Part 2 - How To Modernize An Old School Industry
Written by Taylor Devoe
How does a 25 year old transform an old school industry? Find out below.
Stefano Narducci, Co-Owner of Northern Snow, and his team took an old school, blue collar industry - snow removal - and completely transformed it. He modernized it by bringing in new technology and solutions, gamifying his company’s culture, and bringing his online community along for the ride by filming everything for social media. If you’re not familiar with Stefano, read his founder profile here.
After having one of the hardest seasons of his life and being months away from bankruptcy, he knew he needed to make major changes to the way he ran his business, or he wouldn’t have a business left.
In talking with Stefano, it was evident that the customer’s experience (and that of his employees, too) influences everything he does. With the lessons learned in his pocket, he knew there needed to be major changes, so he started at the top. He first hired a day-to-day operations integrator to run the operations: Anthony Carchidi became the General Manager.
With 10 years experience on Stefano and his Co-Founder, I was curious about the dynamic between them. With so much behind-the-scenes content available online, did the online image match reality? Anthony confirmed everything that we see online really is reflective of the way things are done. In terms of working for young leaders, this never even crossed his mind.
“I didn’t view them as young. Put age aside - they’re professional and passionate. They care, they have a vision and they have direction. They’re ready to push the needle. That’s what was exciting for me. That’s why I joined them.”
Together, they reviewed every department and implemented new processes and new systems with a better hierarchy and structure. The biggest focus and change? Technology. The old tech was not solving customer pain points, so they built their own, enter Aurora Suite Enterprise. What does this have to do with snow removal? A lot. Especially from the customer’s perspective. It’s essentially a form of Uber for snow removal. As a customer, you can see where the tractors are and when your driveway will be cleared. Real time updates. Customers can easily submit requests and concerns through the platform and receive quick responses.
“I want the newest tech, the newest everything, to give the end customer the best experience in the world”.
Stefano admits he’s a fiend for making improvements. And if that’s not a sign of a great innovator, I don’t know what is.
Anthony had a similar assessment of him. “He never stops. He’s always thinking about the next step. Whether it’s about improving the service, innovation, tech, partners, better pricing. He is always doing something to improve operations and enhance the customer experience.”
They added cameras to every tractor to help with troubleshooting, protection and insurance. Last year they spent a quarter of a million dollars paying for things they were accused of damaging. Now with the cameras, they have proof if it happened or not, and they suspect if they had these cameras last year, it would have saved them at least half of that. This also helps them to troubleshoot issues on the spot and improve employee training.
Stefano and his team spent $75,000 on research and development (R&D) trying to create a gravel roller. Their tractors were picking up so much gravel from people’s driveways and shooting it onto their lawns, that they were paying full salaries just to do clean up in the spring, at no charge to the customer. They knew they needed an innovative piece of equipment that wouldn’t pick up gravel while snowblowing. Unfortunately, their R&D didn’t lead to a solution, but they were able to convince Machine Pronovost to make a custom roller for them, and theirs worked.
Stefano also focused on the culture of the company and sought ways to motivate his team by gamifying things. His main approach was, do the opposite of what corporate companies do. The first thing Anthony told him when he heard his suggestions was, “you can’t do this”, but they’re doing it. They have mini-competitions and reward systems, and have a lot of fun together.
Stefano believes it is crucial for their leadership team to be present, positive and consistent. They aim to make the workplace fun and inviting. Especially in a blue collar industry, where employees may not be used to voicing their concerns, Stefano strives to create a comfortable environment to allow for this. “They’re human, they have emotions”. He wants to crack them open and make them comfortable, and one way he does this is by cooking and bringing them food.
When I asked Anthony about the company’s culture, it became philosophical.
“It’s camaraderie - it’s like a sports team that come together to not only support their customer but to support each other”.
At the end of every shift, everyone helps each other to finish their routes. They could just go home, but instead they come together to help everyone get home sooner. When viewing the tractors from their app which shows a birds eye view of the city, you can see all of the tractors moving to join one another and then they all move in uniform to head back to homebase.
“It’s honestly poetic”.
I never thought I’d hear the word poetic when talking about snow removal, but seeing it for myself, I have to admit, it was.
You can follow along with Stefano and Northern Snow’s journey on Instagram and Youtube.
Waiting to hear what happened last year? Part 3- Fail Fast and Pivot: Founder Lessons from the Snow King.