Electronic Systems Consultants: Making Data-Driven Decisions

You could call Electronic Systems Consultants LLC (ESC) of Aspen, Colo. a "new breed" of integrator, but that label might be considered a bit misleading since the company has been around for 20 years.

Make no mistake about it, though, ESC is one of a select group of integrators that has created and adheres to strict internal business procedures that are unlike most other dealers.

The company's business processes include such elements as: regular customer satisfaction surveys, profit-sharing among all employees, defined career paths for employees, an off-site completion and testing facility (CFT) -- where every job is "pre-manufactured" -- a "secret" modular installation method and a real-time proprietary computer software system that integrates nearly every facet of the operation (scheduling, billing, ordering, proposals, etc.) and offers up-to-the-minute analysis of gross profitability.



Meanwhile, all the company's collected data is compiled and analyzed by management to guide long-term decisions.

In a nutshell, ESC is decidedly "uncustom-like" by emulating highly successful companies in other fields.

Now, 20 years after its founding, ESC boasts 40 employees concentrating on a new-home niche and six-figure installations.

Its total gross revenues are private, but according to one executive, the figure would put the company "very high" on the annual CE Pro 100 list.

Working the Plan

The systematic nature of ESC can be traced to the background of founder David Daniels, who recalls his methodical father advising him to "plan your work … work your plan."

While attending medical school at the University of Oklahoma, Daniels worked in a salon-style audio store. In 1982, he moved to Tulsa and ended up buying a purely retail audio store and renaming it The Phonograph.

A few years later, Daniels branched into multiroom audio installations and home theater.

"That's when I first got involved in looking at processes," he recalls. "In retail, you need processes in place or you won't make any money."

In 1988, Daniels did an installation in Aspen, took one look at this Rocky Mountain community and fell in love with it. He sold the Tulsa business and started ESC, which originated as a derivation on the "Escape" button on a keyboard.

The move gave him a chance to start over with a "process- and procedures-based organization that thematically supports your mission in the marketplace," as he describes it.

In Aspen, Daniels wanted to focus on the architect/engineer/contractor community, not retail.

"It seemed like a better model to me," he says candidly.

One the first things ESC did was come to terms with its human resources perspective. "I realized first that I needed to balance human capital, structural capital and financial capital to succeed," Daniels explains.

"So, I surrounded myself with people a lot smarter than me who could take my vision for the company and run with it."

One of those smarties is Anson Fogel, chief operating officer, who was instrumental in developing a suite of software and operational manufacturing methods that provide ESC's clients and employees with standard practices representing a greater number of opportunities for mass customization.