So, when Al Levi came in, I spent three days locked behind closed doors with him, going step-by-step-by step as to what I expected from my technicians–and from my dispatchers, my customer service representatives, accounts receivable, accounts payable–even the oil truck driver. We weren't really having a tremendous problem on the financial end, it was organizational, communications.
With Al’s help, we have just finished writing our operations manuals. I've been doing this for 24 years, and I thought I knew everything until I sat down and began trying to put it all on paper. You can get upwards of 20 or 30 technicians and tell them what you want them to do, but unless you put it down in front of them, in writing, in a step-by-step manner, so they know what the company expects, they will forget half the stuff you tell them.
An example: Before taking his suggestions, my service techs were generally out of uniform. They'd come in with penny loafers on, perhaps wearing a company T-shirt. Then we showed them what we expected from them, as written in the manual, and now they show up with their uniforms tucked in, wearing the appropriate shoes; nothing is dirty and everything is ironed. It is something our company really needed.
Al is now consulting for the whole company. We finished the service department and our installation department, and now we are going to be working on the oil side. The results have been just amazing.