Mainstream Electrician Becomes World Traveler
by Tom Watts
January 21, 2010
Todd Damschen, second from left, and his wife, Elaine, far right, share a moment with their children in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The pyramid is the oldest (built in 2560 B.C.) and largest of the three pyramids in Giza.
Todd Damschen has found solace at his home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, having created an electrical business system that allows him time to travel around the world with his family.
Damschen, 39, CEO of Mainstream Electric Inc. of Post Falls, Idaho, serves clients in the Post Falls/Coeur d’Alene area, including Spokane, Wash.
His company currently employs 10 people, and revolves its electrical business around 80 percent residential clients and 20 percent commercial clients.
To see where Todd Damschen is, one must first discover where he came from.
Damschen started his electrical career in 1994 by attending four years of trade school at Boise State University. He worked as a full-time apprentice to accumulate the 8,000 hours of work-related experience needed to take the Idaho state journeyman’s electrical exam. “I tested the day after I completed my schooling and passed with flying colors,” Damschen said. “I received my journeyman’s license in the spring of 1999.”
The company’s start-up strategy began in May 2000.
“I worked full-time for another reputable electrical company in Coeur d’Alene to maintain a household income while starting Mainstream during evenings and weekends,” Damschen said. “My jobs included area residential and commercial work, plus service work. This enabled me to build clientele and a stable base of revenue.”
Damschen continued this strategy through December 2001. “Once a stable income was established, I left my employer to manage Mainstream Electric full time in January 2002,” he recalled.
“I was an amateur on the business side of electrical contracting when I started my business and am a self-taught businessman,” Damschen said. “I’ve attended numerous business seminars, read several books, and look to business mentors for my education. I take a lot of pride in the fact that I’ve grown my business; it’s been profitable every single year.”
STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD
Damschen started Mainstream Electric much like many other electrical contractors do. “I bid on all jobs, big and small, just to get my name out there,” he said. “I called every electrical company in the phone book and asked what their hourly rate was. I figured if I were a little bit cheaper than the average electrician, I would get plenty of work. It wasn’t long before I needed some help and hired my first employee.
“It didn’t take me long to realize that this strategy only made my company look like every other electrical contractor in my area,” he continued. “We all charged the same hourly rate, and therefore, struggled to stand out in our market. Electrical contractors stay in business for years serving all needs of everyone (industrial, commercial, and residential) and I felt I was nothing to no one by using this business philosophy.”
It was obvious within a few years that something wasn’t right about the contracting world. “Business always seemed busy, and the books showed that we were making a profit year after year, but, we never had any money,” Damschen explained. “Our line of credit was on a continuous roller coaster ride — up and down, up and down. It was so frustrating.”
Damschen knew that business systems existed that would make his company more successful, and so his search began. “I surfed the Internet for flat-rate pricing guides and dispatching software,” he said. “I talked to several companies and had demos sent to my office. One day I received a postcard from Electricians’ Success International (ESI). That single direct mail solicitation spoke to me. It addressed nearly everything that I despised about the contracting world, stirred deep emotion, and fed my desire to make a change.”
And, change he did.
Damschen promptly attended an ESI Success Day in Las Vegas and joined right away. As residential, commercial, and service work were all sources of income, Mainstream Electric phased out of new commercial and new residential construction in November 2004 and focused solely on residential service work.
“ESI provided financial models, budget recommendations, dispatch software, standardized business systems, yellow page ads and marketing ideas, a pricing guide, training ideas, Daily Management Essential Reporting, and much more,” he said. “A business consultant was also assigned to my company; someone to hold me accountable to the changes I was making. With a membership to Electricians’ Success International, a business model with proven strategies and an integrated activity system were shared. I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.”
Damschen has now been a member of ESI for five years. He said Mainstream Electric’s niche continues to be residential electrical service. “We continue to say ‘no’ to any new construction,” he said. “Mainstream Electric has grown each year and continues to be profitable each year, as well.”
HOW TO WIN THE DAY
Elaine Damschen, second from left, and Todd Damschen, far right, pose with their children in front of the Roman Coliseum in Rome, Italy, during a recent family vacation. Construction on the Coliseum began between 70 and 72 A.D.
Damschen said the easiest way to get into consumers’ minds is to be first. “History shows that the first brand into the brain, on average, gets twice the long-term market share of the second brand, and twice again as much as the third brand,” he said. “Compare: McDonald’s and Burger King, Coke and Pepsi or Harvard and Yale. Mainstream Electric is first in residential electrical service in our market.
“The essence of strategically positioning my residential electrical service company is to choose customer service activities that are different from my rivals. Like gears, my company runs like a well-oiled machine due to ESI recommended and implemented activity systems.”
Here are just a few examples:
• Appointments are scheduled in guaranteed two-hour windows, so the client does not have to wait around all day. The CCR calls the client 20 minutes before the technician arrives to the appointment.
• For customers’ safety and security, Mainstream electricians are uniformed, criminally background checked, randomly drug tested, and highly trained; only licensed journeyman electricians are sent to jobs (per state standards).
TAKING CARE OF CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES
Still, Mainstream Electric’s vision is to “positively impact every person we come into contact with,” Damschen said.
“This includes, but is not limited to, each other, clients, vendors, gas station attendants, cashiers, our own families, strangers in passing,” he said. “Staff members train and then operate from a ‘state of being’ and not from simply ‘doing.’ When a customer calls Mainstream Electric, my staff is there to help and feel genuinely honored for the opportunity to be of service. My staff is able to build long-lasting relationships with our clients … in my opinion, this in itself increases sales.”
In fact, on average, 60 percent of Damschen’s monthly revenue comes from repeat and referred business. “It’s been this way for several years now,” he said. “Simply using ESI’s StraightForward Pricing Guide increases revenue. With proper training, it can increase sales, too. I’ve met many contractors over the years at ESI’s semi-annual Expo’s, and they continue to resist this change and charge by the hour. This pricing strategy is a proven strategy; my company is living proof.
“After the implementation of the StraightForward Pricing System, it empowered my technicians to quote all work out in the field,” Damschen said.
“Always do what’s in the best interest of the customer; Mainstream electricians are trained to replace and not simply repair,” he continued. “Simply repairing broken electrical systems again and again, in the long run, costs clients more time and more money. Take care of the customer, and they will take care of you.”
With a membership to Electricians’ Success International, a business model with proven strategies, and an integrated activity system were shared for Damschen’s company to mirror.
TAKING CARE OF FAMILY LIFE
Those vacations include Walt Disney World, Orlando, Fla.; The Big Island, Hawaii; Alaska; and a 12-day Mediterranean Cruise with stops at Barcelona, Spain Rome, Nafplion, Greece, Izmir, Turkey, Cairo, Egypt, and Malta, Valletta.
“I know that a company can only be as successful as the mental limitations of its leaders,” Damschen noted. “I am constantly looking for learning and growing opportunities for myself and my staff. Whether it’s a seminar or a book that we read together, my staff seeks better and different ways in which to be of service to each other and our clients. Mainstream Electric knows that successful people do what unsuccessful people refuse to do.”
“ESI has changed my life; it has changed my family life. Mainstream Electric wouldn’t be what it is today without ESI’s business model, guidance, inspiration, and encouragement,” said Damschen.
Damschen also noted that his wife, Elaine, is president of Mainstream Electric. “Last spring she applied to graduate school at Boise State University and is currently working towards an international executive MBA. She is buried with homework and says it’s a grueling process. However, we are already implementing business concepts that she’s learned and know that many more positive changes are just around the corner for Mainstream Electric. Education, learning, and having open minds are keys to our success; we don’t like flying by the seat of our pants.
Tom Watts
