By embracing a philosophy of excellence, integrity and care, Precision Precast Erectors has achieved impressive growth
Precision Precast Erectors (PPE) was founded in 2008 by Denny LaVe and his father Lou LaVe. Denny outlines the company’s history: “We got started on a project with a developer that we had previously worked with as employees of another company. He was extremely dissatisfied with the level of service; he was promised certain things that didn’t actually occur. When he decided to build his next building, he came to us and said: ‘What if I help you get started in business, what would that look like?’ So, we set up a contract with performance-based incentives.
“If we could keep it on schedule, we would receive a certain fee for every day that we beat the schedule. If we missed the target, the incentive would start to go
down until it hit zero. By the time we finished the job, we had beaten the target, and our incentive went up three and a half times. He was delighted because he got his building substantially earlier than he had thought. Of course, we were also delighted because we had enough capital to move forward with the business.”
Denny then elaborates on the range of products and services the company has come to offer: “In a nutshell, the easiest way to think about it is that we assemble giant Legos. Precast concrete consists of large pieces of concrete that are made in a factory, and they range from as small as a stair tread to as large as massive walls that are 60 feet tall and weigh 100,000 pounds. Sometimes it’s architectural cladding on a job to make a project look beautiful. There’s a whole range of different pieces that can come together to make a building. Sometimes we make the building itself; we provide a full-service installation package.
“Not only do we do the planning and sourcing of materials needed for the installation and then put the pieces on the building or make the building, but we also do all the patching and engineer all of the temporary stability. This approach means that the end customer has a building much quicker than normal which they can then finish the way they would like.”
Care for people
Denny then reflects on the factors that have helped the company achieve an incredible repeat business rate of around 80 percent: “It comes down to what we call the ‘client mentality’. One of my mentors is very big on understanding the meaning of the word ‘client’. The meaning really boils down to someone who’s under the care and protection of another, as opposed to a customer, who is someone that buys a commodity.
“Frankly, commodity businesses often tend to race to the bottom of the market, and the competition becomes solely about price. To stay competitive, you end up doing all sorts of things to help lower prices, and a lot of those things are not ethical. For example, I might decide to pay employees less because that means achieving a lower price to market, and I can make more money for myself. For me, this approach would violate some of my deeply held values.
“Whereas in a client-centered business, you’re looking out for the best interests of clients and figuring out how to align their best interests with your best interest in a way that enables everybody to come out better. For example, if we see problems, we’ll have a very open and frank conversation with the people that we’re bidding to about those issues, and we’ll bring up the fact that there’s something missing in the drawing, or there’s something ambiguous, or there’s a conflict. We’ll suggest how we think this should be resolved. If this satisfies the customer, then based on that, we can go to market having protected the client from being blindsided downstream.
“On our employee side, we’re a union contractor. That allows us to take really good care of a workforce that is often quite transient. They get paid a very good wage, as well as very good retirement benefits, personal investment account contributions, and top-tier health insurance for themselves and their families, and it’s all done in such a way that they can still come and go, in and out of companies, and still get continuity of those benefits. For me, as an employer, I really am taking good care of my employees, and in turn, they take good care of me.
“That’s something that a lot of employers are struggling with right now. Their employees aren’t engaged, they don’t want to contribute, they just want to punch the clock and get paid. I think that creating an atmosphere of caring and protecting people contributes to the repeat business, and it also contributes to employee satisfaction, and those things work together to create a very positive and fulfilling work environment. As a result, the number one feedback we receive from clients is that we are the most professional organization that they’ve ever worked with.”
Maintaining integrity
Looking to the future with the company in excellent commercial standing, Denny explains his approach to succession planning: “For the last several years, I have been intensively training my replacement. I believe that’s something good business leaders should do. The beliefs and philosophies behind the systems we employ are the core drivers of the company. The brilliant staff that are primed to take on senior leadership positions in the coming year understand this and will ensure the business continues to be successful and operate with integrity.”