Imagine that your mom needs heart surgery. You love her and want to make sure she gets the best care available. You go to each doctor’s appointment and pepper everyone you know with questions. You’re on WebMD. You’re doing the research. You narrow the list down to a few well-reviewed cardiologists and make an informed decision after asking each candidate questions like, “How many heart surgeries like this one have you done in the last six months?” You end up picking the doc with the highest reviews and most recent experience. The surgery goes well, and mom’s ticker is good for another 30 years.
Consider an alternate Black Mirror version of this same quest. You do a little Google research and come across a few shiny Web sites with decent Google reviews. You talk to a few cardiologists who seem trustworthy but don’t necessarily ask too many questions about how recent their last heart surgeries were or if they’d seen a case similar to your mom’s. The surgery doesn’t go well, and it comes out later that the cardiologist hadn’t done a surgery in a few months and hadn’t performed a similar procedure in their career.
Also by Henry Clifford: Is Recognition Cultural Rocket Fuel?
Why am I talking about heart surgery and tugging at your heartstrings about poor old mom? Our industry is perennially engaged in training our people to perform open heart surgery by sending eager installers to manufacturer trainings where they’re immersed for three to five days inside whatever shiny platform or system for which their employer has just become a dealer. The technician comes home with a certificate, some sample gear, and dreams of waking up the next day and programming one of the new systems.
Unfortunately, Monday morning comes and they’re back to installing flat-panel TVs and wiring racks again. The sales team doesn’t sell one of these new systems for another six months. The rough in and trim out take another six months. By the time they’re ready for finish out, it’s been over a year since the training class. You can guess how the installation finishes out. It takes forever, there are a ton of punchouts, and the client is frustrated.
Why do we continue to engage in this broken model of training when another reality is so easily within our grasp? Wouldn’t it make more sense to partner with people who are doing this specialized work every day? Whether it’s Lutron programming, electrical work, or shade installation, our industry is full of these potential partnership opportunities. Why don’t we look outside our teams more often? Sometimes the answer is lack of knowledge, sometimes it’s ego due to fear of loss. “What if the client finds out I’m using subcontractors?” thinks the “fear-based living” integrator. Ironically, I’ve been asked by builders if we use subcontractors on our jobs as if that’s a negative. How many builders employ framers, plumbers, and electricians? Not many.
Also by Henry Clifford: Beware the “Warp-Zone” Employee
What if we all decided to embrace a “parts-and-smarts” mentality where we sought out partners to help with our specialized work? We all know the kinds of work immediately. These are the large jobs we pine for but don’t see every day unless we live in a major metropolitan area. We spend all day, every day doing work to keep the lights on in hopes that we bag a large job full of custom opportunities. The irony of the waiting is that our specialty skills are highly perishable.
If you don’t have a dependable shade installer, Crestron programmer, Lutron programmer, or electrician relationship, consider exploring your options. Your employees will thank you for not putting them in a position where they’ll lose face in front of a client.
Here are a few industry outfits that specialize in helping integrators stay in their lane and focus on customer happiness (they’re also perfectly happy to behave like one of your employees when client facing):
Programming:
- The CI Guys specialize in helping Elan dealers cross the finish line
- Crestron Service Providers partner with Crestron dealers to configure and commission systems
System Design:
- Bluedog Group delivers pre- and post-sales documentation, enabling a CI business to outsource their entire system design practice
Remote Support:
- Parasol and OneVision both help CI businesses deliver proactive 24/7/365 remote support [Full Disclosure: I’m a co-founder of Parasol]
The next time you’re staring down the barrel at “the big one,” consider showcasing your team with a “parts-and-smarts” approach and watch your prospects draw closer as you build trust.
Stay frosty, and see you in the field.
