Plumbing Industry: Providing Support and Adding Value to Your Employees

After the 2008 recession, unemployment reached a high of 10 percent, double the rate in December 2007 of five percent. In the midst of the economic downturn, James Terry managed to start a plumbing company, GreenTeam.

Why and how did Terry decide to start his business at this time, and how has the culture he has instilled enabled its success?

On today’s episode of Straight Outta Crumpton, Hosts Greg Crumpton and Gabrielle Bar meet with James Terry, Founder and CEO of GreenTeam, to discuss how he built his business and the culture he instills.

Some may believe that putting customers before the business and its employees is the way to go. But your career or job is an element of your wellbeing, and it’s crucial for leaders to communicate that they are committed to providing support to their workers. Terry knows this and voices that it’s important to do the right thing and stick up for your employees, show you value them, and provide them with what they need.

Terry stated, “We only work for clients who value us as much as we value them…at the end of the day for us it was all about scaling but scaling organically, and making sure we’re dealing with customers that want to grow with us. So having customers that want to see you successful is important, right?”

Crumpton, Bar, and Terry also discussed…

• Terry’s take on culture and business, and how these served as catalysts for GreenTeam
• Why and how taking care of employees is so critical to his company
• Some technology platforms GreenTeam utilizes to manage communication and work order flow

Terry provided context as to why the way leaders treat their employees matters. “My decisions are solely based on, ‘Is this going to help me sleep at night?’ There are statistics that say 65 percent of people out there, they think or they treat their boss or employer as their mentor, as their psychologist, as their shoulder to cry on or lean on. And I think a lot of business owners don’t take that into consideration, because the culture that you set at your business—people are going to feel good or bad based on what you created. And the decisions that you make as a leader and as a business owner, they’re impacting all these people’s personal lives.”

James Terry is Founder and CEO of GreenTeam, which he founded in 2009. He is a State Certified Plumbing Contractor in Florida with over 13 years of experiences in commercial plumbing and 20 years of experience in plumbing trade. Terry is President of the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association of South Florida, and Co-Cahir of BOMA Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beaches.