How can I do it better? I want to sell good product that's
quality that's gonna take care of the customers needs. your name is on it whether
you whether your name isn't written on it you sold it to him so your names on
it your reputation is on it. I'm Carl Levine founder of Carl's Mower and Saw and I'm
Beth Levine his wife. We were founded in April 1 1990 lot of late nights and early
mornings and stuff. The boys were 11, 9, 7, and 5 and I drove school bus at the time so I would pretty
much be here all day but every day at 2:30 I'd have to leave and he was on his own.
There's been a tremendous amount of growth personally you know you learn
things you learn a lot tremendous amount of of relationships with customers
that's a huge gain love what I do more each each year love the people more it's
just it's fun probably the greatest just watch my
sons grow up in the business and take pride in the business ownership of the
business that's probably the biggest gain that I would say I have if I was
redoing it starting over I would have taken more business management classes
or training at a at an earlier age I think this is with lots of businesses
that start the person that starts it is good at a job I was a mechanic I was I
think was a good mechanic but did not know how to run a business so the
business suffered a lot more years than it needed to because I didn't know how
to run a business so if I could change anything I guess I'd go back and I'd
start with some training on how to properly run a business because you
struggled we over the years have offered classes to our gardeners because yeah
they're good at what they do but they don't know
business and it's been very beneficial so the idea originated because we
struggled really didn't know how to run the business we just know how to work
harder and I look at my commercial landscapers and they may do fabulous
work I've gone by their lawns and seen what they've done and yet year after
year they struggle and so they're in the same place I used to be they I think
spend their effort running the business not not managing the business so that
part of growth is learning how to manage the growth I went to a class on business
management I wasn't eager to go but I had my arm
twisted to go and I it changed everything that told me I had to get out
of the shop and sit at a desk it was hard but it changed everything so this
this class if we could help our landscapers to get the same vision of
how to grow their business how to make the business more profitable make it
better to be the best it can be they'll prosper and in the big picture
if they prosper we can prosper more alright it just it works together it's a
partnership I love to see the landscapers see their businesses thrive
you'd have to meet him at 5:00 6:00 in the morning and after doing these
classes it's like you know what now their hours are this long either they're
they're operating smarter also and I just see over the years that's happened you don't have to be here at that
time of morning with them. I'm most proud of the family that my my
sons have grown up in the business and I see how they they have as I said earlier
take ownership in it how they are taking a way further than I ever could
when Josh was out of graduate from high school it was go get a job and I pushed
him to go get a job a real job because this is just a mower shop we're
not able to pay you enough you know you can do better and he wouldn't go and
one day I was rumbling to a customer about Josh not going to get the job I
you know I'm still being here and the customer just advised me this is what he
likes let him be and yeah it's worked it'll just keep getting better
and it's because of the sons in the business when I drive by I'm like
whoa this is really ours I still think this is little struggling business and
then when I look at you know how much business we do I just still
amazes me I'm like this is where a store where people come you know and it's just
like whoa so that's a neat thing for me to see from day one that was the the best
part of my business was interacting with the customers
I recall actually at a dealer meeting one time they were talking about
customer service somebody in the room says good customer service is doing it
perfect every time and I responded I don't do it perfect every time I'm human
but I want a relationship with the customer so that when I mess up
they aren't angry at me they come back and let me fix it and I build that
relationship even more because then they got that trust that I'm gonna at least
take care of it so it's a personal relationship of trust that from day one
has been what's driven the business there's no pride in being cheap having
something cheaper than someone else the pride is that relationships that I build
and then seeing it generational to anybody that doesn't know us looking
for a place to do business with want them to realize that it's a family we
are a family but it's a bigger picture we are, our customers are part of a
family for us we long to make them happy they come in with a problem we solve the
problem there's other places to get things fixed there's other places to buy
equipment but hopefully that relationship makes it worth be part of
the family thirty years of business from day one we built relationships with
customers and she had this card file here of these customers
and said that it's neat to go back and see them many of them are gone
they died now but we have now have their children and their grandchildren as
customers and it's neat when you see and you remember back that grandpa
came in with this little one and yeah yeah now the kids come in here
they're adults and they have kids you know so it's just it's really it's
fascinating time goes too fast we're getting old but it's just a
thrill to see this family this generational relationship because they
they grew up coming to Carl's and have fun at Carl's we had a relationship and
they come back so yeah even from the sale I mean when someone comes in you
just don't get a box, like a chain saw more it goes in the back it's
serviced out there's gas there's oil we filed the warranty for you take care of the
warranty who files warranty right? Nobody files warranty, but that is something from
day one that we have always filed the warranty you if you go into a box store or a
big store and buy mower you don't know anything about it you got to read
the instructions and figure out how this thing works or that thing works and when
it should have this done and that we go through that with the customer at time
of purchase the customer leaves with probably more knowledge than they
expected and they oftentimes don't retain it and they will call back and
ask something that we know we told them but that's okay
we're here to make sure that that piece of equipment performs the best it can
for them it's part of the relationship you get to know people. People come in and they share. I have this little box from 1990 way back
before computers a card file and it's really neat for me to go
through this box and say wow this person is still a customer after 30 years they
brought their kids in when they were little because it was like an outing to
go ride on the mowers and now their kids are customers so that's a really
neat thing they share a marriage or they share
you know where their kids are going to college you know those people and you
watch their kids grow up we're a family yeah in that sense I don't know a better
word to use a community as a word you could use but we're more than a
community were we're a family.