Page 23 - The Compass 2017 | Volume 12 | Issue 4

Brett. When he returned home, he and his fami-
ly eagerly dug into this new system and way of
doing business.
“My uncle and I decided we would be the
first residential-service techs to get it running,”
Brett said. “We got a van wrapped. I answered
the phones for probably a year. It took us about a
year to also get going with a service fee. But the
first thing we did was definitely get StraightFor-
ward Pricing going.”
®
“I’ll never forget back then, looking at what
ESI wanted us to charge,” Brett continued. “We
all thought it was nuts. Holy cow…how are we
doing to do that? But we tried. And it worked.”
It didn’t take Brett and his partners long to
determine they would also need to invest in
advertising. Back in 2004, the phone book still
was a smart option. Master Electrical Service
submitted an ad just before the deadline expired master heatinG & air team. back row, left to riGht: kim miller, courtney stanGer, Jack
DoDson, ian sloan, heather larmour, ray rawson, brent Jensen, anD Dave Graham. front
for the year. They also began direct mailing to row, left to riGht: steve lin anD brett haDley.
generate additional leads. Diamond Air. So, I played matchmaker for the two sides,” Brett
“In three full years, we ended up doing over a million dol- added. “They worked out a deal, signed the paperwork, and I
lars in residential service,” Brett divulged. The revenue, and thought that was that. But it wasn’t…”
especially the profit generated from the service work, couldn’t An unexpected issue arose, and Steve’s brother-in-law could
have come at a better time for the family business. It was 2008. no longer relocate to Utah. Undeterred by the setback, Steve
And like the rest of the country, all of Salt Lake City was approached his friend and longtime associate, Brett, with a
devastated. proposition: The two men would go into business together,
“The economy hit Hadley Electric really hard. We had three owning and operating both Master Electrical Service and Di-
contractors that took us for over $200,000,” Brett shared. “It amond Air.
was Master Electrical that kept things going because we were Brett knew well the opportunity that existed in HVAC. As
really growing during those years, even with the economy in a member of the SGI family for some time, he recognized the
the dumps. We had continual growth. Now that I think about revenue potential. He also had seen more than a few of his
it, there isn’t a year where revenue hasn’t increased from the fellow ESI members successfully branch into the trade. Brett
previous year.” reasoned with Steve’s marketing acumen and his operational
Brett & steve Go into Business toGether knowledge and experience, the two would form a formidable
2013 would be a landmark year for Brett Hadley, Master Elec- partnership. The next step would be the most difficult: Brett
trical Service, and Hadley Electric. It was hardly preplanned. needed to present his family with their acquisition request.
“I approached the partners with the proposal: They buy me
Much like the series of events that steered Brett into resi-
dential service work, this unusual out of Hadley Electric, and I buy them out of Master Elec-
opportunity proved to be another master electrical service team. back row, left to riGht: matt aDams, Drake auna, kevin van-
instance in which life grabbed him Dyke, trevor bischoff, JD casPerson, anD J chrisman. miDDle row, left to riGht: kim miller, luis
and insisted he take a new path. stakebake, steve marriott, lesa Jensen, Zack roGers, anD lance Zobell. front row, left to
riGht: Gloriane ross, sanDra haDley, steve lin, brett haDley, tami krebs, anD courtney stanGer.
One with a very good friend, Steve
Lin.
“Steve was my marketing man-
ager for some time,” Brett shared.
“He had a brother-in-law that lived
in Texas. He was a million-dol-
lar-producer for an AirTime com-
pany. He wanted to move back
home to Utah. So, Steve and he
[Steve’s brother-in-law] were go-
ing to open their own shop.”
“I knew of a gentleman by the
name of Monty Pendley; he was a
longtime AirTime member looking
to sell. He had a company called

THE COMPASS | Issue 4 | 2017 23