Different Path Chosen

Different Path Chosen

Bob Houchin
Contributing Writer
Success Group International

Brett Hadley & Steve Lin have achieved remarkable growth & success in their business, Master Home Services, in Ogden, Utah, by refusing to make the most conventional decisions & instead seizing opportunity when arisen

Destiny seemed to be pushing Brett Hadley into the family trade at an incredibly young age. At only 14 years old, he attained his apprentice electricians license. Brett’s grandfather was an electrician. His father and his uncle were electricians. And now he would be an electrician.

Rich Hadley, Brett’s grandfather, opened Hadley Electric in Ogden, Utah, in 1954. Brett’s dad, Alan, and uncle, Calvin, purchased the company from their father in the 1980s. Whether it was said or not, once Brett began wiring homes while in junior high, everyone knew Brett would be part of the third generation owning and operating the family namesake.

Brett wasn’t always so certain. “My dad actually fired me in high school,” he said while trying to hold back a snicker. “He said I wasn’t reliable, and I wasn’t. He told me to go to the Subway down the street and get a job. That’s what I did for a year…”

“It was the best thing my dad did for me. It made me realize I had something really good with my dad. I went back [to Hadley Electric] and became the best employee he had after that,” Brett said while laughing once more.

The position became full-time following high-school graduation, two years of college, a two-year mission to Germany, marrying his lovely wife, Shannon. “It really felt like the best decision for me, to become an electrician.”

Brett’s life appeared to be falling perfectly into place. His entire future before him, and it would play out seamlessly. Brett would learn the nuances of owning and operating a small business. In 10 years or so, he would be perfectly positioned to purchase the business from his dad, uncle, and their partner, Cordell Hill, all of whom would be looking to ease into retirement.

As life tends to do, it threw Brett for an unexpected loop. Whether it be fate intervening or a higher power, two unrelated, yet interconnected coincidences, altered Brett’s interests—so much so, he would choose a different path than the one he seemed predestined to fulfill.

Master Electrical Service Is Born

Every single year, the three Hadley Electric partners, like clockwork, would take a weeklong cruise. By 2004, Brett had proven his worth and climbed the ladder to assume a management position. Such status meant he was the man in charge during vacation week.

“A lot of the time, I would be in the office. It was always interesting. I kept getting calls for residential-service work. [Hadley Electric was almost exclusively into residential new construction.] We were swamped. I’d tell them we could get to them in a few weeks, but even then, I knew if one of our big contractors needed help, they’d get pushed. That’s just the way it was,” Brett explained.

“These homeowners were begging for help. I had three or four people say, ‘I’ve called every electrician in the book. Who can I call to get some work done?’ But that day didn’t leave me. It got my brain working. And then my father-in-law called me one day. My father-in-law is Mike Bachman.”

“Mike said he was thinking of going into the electrical field. He wanted me to go with him to Vegas.”

Mike wanted Brett to go to a Profit Day seminar, as Mike had been previously and had taken great value from it.

An inevitable conversation came next. Mike asked Brett if he’d come to work for him. In his heart, Brett new residential service provided an exciting opportunity. When he returned to Utah, he sat down with his bosses (his family) and informed them that he was considering leaving. “I reasoned with them we weren’t competition,” Brett insisted. “They were entrenched in new construction and really wanted nothing to do with service work.”

The next day Brett’s dad, uncle, and their partner presented him with an offer. Brett could buy into Hadley Electric now, and he could start a new residential company, Master Electrical Service. He would be a full partner in both entities.

“I had two great offers. It led to a lot of sleepless nights. I saw the benefits of both. Ultimately, I chose to be with my dad,” Brett explained. “I love Mike to death. It hurt to break the news to him, but to his credit, he took it well. He said he only wanted me to be successful. It’s how the Master Electrical Service was born.”

Service Work Cushions the Blow Delivered by the Recession

Brett then attended an Expo.  It was eye-opening and exhilarating for him. When he returned home, he and his family 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 StraightForward Pricing® going.”

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 for the year. They also began direct mailing to generate additional leads.

“In three full years, we ended up doing over a million dollars in residential service,” Brett divulged. The revenue, and especially the profit generated from the service work, couldn’t have come at a better time for the family business. It was 2008. And like the rest of the country, all of Salt Lake City was devastated.

“The economy hit Hadley Electric really hard. We had three contractors that took us for over $200,000,” Brett shared. “It was Master Electrical that kept things going because we were really growing during those years, even with the economy in the dumps. We had continual growth. Now that I think about it, there isn’t a year where revenue hasn’t increased from the previous year.”

Brett & Steve Go into Business Together

2013 would be a landmark year for Brett Hadley, Master Electrical Service, and Hadley Electric. It was hardly preplanned. Much like the series of events that steered Brett into residential service work, this unusual opportunity proved to be another instance in which life grabbed him and insisted he take a new path. One with a very good friend, Steve Lin.

“Steve was my marketing manager for some time,” Brett shared. “He had a brother-in-law that lived in Texas. He was a million-dollar-producer for an AirTime company. He wanted to move back home to Utah. So, Steve and he [Steve’s brother-in-law] were going to open their own shop.”

“I knew of a gentleman by the name of Monty Pendley; he was a longtime member looking to sell. He had a company called Diamond Air. So, I played matchmaker for the two sides,” Brett added. “They worked out a deal, signed the paperwork, and I thought that was that. But it wasn’t…”

An unexpected issue arose, and Steve’s brother-in-law could no longer relocate to Utah. Undeterred by the setback, Steve approached his friend and longtime associate, Brett, with a proposition: The two men would go into business together, owning and operating both Master Electrical Service and Diamond Air.

Brett knew well the opportunity that existed in HVAC.  Brett reasoned with Steve’s marketing acumen and his operational knowledge and experience, the two would form a formidable partnership. The next step would be the most difficult: Brett needed to present his family with their acquisition request.

“I approached the partners with the proposal: They buy me out of Hadley Electric, and I buy them out of Master Electrical Service,” Brett stated. “They agreed. It was definitely an amicable separation. Our buildings are right next to each other. We send work back and forth to each other all the time. That’s still my family.”

Explosion in Growth Thanks to a New Marketing Strategy

Master Service Electrical and Diamond Air may have been established businesses, but Brett and Steve fully knew 2013 would be a year of transition. The new owners needed to learn how to work together as partners and set a course of action for both enterprises. By all accounts, Brett and Steve felt immediately this would work. Both men had the same goals and ideas of how to take these service businesses to another, higher level of success.

“It was definitely one of those years where it took us some time to get everything under our belts, but we felt good,” Brett maintained. “We raised our prices 10 percent. We also purchased a home security and automation company called Total Protection. We felt like it was a natural evolution for our business. It was an existing company that had been in the market for a long time and had a good name, too.”

By the time 2014 rolled around, Brett and Steve unveiled a new, comprehensive marketing strategy. “We started a big pay-per-click campaign with VitalStorm,” Brett said. “We also decided to hit television hard. Steve’s background was in TV advertising. He had a lot of connections and understood the process to create our campaigns.”

Steve would have some direction with new TV-spot messaging. “I had gotten to know Gus [Antos] at Milestone really well over the years. I talked to him about his commercials and the schedule they were using. He gave me everything and said use it. Our first commercials were definitely similar to his. We’ve evolved as we’ve gotten to better understand our market,” Brett said.

“Today, we hammer home the idea that Master Home Services is the one to take care of your home’s electrical problems. We’re the only electrical contractors on TV talking residential service.”

The new TV advertising resonated in the community. “I remember Gus saying they only played their commercial on Monday and Tuesday, and they’d do that two weeks on, two weeks off. Eventually, he would get calls on Fridays from people complaining that they ran the spot too much,” Brett said with a chuckle. “I remember thinking we finally arrived when we started getting the same calls with people complaining.”

The investment into TV and pay-per-click came with a cost. Brett said that Steve and he sank roughly 12 percent of their annual revenue into marketing. However, there is no denying the success of their strategy. “The same month our TV commercials and pay-per-click hit, our call volume increased by an additional 150 calls per month,” Brett said proudly. “I would tell anyone that’s the big reason we’ve had such big growth since 2014.”

Grow Your Own Techs

More calls meant Brett and Steve needed more people. No small challenge in an industry desperate for able bodies. They found a solution by attending an Expo only a few years ago. “Gus [Antos] and Kent [Boll] were talking about developing their own apprentices. It hit me, because it was something we were struggling with doing. We had two, but it wasn’t working. It got me thinking and eventually we developed a program with the area vocational center here.”

It helped Brett and Steve’s recruiting efforts that one of Master Home Services’ technicians teaches the first-year apprentice class at the center. “He knows what kind of kids we’re looking for. We’re looking for the right attitude and work ethic. If we like them, we can start training them immediately,” Brett said.

Utah laws require every technician be a licensed journeyman to operate legally. Typically, that’s a four-year process. However, Utah has a residential journeyman’s license, necessitating only two years of field experience, plus normal course work. It’s made the homegrown-technician process much quicker for Master Home Services.

“For two years, we’re training them precisely on how we want them to work. They don’t have any bad habits. And they’re getting to ride along with my top electricians. I’m convinced this is the best and right way to grow,” Brett said.

“I’ve told every single one of our apprentices if they pass their residential journeyman’s test in two years, I’ll have a truck for them,” he continued. “So far, it’s been a success. The first kid we had go through the process, we put him in his own truck in July. By the end of the year, he did $233,000. We’re excited at this program’s potential.”

Success Comes with Consistent, Weekly Training

Brett made it perfectly clear, while he prefers homegrown technicians, he absolutely will welcome the right, experienced technician within the fold—and he actively and consistently recruits all year. Brett and Steve have a carefully designed onboarding process to ensure a new technician understands the level of service Master Home Services and Diamond Air customers have become accustomed to receiving.

A newly hired technician can expect to spend the first several days in the office learning the basics. Brett has a package of materials he’s accumulated over the years; he will sit down and review them with every new tech. Much of it has been taken from training he attended over the years. It concentrates on how to properly approach a house, how to walk to the door and knock, how to converse with the homeowner, and so on. He asks the new-hire to develop his own scripting at that point, too. During that office time, Brett also has a series of videos he will ask the individual to watch.

“Then we have them ride with our lead technicians. After watching for a week, they will let the new person run the calls, and they’ll observe. That way, my lead tech is there to backup if we find this new tech struggles with some of his electrical skill. The goal is to see what kind of work is he capable of doing. Assuming he works out, that will help us with dispatching.”

The training process doesn’t stop at that point. Brett and Steve expect their technicians to train twice weekly. Wednesday is communication-based training. Brett will have a video for the team to watch. They will discuss overcoming objections or another soft-skill strategy. Senior technicians can skip these sessions if they want, but first- and second-year techs must attend. During these sessions, both the Master Electrical Service and Diamond Air techs are present.

Thursday is a companywide mandatory meeting that’s broken up by trade. Some of this time is used going over technical training or advancements. They will review company policies. They mostly use it to cover any issues that may have surfaced over the course of the week.

“We try to close each week with a little motivational message,” Brett said. “You want to give them that last push to get through the week. We know the days can get long.”

Master Home Services Rebrand

Brett and Steve’s combination of marketing and recruiting have been an effective mix. Master Electrical Service has grown to nine lead technicians, four apprentices, and it’s now generating an eye-opening $3 Million, a considerable jump from only two years ago, while still retaining a strong, double-digit profit margin. Diamond Air has presented challenges, but it’s still doing $500,000 in revenue.

Unlike electrical or plumbing in Utah, an HVAC technician does not need to be licensed to practice. According to Brett, the HVAC trade attracts a lot of dishonest characters. Recruiting has been far more difficult for Brett and Steve. “We had one technician promise he could pass a drug test and background check. We gave him a set of uniforms, and we never heard from him again,” Brett said, now laughing a bit. “The dude just disappeared. It’s because he knew he couldn’t pass the test. That was a lesson learned.”

Brett is convinced his HVAC division has a bright future and can generate $1 Million in 2017. It’s thanks to a friend he hired as Diamond Air’s general manager and comfort advisor, Brent Jensen. “We hired Brent last July. We’ve been friends since high school. He owned his own HVAC business in Idaho, but he wanted to move back to Utah. So, I offered him a job,” Brett explained.

“Brent’s doing a great job. He’s making sure the invoices are marked up properly and that we’re always giving our customers options. I saw the turnaround immediately when Brent got here,” Brett added.

The turnaround coincides beautifully with Brett and Steve’s next big move, which is already on its way: They’re rebranding the company. Master Electrical Service, Diamond Air, and Total Protection (their security company) will all fall under the umbrella of Master Home Services. “We’re in the process of rewrapping the Diamond Air trucks to say Master Heating & Air, a division of Master Home Services,” Brett explained.

Prior to the début of the newly branded name, Brett and Steve began making moves to unify the three companies by consolidating their club memberships. Starting January 1st, members under the Master Electrical or Diamond Air programs were transitioned to a Master Home Services’ Safety & Savings Plan. “Our electricians love the fact that they can offer a fall and spring tune-up with their electrical plan. It makes it a much easier sell for them,” Brett shared.

All of Master Electrical Service’s clients who’ve used the company twice within the last three years received a call notifying them of their new, enhanced benefits. “We tried to schedule them for a tune-up right then and there,” Brett added. “If they already had their system serviced, we send them a coupon in the mail for the next time. We also recently printed up brochures for all three companies. Those are going inside folders we leave with customers. We’re making a push for our clients to work with all of our divisions, not just one.”

Master Home Services Expands South

Brett and Steve’s top-producing electrician, Ryan, generated over $600,000 in revenue in 2016. That was him selling and doing his own jobs. No one followed behind him so he could move to the next home. Ryan approached Brett with an issue a little more than six months ago. He wanted to move 150 miles south into Utah County.

“We were going to lose him,” Brett insisted. Rather than allow it to happen, Brett considered a different option, one that would benefit both parties. It would also help expand Master Home Services’ brand. Brett said Ryan could take a truck and continue to run calls for the company in his new home.

The logistics took some navigating, but the two discovered a method that’s so far worked well for both parties. In addition to having a fully loaded service truck, within Ryan’s garage, is the exact materials for a second truck. Anything Ryan uses, he can immediately restock. Every Wednesday, Brett’s shop foreman, Kim, runs parts to Ryan’s home; he also collects paperwork and checks. And every other Sunday, Ryan drives 150 miles north to collect materials and drop off paperwork and checks.

“Our commercials had always been running in Utah County. We had been running on the major networks in Salt Lake City, and they cover the entire Wasatch Front. That’s pretty much all of Utah,” Brett said. “Now, in our commercials, we’ve started saying, ‘Now Serving Utah County.’ We also increased our pay-per-click down there.”

“We’re now getting plenty of calls down there. We have an apprentice riding with Ryan, and we’ll probably need to hire another electrician there soon.”

The Future

Brett and Steve’s new apprenticeship program has only been in place for a few years. They have several more promising young apprentices nearing the time they can take their residential journeyman’s test. That means several new technicians will be ready for trucks, and they’re trained precisely as Brett outlined. They’re in the perfect position to succeed.

This growing pipeline of talent means Master Home Services is in the perfect position to continue its expansion. Once those apprentices graduate to lead techs, they will be replaced by new, hungry first-year apprentices eager to learn. It’s taken some time to establish, but this new apprentice program presents loads of opportunity.

“I fully expect us to continue to expand our presence and grow in Weaver and Davis counties where the office is located. There’s no reason we can’t do another $2 million in Utah County,” Brett said assuredly. “I firmly believe our HVAC business can’t get to $5 million—and do so soon. We have the right people in place now. We have the club program and customers in place. I believe we’ll have a stronger brand. It’s just going to take some time and more hard work. I look forward to it.”

“I don’t see any limits for us,” Brett continued firmly. “We’ve come a long way. We’ve done some great things. But it’s only going to get better.”

There’s no doubting Brett or Steve and their team. Brett’s always been one to take a different path, to push through his comfort level, striving for more. He did so in opening Master Electrical Service. He did so once again when collaborating with Steve and adopting an HVAC division. There’s no doubt he will do so again, in turning Master Home Services into a brand everyone knows and uses in the Wasatch Front.”