MIKE BALSAMO: Are You Keeping Your Existing Clients?

Introduction:
Mike Balsamo is the Senior Vice President with Van Deusen Associates in New York City. Mike started his career with PS Marcato working summers as a helper and he credits his early time in the trade to being foundational to the work he does does today. Mike says responsiveness to customers is critical because that is how you build trust. Mike is also a champion of continuing education, knowing education is the key to opportunity.

Show Notes with Time Stamps:

[0:00:00] Introduction – Mike Balsamo’s career path and dislike of term “business development”
[0:00:52] Matthew Allred introduction and background on Mike starting as summer helper
[0:01:41] Mike discusses getting into elevators and taking sales job despite father’s doubts
[0:02:03] Matthew asks about initial fears of sales role and Mike’s curiosity about elevators
[0:03:03] Mike discusses learning fundamentals as helper and building relationships
[0:03:19] Matthew asks about father’s lack of confidence and Mike’s willingness to try sales
[0:04:08] Matthew and Mike discuss value of hands-on learning vs formal education
[0:04:35] Matthew asks about challenges stepping into sales role after helper experience
[0:05:36] Mike discusses learning the business through customer service and product knowledge
[0:06:10] Matthew and Mike discuss challenges in passing knowledge to new generations
[0:07:02] Mike emphasizes importance of continuing education and trade certifications
[0:08:55] Matthew notes cultural mindset around trades careers needing redirection
[0:09:41] Mike discusses difficulty contractors have finding skilled trade workers
[0:10:12] Matthew asks how maintenance contracts can be difficult to get out of
[0:10:22] Mike explains cancellation clauses and process for “just cause”
[0:11:20] Matthew asks what most critical skill is in Mike’s consultant work
[0:11:58] Mike emphasizes communication and responsiveness to clients
[0:13:11] Matthew asks how Mike handles unresponsive contractors
[0:13:19] Mike explains process for notifying client if contractor remains unresponsive
[0:14:50] Matthew asks about balancing client and contractor relationships
[0:15:06] Mike explains being upfront with clients about unresponsive contractors
[0:15:32] Matthew asks about Mike’s consultation work when not hiring full service
[0:16:00] Mike discusses reviewing contracts for clients not hiring full service
[0:16:28] Matthew asks what motivated Mike to leave previous company after 21 years
[0:17:37] Mike discusses opportunity for growth that led him to switch companies
[0:18:08] Matthew asks about Mike’s mentors who invested in him early in career
[0:20:39] Mike discusses learning from many mechanics over the years at first company
[0:21:59] Matthew asks how Mike’s sales role changed after helper experience
[0:23:59] Mike discusses continuing to learn by going on service calls with mechanics
[0:25:44] Matthew asks about Mike’s current responsibilities and territory
[0:27:30] Matthew asks for Mike’s advice to the overall industry
[0:29:37] Matthew asks if Mike has seen changes in workmanship over the years
[0:30:35] Matthew asks for Mike’s advice to individuals considering the industry
[0:33:23] Matthew thanks Mike for his time and insights

Full Transcript:
Mike Balsamo 0:00
I hate the term business development because it’s, I just think of a Salesman who’s out there trying to, you know, sell and run. And that’s that’s definitely not what I’m about. It’s definitely not what VDA’s about. What are the client relations existing clients, it’s so it’s, I think it’s easier to bring in a new client, because you can pretty much say whatever you want to get them to sign the paper. The problem is keeping those existing clients. And that’s something that I’ve always prided myself on at PS Marcato. And also here at VDA, it’s very easy to lose an existing client. So we have our top 40, which I always email them just to check in and say hello and see how things are going. But believe it or not, that’s really where 85% of my business comes from is from my existing clients who I’ve been dealing with for the last 30 years. They’ve been so loyal to me. And it’s because I’ve always been there for them.

Matthew Allred 0:52
Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast sponsored by the Allred group. I am your host, Matt Allred. In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers. Today, our guest is Mike Balsamo, Senior Vice President with Van Deusen Associates in New York City. Mike started his career with PS Marcato, working summers as a helper. And He credits his early time in the trade being foundational to the work he does today. Mike says responsiveness to customers is critical, because that is how you build trust. Mike is also a champion of continuing education, knowing education is the key to opportunity.

Mike, welcome to the show.

Mike Balsamo 1:43
Thank you for having me.

Matthew Allred 1:44
Thank you. I’m excited to be able to talk it was it’s been good talk with you before but to really dig in a little bit deeper to your experience, your career and obviously the insights that you have about the elevator industry. And so I’m curious, how did you get started in the elevators, elevator industry.

Mike Balsamo 2:03
So I was sort of a lost soul going into college after high school. And college just was not for me. And my father, he had worked for a large independent here in New York City, where he was the service manager right out of the army for about 54 years. It was his first job out of the service. And that’s where he retired from. And summers during college during high school and college, I was a helper within the industry learning pretty much about elevators performing maintenance, more on the service and not on the new construction side of the construction side. And I was pursuing actually a career in finance. And the owner of the company, I had stopped and say hello, and me and him, you know, from knowing my dad and whatnot, we were sitting and having lunch and he told my father after lunch and I’m going to offer your son a position here in sales. And my father said sales not he’s not sales guy, he could never sell

Matthew Allred 3:03
Thanks dad,

Mike Balsamo 3:04
Yeah I mean, talk about vote of confidence. And so we spoke, me and the owner and I accepted the position back in 1996 as a an account executive. And believe it or not, I was there for 21 years.

Matthew Allred 3:19
So tell me let’s before we get in to kind of the the end of that story. Your father obviously didn’t see you as a salesperson. What what was your initial thought? I mean, did you I mean, obviously, you accepted it. But was there some some fear of saying, Yeah, I’m gonna, I’m gonna go sell I don’t even know what that means.

Mike Balsamo 3:38
I just think I was young, and I didn’t care. And I said, You know what, this this I know, elevators. And I remember while I was a helper speaking with some of the superintendents, building managers, and to be very honest with talking to them came natural. And I could see when I was speaking, I was actually working with older mechanics at the time, as I was only 16/17. And I was speaking to the managers, and the mechanics didn’t want to speak to them, the agents or the superintendents

Matthew Allred 4:05
you could see, you could see kind of that spot where you could fit right,

Mike Balsamo 4:08
yeah, and I, I didn’t see it, then I just felt comfortable doing so. So when I was offered the position, I was very intrigued and really didn’t take too much stock in what my father had to say. So that’s why I sort of went after the the position and accept

Matthew Allred 4:26
That’s great. Yeah. And especially like, say, you trying to get through college and a good job comes along. It’s like, Man, why not?

Mike Balsamo 4:35
Yeah, and college was not for me. And even my, you know, my parents knew that and today. It’s, you know, you really have to understand your child and what their limitations are. You know, I know some parents say my son or daughter is going to college to become a doctor and I sit back and say, No, they’re not, you know, so my father knew I was not I was pretty much after high school. I was done with education aspects that

Matthew Allred 4:59
sure , the formal education right? I mean, you’re my Education never ends. I’m learning every day. Right, but Right. Well, I’ve said before that the formal education system doesn’t, doesn’t necessarily serve everyone, right? There are different ways to learn. I, I tend to be pretty hands on type learner and I got through college, but I struggled. And I didn’t feel any smarter. When I got done. I remember being super scared about actually stepping into the real world and being expected to know something and I didn’t feel super confident in my abilities. So I get it.

Mike Balsamo 5:36
Yeah. So yeah, then I accepted the position and then pretty much worked through the ranks. I was learning everyday about elevators, new applications on elevators, new systems. I had a had a nice foundation as being a helper. I mean, helpers today, compared to almost 30 years ago, it was much different as far as what your mechanic expected out of you. I don’t think and that’s something that we could discuss even further, I think that’s like lost art is, you know, how you pass down that that knowledge? And how do you train the younger generations coming in? And

Matthew Allred 6:10
So let’s let’s talk about that a little bit. Because I mean, on one hand, we’re talking about education. And I feel like formal education. You know, my dad is a state legislator out west. And he, he’s kind of big, you know, he was a school teacher for 35 years. But he tells me, that college, for example, only serves 20% of the population, that, that there’s there is a niche that that’s going to thrive in that environment. But he says it’s only 20%. And so he’s pushing for, you know, more trade schools, which, in my experience, it’s like that used to be there. And I don’t know, if the education system has said, Hey, we don’t, we don’t need that as much, because we’re just gonna send everybody to college. But if 80% are not going to thrive in that environment, then, you know, you just curious what I mean, if that’s kind of what you were thinking, as far as, you know

Mike Balsamo 7:02
I definitely am. And believe it or not, my daughter is now in college. So I speak to a lot of her friends and I, you know, I’m very curious as to what the younger generation really sees, as far as their future. And I could tell that there’s a large majority that they’re not cut out for college. And I tell them, you know, you’re good with your hands. You know, and they take interest when I speak about elevators and not just elevators specifically, they’re very curious about trades. The problem is, there’s no one on the educational side that’s informing them that that’s even an option. Right? And it’s, I sort of feel like a recruiter, you don’t have to speak with them, Okay, listen, get a formal degree, you know, you might be interested in elevators, as far as the business aspect of it, get a two year business associate, you know, get a two year degree come out and work for an OEM or local independent here, you know, wherever you wherever you’re located, and you don’t have to be hands on as far as a mechanic, but you could take the business path to, I mean, we’re always looking for operations, managers, sales, women, sales, men, say, you know, any type of salesperson, account representatives, and it’s, again, it’s not in the field, you’re not getting your hands dirty. It’s not hands on. But it’s, it’s just, it’s another path to an amazing career. And students in the younger generation, it’s like, elevators, I keep on saying, because that’s what I’m involved with. It’s like an untapped market when they’re like, What are you involved with? I sell elevators. And they’re like, Wow, explain that. What does that even mean? And, you know, when you get into it, eight out of 10 people, I speak to this so intrigued by it, and it’s so curious, and it’s, you know, Hey, Mike, they call me the following. I’m interested, you know, can you set me up with one of the OEMs? Locally, I’d like to talk to them about maybe going to school at night, getting a business degree and working for them during the day. So it’s, I think the education system is is failing some of the students as far as not giving them trades as an option.

Matthew Allred 8:55
Yeah, yeah. And culturally See, seems like the, the minds of a lot of people, you know, it’s like, they don’t even think of of trades. And yet, there are some really, really well paid trades. I mean, I have a friend from you know, years ago that he, he took about one college class, and he’s like, No, not going to do that. He now owns his own roofing company, and does really, really well, you know, and I’m like, Yeah, that’s a great, a great way to go for a lot of people and like you say, whether they’re learning the business, or maybe they do want to get their hands dirty, and maybe they do want to learn the technical pieces. There’s always in my experience as a recruiter, I’m always talking to company owners that just can’t find enough talent.

Mike Balsamo 9:41
It’s so funny. You said that because my friend owns a large plumbing company here in the city. And he says, I can’t find anyone to work. And whoever I have, they’re not here. They they can’t make a full week. He says, If I had someone out of college that really took an interest in plumbing. I mean, with overtime, he could be running My shop and you can be hands on he can be making overtime, he can be making an amazing salary more than what some of these kids coming out of college are gonna wind up making. Yeah, but I just I can’t find the people.

Matthew Allred 10:12
Right. Right. That’s, it’s everywhere. So hopefully, hopefully somebody’s listening that will, you know, steer their kids towards the trades and and to great careers.

Mike Balsamo 10:22
Well hopefully it’s some of the Union reps that are listening. And they actually can start maybe a recruitment program or certain guidance program where they can become a speaker, guest speaker at these colleges, and talk about the trades. And like I said, it doesn’t have to be elevators, specific plumbers, carpenters, electricians. I mean, you name it. That trades here, especially in New York City. They’re doing phenomenal.

Matthew Allred 10:47
Yeah. I know, when I was in high school, there was a was before I got in high school, actually, they they had a program where they would build a house, like the shop classes. I’m like, You’re kidding. Yeah. By the time I came along, they’ve kind of disbanded that, but I thought that is brilliant. You know, teach somebody to build a house in high school. Amazing, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yep. So you said you, you took the sales job, you did that for 21 years? What were some of the biggest obstacles challenges to kind of stepping into that, I mean, it sounds like you just kind of went full steam ahead.

Mike Balsamo 11:20
So it’s more of we keep are honing in on education, it’s learning the business. And when I say learning the business, I took a different I took more of the business path in elevators, but you really have to have understand the fundamentals of an elevator system, how it works, what’s needed. And it’s basically customer service. So I mean, if you have any product knowledge and your customer service, the career in elevators is actually very easy. And that goes for really any job, you have to know what you’re talking about. You have to be able to guide your clients and customers. And responsiveness. I mean, those those are the key factors right there.

Matthew Allred 11:58
Right, right. Where do you see responsiveness? Showing up? You know, just, I hear different things. Right. But I’m not in the trade to know, you know, exactly how that’s working. But just just curious, you know, do you see certain companies losing out? Because they’re not responding? And, and how does that affect you as on the consulting side?

Mike Balsamo 12:18
So it actually it I see it as an industry issue right now, where customers were where contractors are not responding to the client’s needs. So it’s great for us as the consultant, because clients are calling us up saying, hey, I need your help. Can you call this contractor? So it’s just a way for us to build our relationship with our existing clients. So we sort of act like intermediate for them. And we’re stepping in and we’re really following up with the contract to say, hey, you know, Mr. or Mrs. Jones needs you to respond to these emails, and she’s been sending them he’s been sending him for less two or three weeks, you know, and we get involved, we sort of really go after the contractor of not forcing them to respond, but we’re on top of them where they do, and the clients really appreciative of us, and we sort of see that the job gets done, or the questions get answered.

Matthew Allred 13:11
And what is it something you can do to, you know, but if they don’t want to respond, they just keep not responding. I mean, how do you?

Mike Balsamo 13:19
Well, if that happens, I mean, I’m upfront with the client, say, Hey, listen, you know, we’ve we’ve reached out to them 10/12 times, they’re not responding. I don’t know what the problem is. But you might want to look for an alternate route for a contractor. And that happens a lot. Or we just get the phone call from the client saying, Hey, Michael, I need you to bid up the service agreement, because the contract is totally unresponsive. So sometimes, we’re left out and the client will just call us and say, Hey, listen, I need a new service contract, and they’re not responsive.

Matthew Allred 13:51
Alright, I’ve heard that it can be extremely difficult to actually get out of those contracts. So how does that? How does that even work?

Mike Balsamo 13:59
Well, it depends on rebid it, you know, there is there’s different variations of maintenance agreements. I know as far as a consultant agreement, there is a 30 day out for cancellation for Just Cause. And we say just cause because we don’t want to contract the Reverend doing a very costly repair, and then losing the building for no reason 30 days later. So we want to make sure that there’s, there’s there’s a record of cause. And we’re also giving a timeline for that contract to be put on notice and correct the conditions. If he fails to meet what you know, two of those three criteria, then the then the client can cancel them. Okay. So we’re fair on both sides, you know, if the clients happy and they’re going to keep the contract, but the contract is going to keep the client happy. If one of them becomes unhappy, then there’s certain guidelines on how to get out of that contract or for both parties.

Matthew Allred 14:50
Yeah, yeah. No, that’s, that’s good to know. I mean, and it does seem like you you kind of walk a razor thin line. I mean, obviously, you’ve got to, you know, work for and with your clients, but you also can’t alienate the contractors? Because you know, it’s a partnership all the way across.

Mike Balsamo 15:06
Correct. And listen with sometimes we’re hired to do a maintenance contract handle the bidding. Some clients come to me and say, Hey, this is the contract, which was given to me, I don’t have the cost to enter into a VDA contract at this time, I’m going to sign with them. What do you think? And we’ll give a quick review. And I just look at the cancellation clause and the terms. And I just make sure that it’s equitable on both sides for both parties.

Matthew Allred 15:32
Cool. So kind of kind of the, the consultation, but hey, I can’t afford to hire you full time. But right, can you help me for a minute?

Mike Balsamo 15:40
I mean, some of these contracts state that we’re on a term of 15 to 20 years. I mean, I would never sign a contract with anything for 15 to 20 years, I don’t think you would either. So I just advise my client, you know, see if you could push this down, you know, two or three or five year term. And at the end, either party has the option to get out.

Matthew Allred 16:00
Right, right. Yeah, that’s cool. So So let’s talk a little bit more, you talked about learning the business? And what what were some of the things that you did early on to really, you know, really learn the business. So when it comes to what you’re doing now, you know, obviously, you’ve, you’ve known it for a long time, you’re able to walk, you know, that, walk the talk, as it were. What in the early days really helped you to learn the business?

Mike Balsamo 16:28
It was basically all the mechanics that I work with in doing grunt work. And when I say grunt work, it’s you know, it’s what the newbies in the industry don’t want to do. You know, painting machine rooms, cleaning the pits, being a parts runner, going back to the shop and finding those parts that you need. So this chemistry between helpers, and the elder mechanics, when I say that I told the younger ones coming in, try to anticipate what your mechanic needs, you know, try it, you know, focus, don’t stand there with your hands in your pocket, looking around aimlessly. Watch what he’s doing. Because indirectly, he’s teaching you. So watch what he’s doing, ask questions. And, again, whatever he tells you to do, just make sure that you do it and make sure you do it his liking. You know, if you’re gonna paint something painted, like you live there, that your house, you know, make it a show job. You know, take pride in your work, show your mechanic that you care, I mean, that’s how you build a relationship with your mechanic. And as we have a lot of good mechanics in the industry, and they’re willing to teach, the problem is I don’t see that the younger ones coming in are willing to learn.

Matthew Allred 17:37
That’s, that’s yeah, that’s a huge challenge there. It’s like, okay, if you, if you, like you say, if you show up and you’re not paying attention, right?

Mike Balsamo 17:47
Is this a job where you just collecting a check, or you want this to be your career, you have to decide, you know, and if it’s your career, and you want to own it, a lot of these mechanics willing to teach you.

Matthew Allred 17:58
Right, right. How critical was it to your career that you spent time as a helper, before just coming in as a salesperson?

Mike Balsamo 18:08
It that was very critical. That my foundation, I mean, I’m not gonna say it was the greatest helper, but I was a good helper. I was very good at understanding the systems. I’m not. I’m not mechanically inclined or the best with my hands. But, you know, like I said, I was always the type that didn’t stay around aimlessly. I asked a lot of questions. I didn’t know if I was going to be on the mechanic side, when I was a helper. I didn’t even know if I was going to be in the business. But I was very curious as to what I was doing every day. So I asked a lot of questions and whatever my mechanics did, and also, you know, my father was in the business, and I was working for the same company. I also didn’t want any complaints to get back to my father that I was a bad helper. I made sure that I was, I was doing everything by the book, I was paying attention. I was listening. I was asking questions, and I was doing whatever they asked of me.

Matthew Allred 19:01
Right, right. What Who were some of the big mentors you had, who were some of the people that you felt like really took the time to invest in you?

Mike Balsamo 19:12
I’d say, I gotta be honest, I worked with about 50 mechanics at I was working for PS Marcato. It’s one of the largest independents here in New York City still around. They’ve been around since 1903. And every mechanic that I work with really helped me in some way, shape or form. Every one of them. I mean, the list would be too long. But I knew all these mechanics and like I said, I mean, I was helper for summers, but my father would do dispatching. I would still do these mechanics and some 7,8,9 years old, you know, they used to call the house and whatnot. And it’s funny, because now that I’m here at VDA, some of those mechanics that I work with in their 20s are now retiring out of PS Marcato and they’re coming here to be inspectors. So we hired one gentleman and So, when he walked through the door, he started leaving, he goes, I can’t believe I know you since you’re seven years old. It’s, you know, it’s scary. But he was one of the hires that we had that I worked with him on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. And he was a troubleshooter for PS Marcato. And I learned so much from him. And like I said, it was all the mechanics, and you understood where their faults were, and you learn what not to do. And you have to take away all the positives, because they all have positives, and you got to hone in on it. And you got to take the positive from everyone that you work with. Everyone’s different personalities and techniques, just take the good from each one of them and just learn from it.

Matthew Allred 20:39
Yeah, well, and that is that is truly the education process, right? It’s not about a formal class necessarily. It’s about learning from life, learning from the people, you know, seeing the goods, the bads, and then choosing who you’re going to be, what are you going to be giving given all these inputs? Because you can you can choose to do bad, right, you can choose to be lazy, or or whatever, but then you get to pick. How did how did that change as you moved into sales? I mean, I assume you weren’t, you know, working, you know, still helping as a as a as helper. But you’d already kind of done that

Mike Balsamo 21:16
Yeah but believe it or not, when I first started in sales, you have a lot of downtime, and to mitigate that as a loss that we actually go out with the mechanics still, and keep on learning and watch them, I would take them for lunch, say, Hey, you’re on a service call, I’m going to go with you. Not so much to hang out, but just see different problem learning and different situations. And all that learning is paid off. Because believe it or not, even though I’m not a mechanic per se, I have clients call and say, Hey, this is the condition I haven’t asked, you know what to tell the contractor to look for this or this or that. And nine times out of 10 I nail the problem from from from a phone call and it’s it’s all about learning.

Matthew Allred 21:59
Yeah. Yeah, that’s really cool. So still going out, but then obviously also having to incorporate you know, I guess calls, you know, calling on existing customers and new customers, I assume. Yes. And then and you were you were selling like service mod repairs, new, like new construction

Mike Balsamo 22:22
Pretty much I was not involved with new construction, it was pretty much modernization, repairs, maintenance. Okay. Those were the three aspects of and that’s local three here, that’s the electrical union here in New York City. Local three, that’s what they do. They’re involved with mods repairs, and maintenance. Local One is involved with all that including new construction and new installation.

Matthew Allred 22:44
Okay. Okay. And so, for 21 years, what what kind of motivated you to, to leave after 21 years, that’s a long time.

Mike Balsamo 22:53
Good story. So when I first started at PS makedo, the operations manager was a gentleman by the name of Robert cousy. He trained me and he was worked with me at PS marqeta for four years. And when he left, after four years, he went to VDA. And subsequently, he became the owner here at VDA. And I’ve always stayed in touch with him. And after 21 years, I was just. I was looking for a change, maybe a different aspect of the business look at just a different perspective. And I was having lunch with Robert Cuzzi and he says, Why don’t you come over to VDA? And it just it happened to work out that way. And it was an amicable breakup between me and PS Marcato. Very tough one. I mean, I started consider, like family. But yeah, that was that was after 21 years the business was changing. And I had grown I think I just met my height I was ceilinged out at PS Marcato. So I think by moving here to VDA, I had more of a path to excel.

Matthew Allred 23:59
Right, right. And you’ve been VA Vidya how long now?

Mike Balsamo 24:02
Almost eight years. Okay. Eight years? Yeah.

Matthew Allred 24:06
It’s awesome. And you as I understand it, you’ve got all of the New York area do you cover like the entire Northeast or what’s what’s kind of your area of responsibility?

Mike Balsamo 24:15
So my area is the New York City Metro Area, which covers northern New Jersey, New York City and the Five Boroughs. So VDA is a very large organization. We are national, but metro area handles approximately 55% of our revenue. So yeah, it’s a big chunk of our revenue. So I overseed here with three others for this New York City VDA market.

Matthew Allred 24:40
Right, right. And I think your part of your title is business development. So you constantly you know, pulling in new customers along with keeping everybody else happy as it were.

Mike Balsamo 24:51
Yeah. I hate the term business development because it’s, I just think of a Salesman who’s out there trying to you know, sell and run and that’s that’s definitely not what I’m About it’s definitely not what VDA’s about with the client relations existing clients it’s so it’s, I think it’s easier to bring in a new client, because you can pretty much say whatever you want to get them to sign the paper. The problem is keeping those existing clients. And that’s something that I’ve always prided myself on at PS Marcato. And also here at VDA, it’s very easy to lose an existing client. So we have our top 40, which I always email them just to check in and say hello and see how things are going. But believe it or not, that’s really where 85% of my business comes from, is from my existing clients who I’ve been dealing with for the last 30 years. They’ve been so loyal to me. And it’s because I’ve always been there for them.

Matthew Allred 25:44
As you said, it’s mutual, right? I mean, they they trust you, you trust them. And it’s like, yeah, I know who to call, you know, yeah. Let’s go, what would you say is the most critical skill in, in what you do as a consultant?

Mike Balsamo 26:02
Well, it’s communication. Again, it goes back to that responsiveness. You know, you can be the smartest engineer, tech mechanic. The problem is, if you’re not communicating to your clients, and we, you have to understand the temperament of the business. You know, a lot of these boards and owners of buildings, they’re very demanding people. And they rely on their management companies to obtain answers. If we’re not giving them the answers, and they’re emailing us. Or they’re calling us and we’re not getting back to them. They’re flying blind, and it’s making them look bad. So it’s responsiveness. So that’s what I do here is, you know, I’m like an email jockey. You know, I get over 300 emails a day. They’re responded to within 24 hours, every one of them. And sometimes I don’t have the answer, but I tell the client, hey, I received your email, I’m looking into this, I’ll circle back within the next day or two. At least they at least they know there’s someone on the other side that answered their email. And that’s where I tell all the employees here VDA, if you don’t have an answer, just tell the client you received the email you’re looking into it. Just make sure you follow up with them and give them the information that they’re looking for. Right. So I think that’s critical. And again, that’s in direct sales. I mean, the more responsive you are, the client feels that you are reliable, and they’re always going to come back to you. And that, absolutely, you’re gonna get new business from that.

Matthew Allred 27:30
Yep. You know, if you had some advice for the industry overall, what would you say?

Mike Balsamo 27:39
The industry overall. Again, education. The technology is rapidly evolving. So if the mechanics that are out there, and we see this all the time, the these systems have become like iPhones. And the problem is we don’t have real technical mechanic. We don’t have mechanical mechanics anymore. So you were able to walk in a room 30 years ago, and actually see the problem on a controller and say, that part is broken, let me fix it, I can put the car back in service, sir. Today. It’s microprocessor its faults, and it leads you there in an area or a rabbit hole, that you can have five or six different components, which are failing, and now you’re just swapping boards out. And a lot of this falls on the education between the controller manufacturer’s giving educational seminars on their systems. And the mechanics wanting to learn about that, because now, years ago, when you were on a given route, you had Otis controllers, that was the majority. Now if you go on Route, one route, you could have smart rise, motion, proprietary equipment, JL different versions of JL, Thompson, it’s very hard to understand every system so it’s continuing education. Like I said, is it a job or a career, if it’s a career, enroll in some of these classes to understand the different types of controllers and the work about and how you work about the problems? And that’s really how you become successful. Also, just basically, you know, I, we spoke about this, a while back is treating, treating the buildings as if you live there. Take pride in your work. You know, don’t leave a messy lobby area. Don’t leave greasy fingerprints on you know, it’s not okay. Just because you don’t live there. Treat the location as if you live there. Take pride in your work. I know I said the mechanics will see that but so will the buildings.

Matthew Allred 29:37
You know, have you seen that change over the years at all?

Mike Balsamo 29:40
Definitely. Definitely. I mean, we’ve seen some shoddy workmanship and it’s just because no one takes pride. I mean, the type of mechanic is definitely changed over the last 30/40 years. I mean, they some of the mechanics I work with, they would not sign off or leave a job unless it was to their satisfaction and when I mean that satisfaction it was it And if they would do this on their own time, they wouldn’t be put overtime in. But that’s how much pride that they had, that their work was their signature. And they wanted to make sure that it was 100%. And that sort of that sort of fallen off a little bit. And that’s something I think we need to get back. And that’s all the trades. I mean, I’ve seen some carpenters, you could tell an excellent carpenter, then you could tell there’s a carpenter some carpenter that’s out there that you would not want to in your woodwork. But again, it’s it’s lack of pride. And that that’s something that that that goes noticed at every level.

Matthew Allred 30:35
Absolutely, absolutely. So I guess, you know, we’re kind of wrapping up our time here. But if you were to, and this again, this may be a little bit of repetitive, but if you were to give advice to an individual coming out of high school, what what would you say to them? If they if they, you know, maybe they wanted to come into elevators? Where would you point them?

Mike Balsamo 30:59
Um, conversation will be has to have be had as to what do they really want to do? If you’re really curious about elevators? Are you looking to go into the field? Are you looking to go into the business end of this, I would start in the field first see if you like it, I would not pause continuing education, I would try to get some type of degree at night. And it’s a lot of work. But I do, I do know a lot of helpers that are in the industry right now. They’re very curious about elevators they came in with with a pathway of becoming a helper, which they’re doing now. But they’re also going for an associate’s degree at night, in the city. So while they’re in the city, doing their day job afterwards, they go in that trend, it’s going to take a little bit longer than two years, but they have something to fall back on. They’re learning the elevator, if they want to stay in at least have a business degree, and they could proceed down the path of management, or they can actually stay in the field. I know one individual who now he’s totally switched, he was taking the business course, just as a fallback. He’s now stopped that but he’s going for electrical classes, and it wants to become a master electrician, who wants to stay in the elevators. And he’s so appreciative. He’s like, Thank you for guiding me down this road. Because I would have wasted four years, going for something that I probably would have never used at least now I understand that there was a trade out there for me, I’m changing my career, I’m keeping my career path by changing my my continuing education and going from electrical license. So it’s, it’s the younger ones that want to speak, and they want to talk and they want to conversate. And like I said, it’s the ones that have been in the business to really get out there and talk to these and guide the younger ones, and sort of help them and guide them into making the right decisions. Because right now everyone’s like, you know, you got to go to college for the experience. But what does that experience? You know, you have to look and so it’s it’s short term, it’s only four years. But when you get out of college, are you going to be able to one you’re gonna have hefty loans in some cases, and you’re really going to be doing what you like, and listen, if you love what you do, it’s not a job. So, you know, don’t waste the four years that’s that’s even though it’s a short window, it’s still a long time. But get in and figure out what you want to do, whether it’s a trade or not, but still go for the continuing education to back up that trade if you want to go for it.

Matthew Allred 33:23
Yeah, yeah. And I do know a lot of people who, you know, they’re graduating from college and, you know, aren’t aren’t doing anything with with what they learned. And yet, to your point with a little bit of mentorship, a little bit of guidance, a little bit of, you know, conversation around, you know, what do you really want probably save some people a lot of time,

Mike Balsamo 33:45
Good friend of mine, he’s went to college and graduated. Psychologist, he’s a longshoreman. So, you know, go figure, you know. Go figure. That’s what happens. You know it happens A lot happens often.

Matthew Allred 34:00
Yep. And that’s part of that, I guess, I guess back to education and education of life. You know, will throw curves at you. Right. And I’m not doing exactly what I went to, to college for the first time and yet, it’s all good. It works out. Yep, it does. Yeah. Well, Mike, I appreciate you being here. Is there anything you wanted to say as we wrap up?

Mike Balsamo 34:20
Now, just, you know, I don’t know if you’re gonna put any contact info but or anyone coming into the industry or any type of recruitment avenues that we could go down. And if anyone wants to reach out to me, I’m always here to help. Whether it’s on a client side, elevator side, like I said, I’m very big into the recruitment and trying to draw younger talent into the business. Any union reps out there that want to start some type of recruitment program, they should really be focused on on engineering and electrical schools and try to get some good talent into the business because it’s something that we’re lacking. And I think there’s definitely a huge need for that. And elevators and escalators it’s just an untapped market.

Matthew Allred 35:05
Huge opportunity. Great, great paying opportunities. So, you know, and I say this all the time to people who who get in kind of ground floor you like, like you you know as as a helper um you can write your tickets so many different ways if you just get in, learn the business. You can go anywhere you want.

Mike Balsamo 35:23
If you want to work, and you put those things in motion. You can write your own ticket. You’re absolutely right.

Matthew Allred 35:29
Yep. Awesome. Mike, thank you so much for being with me today. I appreciate it.

Mike Balsamo 35:33
Matt, Thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate it. Thank you. Talk to you soon.

Matthew Allred 35:38
Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast sponsored by the Allred group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting. You can check us out online at elevatorcareers.net Please subscribe and until next time, stay safe

Transcribed by https://otter.ai