Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Having a Service Mindset: A Former Property Manager’s Perspective in the Elevator Industry | Erin Fabian

Transcript

Having a Service Mindset: A Former Property Manager’s Perspective in the Elevator Industry | Erin Fabian · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's just having a service mindset altogether.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, this isn't the case for everyone, but I think contractors in general, they're not necessarily having a hospitality mindset, which is understandable.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, they work with their hands, uh, they're very technical, they're not used to necessarily having to engage with the people that are gonna ultimately benefit from that service.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's a helpful perspective for any industry to remember at the end of any chain of what you're doing is a person.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I like about mod pros is it's our motto is people moving people.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: We really are trying to stay client focused.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: We have to constantly remind ourselves this is why we're here.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is the whole reason that we even have our work.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that would be kind of my takeaway for anyone is always keep that hospitality focus and attitude of service.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's it's like that saying, you know, people don't necessarily remember what you did or said, but they remember how you made them feel.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, brought to you by the All Red Group.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Matt Allred.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: When talent is mission critical, call the All Red Group.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: With industry expertise, top talent, and exceptional customer service.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: You need the All Red Group on your side.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Your priority is our priority.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Call now 404-890-0445.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: In this conversation, I spoke with Aaron Fabian with Mod Pro's Elevator about her journey from property management to working in the elevator industry.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: We discussed the complexities of elevator systems, the importance of elevator-related education for property managers, and the challenges involved in maintaining trust with elevator contractors.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron emphasized the need for a service mindset and the importance of women in supporting each other in a male-dominated field.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron, welcome to the show.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Matt.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's great to be here.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've always enjoyed our conversations.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I love the fact that you've you've really been on both sides as a property manager, now doing business development inside the elevator industry.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a very unique perspective.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, from our previous conversations, you've you've seen, I think, a a part uh parts of the industry that that maybe not everybody gets a chance to see.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Excited to dive into it.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, awesome.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um, and obviously, you know, you talked about managing high-rise buildings, fielding 2 a.m.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: elevator emergencies, and now you you get to kind of be inside the industry.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Having spent uh, you know, years as a property manager, navigator, multiple layoffs, what was it that made you choose to to jump into the elevator industry when you did?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it was really just kind of a serendipitous time in my life.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was looking for other opportunities within my mill house, which is property management.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I've done both residential and commercial, primarily residential for the last 16 years or so, both uh in Miami on the east coast of Florida, and uh I now currently reside on the west coast of Florida.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: As you mentioned, uh I had a layoff in my career early in 2025 and you know, was kind of sifting through all of the pieces of that.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I happened to be approached by Johnny LaSalle, who I worked with, you know, multiple times on the management side and when he uh was with uh a different elevator company and he saw that I was looking for work and my current company, Mod Pros Elevators, had the desire to sort of expand business here in the west coast of Florida.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, they asked if I something I'd be interested in doing, and I was like, you know what?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I I've known Johnny probably 10 years.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: I highly respect him as a professional.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I got the opportunity to meet the other, you know, the founder of Mod Pros and just had really great feelings all around about the people within the company.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: And elevators is something that's you know, they're very complex systems within a high-rise building.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: And my forte really was the luxury high-rise market, and I got the opportunity to sort of go through a lot of different projects with elevators, as well as you know, multiple other building projects.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: But um I think on a management side, you one has the opportunity to really understand so much about the physical plant of a building, whether it's um HVAC, roofing, structural, um, fire and life safety, and then the elevators, um, which is really what allows a building to be built multiple stories, right?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't even think I had a full appreciation for that until now being on this side, on the elevator side.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm sure.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: When when you first got into the industry, what surprised you the most?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Just really the technicality of it.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, again, as a manager, you're you're looking more high level at every system to make sure that things are working and running smoothly so that the residents or the commercial tenants have a smooth experience.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just I never got to see all of the different components that make up an elevator system.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so I've been learning a lot of terminology.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I got my elevator 101 book.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: So going through learning all of that, getting to see jobs in the field, like up close and personal within the pit, within the hoist way.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then I had the opportunity to go to the NAEC conference in Houston this year and really see all the different vendors and partners that work with the actual elevator maintenance or modernization companies.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so these were companies I had not even heard of necessarily.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know what they did, but I got to see all of the, you know, all of their displays and the brand new motors and control boards and everything just up close and personal.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: So that was really interesting.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm sure.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and yeah, just seeing the complexity.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, right.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've had buildings and they've had elevators, but but it's kind of been this mysterious black box.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, you know, really know what goes on inside.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: I just need it to work.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and and and speaking of that, I you know, I can only imagine as a property manager, the pressure must be intense, you know, and and every resident probably feels like, hey, I'm the customer and and you need to make this happen.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious, what what do you think elevator companies maybe don't understand or maybe misunderstand about the stress and expectations property managers feel every day?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: I would say it's probably not isolated just to elevator companies.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's probably all of the vendor partners that we work with from landscapers, security companies, uh, you know, your fire life safety, all of your different contracts.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can have, you know, probably at a minimum 15 contracts.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: If it's a small building, up to like 100 contracts with, you know, outside or third-party vendors.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's impossible for really any one vendor to understand how much a property manager is juggling at a given time.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times it's, you know, let's put out that main fire, or maybe two or three fires right now.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Every day you walk in, it's different.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: You might have a plan for how your day is gonna go, you know, because there's a lot of regular upkeep in administrative things that managers do as well.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: But you always are gonna walk into a surprise, usually, whether it's someone's package was lost, you know, at the front desk.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a really key package that, you know, who knows?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's jewelry or it's somebody's medicine.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so then you're focused on finding that, or the elevators are shut down, or the fire alarm is going off, or you've had a leak the night before.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's just you're juggling so many things at once that that's what makes a property manager's life complex.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't always have the time to dedicate to one thing for an extended period of time.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, sure.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and you're probably dealing with, yeah, all kinds of emotions, egos, depending on what's going or not going, right?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh, you know, you've you've got the the vendors that you're managing, you've got the the residents or clients, or you know, you obviously a lot of a lot of uh parties there and it it kind of all hits that one point and it's okay, you have to solve everybody's problem now.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Typically nobody's coming to your office to tell you what a great job you're doing.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I I can imagine.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I have heard it said that you kind of have to have skin of steel because you're gonna get chewed up and spit out multiple times every day.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you you said something in a previous conversation, and and I kind of hinted at it a minute ago, just that elevators, you know, are kind of this bright gray box where property managers don't really know what's happening inside the shaft.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: And why do you think it's so mysterious and in maybe intimidating to a lot of property managers?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's because of the safety training and regulations that go into being able to work on an elevator.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that really makes it a unique industry.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Managers or, you know, our building personnel are not typically allowed to just open the elevator, and nor do we have a key to open the elevator because that's a huge liability for the management company.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we can walk in a machine room and we can, you know, kind of look at the machine room that way and see see the elevator, see the controls, but we're never able to really look on the car top or look into the pit unless the elevator company is there with us, showing us.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times they they might not want to because there could be some skeletons in the closet there.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I think in our previous conversation, I mentioned the hiring of consultants, um, the elevator consultant, which really kind of helps shed the light on what might be going on with your elevators if you're having repeated shutdowns or things are just not working optimally.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something that I've always gone to in situations where there are repeat issues and I want to learn a little bit more about what's going on.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, somebody who can kind of navigate those waters for you.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So now that you've been on the other side, what do you wish you had known earlier?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you were to go back, what how would it be different?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think what's great now is I I do work for a slightly smaller company than maybe the big popular companies that everyone has heard of.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: And it's great that there's a lot of competition in the market that I wasn't aware of as a manager.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I kind of thought the competition would be all non-union, or as a manager, you're sort of scared to go outside the box uh and maybe find those competitors because you think, oh, you know, maybe they're too new or up and coming, or they won't have the staffing to take care of my property correctly.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: But there really are some excellent companies that are competing out there that offer a higher level of service, in my opinion, because they've got smaller routes for their technicians.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: They're really wanting to do a great job because they're wanting to compete with, you know, the giants of the elevator world.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think that incentivizes these other companies to to really come in and and give a higher level of service.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and maybe they have less overhead that they're dealing with, and so they can actually offer more and maybe maybe more affordably.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously any any building is going to reach a point where modernization becomes unavoidable.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you mentioned the consultants, and that, you know, obviously at that point you need proposals and bidding process all come to the to play.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: From your experience though, what actually influences a property manager's decision when choosing an elevator contractor for a modernization project?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: So definitely, you know, reputation.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've you've had experience with that contractor in the past, maybe you haven't, but you're looking at references, you know, calling around to see if other buildings have been through a similar project, how has it gone, reliability, you know, just understanding the the team that's gonna be actually at your site working and how well they communicate.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: If they say they're showing up today to do X, Y, and Z, are they doing it?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: I would say it's a lot about reliability and and references, you know, also financial solvency of the company, of course, so that you know that they're gonna come and complete the job.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: But it's in the management world, at least for me, it was very little about sales tactics, you know, with any vendor.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I didn't get razzled very easily by, you know, a shiny presentation or the person that's coming and and bringing me candies or anything like that.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was it's really about who can perform the work and and do right by the association.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and you mentioned, you know, a lot of times going with brand names and and not really realizing that, oh, okay, there are some others that maybe I haven't heard of.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And certainly in a in a busy manager's life, maybe there's not time to really interview and get to know these people.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: But over time, it sounds like you, and certainly being on the elevator industry side, you see that, oh, okay, there's there's more than I realized over here.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I guess I would add to that last question too.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Typically for a modernization, you're going to use a consultant.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: So you're you're trusting the consultant to a great extent to bring you contractors that they feel can do the job.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then cost is a factor, of course, especially with condominiums or HOAs.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Those are non-for-profit corporations in the state of Florida.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's really about how much money the association has reserved for the project.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I wouldn't say, you know, necessarily the lowest bidder, because sometimes things might be left out of those bids, but certainly it's cost is going to be a factor when you're on a project.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, makes sense.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: So one part of the conversation that that struck me was when you you said you learned that many companies, some technicians are responsible for 250 or 300 units.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what was your reaction when you discovered how large some of these maintenance routes are?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was something that definitely surprised me.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: I I didn't know that that was the case.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it kind of makes you empathize a bit more with the technician because they probably want to do a great job, but if they've got that many properties to attend to or they're being pulled in a million different directions, and most likely they're gonna go to whatever emergency or shutdown is happening versus perform your maintenance, that was a surprising factor because it kind of shows that there's probably a breakdown in the upper management of that company, that either they've just they've grown too quickly or they've they've let their service routes get away from them and haven't hired enough people, you know, probably more revenue driven versus client satisfaction driven.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: There's no one technician that could perform maintenance monthly on your elevators if they've got 300 units.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly not with any any kind of callbacks or any repairs, any anything that's gonna take time away, right?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: That would be like one every single day, right?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: So and they do get weekends, vacations.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: So from a from a property manager's point of view, what does it do to trust when you learn that and and maybe maintenance isn't happening the way that you believe the contract describes, or even the way you would expect?
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you definitely start to lose trust in the company, especially especially if it happens repeatedly.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I think you can forgive a mistake here and there, but if you find out probably through your consultant that there's just inches of dust on the equipment or you know, things that are not being brought to your attention by the company themselves, then you know, you really do lose faith in the transparency and their ability to perform the work as contracted.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk just a minute about you know the annual and five-year tests.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: You you described the noise, the disruption, and sometimes residents will think the elevator's crashing.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of the biggest pain points for managers and red uh residents during these tests?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I would say the downtime and then also just the the wear and tear on the elevator itself, because those tests can damage the elevator in some instances.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it I think sometimes residents might be fearful if they hear that noise.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, I communication is key.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: I would always try to communicate in advance.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: This is what to expect, this is the downtime, this you may hear this.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: So to try to reduce any sense of alarm that people might have.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything you think could could be done better to yeah, make that a better experience?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, my understanding is that there's new technology in the market that would allow the five-year test to be performed without weights.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know exactly how that works, but it's definitely something worth exploring.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of uh property owners would be open to that.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: If if there's an a way to test the elevators that is accurate uh without causing that wear and tear and you know, scare to the residents or or tenants, that's definitely worth looking into.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not I'm not an expert.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've had heard of that, right?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of a non-destructive testing.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: I know that when you know I go to get my brakes checked, they don't have to load up my car to check the brakes, they're able to just check the brakes and don't have to drop it or anything like that.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: So um that would be fascinating to see if that makes any headway.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I guess we'll see.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I do want to talk a little bit about you know education and and advocacy, because you talked a lot about just being very passionate about educating managers and boards and from you know contract language to maintenance to reserves.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me a little bit about why education for property managers is so important to you.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, um, I mean, having been a manager for so long, I really care that managers have the most up-to-date information, that we can do whatever is possible to make their lives easier and their jobs easier.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've I've done a few different webinars, whether it's about budgeting for elevators, you know, the different types of budgeting, whether it's your contract, repairs and maintenance, reserves.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: I've started offering to some of my contacts to go ahead and just provide them with a modernization quote.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: If I know it's coming up for them in a couple of years, I'll give them a quote that will be more accurate than just a reserve study from a computer, because we understand the material costs uh better than that.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: I've done some classes with attorneys on, you know, teaching about contract language, what to look for specifically concerning elevators, um, hurricane preparation specifically for elevators.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you know, as a manager, you have to focus on everything, not just the elevators, but I really wanted to to create another niche and specify these are things that you may not know to help um preserve and protect your elevators during a storm.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I just I just really enjoy the educational aspect in life in general.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I think information and knowledge is power.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: So however you can deliver value, I think that does set you apart.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And there's so much to know, right?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and kind of in that, I guess, similar line, but but uh you you talked about being involved in women in motion as part of the NAEC.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just curious, you know, what does that involvement in that community mean to you and and why would that be important within the industry?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm very new to the industry, about seven months in, uh, and also to women in motion, but I was really excited to know that there is this group of women uh that are professionals that have been in the elevator industry for a long time.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: It is a male-dominated industry uh in many respects.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's nice to feel that you can connect with other female professionals that are supporting each other and you know, offering help, whether it's like sales strategies or um people that are more familiar with component sales than I might be.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a nice network uh to really get together.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And um I think in general, it's really nice when women in business can support each other.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Agreed.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and I think it goes back to kind of the education advocacy piece is you may need to approach certain things differently, or maybe there's a as a woman that knows, hey, you know, when you're when you're going about this, this is a good way to do it.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um it it always helps to learn from mentors and and like you say, in a male dominated space, there's probably some things that that just would be really helpful to know.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: As we, you know, kind of get closer to the end here.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: I I wanted to um, you know, uh first of all, thank you for you know taking the time to to talk and share your perspective and Wanted to pull a couple more questions out.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: And one is what's one thing you wish every elevator contractor understood about the property management side?
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: I would say sense of urgency because it really is you know, depending on the type of property that you're managing, having the elevators functional in every way is really um an important factor for the residents.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if you've got a property that has private entryways that open up, you know, into a semi-private or fully private home.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: If if those are down for whatever reason, somebody can't get into their home.
• 22:45
  unknown: Sure.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's or can't get out, maybe, right?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's it's having that service mindset of, yeah, there's an actual person here who can't get in or out of their home.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they've got to get to a doctor's appointment or whatever it is, that it's really crucial to get that resolved as quickly as possible.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's just having a service mindset altogether.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, this isn't the case for everyone, but I think contractors in general, they're not necessarily having a hospitality mindset, which is understandable.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: They work with their hands, uh, they're very technical, they're not used to necessarily having to engage with the people that are gonna ultimately benefit from that service.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's a helpful perspective for any industry to remember at the end of any chain of what you're doing is a person, right?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I like about mod pros is it's our motto is people moving people.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: We really are trying to stay client-focused.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Any one of us can get frustrated, managers get frustrated with, oh gosh, it's Mrs.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Smith again.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, she's always a complainer, or you've got that resident that you just can't seem to make happy, but we have to constantly remind ourselves this is why we're here.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: This is the whole reason that we even have our work.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that would be kind of my takeaway for anyone is always keep that hospitality focus and and attitude of service because it's it's like that saying, you know, people don't necessarily remember what you did or said, but they remember how you made them feel.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: True.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, last question is what's one thing you wish that every property manager understood about elevator service?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's kind of the opposite.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: It really is a lot more complex than what I could have imagined, you know.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: So to have patience, also have patience because most of the time people do have good intentions and the elevator contractor is trying to help you meet your needs, but there are so many complexities and components that, you know, it's not always a flip of a switch to get something fixed.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, on the management side, you can tend to get frustrated in the other way of like, why can't this just get done?
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this is a simple whatever.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's really not, you know, sometimes it's it's not an excuse that you're hearing, it's a real challenge, you know, especially now with equipment lead times and um all the different economical challenges that have happened since 2020.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um prices went up, lead times, tariffs, you know, so it's just having that that patience as well.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I I appreciate the the the honesty, the clarity, uh, you know, the passion for the conversation.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think your your perspective definitely bridges in an important gap.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I hear from different people.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not myself a, you know, uh an elevator professional, but I talk to a lot of people and I hear I hear these different sides.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think you really did a good job of kind of bringing that together.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for the opportunity.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, good luck to you as you continue to build your elevator career, and thanks again.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Matt.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Have a wonderful day.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: Please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: Please like and subscribe.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time, stay safe.