Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Scott Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Scott, thanks for joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?

I do a considerable amount of work in the acoustic design of buildings. These projects range from high-rise mixed-use residential buildings to motion picture and recording studios. My tasks involve acoustic situations from mitigating environmental noise in buildings near high intensity noise sources such as airports, designing custom partitions and floor systems for privacy, to isolating vibration of machines near critical rooms. These designs translate to added project costs that were often not anticipated during budgeting.

This leads us to the bane of most projects, “value engineering”. Simply put, this is the point in the project where the design team seeks creative ways to reduce the budget. From an acoustical standpoint, this is more often problematic because the acoustic design is carefully crafted to ensure occupant satisfaction. Often our designs are value engineered to pave the way for lavish interiors. As an example, many designs require custom windows for occupant comfort in hotels. As one might imagine, value engineering the window systems results in complaints and unflattering blogs on social media. But the spaces “look” great!

Scott, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

At a young age I was fascinated by the sound of my guitar recorded in different spaces. That piqued my interest in acoustics, recording and electronics. During college, the Georgia Tech physics department offered a course in acoustics taught by the late emeritus professor Dr. Gene Patronis. He had a way of breaking down complex problems for the introductory student. This course pushed me to learn more about electronics, loudspeakers, transmission mediums, and acoustics, with the end result being a career in acoustic consulting.

Our firm, BWS Acoustics, serves local and international clients. We offer consulting in architectural acoustics, industrial noise control, environmental and community noise assessments, expert testimony / forensic analysis, and studio design. We are very responsive to our clients and I feel this is integral to our success and growth. Some of our most crowning achievements are the ongoing designs at Tyler Perry Studios, the noise control design for the worlds largest turbine manufactured by General Electric, and the Grande Lakes Hotel & Resort in Orlando. It is humbling to receive feedback that a design is so quiet that a microphone had to be used to hear a deafening turbine operate from an adjacent test cell a few feet away. To my knowledge the Grande Lakes project is still one of the highest grossing resort driven hotels in the world.

Where do you think you get most of your clients?

We really don’t advertise. Most of our clients are “word of mouth” referrals from previous consulting jobs. I do a lot of consulting for free on the phone. While some might find that a terrible business strategy it has worked out well in the sense that people remember your kindness and are quick to tell others. Spending time listening to someone is a key factor for us in maintaining and growing our customer base. I receive all kinds of calls where a person will say they were referred to me from our previous work or that we simply are the only consultant that would take the call. Our “no job is too small” mindset has worked out well for us. We approach each situation from the perspective of the client.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

This business was established for over 20 years before I acquired it and that provided significant advantage going in. However, that in itself didn’t guarantee we would keep our clients. In fact, we lost a few clients that were loyal to my former boss (J.R. Ballentine), but not necessarily to me or the new company. We also established new clients during that time period which balanced this out. We were very open and transparent about the business transition. I believe this factored into building my own reputation separate from Mr. Ballentine. I still reference his work to this day so the company never strayed far from its roots.

Building a reputation takes years of perseverance and commitment to your trade. Strategically, Mr. Ballentine stayed on for a few years as a part time staff consultant. I believe that proved instrumental in maintaining the company reputation as well as building my own. It certainly did not hurt our cause that Mr. Ballentine also told clients of his faith in me, so much so that the new company would have his name, Ballentine Walker Smith Inc.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bwsacoustics.com