We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael Guidone. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Mission Statement: The customer experience is our business.
Our Core Values:
Customer Service
Do the Job Correctly
Honesty
Being a firefighter in a busy midsized city that serves a everyone from the homeless to the wealthy, I’ve learned that even on someone’s worst day of their life, good customer service can go a long way. If you can make someone laugh who’s bone is sticking out of their leg, you will earn all of that person’s trust. When I started my business, I maintained that mentality of simply doing what I can to make the customer experience good. I was getting work and slowly getting busier and busier. And, the longer I owned my business and interacted with the public in a different capacity than I am used to, the more I learned how poor most homeowner’s experiences were with contractors. It’s jaw dropping to hear how poorly some people treat their customers, everything from taking a security deposit and not start the job to the “cheaper” window cleaner that brought his dog with him inside their home!
For me, I learned that as long as you have something to provide that the customer needs, you can be successful by doing three simple things. Provide good customer service, do the job correctly, and just be honest! Do not sell the customer something they never wanted from the beginning nor do they need. I am a guest in that person’s home or business and if I can provide them a great experience, they will be more than happy to refer me to a friend or colleague.
As far as my “personal” mission, it also is simple:
Provide for my family. I am married to the love of my life and we have a beautiful son with another on the way. My only purpose in life until my kids move out is to provide safety, food, and shelter for them. That means working my tail off so momma can be home to raise them. I will take the brunt of the “workload” while she does gods work. Don’t get me wrong, I am blessed to have a stable career as a municipal firefighter. Unfortunately, Arizona has one of the fastest and highest increases in cost of living. As government employees, we are the last to see the raises. Fortunately I work 24 hour shifts with 2 days off in between. This allows me to work about 80 hours a week to earn more income to subsidize my wife who has put her nursing career on pause. My wife and my son are the most important thing in my life right now.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
The industry that I am in is formally “Architectural Window Film”. To customers it’s “Commercial & Residential Window Tint”. To the tinting world, It’s “Flat Glass”, nicknamed after the fact that glass for buildings is…. Flat, whereas automotive glass is curved. As I stated earlier, I got into this industry to provide for my family. I never has aspirations to apply film to a business storefront or 20′ up on a mansion’s vaulted ceiling window. None of my friends work in construction either. One day, sitting in the back of the fire truck after a 911 call, I was talking to my friend Sergio Garcia (Prosheild Tint Studio in Surprise, AZ) about life and how I have plans to get married and start a family. My concern was that we have no family to help with daycare and how we would actually be able to earn enough income and pay for fulltime childcare and or never see each other because we would be trading off watching the kids. He explained to me that him and his wife had similar but different circumstances and that his wife quit her job to raise their kids. He told me he tints windows on his off days. He told me he literally just saw it on youtube one day and learned that one person could make good money from their garage at home tinting cars. My garage was too small be he told me to look into “Flat Glass” window tinting, which I didn’t know even existed. He gave me some old film and a razor blade to practice with and showed me a few things. I eventually thought I could learn this skill. Long story short, I practiced by tinting my home and my friends homes when I felt confident enough to start the business. I knew I would have a huge learning curve, but when I sink my teeth into something, there is no stopping me.
I provide high end high quality Solar Gard window film. I am a Panorama dealer which means I have been qualified to offer and sell the highest quality film in the industry. Not all Solar Gard dealers are allowed to become Panorama dealers. I am proud to be able to offer this line of film being newer to the industry. I will say, after following some Facebook groups and hearing from “veteran” window tinters, I quickly learned I know a lot more about window film and glass that people who have been doing this for 30 years.
The problems I sold for people range from heat reduction, UV protection, added security, privacy, decorative film, anti-burn artificial turf protection film. And, I offer professional window cleaning.
I am proud of my ability to provide a high quality installation, I only allow certain installation subcontractors that I know and trust to work on my jobs, and I know glass really well. Not all film is created equal and I go out of my way to educate the customer about why I’m recommending the film that I am.
Steve, Victor, and Al are currently the only two guys I’ll allow on my jobs. They are not cheap, but they are really freaking good. They are clean cut, don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, are honest. Most importantly, they provide high quality customer service to my customers.
Not all film is created equal. Some companies buy film from Korean factories and put their name on the box. I like the fact that Solar Gard was one of the first film manufacturers in the united states. Their parent company is Saint Gobain which is 350 year old glass manufacturer out of France. Saint Gobain makes all the glass for tesla as well as other glass coating solutions. A lot of their sales reps and engineers are prior window tinters themselves. Basically they know glass and film really really well. They manufacture their film in San Diego and ship it around the world to their international warehouses.
One thing I want all my customers to know is that I have a lot to loose if this window tinting thing doesn’t work out. My company is literally the most trustworthy and safest one to do business with. Below is in every email because it’s important and I feel makes me stand out.
“We’re the only company where the customer holds the power over our head right from the beginning. Let me explain. Being a fulltime Firefighter/Paramedic, I’ve earned and have been maintaining the public trust for over a decade. I can’t afford to lose my firefighter career and pension over dishonest business practices or short sided financial gains. A complaint to my fire chief or city council could make my life very difficult… I run my business by providing all my customers the same excellent customer service and attention to detail that I provide on 911 emergencies. So, just know that you will be taken care of when you call us just like when I show up on a fire truck.”
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
The great thing about dipping my toes into this business is how low the initial startup costs are. At minimum you need a couple squeegees, a razor blade, tape measure, and a spray bottle with soapy water. Everything else just helps speed up the installation. I eventually invested thousands of dollars into new or upgraded equipment, branded uniforms, truck rack and ladders. In any business there’s the weekend warriors and there’s professionals. Most people want to hire a professional. And, if I wanted to be treated like one, then I need to look and perform like one. Currently I purchase my most common films to keep on hand so that I can get to installations sooner. The downside I that I spend thousands every month to restock my film that I don’t see a profit on until I sell it. The upside is that I always have options for those smaller jobs which provides a great customer experience. As far as the finances go, a lot of companies just purchase the film needed for that particular job which is an economical way to do business when starting out.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
HIGH QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE LEADING TO 5 STAR GOOGLE REVIEWS.
I have some some advertising on social media which generates a lot of leads. A small percentage of those leads convert. The best source of new clients are those that know they want window tinting and go on google maps. When someone sees that I only have 5 star reviews, that my customers mention how well I treated their dog or cat and that the film I sell does exactly what they are looking for, then they feel confident enough to call. People literally have asked that I do not send a subcontractor because they only want me to do the installation. My reputation is now speaking for itself. Referrals are always a treat as well. But, the best source of new business has been obtaining google reviews.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.SunblockWindowTintAZ.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunblock_window_tint_az/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunblockwindowtintaz/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SunblockWindowTintAZ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sunblock-window-tint-and-window-cleaning-scottsdale