Michael & Son provides provides HVAC, electrical, plumbing, construction and general handyman services to commercial and residential customers.

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Basim Mansour, owner of Michael & Son Services Inc., says the core of his business is “the pursuit of perfection.” He stresses to his employees that as long as they “don’t quit, don’t give up and don’t take no for an answer,” the contracting firm will continue to thrive and meet the needs of its customers.

“The pursuit of perfection is extremely important to us,” Mansour says. “Perfection is always within reach, but it is never reachable. However, you have to keep working for it. Once you stop working toward perfection, that is the moment you slip away. We pursue perfection because we don’t want our business going anywhere.”

Based in Alexandria, Va., Michael & Son was established in 1976 by Mansour’s father, Mike Mansour, who provided electrical contracting services. Basim started going to job sites with his father at age six, which allowed him to learn a variety of technical skills and values, he says. In 1990 at age 19, Basim Mansour took over the business when his father died suddenly at age 47. He had just started college, but had to support his mother and younger sister.

“If it hadn’t been for my mother comforting and shielding me from all the financial difficulties, I do not know if I would have survived,” Mansour says. “But my father did leave me something – a great foundation. He taught me never to give up and he left me an incredible work ethic.

“In the midst of a recession with lots of well-established companies failing, I survived with the help of my mother and my need to provide financial support for my mother and sister,” he adds.

The company now provides HVAC, electrical, plumbing, construction and general handyman services to commercial and residential customers. Michael and Son went from having three service trucks in 1999 to more than 100 in 2007. Mansour explains the company has grown because of its collective belief in his father’s business philosophy: “Serve the customer first and have pride in your work.”

“We are not reinventing the wheel – there are no secrets to our success,” he says. “Cust-omers are being more conservative with their money right now, but the secret to maintaining your business is in keeping customers happy and keeping costs down. When the economy is slow, the only firms that survive and grow will be those that service the customer best. Regardless of what is happening to your business, it is important to never sacrifice quality or service.”

Recently, Venture spoke with Mansour about Michael & Son’s dedication to service and how that is impacting its operations.

Venture: How do you work with customers to meet their needs?
Basim Mansour: It is important that we always try to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes. Perspective is important; you have to keep ego out and not take things personally. This is really important when you are working to provide the best service.

Every business has issues, but you have to resolve them by looking at the big picture. We understand that we are here to serve customers and we want to have the best reputation for that. Our goal is to be the best service company, and although we don’t have to win every battle, we have to win the war to make that happen.

Venture: How do you ensure a culture of service is maintained throughout your company?
BM: First, I salute and compliment good behavior. When we receive thank you letters from clients, we post the letters all over the office so our technicians know their work is appreciated.

We also have weekly meetings with our technicians so they can share their good experiences and what comes from that. The same way that a bad apple can ruin a barrel, good apples can also have a big impact. The economy is slow now, so people have less disposable income. Even so, our business has grown. Our dedication to service has made this January’s sales higher than those of last January.

We constantly work with our people to ensure they maintain a focus on service and professionalism at all times. We have a training event in every meeting and our quality inspector visits six to seven sites a day and takes pictures of the work being done. I go through the pictures and call to compliment those who are doing a good job.

A company is like a football team, and the management is the coach. The coach needs to get the players to believe in the company philosophy and work as a team. When the whole team works together, they can move the ball faster and go really far.

Venture: What is Michael & Son doing to enhance its operations?
BM: Every day we work to improve; we do a lot of streamlining, which results in cost savings. Recently, we underwent a major push to get rid of inventory and our warehouse. We moved into a bigger structure and had a lot of extra space, so we leased space to our vendors. As a result, we don’t own any inventory and our vendors manage the inventory.

We also recently brought in a sales trainer and that helped us increase every technician’s output by at least 20 percent. We invest about $40,000 a year in training, which always pays huge dividends for our operations.

Venture: What do you envision for the future of the company?
BM: We expect to have 20 to 25 percent growth this year and we will continue to always improve our operations. Everyone has weekly goals they need to meet, and all of the departments work together to help others meet their goals. This will continue to make our company successful.

My personal goal is to grow the business but never be full of myself. I plan to always keep the essence of the company the same – we will continue to think small and do what we did to get to this point. My goal is for this company to be the obvious choice for service in our market; we want to be synonymous with the best.