. How did you maintain the success level as you grew and scaled hiring talent, finding talent and doing these jobs and keeping up that level of performance?

Charles Covey 14:14  I’ll tell you if you want, I’ll give you what I think is the absolute single biggest factor. I don’t worry about Alphapex money.

That seems crazy, right? Like how could that be? How could you run a business and not worry about the money? Yeah, I review the financials. I know what’s going on with the money, but I don’t make the money. My first concern. So I’m going to measure the other things. Are we the safest in the business, are our clients getting taken care of and the buildings getting built on time and correctly? Are we solving the client’s problem? Are we so good at helping them with their job that they’re not going to go anywhere else? So if I worry about all those things, ultimately, I’m worrying about their money.

So if you think about this, so I’m worrying about what gets them to their money, faster. So for the client that’s going to be getting the building done, getting the mobilized and off the site, no callbacks, no leaks, no warranty issues over the course of the job. And then for, now, what about my suppliers? They’re very critical to the, to the chain of things that we do. I got to worry about them. Yeah, I’m going to write them a check. But I still need to be worried about their money, because I’m going to need them. So I worry about getting them paid quickly, making sure that our ordering processes allow them to be efficient, they get to make more money, they love us. And then our staff, our team, people that on our team, I worry about their money,  are they being paid top of the market are they in a work environment where they want to be there. We’re not just working them into the ground, and in the way that construction is known for. So I’m worrying about everybody else’s money. And guess what happens to Alphapex company funds? Most of the time, it pretty much takes care of itself. Now, when I try to explain this to people at first are like, you know, this is pretty crazy. How can you not worry about your money, but I do I worry about everybody else’s money and then Alphapex gets taken care of.

Scott Peper 16:01  You know, instilling that culture in yourself is one thing we you know, you’ve grown now you have over 100 employees, culture is very important. You talk about it all the time on your website, it’s on your paperwork, it’s on your documents, it’s in your, it’s in your company logo, it’s everywhere, you can tell you’ve worked really hard on that. Talk a little bit about how you develop that culture, how you implemented it, and what you do to keep it going.

Charles Covey 16:25  So the core values are not done for show. They’re not done to impress. They’re done to create a mindset frame framework. And so, those core values are — there’s five elements in the Alphapex core values. And some of our other businesses have a slightly different set of values based on the decisions that need to be made in that business. So it’s a decision tree, and we create those core values. So it’s, this is not just the thing that we put on the wall, just because it looks nice and has bright colors, and it checks the box of Yeah, we have. It’s a decision making process for every single thing that pops up. So we had to run through these, you know, we think these are the core values, we got six or seven here and run through every possible scenario we could. Does this word or this phrase help our team make decisions and be better and take the company to the places we want to go? And I expect at some point, those core values will adjust as the goals and needs of the company changed. So it’s a decision making tree that goes that goes with us every moment of every day.

And I think some people just look at, well, you know, we want some, what’s some nice words that look pretty and we can put them on the wall? What are they going to do for you? What are those words going to do to actually improve the business and take it to a new level?

Scott Peper 17:35  When is your team first introduced to your core values?

Charles Covey 17:38  Immediately, the core values are in the onboarding paperwork. They’ve agreed in the onboarding paperwork that they read them, they have to understand what they mean, and they have to agree to uphold them. If you don’t uphold the core values, buddy you’re out. So that’s a pretty quick one. And I think that’s really it.

People understand pretty quickly that that’s the way that the business runs and we talked about to our clients too. It’s a selling point. I was at a client yesterday, client in Fort Worth, and we were doing a presentation for their field team. So all their superintendents and assistant superintendents, and we were talking about waterproofing and quality and the other items that we do every day, and just try to help their team be better. Just, you know, free information I got, I want to help these guys be better, and help to help them understand our scope of work. And they’re super appreciative, great group. But we talked about the core values, they’re like, hey, this is the expectation that we have of our team. And you see somebody not matching it, please let us know. That’s a really interesting thing. We promote those core values to the client. And I’ll get a phone call or a text occasionally, hey, just so you know, I saw one of your guys on the site, you’re probably going to want to know about this. I’ll get a text, they’re not upset at me, but they know that I would care.

And they know that I have a super high expectation, and they’ll let me know, I really appreciate that. That’s been a pretty cool thing of, you know, really pushing that to the clients, letting them know that hey, we’re a high-level organization, well developed. We have these core values that are a functional part of how we operate and they’ll help help us watch out for him, which is really neat.

Scott Peper 19:01  So this is such a good topic and it’s hard. It’s also a hard topic specially for a business owner and I speak from experience. It’s hard it’s hard for me I think it’s something I’m always working on is how can we make our culture better? How can we keep our culture the way it is, and always coming up with new and creative ways to do that, or, or keep new and creative ways to keep what we have going? You know, to your point.

Charles Covey 19:22  I always have to do a disclaimer, you notice my voice is monotone. It’s the same shit all the time. I’m excited. I’m sad or whatever, you don’t even know the difference, because I’m just kind of like this all the time. It’s really funny because like, Oh, you know this guy Charlie’s doesn’t seem to be very excited. No, I’m pumped. Are you kidding me? But this is about as animated as I get. So yeah, I’m excited to be here for sure. But you might not tell from my facial expression or my voice inflection.

Scott Peper 19:48   You’re a little more animated when you had about 17 inches more haircut and you went about four months past your normal date there during the Coronavirus.

Charles Covey 19:55  Yeah, I don’t look good like a gorilla. I wasn’t very happy. My wife thought it was cool as a novelty. Like Yeah, anyway, that was a good time. The other disclaimer is that I’m an asshole. It’s just kind of how I’m wired. My wife has to make sure when we go to client events, She tells them up front, Hey, just so you know, I’m the nice one. Charles is an asshole, don’t hold it against him.

Scott Peper 20:17  She called you a nice asshole.

Charles Covey 20:20  That’s true. Yeah, she does say that I’m the nicest asshole she knows.

Scott Peper 20:24  Charles, one of the other things I really wanted to cover with you was your I think you do a great job marketing your business. We’ve talked about some of the ways you’ve separated yourself, with your customers and your clients. But one of the things that I really want you to discuss is just your overall general philosophy on marketing, what you were doing in the past what you’ve been doing along the way, what you’ve learned, and I think we’d be a little remiss if you didn’t maybe talk a little bit on what you think might change with your marketing moving forward, you know, specifically as it relates to the Coronavirus or just what you think is going to change here and in construction, our approach to marketing

Charles Covey 20:59  Our approach is virtually the same thing that we do on the job site, and we talked about this and some previous things have, we’re worried about the client, what is the client need to be better. And so our marketing really is that, is that way too. So we’re giving a lot of information, the client wants to see their project, they want to see nice pretty video of their project. As it goes together. They’re emotionally invested in this project that they put hundreds or thousands of hours into. So we’re going to definitely showcase those projects and let them see it and let their friends see it. We’re going to share information with them, either in person, in their office, or with a lunch and learn or with videos on YouTube or on the different social media channels, or different things that we send out, that help them be better at their job with the things that we know which is our scope of work. So help them understand how to QA/QC our work, how to understand our work, how to help direct their project, regarding the things that we do in Division Seven. And so our marketing is very similar to the way we put work in place and that’s really be focused on what does the client need to be better. And then we don’t really ask that much we find that if we give a lot, when we do have that ask of, hey, let’s do this job together, that ask is welcome. Because we’ve been giving so much before that. So if you think about this, ties back to that whole thing of helping the client, get to their goals or be better at their thing.

So, birthdays, anniversaries, these things mean a lot. That’s an emotional tie. So as a marketer, as a business owner, you want to tie your business name, and the things you do every day, to an emotional connection. And birthdays are a really good way to do that. We found that a lot of a lot of our people that we work with, our clients, they, their own companies don’t even remember their birthday. The card that they get from us might be the only thing they got that day from somebody outside their family. So it has a really emotional connection and impact and it’s very, very long lasting. People remember these things for a long time. So just an example. I don’t believe I have one handy, but, we do pocket knives for birthdays. So it’s a pocket knife and it’s got their name on it and then we got a birthday card that is signed by everybody in the office wishing them a very happy birthday. And they receive that. Now, this is a big task, because you have to have a database of all your clients, their contact information, where they are, what company they’re at, how to get to them, their birthdays are it’s got to be accurate. Otherwise, you look like an idiot. But this is a lot of information. It’s hard. And that’s why most people don’t, that’s why most people don’t do it. And so I think that in marketing, you’ve got to look, what’s that next step? What’s that really hard thing that you don’t want to do? But nobody else is doing it? So you really should do it. And that’s what we found is the real differentiator, what’s the hard thing to do to connect to your client? Go do that. Chances are, your competitors won’t.

Scott Peper 23:41  No, you’re right. It’s invaluable. And anytime you’re attaching a memory to you and your business of something you’ve done that’s really been emotional to that person. It’s going to be more memorable and more impactful and those are two great things that every time

Charles Covey 23:54  But how often do you get gifts that’s just got … They send you a gift — we’re going to use gift loosely because it’s just an item that has the company’s name on it. That’s not for you. That’s just a general, they’re giving you a generalization of where we kind of feel nice about you. But if somebody goes to the effort to document all these things, took us forever to get all these names and emails and, and addresses together and birth dates. But once you do that, and you identify that you care about them as a human being on their birthday, which has intrinsic meaning, and something special, something custom, something you made for them. It’s, it’s really, it’s really a very important connection. I think. We don’t give anything to a client without their name on it. Does anybody throw away something with their name on it? Absolutely not. They keep that thing forever. So we’ve seen these, these different colored Yetis that we’ve given to people, they’re five, six years old, they’re just beat to shit. And they’re still carrying that thing around on the jobsite, every day because they love it. It’s got their name on it. And that’s really cool for us and our brand and what we stand for, and they really cherish that. So that’s cool. I would say putting somebody’s name on a gift is really impactful. Just don’t give it to them if you can’t put their name on it.

Scott Peper 25:04  I’m trying to think back. Am I throwing anything out that have my name out other than junk mail? And I would say probably say no.

Charles Covey 25:11  You should see our office around Christmas time, we might send out 500 or 600 custom gifts around Christmastime. Can you imagine the volume, like, how do you keep track of that many custom gifts? Got to check the names you got to check the addresses people moved between companies all the time. Got to make sure you’re taking it to the right location. Yeah, it’s a logistical nightmare but it’s totally worth it. I definitely give kudos to my wife Alicia who handles all of those elements of the business and she does a next-level amazing job to get that done and keep it organized. Everything goes out wrapped nicely with a bow on it with the name tag. You know, our branding, their name, custom gift.

Scott Peper 25:49  It’s awesome, man. That’s definitely an impact. People are gonna remember that. What are you doing different now with Coronavirus? I guess in general, what are your thoughts around the impact of the Coronavirus? What’s happened? I mean, there’s so many it’s impacted everybody there’s there’s no country, there’s no person, there’s no industry, everybody’s been impacted. What are the things you’ve done differently? How have you adjusted or maintained or, or etc?

Charles Covey 26:13  Yeah, so construction has been incredibly blessed. You think about it even across the country that Texas has been sheltered, maybe more than some, but there’s a few states that have had some construction shutdowns. But for the most part, construction, construction suppliers, construction manufacturers are still being able to operate. And that is, that’s just amazing. We’re very, very fortunate to be in that position, very thankful. But if you think about it, the world has changed a lot for construction and for everybody else. So yeah, we can still work every day. But the way that we do that, the way that we connect to our clients, the way that we get information from our job sites, the way that we interact with our team members, the way that we train for us has been very different.

You know, we can’t have that training meeting every Monday and pack 120 guys into a room. That doesn’t work anymore. We’ve got to come up with ways you’re like, how do we do this and film it ahead of time. And we text out a link to everyone. So they could still get the same information, but on a screen of a phone instead of in person, and then how do you connect from a screen of a phone is not the same emotional connection, as it would be as if you were in person. So now you do it in smaller groups. Now you do a one on one, you’ve got to find a way to connect, I think to your, to answer your question more specifically about the client relationship. Connecting with human beings is a really, really important part of construction. Like Yes, we build buildings, but hey, man, we are in the people business. And that’s not going to change with technology, but new building methodologies like we’re going to be in the people business forever. And because that we can’t lose sight of the fact that, Coronavirus or not, you still have to find a way to connect with the people that are in the business. So finding one of the ways what are the ways we can think outside the box, come up with something new, to get a contact so get an emotional connection like we mentioned. Here I’ll show you an example. This is the Alphapex Pandemic First Aid kit. If you can see that it’s whiskey and beef jerky, and a mask.

So it was a huge hit, you know, superintendents, project managers are just getting beat over the head every day with all this Corona stuff and having to sanitize job sites and, you know, make sure everybody’s washing their hands and check temperatures and all the different protocols, and whiskey and beef jerky was really impactful. So that one was just outside the box, what’s something we can do that will allow us to connect with our clients for just a second, just to get there and let them know that we care about them that we’re here for them if they need us. And it was a challenge to get all those delivered. Because you know, some people at the office, some people at the house, some people on the job site, and so we were able to get that done and send out a few hundred of those and it was pretty neat to see the reactions but we’ve got to think outside the box now.

Scott Peper 28:44  You know, finding new and creative ways man and helping people when no one else is or when fewer people are is so important and if you just generally focus on helping the person and helping people in general, anyone you come in contact with, but especially your customers, especially your team, you’re going to be so much better off and it’s so much easier to manage your business because the decisions are are easier you do what’s right you just do what’s best for each person and when something extra special for someone in the point where they’re especially when they’re getting beat down by everybody is a memorable and honorable thing, really is.

Charles Covey 29:22  You have to have the long game in mind. This this stuff that we do is not a short term thing you don’t see a monetary result quickly.

Scott Peper 29:31  No, no. And you know you’re not doing it for monetary result either. And who knows you you’ll never tie an ROI to how many custom gifts you bought, you know, doesn’t mean you can add more money to the project, doesn’t mean any of those stages means it’s what’s right help separate you keeps you more memorable a game where everybody’s everybody can be very similar, right?

Charles Covey 29:52  It’s a differentiator and I know absolutely for a fact that if you show people you care, your business will grow.

Scott Peper  30:02  100%

Transcribed by https://otter.ai