Unforgettable Coatings CEO, Cory Summerhays, details how he runs his Nevada-based commercial painting company. Read more on the UCI blog.
How UCI’s CEO Runs a Successful Commercial Painting Company
Unforgettable Coatings is one of the fastest-growing companies in Nevada and neighboring states. But our success only came after our leadership team and other employees put in the work. One team member that makes all the difference at UCI is founder and CEO, Cory Summerhays.
However, the work getting here was never easy. Cory put his all into making Unforgettable Coatings, Inc. a name in the local Nevada market. Now, he is sharing the secrets to his success to the Las Vegas Sun.
The Sun did an in-depth Q + A with Cory in 2019, detailing everything from his childhood years to his management style and beyond.
Here are two questions and answers that stood out in that article.
What is your management style?
A manager is one who influences peak performance. Our style to influence performance across the board is to realize that each individual is uniquely different, and to influence each one with one standard style doesn’t work. So how we are able to do that is to first and foremost believe in the individual and then treat each individual uniquely.
Our management style is that we trust those we bring into the company and allow them to have autonomy to make decisions. Just that expression of trusting the individuals has yielded success for us.
The worst thing you can do is attract people smarter than you, then tell them what to do. I happen to be the leader of the organization, I happen to know where we ought to be going, but I understand we work in a complex environment and make complex decisions at all times, so I need to be able to lean on those behind me to maintain that leadership.
There needs to be accountability for salespeople to perform, but we’re not calling them at the end of every day to find out if they hit certain numbers. We’re not micromanaging.
What are some challenges you think future business owners will face?
There is a perpetual labor shortage problem. When there is a lack of diversity within the labor force in positions of craftsman and leadership, we have found that leaves a segment of workers in a bad situation. There is a lack of diversity right now for frontline workers. There is also a lack of desire among young people to pursue those trades. I would like to see more business owners pursue better training programs for kids coming out of high school and create a better outlook of construction positions in general.
I founded my business in the middle of the recession, so we built lean. We knew that if we were going to succeed in a constricted market, we would have to figure out how to differentiate. Times are great right now. There’s a lot of money out there. People are spending, so a perspective of complacency will settle in, and it leaves room for a false sense of success. New business owners ought to focus on differentiation in the marketplace and learn to understand competition and their environment.
In the end, you’re there to serve the consumer above all. If you continue to create a better experience, you’ve won and you’re going to survive tough times.
You can read the entire article on the Las Vegas Sun website.
Learn more about working at Unforgettable Coatings, as well as our commercial painting and roof contracting service, by contacting us today.
