"We use the AB Academy program to train people our way," Benua explains. "We hire based on attitude, and then develop their technical skills."

And for those contractors who have struggled to hire students out of high school, it's interesting to note that most of Atlas-Butlers new employees are people in their mid-to-late 20s, up to the 50s, people who have left other careers due to downsizing or a desire to do something different. They include a printer, truck driver, electrical engineer, and a female legal aide.

"I can go through story after story of people who have come here from different walks of life and have done well," Swepston says.

Atlas Butler relies on a three-step interviewing process, which has greatly reduced quick hires and slow fires.

"We take the test results very seriously, and we've learned to trust them," Swepston says. "We look for candidates with the initiative to learn, and who display honesty and integrity."

Listen to the Customer
High-quality service is easy for Mark Swepston to define, even if he borrows an old slogan from a corporate giant.

Whenever I think of ‘quality,' I think of the old Ford slogan, ‘Quality is Job 1.' Swepston says. "Quality is an absolute. Our employees need to spend 75% of their training in learning how to deal with other people. We have to listen more to the person, not the equipment.

"Of course, you have to do it right technically; there's no excuse not to. If you don't do your work right, it all falls apart."

For Atlas Butler to be true to its mission, "good enough" is not good enough. Swepston and Chief Operating Officer Bill Esch regularly monitor call back rates on service, installation, and paperwork. Each customer is asked to mail-in a service survey, and the results are tabulated by an independent survey group.

"If we don't have 98% customer satisfaction or higher, we look into it," Swepston says.

"And even when we see 98-99-100% approval rates in our surveys, we still think we can do it to that small, nth of a degree better."

Esch focuses on performance indicators for each key position. He ensures employees are recognized when they perform well, and informed when their performance needs to be strengthened in any area.

"Atlas Butler is very committed to training. It's not a situation where you're trying to squeeze expenses and reduce training budgets," says Esch. "Our budgets are religious, but we also believe in spending money in the right places, and not cutting training. The purpose of our AB Academy is to have our technicians be well-trained, so they can pass their NATE certification exams. We don't send anyone out to a home unless they're fully trained."

Service Kings of the Queen City
The move into the Cincinnati market was sparked into life after Swepston attended an ACCA session on retirement planning.

"I figured, since I'm turning 50, instead of planning to retire, I want to put together a 50-year work plan. We're going to keep moving ahead, to grow the company even more than today. Our goal is to become a major regional company, one that will include Cincinnati."

Russ Puckett — a Cincinnati native — moved back down to his old stomping grounds in April of 2006, to oversee the Cincinnati venture.

"We now have five technicians, an excellent office administrator with 14 years of experience," Puckett reports. I ask the guys if they want me to hire more technicians. Given that they're on performance pay, they say ‘no.'"

Puckett says he wants to grow the Cincinnati business to be even bigger than the Columbus operation. Swepston thinks it can be done.

"We understand the components involved in running a $10 to $15 million business, and we feel it can happen.

Bill Esch is in place here as our chief operating officer, and we have a team that can get it going, and make everything work together.

"Cincinnati is a diverse, mature market that's growing slowly," Puckett says. We know where the market is, and we plan to gain service customers, and keep them for life."

Hiring strategy for the Cincinnati division is a carbon-copy of the Columbus methods.

"We're hiring people who fit the Atlas Butler mold. I was at a home last week with a service technician, and the homeowner remarked that ‘you guys are all the same.'

"It's the most team-oriented group I've ever been associated with," Puckett says. "One technician will volunteer to help another finish up a job, at 10 ‘o clock at night."

Puckett served four years as a Navy communications electrician, attended college on the VA bill, and later enrolled in an HVAC program in Cincinnati. Eventually, he became an assistant manager for another company.

"I've been in HVAC all my life," Puckett says. "I've been an installer, service technician, service manager, operations manager, you name it."

Swepston has many classic service emergency stories, the most revealing of which being those which fall prior to major holidays, and/or when the weather is at its worst.

"A customer called on December 23rd," Swepston recalls. "His family was coming in from out of town the next day, to share the wedding plans they were making for he and his fiance. We installed an entire new system for him on Christmas Eve. Some time later, he recognized me at a restaurant, and thanked me in front of about 20 people. He had been referred to us by a friend of mine, whose furnace we also installed in one day.

"Another exciting installation was on July 3, for a couple who were to be married that weekend. We started at 5:00 p.m., and had the system in by 9:00, just in time for a rehearsal dinner on July 4."

Excellent service, dependability, and a constant willingness to go the extra mile are categories in which it's tough to remain consistent.

"It takes a lot of energy, and we work hard at it," Swepston says.

"Do we get caught short from time to time, when it gets hot in the summertime, and we don't have enough help? Absolutely. Everybody's going to experience that, but if you want to continue to grow, you've got to figure out a way to make it happen."

Mark Swepston and the team at Atlas Butler are examples of service in word, and in deed. They talk the talk, and walk the walk.