When they bought her dad’s business ten years ago, David and Felicia Cooper knew they had to set their standards high.
“Being an average installer is not good enough,” says David. “Average is not competitive. You must always be way above average.”
They also knew that change, and how they reacted to it, could set them apart from others in the business. They would embrace some changes and resist others, always seeking change for the better. The Cooper family’s strong core commitment to fairness, honesty, and valuing all the people they encounter is reflected in all they do.
This family business is built on learning the latest technologies and performing at the highest skill levels. Customers regularly share their positive experiences with others around the community, and this word-of-mouth advertising brings in a large percentage of their new customers.
Rural service area
Their company, Bryant & Lassiter Septic Tank Service Inc., is located in the town of Potecasi, N.C., about two hours west southwest of Norfolk, Va., and less than half an hour south of the Virginia border.
“Potecasi is an Indian name, and it is quite common for us to uncover artifacts when we are working,” says Cooper. The service area is agricultural and lower income. As such, the area is the focus of government development initiatives and incentives.
Cooper serves on the Northamp-ton County Economic Development Board and brings an environmental management perspective to that table. The area’s clayey soils, with their high seasonal water tables, are an obstacle to economic growth. “The change to the new advanced technology systems is allowing us to overcome these obstacles,” Cooper observes. He wants to be the first in his area to learn about, and be certified to install, every new technology that becomes available.
When they bought the business, the Coopers kept the Bryant & Lassiter name because it was well known and well respected. For a similar reason, they keep the word “service” in the name. “We are a service-oriented business,” Felicia says. “Service is what we do, first and foremost.”
Selecting change
One change they have made is a move away from the informality of a handshake customer relationship and toward written service agreements and contracts. The emphasis on service continues as a core value.
The company is in an economically challenged area, yet, their customers still deserve prompt, professional service. “Customers want you to be ready when they call,” says David. “They expect that you are like a fire company — just waiting for them to call with their emergency!”
To help reduce crisis calls and diminish customers’ expectations of instant response, Cooper invests his time changing landowners’ views about the importance of periodic maintenance. Teaching proper system use and maintenance is the natural next step when selling an installation job or counseling a homeowner at system startup.
While many businesses are moving to automated phone systems, Felicia Cooper resists that change. “Customers always encounter a live person’s warm and friendly greeting when they call,” she says. As office manager, she believes personal contact is the first step in establishing long-term customer relationships.
Learn, then lead
Membership in the North Carolina Septic Tank Association (NCSTA) keeps the Coopers on the leading edge of new regulations, practices, and materials. Members since 1992, the Coopers were in the first onsite system class offered by NCSTA, and to this day they regularly attend training sessions. David is the association’s vice president, and he recognizes the value of membership for himself and all others in the industry.
Working in six counties and two states requires a lot of continuing education to keep up with regulation changes. As a business owner and crew leader, Cooper makes it his job to see that the crews are properly instructed and supervised to install compliant systems and perform service work properly. “I must teach our employees more than just how to do a job,” Cooper says. “I must teach them why a job is done in a particular way.”
In addition to regulation-related training, the company invests in safe driver training offered by the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Workplace safety training is another area in which Cooper insists everyone keep current.
Cooper and Roger Byrum, service manager, attend all available training on advanced treatment technologies. “I attend so I can speak knowledgeably to homeowners,” Cooper says. “Roger attends because he is our in-house troubleshooter.”
Protecting assets
The company has nine employees. The Smith brothers, Ricky and Robby, are installation crew leaders. “They think alike, and this makes crew coordination a lot smoother when they work together on a really big job,” Cooper notes.
Aaron Harris is the vacuum truck operator. Lamont Cooper and Arlen Peede each drive tri-axle dump trucks, and Cooper says he is considering adding another one. One of his customers recently met Cooper at a restaurant and, after greeting him, said, “I see your trucks more around the county than I see those famous brown delivery trucks.”
Felicia manages the office, where Cathy Edwards provides secretarial support. All employees have all been with the company more than five years. “It is easier and better to retain a good employee than it is to find a good candidate and spend a lot of time training him,” Cooper says.
In addition to knowledge and skill, the company makes sure the employees make a good visual impression. Employees receive shirts, hats and jackets with the company logo and name. Showing the colors sends a message of professionalism and tells the employees that they are important. “Good employees are not found in trees,” Cooper says. “When you find one, he or she must be nurtured.”
Besides installations and septic tank pumping, the company services pump stations. From time to time, it is necessary to assemble a crew quickly to respond to an emergency. With most employees living close by, Cooper can have a crew on the road in 15 minutes.
Potecasi is not near a commercial center. To remain self-sufficient, the company has an impressive inventory in its yard. Plumbing and electrical parts, pipes, pumps, and just about anything needed on a job is available at a moment’s notice. The yard also has an aggregate stockpile in the range of 200 tons.
While normal, scheduled work can go forward on a three- or four-day delivery schedule, emergency jobs cannot be postponed. “We simply cannot afford to travel 30 miles each way to get a pipe fitting at a big-box store,” Cooper says. “We must be as fully stocked as we can be — and we are.”
Diverse business
That preparation supports a broad mix of business. Last year, about 50 percent of the business came from the roughly 200 systems the company installed or repaired. Another 40 percent came from pumping, and the balance from operation and maintenance contracts.
But that will change: In five years, Cooper sees growth in the operation, service and maintenance crews. “While the number of installations will likely stay the same, the number of service contracts will grow, and we could see 25 percent of our revenue from that source,” Cooper says.
All of these activities require a diverse equipment roster. Three John Deere model 301 backhoes have found a home in the motor pool. A Mahindra tractor is used for site grading. Mack nameplates are on the two tri-axle dump trucks, and a smaller International dump truck is used as appropriate.
Two International flat bed trucks, both with hoist and extendible boom, can pick up treatment tanks at the tank manufacturer’s yard or deliver tanks to the jobsite. For drip installation jobs, the company uses its four-row plow to pull in the tubing lines.
Opportunities and challenges
Looking ahead, Cooper sees new and more restrictive site suitability criteria and the need for better site evaluation skills. He also sees those factors driving up the number of advanced treatment systems. To design, install and maintain these systems in turn requires more skilled technicians. In 2008, North Carolina will initiate a four-tier installer licensing program with annual licensing fees from $150 to $300. All licenses will require annual continuing education.
“The consumer and the environment will benefit,” Cooper says. “Businesses will be forced to set aside time and money to get and keep employees licensed. Looking ahead, it will be harder for people to get into the business from scratch, and it may be harder to sell a business when it’s time to retire. This may also weed out some that are in business and shouldn’t be.”
Cooper uses the parable of the oil change to teach homeowners about the need for proper system maintenance. When a customer grasps the value of maintenance as a deterrent to system repair and replacement, Cooper is an agent of change.
The Coopers constantly change how they do business. As they see it, change brings opportunities that help the company and its rural community. Change is an opportunity to stay above average — change can be good.
