Emphasizing Sales & Service
Alpha Space Control stresses relationships with clients and employees.
Alpha Space Control Company Inc. in Chambersburg, PA handles parking lot and roadway striping and traffic sign installation in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Eastern West Virginia. Since its inception in 1980, Bill Sevast and several long-time employees have grown the company from two guys with an idea, into a multi-million-dollar business that since 1999 has been an annual member of Pavement’s Top 100 Marking Contractors.
A salesman first
Sevast and his father came from sales backgrounds-Sevast in radio broadcasting, his father in the automobile industry. Sevast says that before Alpha Space Control was even a reality, the two went out promoting their services.
“The initial concept, with both our backgrounds in sales, was to get sales. Without sales there’s no need to have equipment,” he says.
Father and son canvassed the area, calling on contacts each had made in his previous career. They got four contracts off the bat and decided it was time to purchase a van and striping equipment.
A perchance conversation
The venture started with a conversation Sevast had one evening with a salesman he had recently hired into the broadcasting group.
“I hired a guy and he told me what his dad did. I had no idea what it was…We continued to talk, and after that conversation, I decided to do some homework. I did some research for about a year and thought I could go ahead and get into it,” Sevast says.
And the timing was right, as Sevast wanted to be more independent and his father was retiring. They knew an engineer outside of Philadelphia that had gotten into striping who helped out during the initial start-up.
The business went through rapid changes in its first years. Sevast’s father passed away four months after the company was started, and in 1982 Sevast left his broadcasting job to pursue the pavement marking business full-time.
“We did two years and looked at the numbers and determined that it was very feasible if it were done professionally, if you ran it like a business,” Sevast says.
Then in 1987, Alpha Space Control purchased its current facility, which has been expanded and remodeled in subsequent years.
Ingenuity
Several years ago, it dawned on Sevast and his employees that one day they would be old and pushing 300- to 400-lb. machines would be difficult. So they kicked around a few ideas and talked to marketing equipment manufacturers about them.
“We tried to describe to them what we were truing to do and they said what we were trying to accomplish was impossible. If you tell us we can’t do something, we’re going to bend over backwards to do it,” Sevast says.
So he and his colleagues developed their own equipment and have been using it ever since. As Sevast explains, the hybrid equipment incorporates an airless striper, a truck and a light-weight (40lb.) carriage.
“It allows us to get a lot more work accomplished in a day. Instead of doing one or two jobs a day, depending on the size, we can get guys to do six or seven jobs in the same time frame.”
The atmosphere
Alpha Space Control employee tenures range from 20 years down to recent hires, with the majority having been with the company at least seven years. Sevast says he strives to take care of his employees and ensure they’re happy in their work.
“I think the people have realized when they put forth an effort they get it back, and they didn’t get that elsewhere. Sometimes it’s not what you do it’s who you do it with, as far as companies go. And I certainly didn’t do this by myself.” Sevast says.
Alpha Space Control provides a benefits package, profit-sharing, and gives employees the choice between a guaranteed salary or hourly wage. Alpha Space Control does give bonuses and last year Sevast took several employees and their spouses the Jamaica for a week.
“We like to have fun,” he says. “It’s the old adage, ‘treat people the way you want to be treated,’ and I think that takes it a long way.”
And Sevast uses Alpha Space Control to extend that philosophy to the community. The company donates its services to several churches and also stripes a football field where area youth teams play.
Serving a targeted audience
Federal, state, and municipal government jobs comprise about 75% of Alpha Space Control’s work. The remaining 25% is private industry and commercial work.
Reaching the right audience is a key part of Alpha Space Control’s success. Two years ago the company did a statewide mailing to all the local governments, which Sevast says has paid off in big dividends. And Sevast and three employees devote their efforts to selling full time.
“Over the years, if you get enough people out pounding the streets, it’s amazing what can be accomplished. Fortunately for us, we’re retained about 95% of our customer base, year in and year out,” Sevast says.
He attributes that customer retention to the level of service Alpha Space Control gives each customer.
“Service is a very important area, especially communication with the client. All the trucks are equipped with cell phones. That way the foreman can contact us or the client, and we keep them posted as to our schedule on a daily basis,” Sevast says.
“And when a client calls, he’s the boss, at least for the period if time that we have the contract.”
Some of Alpha Space Control’s clients request jobs as far south as North Carolina and Georgia. And for good customers willing to pay a higher premium, Sevast will send crews out of the area. Long-distance work is not something the company strives for, but it fits into the service goal.
Few clouds ahead
Alpha Space Control’s sales are up 50% from this time last year, and Sevast says that as of April the company was booked out into October. He expects year-end revenue to be well over last year’s.
“We stop selling in June or we’re never going to get to our regular customers that do their work later in the year. And we’ve tried to keep our growth steady, not fast,” Sevast says.
Because Alpha Space Control is a prime contractor for the state of Pennsylvania, the company is audited. As a part of that, Sevast receives monthly operating statement balance sheets that help him track how well the company is doing.
Sevast says Alpha Space Control handles about 1200 jobs each year, and the biggest challenge is keeping everything coordinated. Completing that many jobs can be tough, but Sevast and the other salesmen-who have all worked in the field-will fill in on crews as necessary.
“I just don’t consider us contractors,” Sevast says. “I consider us sales people that go out and market a service. We have our goals in and that’s what we strive to accomplish.”
That level of service comes with a price, and Sevast says his clients don’t mind paying it.
“We’ve learned over the years that price isn’t necessarily the only reason you get work,” Sevast says. “We have gotten a number of government jobs when we’re not the low bid. From a client standpoint, that says an awful lot about us and how they regard what we do and the way we work with them.”
(The previous article was written by Lindsay M. Hitch for the June/July 2002 PAVEMENT magazine)