December - International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians

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Meet the NESDA Member: Gary Thompson CSM The Thompson Electronics Service Center in Columbus, Ohio is pictured above. Full Name: Gary L Thompson, CSM Karen S. Thompson Age: Gary, 48 Karen, 47 NESDA/ISCET Involvement: Certified Service Center, NESDA member/ ICSET member, NESDA of Ohio board member and Webmaster of www.nesdaohio.com Company Name: Thompson Electronics Service Center City and State: Columbus, Ohio Area that you cover: 50 mile radius of Columbus Company history: This location has been a Consumer Electronics Service center since 1956, founded by Donald Sisk. I bought it from Don in 1981. After the business was accustomed to its new ownership and direction, we changed the name to Thompson Electronics. We became an independent service only center. Primary products or services offered: TV, Big Screen TV, DLP, LCD projection TV, LCD projectors, Time lapse VCR, DVD/LCD portables, Microwave ovens. Number of Employees: 8 Percentage of your work that is warranty: 60% Personal business strategy: My personal business strategy is to maintain focus on our clients' needs. To provide the TAT and the PAGE 14 – December 2004 The team at Thompson Electronics Service Center poses for a group photo. quality of service that keeps them coming back. To maintain communications with the client, the manufacturers and reps, and with our parts distributors to insure quick, quality repairs. To maintain a well equipped, clean service center, with properly trained technicians. Greatest business challenge: My greatest challenge was ASC status with manufacturers. With a larger Service Center in our area, it was not an easy task to become authorized for many of the manufacturers. It was with the help of many NESDA friends and persistence that got the job done. Industry trends I foresee: Already seen here, is the move to, and required Home Service. We have always maintained a full time field service tech, but over the past five years it has changed from one, to now three. I can see the time when all of our techs will be in the field. If you could choose one business decision to do over, what would it be, and why? I would have found a manager or partner, that was not a part of my family. We spend too much time with the needs of our business, and find our lives play second fiddle to work. Spouse: Karen S. Thompson, Partner in life... Children: William James Thompson (Deceased) Philips Michael Thompson 21 First job: TV CRT installer and Job Estimator. 1973-1979 First car: 1965 Dodge Coronet 440 Car I drive now: 2005 Corvette Coupe C6...A true American Sports Car. Inside the Service Center an employee is hard at work. College or technical school attended: North High Vocational school. TV repair. Favorite place to get away: White Water Rafting, Virginia One person I'd like to meet: Bill Gates Hobbies: Jogging, Weight Lifting, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, cruising in the Vette, lawn and gardening. Thing I have too much of: Ambition to be the best. It has got in the way many times in my life, with my family and friends. You can only be the best at just a few things in life. That's all time will permit. I'm not sure I made the correct choices. Favorite Movies: There are just too many to list. To me, movies are a form of entertainment, to remove yourself from reality and have some fun. Favorite Television Shows: Becker: He reminds me a lot of me. Open mouth, speak, and then think about what was said. I don't believe in sugar coating things; I blurt out the truth, and many times sit back and wish I had kept my mouth shut. I would like my tombstone to say: WOW! I loved this business! What kind of music do you like to listen to? Jazz, pop rock, blues, well I like all music, except for opera. This feature is in every issue of ProService Magazine. If you would like to be featured please contact stephanie@nesda.com.
ProService Partner Advertiser Profile: Tritronics, Inc. (Continued) Kim is also a member of various industry groups such as the National Electronic Service Dealers Association (past advisory board member), the Professional Servicers Association and the Consumer Electronics Association. Jim Scarff oversees the Maryland warehouse operations, Miami branch location, sales and marketing for the company to include the most comprehensive online catalog in the industry and just released traditional paper catalog as well maintaining relationships and overseeing purchasing activities for over 50 of Tritronics many vendors. He has worked at Tritronics since 1985. Jim implemented a work-study program for high school students that have been very beneficial to Tritronics as well as all of its employees. Jim also volunteers in the community. He coached baseball and soccer for many years and is active in his church where he teaches Sunday school. Jim also participates in many business, political and charitable events in Harford County. Randy Williams manages the purchasing and information technologies departments at Tritronics. Although margins continue to shrink as the cost of finished products drop, Randy has been able to minimize obsolescence and maximize our allowable annual returns to our vendors. Randy also oversees our information technology. Tritronics had an interactive website by 1995, making us one of the first in our industry to offer product information, account status, order placement, tracking and many other features for our customers on a 24/7 basis. Again, as margins have decreased drastically, Tritronics has been able to improve productivity through the aggressive use of technology. Randy is also active in the Christian Businessmen's Association and participates in many business, political and charitable events in Harford County. What is your business and/or educational background? What qualifications do you possess that made you well suited to managing your business? Kim has a BA from Towson State University, a JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law and an MBA from Loyola College. She is also a CSM and has gone through the School of Service Management several times. All three of the Vice Presidents and their management team have completed the 12-week Dale Carnegie course and a 12-week management development course conducted through Harford Community College. Do any members of your family work the business with you? In what role(s)? Three vice presidents, Kimberly L. Wagner, Randy M. Williams, Sr. and James W. Scarff, Jr., handle the daily operations of Tritronics, Inc. There are three generations currently employed at Tritronics. The three vice presidents are the daughter, son and son-in-law, respectively, of the founder and CEO; Roger P. Williams, Sr. Each of the vice presidents have at least one child working in the business. Two of the third generations are in management training positions. What was the greatest challenge your business faced during its first year, or during the first year you were there? Randy, Jim and Kim took over the daily operation of the business in the early 1990's. Early on, the growth of the business was substantial year over year, and we did not know if it would continue. We were hesitant to hire on additional staff. Once we began to add on employees, our growth continues at a reasonable clip. Those early years were tough, but things have balanced out now. What happened over the years as the business evolved? What major decisions did you make that changed or re-directed the business, and what was the reasoning behind your decisions? In 1995, Tritronics started up their interactive website and continued to invest in its evolution. This and the introduction of other technology has been the key to our continued success. The Business Today: Who are your key staff, and in what capacities do they serve? Our key staff members run the warehouse, accounting department and call center. Staffing and Human Resource Issues: How many employees do you now have? There are about 100 employees, including full-time and part-time employees located in two branches. Philosophy, Goals and Achievements What is your management philosophy? We feel that the Servant Leadership style of management suits our company and family. This philosophy advocates that a person can become a leader by first serving and then through conscious choice, leading. Our most valuable resource in business is the employees that we work with. Servant leaders who listen to, respond to and support their employees instill a level of trust and confidence that is needed to create a flexible organization. Servant leaders are genuinely interested in helping their employees develop by removing barriers and obstacles to their growth and improved performance. What do you feel is your number one reason for success? Our family believes our success is directly attributed to our faith. We run this business based on Judeo-Christian principles and follow our parents' lead in this area. The founder, Roger Williams, is also very conservative fiscally and this has held us in good steed through the rough years. We invest the profits back into the business to improve our technology and facilities. In what area of your business do you feel you have done an unusually good job? We have excelled in website development and developing relationships with our customers. By staying actively involved in our industry, we can react quickly to the needs of our customers as they are forced to become more efficient and productive. In what area of your business do you feel you could have done a better job? We could have done a better job courting large self-servicing dealers early on. We have always focused our resources on independent servicers because of their loyalty to independent distributors and their importance to the consumer electronics industry as a whole. However, the result is we have very few self-servicing dealers, many of whom would greatly benefit from our technology. What has been the greatest personal obstacle you have had to overcome while building your business? Sometimes when you work so closely with your family, you don't always react in a "professional" manner. When there is a lot of stress or a crisis brewing, it is often tempting to revert to our childhood to resolve the problem. (continued on page 16) PAGE 15 – December 2004
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December - International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians

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