ONBOARDING YOURSELF
“As any small business knows, there are no official roles. You’re
always wearing multiple hats, but I started off roughly in the area of HR and bookkeeping,” Sarah says about her first days at Gaspar’s. Wearing multiple hats was just one battle of many she encountered when she started. Sarah’s very first interaction with an employee was a worker who was at home with an injury. She worked to get him back on the job, installing door hardware in a rolling office chair. we had to get lean really fast,” she explains. Gaspar’s had to let go of a couple of employees, and this left extra work that needed to be done. There was no one to take on the additional work except Sarah, herself. Shortly after making the necessary changes, Sarah was able to spearhead a new revenue stream for Gaspar’s. In 2004, they added on a handyman aspect to their business, spearheading a three-pronged approach of design, build, and handyman services. The challenges of Sarah’s new venture continued. “When I joined, it was clear out, and build a project. The pieces I’m passionate about are both the budget and the scope of work, which are intertwined. The client gets real-time information during the design phase, and they can see how that affects the bottom line.” Her demonstrated passion creates an ongoing dialog with the client that mitigates potential conflict. By keeping the customer in tune with the financials and how each step affects their total costs, Gaspar’s prevents complications, like when a customer falls in love with a feature only to find out much later that they can’t afford it. GASPAR’S USP “What makes us unique is any company can design, lay
When clients can see how each step affects the bottom line, they come to respect the efficiency of work that Gaspar’s does. “We won’t go faster than the client wants to or is comfortable with,” Sarah says. Maintaining the customer’s pace allows them to spend their money on tangible parts of their home rather than get held up in the early stages. “The limit on the design time helps our clients spend that money in construction.” The design process is only expedited further by having a full-time, licensed, in-house architect and a four-person design team — something very few firms in the area have.
was, “Hold the line please,” and Rich handed the phone to Sarah’s mother.
“We had gone through a downturn, and remodeling is emotional as it is,” Sarah explained. Rich had reached the point of burning out and needed an emotional recharge. This led to Sarah’s mother taking over as the lead in sales, and she was ready and willing to absorb any training she could get. This would start a process that, in Sarah’s words, “allowed [Gaspar’s] to grow to the company we are today.” 80 percent of transitioning a business is emotion. When Sarah began the process of taking over ownership so her parents could retire, it was an emotional roller coaster. Gaspar’s needed a third party to get through their issues. Sarah remembers, “There was palpable tension
SANDLER STEPS IN
In 2004, Rich Gaspar called up Jim Stephens, a leader of
Sandler Training in the Northwest. Jim remembers the conversation for its uniqueness. He picked up the phone, and the first thing out of Rich’s mouth
… It took a toll on us.” But they didn’t immediately turn to Sandler Training.
4 | WWW.CROSSROADS.SANDLER.COM
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