VOLUME 6, ISSUE 2
Author: Jimmy Veteto
My colleagues will be the first to tell you I’m a creative guy, and they commonly say “Jimmy is different”. It’s true. I have never been one to follow the herd, and I become bored easily. Some would call that A.D.D. I call it creative multi-tasking. My business development methodology in the building services industry is very non-traditional. But despite my approach to business, there is one distinct difference that I am proud to admit.
I’m Mac and I think differently. – Jimmy Veteto
The first time I sat down in front of an Apple computer I was sold. At the time, Mac’s nor iPhones served a purpose in my industry and some will argue they still don’t. For many years, corporate only provided Blackberry’s and PC’s. In my business, mechanical engineers, project managers, accountants and estimators surround me. I feel like an Apple in an Orange orchard. However, my passion for blogging, websites, creating videos, graphic design and marketing has proven that owning a Mac was one of the best decisions I made in my profession. It’s helped with exposure in the market place and made my job fun. Apple products were built for the creative folks in the art department but as I discovered they work just fine for the sales department too.
As we all know by now, Apple’s father Steve Jobs has recently died. He leaves behind a legacy that most entrepreneurs could not even imagine yet alone achieve. His creative genius has changed our everyday lives. When Steve interviewed former Pepsi CEO John Sculley, he said, “Do you want to sell sugar water the rest of your life, or do you want to work for Apple and change the world?” Who says stuff like that?
I would even guess that this very instance, some of you reading this blog are doing so with an Apple device. Our kids have iPods, our wives have iPads and if your like me, your iPhones have become another appendage at work, one in which you have to ask your kids to program. We love these products and not because all of us are Apple geeks, but because they make work productive, life fun and quench our thirst for information.
At this very moment, I am sitting at my daughter’s tumbling class hammering on the keys of my MacBook. The guy across from me is catching up on emails with his iPhone, and his 4-year-old son is playing Angry Birds on an iPad. We soon strike up a conversation about Apple products, our admiration of Steve Jobs and thermostats (a point I will soon be at). Then another guy over hears us talking and couldn’t wait to show us how he can access his home thermostat with his iPhone. Yep Steve lived up to his goal:
We’re here to put a dent into the universe. – Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs ability to design technological devices will not be the only thing Apple will miss. He was a leader; a visionary and he lived out Apple’s 1984 marketing campaign, “Think Different.” When I set out to write this edition of Mechanical Matters, my goal wasn’t to write another homage to Steve like other bloggers online or hundreds of magazines on newsstands, but it’s almost impossible not too. I was inspired, and now Apple has entered our world in the HVAC/Mechanical Contracting world. A trade magazine on my desks reads:
How Apple is changing the HVAC Industry. –Engineered Systems Magazine
Just recently a sales rep from Honeywell aggressively tracked me down to pitch their latest temperature control product. He left me multiple voicemails and emails eager to meet with me…his passion was admirable. Finally I returned his call. “What was the fuss all about”, I thought. Then as he sat across my desk I quickly found out. Honeywell’s latest thermostats are wireless, easy to install and they include an app. Yep, Honeywell’s RedLINK residential and light commercial thermostat can be remote accessed from your iPhone and iPad. As an Apple geek, this rep knew I would love it.
Check out Honeywell’s app-friendly stat in the video below.
Apple’s technology is infiltrating my industry whether the rest of my colleagues like it or not. In the Engineered Systems article I mentioned earlier, I read about how HVAC technicians are now using iPads in the field to research parts, download schematics, using estimating apps and going “paperless” with electronic invoices. In our Energy Services Division at S.M. Lawrence Company (my day job), our engineers are now using iPads for their buildings Re-Commissioning services. Then just yesterday I read an article about a thermostat in USA Today. ”A thermostat made headlines in USA Today?” This little device they call the “learning thermostat” is made by Nest and has Apple sex appeal: Sleek, advanced, smart and just way too cool (no pun intended) to be in my industry. But its no wonder it favors an Apple product. Nest is a new start up company in Silicon Valley, and the company co-founder, Tony Fadell, formally worked at Apple. He led the team that created the first 18 generations of the iPod and first 3 generations of the iPhone.
Check out the Nest thermostat in the video below.
Steve Jobs didn’t personally create these new thermostats, but it was his vision that has lead us to this technology. His iPhone that included “apps” started the domino affect to endless possibilities for how we exchange information. The look and feel of Apple products have forced even the thermostat market to become more visually appealing…we now expect that as consumers thanks to Apple. And if alive today I can assure you the Nest or the Honeywell RedLINK would be in Steve’s home. Second thought, he may even have a true “Apple” thermostat that hasn’t hit the market yet. Hey, there’s an idea: the iStat. You heard it here first.
It’s because of his quest to be “insanely great” Steve Jobs made Apple the most successful brand in the world. As you look around your business, how are you using Apple products for your business? Write me, I would love to hear your company’s “Insanely Great” moments. Whether you using Apple products products or not, tell me your success story and the dent you are putting in your industry.
Remember the little 4-year-old on the iPad I mentioned earlier? Well, turns out his father owns an orthopedic business. When the iPad came out, he purchased a 100 of them for his sales reps. They now take pictures, instructions, tutorials and much more straight to the surgery room to assist their doctors. The use for the iPad is limitless. And now we in the HVAC business are Apple friendly and moving our business forward.
Here are a few of Steve’s classic quotes:
The only way to be satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.
Don’t settle.
Stay hungry.
Stay foolish.
And one more thing… – Steve Jobs
Thank you Steve. As your friend and nemesis Bill Gates said, “You will be insanely missed.”
If you want to know more about the products you’ve seen in this edition of Mechanical Matters, give me a call. S.M. Lawrence Company, Inc. is an authorized Honeywell Contractor. The Nest will be available soon at your local Best Buy. Oh, and check back with me in a about 6 months. I am building a house, and I promise that one of these devices (maybe even both) will be installed in my house. Because I “think different”…plus they are just so cool.
(Please, commercial businesses only)
Jimmy Veteto
Building Consultant, LEED AP, Director of Business Development at S.M. Lawrence Company, Inc. Memphis, TN
SML is a Comfort Systems USA Company
Follow me on Twitter by clicking here. And be sure to check out my website and all of S.M. Lawrence’s service by going to www.jimmyveteto.com
Great work as always, Jimmy. Indeed the Jobs legacy is one that enhances our daily lives but also challenges us to those same levels of excellence in our own industries. Much appreciated.