00:00
Hi, welcome to Power of the Network. I'm your host, Tim Locker, Vice President of Broadband here at CBM. Today we've got with us Mr. Billy Lau, General Manager and CEO at Dialo and Dialo Direct Companies. Billy's been in the industry a long time, over 30 years. We've had the opportunity to begin working with him and his team and we're so blessed to have him here today. So let's get right into it. I'm real excited to see what Billy's got to say.
00:32
Billy, thank you so much for joining us today. You know, we really appreciate you coming in, taking the time to be with us here in person. Thank you for having me. This is very interesting to me and very fun. I appreciate it. Well, I know you're no rookie to podcasts, so you shouldn't be too bad for you, right? No, no, hopefully I do all right. Awesome. So tell me, you spent some time serving in the military. Correct. Thank you for your service. Thank you. Thank you for your support. Were you right in and out of high school? Yeah, absolutely.
01:00
A joke I always say is I was a horrible kid, which is not really a joke, it's the truth. So I needed some conditioning and some structure in my life and I chose the Army and I wanted to be an engineer. I always wanted to be an engineer, but I was very interested in mechanics and things like that. So I got into working on turbines. And so I ended up being a M1 Abrams turbine mechanic and got a couple other specialties behind it and became a...
01:30
four year active and then another six years in the Army National Guard for New York. Okay, awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So what skills specifically do you think led you into this industry? That's good. So a lot of the aspect of what we do in the field as a field guys, having mechanical abilities, electrical abilities, working on electronics, hydraulics was the big thing.
02:00
And on the turbines I worked in had a lot of hydraulics as well. And at the time, a little company called Cogenel also needed a field guy. And my mentor brought me, who became my mentor, brought me in and says, man, we could really use your hydraulics knowledge. At the time we were, they were building breakers that had hydraulic operators. And that's what first brought me in. And then having the electrical and the mechanical abilities behind it helped a lot. So.
02:29
built my first substation two weeks into the industry. So. Oh, wow. Hit the ground running. I was there for a year. I was in Northern California. So yeah. That's awesome. You know, I think it's great. You mentioned it kind of straightened your out going into the army, you know, and I think there's, I think that's a great path for a lot of young folks, you know, to do, you know, what values do you think you learned from that? So everybody gets a little bit different.
02:57
you know, results from anything you do. And the military can provide you either, A, a great path for a career or a great path for, you know, the type of person you want to really grow up to be. For me, I think it was the fact that I was able to come out with some strong leadership skills, good education, being able to deal with things under pressure. Yeah. The typical things you'd hear in the military, but.
03:25
The aspect of it is I mention in many of the things I do about community and things like that, and believe it or not, there is a strong community in the military. There is a friendship behind it, and it's not a lie when people say, my brothers, my sisters, my comrades, because you do have that, and that's a big piece of it. I think that's an important value, because at the end in our careers, we want to have relationships. We want to have the type of contacts that you're going to deal with.
03:53
all come from different backgrounds, so you want to be able to deal with all that. So. Yeah. Well, and at the end of the day, I mean, in that situation, you literally may have to go to war with them, right? Exactly. So you got to trust them. You got to trust. They got to trust you. Yeah. It's a two-way street. And so when you have built that relationship, that's hopefully what you've done is you've built a platform of trust that supports a two-way street, like I mentioned before. So, yeah. And that's, you know, that's an obvious tie into the business world.
04:23
Yes. You know, those same values. Yeah, 100%. So they could be our customer or they can be a supplier, they could be a temporary vendor or even a contractor you hire, but you have to have the trust when you're saying, hey, I'm giving you this product to go deliver for me or the customers entrusting you to deliver something. That's the same thing. You want that valued relationship that has, hey, you're not just delivering this.
04:50
bottle of water and then I disappear. I'm gonna make sure that that bottle of water is cold. I'm gonna make sure that that bottle of water is wet. I wanna make sure that it serves what you need it to do for you. So, yeah. No, that's awesome. Any specific experiences in the military that led you one way, that kind of shaped your career? Wow. Just in general, the whole.
05:12
process. Yeah, it's hard to say any specific ones. I mean, I mentioned the community aspect of it, the relationships. I think that really changed a lot. I mean, it wasn't that I was an unsocial kid, that actually was the reason I needed to go to the military. Kind of get my act together. But no, I think that had a lot to do with where I am today and it really, you know, the leadership of course, you know, going to leadership school and
05:40
becoming a non-commissioned officer. That all led to, you know, how can I lead a team that I'm responsible for? You know, at the end of the day, we all need to get home or, you know, at the end of the day, we need to deliver on whatever the mission is. And I think that that's a big part of shaping, you know, my personality of who I want it to be. So that you mentioned leadership school, that was a military class that you went through? Yeah, primary leadership course is when,
06:10
Talk about that. When you go from being an enlisted man to wanting to become a non-commissioned officer, part of it is in points. You have to gain so many points and you have to go to different schools, different classes. And so I had to attend a primary leadership course. And through that, they teach you how to be an army manager or a military manager in the broader sense. So they're teaching how to be a leader, how to make a decision.
06:39
The one thing we would always say is a decision is better than no decision. So shaping your abilities to react when things have to react when people freeze, for example, on your team. How do you get them motivated? How do you keep them motivated? Recognize when they need to be taken down a little bit. And by taken down, I mean like taking maybe off the pressure line, just giving them that break they need and things like that.
07:09
extremely important. And I think that that's a big piece of what primary leadership courses do for you. You know, there's always the, I'm the boss part of it, but the important part is recognizing, you know, it's hard to say you're not their friend because you want to be, but if you take that too far, that could get away from you. So it's showing you what that balance is. Yeah. So how do you not cross that line? Obviously, you know, there's a rank and order, obviously, for a reason. Right, hierarchy.
07:38
with that also comes a certain level of respect for everybody. It's knowing the environment, you know, so where do you exercise that? So off the line, you could easily be friends. Let's hang out, let's have some beers, let's have some fun. Yeah. Barbecues, whatever, you know? But when you're on the line, it's knowing that difference. And so not only as a leader, but also as the one being led, recognizing that, okay, at this point,
08:07
We're not out having a couple beers and hanging out at the barbecue joint. We're on a mission or we're on task. And the reason that individual's the leader is because he's a chosen or been placed in that position for whatever particular reason. And I have to entrust him to the decisions he makes. So having both that as the person following and then as a leader, establishing, at this point we're on the line. I'm now leadership. I'm not.
08:37
the guy you were having beers with the night before. Respecting those boundaries. Right, right, and recognizing when they change. So. Yeah. No, that's a great example. So obviously that, you know, the leadership school, that's part of your personal growth plan. What other things have you done, you know, for your own personal growth? And then beyond that, what do you do for your team?
09:03
for their personal growth, what does that look like? Yeah, no, thank you for asking that. That's good, I love talking about this. So I'll answer it this way. What I do for my team is you have to allow people to be who they are. You have to recognize what they can do and give them that ability to do it. Give them the resources, the tools, the support, cheering them on and then recognizing, again, like I mentioned, when it is that you need to pull them back and say, okay, you're taking on too much.
09:32
So giving them the ability to run, but also being that generator, that limiter, I should say, more to say, okay, now you're pushing yourself beyond your normal boundaries. Well, and that's one thing that I've come to learn that's difficult, everybody wants to do so much. Right. And there's never any shortage of things to do, right? Absolutely. We're all busy, but how do you pick and choose
10:02
you know, priority, because I've always felt like if you try to do everything, you're not going to do anything well. You can't do everything. So how do you prioritize, you know, those to do things, I guess, you know, how do you take that away? So one thing I learned, and it's the, this is almost textbook, and I'm sure you've heard it, is the pro-cons list in a way.
10:24
And not all the time do you have the ability to, hey, let's go put this on a board and exercise it out. So sometimes you just have to make that list in your head and say, okay, what are the pros, what are the cons? How do I make this a priority? How I make that a non-priority is taking that. And again, that's part of being a leader and recognizing that, A, you can do that quickly on the fly when it needs to be. And making a decision from there. Because like I said,
10:51
The best thing to do is to make a decision, not to freeze up and not make one, you know, and say, oh, I'm stuck, which one's the most important one? You know, no, you need to move forward with it. So yeah, being able to take the pros and the cons of what the different things are and deciding what makes it the priority based on those types of assets. And obviously being in a sales type of position, you know, I think a lot of us feel productive when we're busy. Right.
11:20
But at the end of the day, being productive is making money, right? Right. And so we have to make sure we're spending our time on the right things. Absolutely. Yeah. So you say that staying busy is important, but I mentioned it. I probably do not take, no, not probably. I definitely do not take enough time off. But also taking time away from being the constant on the sale, constantly on the sale, constantly on the sale.
11:49
And an important thing to do is recognize that it's not all about always getting the purchase order. It's about, you know, whatever, developing a relationship or maybe just establishing your name in there. Maybe just getting recognized once. That should be what the priority is at that point and not think, how do I get this dollar amount in my pocket on the way out the door? Yeah, that's great. You know, I think too, you know.
12:15
You're right. It's not about and I hope I didn't come across the wrong way But it's not about just making money obviously because that's what you know salespeople kind of get a bad name of you know The typical used car salesman or whatever you know perspective you want to look at it's not about that But I guess what I'm talking about is being productive. What's moving it to the next step, right? You know and I did understand what you meant because obviously at the end of the day the reason we're here is to meet our responsibilities, which is to create revenue and
12:44
get the purchase order. So I'm with you on that. But no, no, I completely see where you were coming from, number one, and number two is that I think one of the things that we forget is that as something like sales is not, it shouldn't be reduced to what we use the word like, hey, you know, car salesman. I hate when somebody calls us car salesmen because,
13:12
Yeah, we're pitching you something we do, but it's because we're passionate about it. Yeah, and we're here to help. And we're here to help. Exactly. Yeah, that's the one. You take things personally. You know, if you can't get in to see somebody. And I remember- Why didn't he like me? I've got a great story. You always deal with the gatekeepers and do other things. There was a particular guy that I tried to call on for years. And-
13:41
Just couldn't get through the gate. And so finally I realized, well, I'm driving right by the front office, I'm parking across the street and I'm giving them all kinds of time, because they see you coming across the street. So the manager would run in and hide. And so I finally figured it out. And so the next time I called on him, I actually turned before, because their office is right on Main Street. So I turned, go around the block and I parked on the side.
14:10
And when I walked down the sidewalk, I literally like ducked and crouched under the window and I pop in the front door and the manager standing there, you know, his eyes are this big. I said, I got you. And this has been like a dozen tries, you know, all right, let's go talk, you know. And, and, and, you know, you sit down and talk to the guy for a while. And I mean, he finds out I'm not scary. You know, I found out we got all these things in common, uh, you know,
14:39
leave with a whole laundry list of things that I can help him with, you know? And so it's frustrating from my side of the coin, you know, from my perspective, it's like, you know, it's frustrating because like I said, we're just here to help. But I think too many people go and, you know, probably the same guy, somebody's there wasting his time, time and time again. So, you know, it's, I think everybody's got to clean it up, not waste their time.
15:06
And hopefully they can see the value in us. Yeah, and I probably have 20 other similar stories to that where all you want to do is just get in there and break the ice with this individual, whoever the contact is, and they're not giving you that chance. And unfortunately you have to turn to some different matters, sneak in there and get in the door. So I guess if there's one message, we're here to help.
15:33
Right? Absolutely. You know, we're not trying to be a burden. Absolutely. Tell me about your team. What are some of the biggest challenges you're facing, you know, just in general currently? The biggest challenge is right now is finding the technical individuals to join the team. Yeah. You know, the workforce is an interesting place, you know. It's a common theme. Right. It is. You have this conversation with...
16:01
I don't care if you're in HVAC and automotive repairs, appliances, you have plumbing, the workforce out there, or rather the pool, can be very difficult. So the challenge right now is, you know, we have a history, Dial-A has a history of customer service, you know, being reactive, being prompt, and trying to find people that are molded
16:31
I'm gonna say the same way, or at least have the realm of that mold. Yeah. I'm glad you mentioned that, cause I know, you know, as we try to find other folks on our bench, I kind of question sometimes how we go about it. Like sometimes I think we're trying to find ourselves, you know? Yeah. And maybe that's not the right- Man, that's so wrong. You're so correct. You look at the younger generation and you, you know, people were-
17:00
and say bad things about the young kids just don't want to work. But there's a lot of good young folks that do want to work. And, you know, getting to be our age and, you know, kind of a dinosaur in the industry. You know, do you think some of that's actually the pool or is it our perception and we're trying to seek out the wrong thing? Man, I think it's both. Yeah. I think, I mean, I definitely agree.
17:25
in reflection, you look and you say, I want this person to fill the shoes that I could, you know, that I've either left behind or whatever. So that's definitely one thing. It's being open-minded that there is a different generation, there is a different perspective. It goes back to what we were talking about earlier, about leadership and allowing somebody to come on the team that has a different third-party perspective that they've never, ever seen, that you've never, ever seen.
17:55
and allowing that to maybe flourish into something pretty positive. And that's actually what's happened with the team at Dialo is when we kind of transitioned, because when you change your CEO and your general management, it's a transition. It's a big transition because leadership starts up there and you're going to have a...
18:21
an impact on what decisions you make at this level all the way down to the bottom, right? So transitioning over, what I found is that there were individuals that had a lot of CPU, a lot of energy behind them, and it was somewhat held back. And so what they just needed was to be let go, released. And I feel like that's been one of our greatest success over the last five, six years.
18:50
as they got more comfortable with themselves and with what they were doing, that they said, huh, look at this. I can flex my arms, I can do this, I can do that. I can make decisions, and if I make a bad one, I'm not going to be fired. Because that's a fear, right? Dude, that was, you know, to make the bad decision is just the end of my career, or just the end of my tenure here. You've got to allow people to make mistakes. And I think that that's the one thing my team has is, A,
19:18
I like to say they don't make many mistakes, but when they do, they recognize them and they can reset and they can recognize when they need help, when they need the leadership to give them a little bit of direction. Well, I think there's a difference between making a mistake and just frankly, making a bad decision. Well said. You know, so. Well said. Yeah, bad decisions are usually easier to deal with. Yeah, so let's talk about that a little bit. You know, so when somebody on the team does make a mistake or
19:48
you know, something goes wrong. How do you balance that, you know, keep people accountable, but also not, you know, react, you know, kind of in a punitive fashion? Well, I mean, you balance it through communication. If you're not setting expectations clearly, you're not gonna get a balance. You know, there's gonna be that, I must be doing everything right, I'm not hearing that I'm doing anything wrong. Or if you're...
20:17
too hard and constantly like, man, I keep doing everything wrong, I'm never doing anything right. So having accountability should be through starts with good communication. There are times where you're just going to have to put your foot down and you're going to have to be that tough management approach and say, hey, at this point, now it's not only impacting you, it's impacting the team or it's impacting the customer, it's impacting the business. That's when you start looking at
20:47
a tougher approach, but I feel like if you do not have communication of expectations set properly, accountability is worthless. They need to understand, and you need to also understand. You have to know what they're accountable to, right? But you also gotta understand the other side. So when somebody's doing something wrong, are they doing it wrong because A, they don't know, or B, they just don't care, or is something going on at home? Is something beyond work happening to them
21:17
struggling with something. And you see, that's why I'm talking about expectations. Expect that person to be a human being. Expect that person to have a life outside of work and that they could be also impacted outside of work. And unfortunately we try not to, but we bring it with us to the office or the shop. Well, there's no way not to, frankly. Right, I mean, how do you draw that line, right? Yeah. Right. So I think it's important to understand too, there's a reason that your people come to work, right? And...
21:46
Everybody's reason is different. They all do it for a different reason. So it can be a challenge, but I think it's also important to understand that reason for why is Billy doing what he's doing? There's a reason behind everything. So you spend more time at work than you do anything else. So it's obviously a big part of your personal life as well. You just said something very important too. So we talk about accountability of our employees,
22:16
you also have to be accountable. And something I tell my team is like, you need to hold me just as accountable. If I'm not doing right by you, if I'm not giving you those tools, or if I'm not even hearing you, don't be afraid to hold me accountable. There's a way to do it, you know, there is. I mean, you got to respect the hierarchy, and being from a military background, I'm very big about that. But there should be no shame in an employee, a team member,
22:45
coming to you and saying, hey, Billy, you know, the way you're dealing with this is not the way I agree or, you know, you're not thinking this through or something. You gotta be also be able to be held accountable just as much. Yeah, no, that's a great point too. And how you respond to that is obviously a direct impact of, you know, does this person want to work for you or don't they? Right, and I've had those conversations where I'm like, I'm making this decision based on a broader, bigger.
23:14
business level decision that I'm sorry, I may not be able to share all the details with you about, but that's where my decision comes from. And this is where you kind of have to get a little harsh and say, if you don't understand that and you're not ready to get in line with that, then maybe this isn't the place that fits best for you. You know? Yeah, and sometimes that's a tough position, but you know, you mentioned communication a couple of times. You know,
23:43
What I've seen over the years too, I think is important is, you know, sharing that vision, you know, on the front side. You know, sometimes, you know, your employees don't necessarily always understand. So if you don't, you know, it's always easy to second guess somebody else's decision, right? Yes. But if you don't understand the why behind that decision, then it's a lot easier to second guess that, right? So if you know the why.
24:13
of that vision, then it's easier to support. So it's so critical that you share that on the front side and not allow those questions to come up. So then later, you know, it's like, oh, well, yeah, if I'd have known that maybe, you know, behave differently or whatever. So. Yeah, I mean, I'll give you a really quick example. I ran a brewery for a while.
24:36
and I had an employee that didn't understand that we would have to lock our point of sale systems because it's simply, I said, I want everything to be locked so when you're done with your point of sale transaction, it locks. It takes too many seconds of my life to put in the pin, I just want to serve the customer. Absolutely, absolutely. But here's the problem, all it takes is you to walk away and somebody's spin that.
25:06
that point of sale thing around and type in some numbers, erase their ticket, that's all it takes. And unfortunately we live in a world where security is a thing, right? And the gentleman that worked for me at the time was just.
25:21
adamant that his way or no way, and you just get to a point where you're like, listen, at this point, I have now made a decision, and you neither have to accept it, you don't have to like it, but you have to accept it. And if you don't accept it, that's okay, but there's the door, you know, that's just where you get to. You hate to have to get to that point, but at some point, yeah. When you get pushed to dump. Now do you think, do you think in that scenario, you shared that vision or the reason on the front end?
25:48
No, actually I caught myself afterwards and realized I had missed it. But when I finally did share it, it then just, by that time, he in his head had it fixed. It had gone too far, yeah. Yeah, he had it in his head, this is the way I want to do it. And I'm like, well, you know, I'm the guy in charge of this and I'm the guy who's making the decisions. But you're right, I mean, you've got to recognize where did I fall short? And I do that, that is one of my things, is like, sometimes a little too late, but I do go back and look and say, where?
26:17
Where did I fall short? And I started throwing it back into my head, and if you will, swim backwards or bike backwards, I really want to say, just think back. Where could I have done a better job? I'm not going to fix it now, but I can fix it for the future. Well, and just your terminology there, where did I go wrong? That just shows that accountability. Right, right. You always have to look at yourself first. And even with, I don't know how to properly say it, but even when it is...
26:46
maybe not 100% on you, there's still a point, where did I not understand that that individual was not going to accept that? And I brought him onto the team, I brought him on to be part of this organization, and he or she didn't believe in what we're doing? What happened there? So it could go farther back than you realize, not at that very moment when you're dealing with the situation.
27:16
What makes CBM different? They value our customers, they value our manufacturers, So they behave in a different manner.
27:38
and also the communication market. These markets are overlapping more and more every day and the ESOP and the way we're structured actually allows us to be more flexible and cover those markets and put our expertise where they need to be. So if you're looking for a manufacturer's rep with high quality sales staff, good relationships, look no further than CBM. You can find us right here at cbmrep.com.
28:06
So, you know, kind of continuing on the hiring theme, you know, we noticed and respected quite frankly, you know, as you were interviewing CBM, you know, to work for you, you know, it was like a day and a half interview process, right? Right. And that's important to us. It shows us a couple of things, you know, that obviously, A, you're vested in us, but B,
28:33
the willingness to go that deep to make sure it's a right fit. I mean, I really have a lot of respect for that. So talk about that process, what it does for not just us being your rep, but also for you and your team. Thank you for recognizing that. So it goes back to relationships, right? I mean, the goal is that we're going to be in a very long-term relationship.
28:58
That's what it is. Piece of paper signed or not, it's about a relationship. And you're going to be carrying a flag that represents us with your flag that represents you. And I can't take all the credit for how we do this. I got to say that Cory, our sales director, he's the one that really took this and has done a wonderful job of it. We had to have some lessons learned. And the reason we do this, the reason we take a day and a half.
29:28
The reason we have you meet our team and do that is because we want you to be comfortable just as much as we need to be comfortable with you. We're not hiring you, we're making a relationship. We're creating a relationship that, like I mentioned, it needs to go for a very long time. And there's things that we're going to expect, expectations, that we're not going to be with you at every customer visit. So we need to know that, hey, they were at...
29:57
our service center or they've attended our seminar or they've talked to Corey or Danielle or Billy or any of the team members and know what our goal and mission are. And so when they speak the speak of dialogue, they're speaking how we would speak. And so that I think is why we put so much emphasis into it. When we've done it in the past, it was a handshake, sign here, you know, here, let's do a little lunch and learn or come through our facility and then see you later.
30:27
And, you know, in some cases it worked fine, but in some it didn't. And so this approach has given us the ability to not only give us the comfort of what we needed, but also give the comfort to those who we're coming into this relationship with. And touch on those different groups too, because I know we interviewed and met with all the different sectors of the company. And so, you know, that also kind of gives them a little buy-in as well, right? Absolutely. So, yeah, so.
30:56
We have all our ops managers sign in on this. So all the way from our, you know, we have our calibration department. We have our operations that is from Dylo company. That's the team that's building the new equipment going out the door. We have our Dylo direct operations manager signing in as well because they're involved in providing the service. The after sales manager who's providing warranty and non-warranty technical support. We have our production manager. And then, you know, myself.
31:26
I'm vested too, I'm entrusting not only my team, but I'm entrusting the individuals we're coming into a relationship with to support us. So all these different departments have such a positive and can have a negative impact if they're not on board, but a positive impact on getting this to be a good result. Yeah. So, yeah. Let's talk a little bit about what DILO does. Educate us on...
31:54
SF6. What is SF6? Sulfur hexafluoride, SF6. So it's an insulating medium man-made. It's used in the power industry. Normally you find it in high voltage electrical or medium voltage electrical equipment as an insulator of electricity. It's an arc quencher. So when the circuit breaker opens, it quenches the arc. That's the reader's guide version of what it does. What we do is we, this is a, unfortunately,
32:22
SF6 has been found to be the worst greenhouse gas in the world. In 1999, the Kyoto Protocol, many countries, except for the U.S., signed on to this Kyoto Protocol and said, hey, we need to make sure that we control the emissions of this gas because one pound is the equivalent of 25,000.
32:51
CO2 emissions. Okay, so let's clarify real quick though. You don't make and provide and sell that gas. We do not make and provide and sell our gas. We dial globally manufactured equipment that handles it, captures it to reduce emissions into the atmosphere. Okay.
33:11
That's weird, I'm glad you told me. I don't want to give people the wrong impression. No, no, we don't deliver. This is the worst product in the world. No, I'm glad you said that, absolutely. No, we're the other way around. I mean, first of all, it's the worst product from a global warming potential, but it's the best product that exists from a power industry. It's been around since, you know, in its current use, it got.
33:39
It got very powerful in the 70s and 80s when SF6 started replacing oil breakers little by little. Okay. But it's the best gas. And now there are alternatives that exist, but they're not as good as SF6, but they're getting close. So, yeah, so what we manufacture is the handling equipment. We analyze the gas. We can cache it, recycle it. We're very big into the recycling process of it, reconditioning it.
34:08
getting it back into the industry for reuse, constant reuse, 100% recyclable. So there's no need to throw it away. Let's do the other thing with it. Let's not have to make more and more. Let's use what we have. So your tools actually will reclaim it out of whatever product that's in a breaker. High voltage circuit breaker, transformer, gas-insulated equipment. Reclaim it and then you take that gas and clean it? Scrub it clean.
34:37
How does that work? So we use filtration. And if we're just recycling, we'll use filtration where we're using an aluminum oxide filters and particle filters to remove byproduct and moisture. And then we can just reintroduce it back into the gas-insulated equipment. Or if its purity is low, then we put it through a cryogenic process. We improve its purity, and now it's available to be reintroduced into the supply stream. Okay. Right there with Virgin SF6.
35:07
Okay, so how, what's the value for the utility then? So, oh man, there's a, well, there's financial, absolutely. Number one, but number two is it lowers your global carbon footprint. So when you purchase Virgin S of six gas, approximately for every 100 pounds, you're allowing about eight.
35:34
or more pounds of emissions into the atmosphere of CO2. So about an 8% right off the top. But it's not perfect either, it could be worse. It could be worse. When you recycle and recondition, you're talking about 0.5% potential emission when you follow the correct process. And that's an important part. But yeah, you're talking about a massive reduction in CO2 emissions.
36:04
So that's the value is lowering your carbon footprint. And you know, and that's regulated too, right? So these. 100%. So SF6 is a regulated gas. Like I mentioned, the United States did not sign into the Coyote Protocol or the Paris Protocol, but what the EPA did is they absorbed or rather took on a lot of the same regulation requirements that the Coyote Protocol and the Paris Accord named.
36:33
So there's a process, if you have this in your network, you're testing it, reporting it. You're accounting for it. So you have to account for your emissions. How much do you have in cylinders or installed? How much you've emitted throughout your year to the atmosphere. Okay, so it's critical to these companies that they manage that properly. We need it. We need SF6 right now. We need an insulating medium. There are many great alternatives coming up.
37:03
They haven't all reached what SF6 could do by itself. There is a process to some of these alternatives or mixtures or they're combined with vacuum and they can only insulate and not extinguish. So there's a lot of different combinations out there. So I'm assuming, I don't know a lot about breakers and how they operate, but I'm assuming like an air-insulated product, just the longevity of the unit is.
37:30
not as good or what's the difference between an alternative product? An alternative? Well, the difference right now is just its capabilities, right? So we're kind of at, on the alternatives, we haven't breached beyond 245kV, 63k, which is the medium of the high voltage because we can go up to 550, we can go up to 765kV in transmission lines. So...
37:59
But let's just say 550 is the target. We've gotten to about 245, maybe about 40K. But we haven't met 550 yet because we need more space or we need more, there's a lot more science behind it. And so it hasn't reached that yet. There's temperature requirements that SF6 meets easily where the alternatives doesn't. And so there's a couple of little limitations. They're not massive, but they're enough to.
38:29
you know, not make it the perfect exact replacement yet. Okay. And we support it. Dialog supports it. We actually handle mixtures and we can create mixtures. We're already in that sector, the alternatives. Does that require the same testing protocols? Very, very much so, very much so. Especially with the mixtures that have fluorinated gases with a global warming potential, yes. Okay, interesting. So how much of a role does, you know, technology play in?
38:59
in what you guys do. A big role, a big role. So technology is, you know, it's kind of done a ramp, right? So for a while there was a very slow ramp and now we're in a peak. So the more technology that's coming out, the more science that's being done, the better and closer we get to replacing SF6. I don't think in my lifetime, SF6 will be 100% replaced.
39:26
but we'll be darn close, we'll be darn close. And that's a good thing, because we are about, you know, dialing away. We're an environmental company. We want to recover 100%. We want to reduce emissions. We want to make it as safe and as reusable as possible so we're not having a negative impact. We're stewards of the environment. All of us are in this industry, so. Now, does that, looking at that long-term, if our goal is to
39:56
eliminate the SF6 or, you know, totally transfer away from it. Right. What does that look like for the future of the company? Are you kind of cutting yourself on the foot a little bit? No, well, like I mentioned, so we're, we call that green line. Anything that's non-SF6 is green line in the insulating space. No, not at all. It's opening different doors, other opportunities for us. We're also a blue line business. So we're looking at xenon, we're looking at hydrogen, helium as another.
40:25
Again, we don't supply the gases, but as equipment, recovery, emissions, and leak detection, hydrogen leaking is a bad thing. So we are already in that sector as well, looking to see how we can get more involved, be again, a leader in that part of the world as well. Awesome. So let's go back to talking about your team.
40:51
You know, one of the individuals that we work with, Danielle, I understand she's one of your success stories. She is, she's great. Tell me more about her. Absolutely, so Danielle came into the office, she started in our front office, and essentially really proved to be very important to us, doing what she had to do at front office. She essentially worked her way into what we call back office, supporting sales with like inside sales.
41:19
you know, doing what we needed from the backside of marketing, things like that. And then eventually into what she now holds as a regional sales manager, where she has her own territory that she covers. And what to me, her success is the fact that where she started and where she's at. I'll tell you this story, which is where I knew that Danielle was a superstar. So we're at a, at a seminar and an industry event, if you will.
41:49
and two gentlemen walk up to her and start asking her questions, and there's a massive language barrier. And I'm standing off to the side, and I'm going, okay, should I go interject and help her out? And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to take a step back, and I'm going to watch and see, and if she needs me, she'll wave me over. You know? She starts talking to them, and you're asking her very, very technical pointing questions about her analyzer at the time, the version that we were coming out with.
42:16
and she just held her own. And I just, I purposely overheard everything she was saying to make sure if she needed my help, but I acted like I wasn't there. And man, she just so delivered. And I was so impressed. I mean, my face lights up right now. I actually feel tingles in the back of my head right now because it was such an impressive aspect of what I knew Danielle was going to be for us. And she has now grown into this wonderful regional salesman. She does my trainings for me.
42:46
Like I set up trainings for, I have a very small region, just because it keeps me in check. But she doesn't inform me. And now I'm to the point where like, I don't want anybody else to do them. Like she does such a wonderful job of training. And a lot of it has to do with, part of it was her initial innocence behind it. Where, you know, it's somebody from the outside didn't understand what SF6 was, didn't really know. I mean, she didn't go to school to be a mechanic or an engineer or nothing, but she.
43:15
had such a tenacity to learn, a desire to know more, and she just pushed it to the point where now she is truly a superstar for us, and I'm very, very proud of her. I can't see why Danielle can't even continue to grow more. I just don't, there's no barriers for her. I just don't see it that way. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. That's so awesome. And I feel the same about a lot of my team, but she's definitely a superstar, and I really enjoy watching where she's coming from and where she's at, so.
43:45
That's awesome. So tell me a little bit too, you know, Dialo is not just product, but services as well. Services as well, yeah. I guess explain a little bit about what we can offer there in terms of services and frankly, what the customer can expect. Right. No, absolutely. So we're built around the customer service aspect. So when we built Dialo Direct, which is a separate entity of our Dialo company organization, Dialo Direct was built around supporting our customers with our product.
44:15
So maintaining that equipment, because of the fact that emissions and the impact on the environment is so important, you have to have a good running device. So we can, the value in turning to Dial-O-Direct to support your equipment is one, we're going to keep it up to speed, we're going to make sure it runs. There's equipment out there that's 15, 20 years old that runs just as good as if it was day one for it. Yeah. You know, and that's one thing. The other part of it is, is that gas management, with the regulations changing,
44:44
There's massive changes coming in, both at federal and at certain states. New York is looking at changes, Massachusetts, California made a big change in theirs just a couple years ago. There's like 26 other states looking at what California has done and seeing if they can implement, if not all, at least part of what California has done. The EPA is looking at what California has done, and they're changing their regulation that actually
45:14
borrows much of the regulation wording from California. to help you report, help you manage that inventory, And so, we're positioned in a way or so many different borrows.
45:42
I get the chair, our SF6 gas and alternatives coalition under NEMA. And so we're very much in tune with what's going on. And we, and Dial-O-Direct as a result can use that and leverage that when it comes to providing service on how to manage your gas in the field. So that's a big piece. I mean, we could talk about the fact that we fix your cards. We could, you know, we, yes, absolutely. That's definitely super important and we're very proud and very happy that we can do that.
46:09
But it's what else outside of that, you know? It's simple things, just like understanding you're in your cylinder inventory. You'd be surprised. Having cylinders come from different suppliers or with your breakers, to me, is a mistake. And we've proven that because things get lost, you know? And you're paying a lot more. OEMs, circuit breaker manufacturers, are not in the gas supply business. They're in the circuit breaker business or they're in the transformer business. They're selling you a gas-insulated piece of equipment. When they sell you gas,
46:39
you're paying for that because that's not their business. You're paying more than you would pay. So have it tunnel in through one place, have it tunnel out through one place. It'll be a lot easier to manage. And we can provide you that. Oh, that makes a lot of sense. I'd be remiss if we didn't mention one of your company taglines, don't be a gas hole. That's right. Who come up with that? So the marketing team, and I have to give Cory and Lena.
47:05
the credit, they came up with that and we started exercising it a few years ago. And the whole point of it is exactly what we're talking about is don't be a gas emitter. Don't allow yourself or your company, your organization, your practices, your processes to be an impact on the environment.
47:24
And so we were trying to find something that would really capture the essence of what we were saying. Well, it's catchy. And you know, hey, don't be a gas hole. You know, it's that easy. You know, if you allow gas to escape, you're being a gas hole. And we can help you not be a gas hole. So that's it. That's awesome. Make sure it's GAS, right? Let's circle back a little bit here. You know, earlier you kind of briefly touched on, you know, one of your mentors, but you
47:54
really get into too much detail. Tell me about who that was and what you learned from it. Absolutely, so I came out of the military, got hired by Kojonell Awesome, GC Awesome at the time, and a gentleman by the name of Pat Peake was actually one of my dad's best friends, and he gave me the opportunity. And at the time, I was young, I hadn't made any true decisions on whether I wanted to go back.
48:24
go back to college or university or what I was trying to do. And he took me under his wing and said, hey listen, you right now, by working for me, are my best and my worst technician. Because you're the only one. So I took that and he said, listen, he goes, I'm going to give you everything I can give you from my knowledge that was given to me by the people before me, and you can do whatever you want with it. You can take it.
48:54
and make it, you know, success for you, or you could just throw it away. So that's on you. But this is what I'm going to do for you. And he did. He truly kind of grasped who I was. He understood me. Well, he obviously knew me. He saw me grow up being a friend of the family, number one, which I love to death. I just recently got ahold of him again. He actually got ahold of me, and we talked, he's now in Australia, retired.
49:21
living life and enjoying it. But he provided me a number of things. One, number of great sayings. He's given me everything. And one of them was about management. He says, look, they come and they go. And we're still here. So, and he was right. He's like, I've gone through that. And him taking me out to the field, showing me what being a field guy is, living, it's a lifestyle. When you're a field technician,
49:47
it's a different lifestyle, you know. So you've got to be able to be on the road, be by yourself, work with the team, sometimes not. This is pre-cell phones, you know, those days where I would run back to the room and study on a book and then call him and he would give me, listen, don't read the book like that. Let me just, you know, tell you how to do that. And so he guided me through a lot of my technical.
50:14
you know, education as far as getting into this industry. I do have other, I want to say other mentors that came as well, you know, as I, when I decided to go back to school and do that, it was great to go back to school, but honestly, the university from life is, you know, really the one that, to me, was the one that gave me the most and having.
50:40
a guy by the name of Clark Anderson and Bernard Dumont, those guys as managers had their own styles. And so they all kind of also were mentors in my life. But Pat was definitely the one that gave me my career. And I truly feel like whatever you want to measure that I have for success today was because Pat created this base and platform for me.
51:08
and then gave me a number of springboards. And it was for me to choose those springboards that I wanted to jump on. And he's the man. He's the one that did it for me. So I'm very, very grateful to him. Awesome. Well, I can't thank you enough for coming in and visiting with us. I know you're a busy guy and you know, means a lot for us to have you in. And it means a lot to me. Our relationship, like I've mentioned in the past, is very important. You guys are an extension of us and we are an extension of you as well. We have to serve the same.
51:38
the same goals and I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Thank you very much. Thank you. No, we appreciate you and you know, having a manufacturer that understands that relationship, you know, and it's a two way street, it's truly, you know, it's like a marriage. You bring in two families. That's right. Right? And we really appreciate your perspective on that too. Cool. And it's been great. So thank you. Thank you. Cheers.
52:09
Thanks again for joining us and a special thanks to Billy for taking his time to come in and be with us today. Hopefully you all enjoyed that. Please like, share, comment. We'd like to know what you'd like to see next coming up on the show. And remember if you need help on a project from an expertise team, or if you're looking for representation from a great company like CBM, please reach out to us here at cbmrep.com. And until next time, thank you for joining us on Power of the Network.
