The Electric Doctor Gets Off of Life Support
July 19, 2010
“My
dad said I went to the school of hard knocks,” said Jeff Lanum. “I’m a
third-generation electrician, so I never really thought of anything else. It
was kind of expected of me. Now I have a son interested in the
business.”
It took Lanum a few rounds of hard knocks before he recognized that better
training for his employees would be the difference between a failing electrical
company and one that succeeds.
When the president and owner of Electric Doctor located in Bettendorf, Iowa,
began his search for employees who were better trained in the electrical field,
he discovered that his current employees were just what he was looking
for.
“They just didn’t know it,” Lanum said. “We have always believed in the phrase,
‘Hire for attitude and train for aptitude.’ But where do we go for the
training?”
That was the big hurdle for Lanum, and until he realized the company’s
weakness, he didn’t know where to look for a solution.
Enter Electricians’ Success International® (ESI).
After some research, Lanum attended a Profit Day seminar, sponsored by ESI;
that opened the doors to a whole new vision of success that he never
imagined.
“Electricians’ Success International has been very instrumental in identifying
processes to help us succeed,” Lanum said.
Before he hooked up with ESI, Lanum had opened his business, Electric Doctor,
in late 2006. “We had a residential service call that needed to be attended to,
but I couldn’t get a hold of any employees to respond,” recalled Lanum. “As a
business owner, I realized these calls were important to the success of our
organization, and I was frustrated with the ability and resources we had to
help our customers.”
Lanum’s revelation was, “What if we had a better plan for all the
administrative duties required to complete the opportunity?” He said, “I
quickly came to the conclusion that we were great at performing the task but
horrible at the important administrative functions and customer service. The
first big step was the realization of our shortcomings.”
After that Profit Day meeting, Lanum got out a pad of paper and wrote down a
plan for success. “I recognized that we were missing most of the key elements
of a great service operation,” he said. “We didn’t employ the proper CCRs,
technicians, or managers. Therefore, a quest began to obtain the right people,
and then the processes needed to succeed.”
Lanum soon discovered the benefits of his Profit Day experience and how ESI
would ultimately be the difference between succeeding and
failing.
WHAT SUCCESS MEANS
Jeff Lanum, far right, holds his daughter, Lauren, and is joined by wife, Kimberly, and Electric Doctor Mascot Technician, Steve Nelson.
“I have a Type A personality and am a self-committed workaholic,” he said. “My wife knew this long before we got married.” But work is only a word. “If you are passionate about what you are doing, it will never feel like work,” said Lanum. “It’s a lifelong goal of happiness. If you are passionate for what you do and embrace every effort, task, failure, and success, then you will never be unhappy with your day.”
What has been the true benefit of Electric Doctor’s ESI membership for Lanum is the time to focus on other areas of his business that need attention. “The service industry is a very administrative-intense business sector,” he said. “ESI has helped us identify and focus on the key tasks required. We are able to introduce processes that would have taken years to figure out.”
Electric Doctor is as unique a company as they come in the electrical business, “insofar as we are a residential service company mixed into a larger group of commercial-industrial companies,” said Lanum. “This is not a common mix.”
Lanum said the company’s mission and goals for 2010 are continued growth for Electric Doctor and increased market share in the region. “We have had continued growth throughout the slow economy of 2009,” he said. “This is attained from sheer employee grit, … marketing, and training plans that we learned from ESI.”
IMPLEMENTING ESI IDEAS
Jeff Lanum, of Moline, Ill., is the president/owner of Electric Doctor located in Bettendorf, Iowa.
For example, the company has had great success in entering the home generator market.
“I would attribute the success to adding a full-time generator sales specialist,” said Lanum, just one of many ideas gleaned from his ESI affiliation. “The technicians introduce the idea to a customer, and we follow up with our sales specialist.”
Adding a full-time generator specialist allowed the Electric Doctor to focus on backup power sales to all industries, not just the residential market.
“When the power went out, we were bombarded with requests for connections and permanently installed units due to our presence in the market,” Lanum said. “With a go-to guy, our response time improved, and we secured more installations. We also include backup power information with all our marketing materials.”
ESI is working with Lanum to put together programs that will help Electric Doctor gain a competitive advantage, increase customer service, and be more profitable.
“ESI brought us a turnkey money-generating system that made it simple for us to rapidly increase our revenue,” Lanum said.
At one ESI Expo attended by Lanum, ESI had already done research on the best generator to use, advertising to make the phone ring, sales presentation guides for technicians, and both technical and sales training.
“ESI had invested months and dedicated an entire team of purchasing agents, sales experts, trainers, graphic designers, and creative advertising minds to bring me a turnkey program that I could use immediately in my business,” Lanum said. “This one program probably would have taken me a year to develop and over $100,000 to create, but I received it for free as a member of ESI.”
Thanks to the education he received through ESI, Lanum has since completed many different advertising campaigns to augment his branding.
“Advertising via different media ensures we can canvas the region,” Lanum said, noting a direct connection with ESI’s advertising tools has turned his generator business around. “Now, whenever power outages are feared, our phone rings steadily,” as customers have associated his company with a solution to their problem.
The most effective advertising tool at Electric Doctor is service, which is another eye-opener that ESI training taught him.
TOOLS IN THE TOOLBOX
“Advertising
that makes the phone ring for service is invaluable,” Lanum said.
Another tool
that Electric Doctor has in its kit is the StraightForward Pricing®
Guide, an
ESI-provided tool for members’ benefit only.
It’s patented and ESI has invested over $250,000 in legal fees alone to
provide
ESI members with this competitive advantage.
“Our average invoice has gone up,” Lanum said. “When you multiply that
by X
amount of calls a year, it’s huge. I would belong to ESI just for the
StraightForward Pricing Guide, but I get so much else as well, including
technician training on how to serve clients better.
“Media advertising is expensive, but we have had success in carefully
targeting
our dollars,” Lanum continued. “ESI has been very helpful with all
advertising
aspects. Market yourself every day, every chance you get. I believe in
advertising.”
ESI OPENS DOORS
With
his association with ESI fully entrenched, Jeff Lanum knows how to remedy
electrical problems 24 hours a day; that’s why he’s the Electric
Doctor.
Lanum, who lives in Moline, Ill., is in charge of an electrical company that
employs 100 people and deals in 20 percent residential and 80 percent
commercial work.
Last year, the company amassed $12.5 million in sales revenue, which breaks
down to $1 million from Electric Doctor; $1.25 million in generator sales;
$1.25 million in telephone systems and communications; $2.25 million in
commercial and industrial service, and $6.75 million in construction of
industrial and
commercial buildings.
That’s a far cry from the days when Lanum was an apprenticed-trained
electrician.
BUILDING A BUSINESS
“I
used to be a hands-on manager with the growth of all our companies. But due to
other business activities, I had to pull away from the day-to-day contact with
the Electric Doctor’s electricians and customers.”
This has not come easily to Lanum as his style is to stay in touch with every
aspect of the business, but with ESI’s help, and some well-trained employees,
the Electric Doctor doesn’t get knocked around at school anymore. TSC
