Episode Overview
Steven Harper has worked at some powerhouse brands, like FedEx, Disney and Capital One, during his 25 years in business. Each stop on his journey to President & CEO of Spectrum Building Services of America has taught him two essential lessons:
Having a people-first culture is non-negotiable.
Cash-flow management is the true lifeline for any service business.
Harper sat down to talk about his quarter-century leadership experience with “Toolbox for the Trades” new co-host Amanda Salvatore.
“Our number one value is caring about the customer,” he says. “The customer is everything because, without them, you don’t have a business.”
And how do you take care of customers? By doing everything you can as a leadership team to make sure employees are in the position to do the best for customers, Harper believes.
“Employees have real lives,” he says. “They have a life outside of this company. The things that I can do as a CEO to help make their lives better and make their lives work is time well spent for me.”
On the fiduciary side of management, Harper says most managers know about profit-and-loss and the balance sheet. But forecasting cash is a major responsibility, one that keeps employee paychecks going out.
“The number one thing I had to learn as an entrepreneur and small-business owner [is] that without cash, you die,” he says. “You've got to make sure that you're managing cash with the same diligence that you manage profitability.”
Steven Harper recently joined ServiceTitan’s Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Harper’s thoughts on:
[3:25] How 25-plus years of experience have influenced Harper’s customer service philosophy
[10:53] Cash management strategies for struggling business owners
[15:50] Culture building and scaling within the commercial cleaning industry
[26:18] Scaling within the cleaning industry
[30:27] Why leaders need clarity to succeed
To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or anywhere you get podcasts.
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