“Get out of bed like you mean it because there is no time for mediocrity!”: A Q&A with Jake Sandlin, Operations Manager

Charlotte Mechanical has served the Charlotte community as the area’s simplified source for heating, cooling and plumbing for over 20 years. Our sincere commitment to world-class service is driven by people - yes, you, our customers; and also our team - the special people who make our customers and our processes by which we serve customers their top priority.

Meet Jake Sandlin, Operations Manager.

Jake’s a good guy to know - he oversees every installation, service call, dispatched phone call and comfort specialist consultation.

Charlotte Mechanical (CM): Tell us a little bit about what you do for Charlotte Mechanical?

Jake Sandlin (JS): I have been with Charlotte Mechanical for seven years, and my current role is Operations Manager of the Residential Department. I assist our employees over the phone or in person if need be. I also train service technicians in customer service and technical skills.

CM: How did you grow interested in this industry?

JS: I am from Milwaukee, WI. Where my family had an HVAC company for 30 years. I grew up helping my dad fold sheet metal, load his truck and run service calls. What he did for work always seemed so cool to me.

CM: What’s your favorite part of working at Charlotte Mechanical?

JS: I am treated like family and they have helped give me the ability to better myself. Plus, they have provided state licensing to become a sub-license holder for the company. Most companies don’t do this because they worry about employees starting their own company after passing these tests. It just goes to show when you treat employees well, there is no reason they will leave.

CM: What’s a complete or full day look like and feel like for you?

JS: Every day is different; I take great pride every day in my team or myself being the most professional, honest, and knowledgeable HVAC and plumbing workers with whom a homeowner have ever experienced.

CM: What’s your greatest professional challenge?

JS: I love training young technicians because there is a right and a wrong way to do this job. It takes true knowledge and effort to be a good technician. I love to watch these young techs break all of the bad habits they picked up at other places and start excelling. I find that even seasoned techs don’t know the reasoning behind why certain tasks are done a certain way.

CM: What’s your secret sauce for training new technicians?

JS: I train each person differently - no sales programs here. I don’t want a bunch of robots running around saying the same thing. I want the customer to know they had Nick from Baltimore, Md., or John from Belmont, N.C.; I want the personality of each tech to shine through. The culture I strive for is pride; in yourself, your job, your roots, your skills, basically everything you do. My catch phrase when training is this: “Get out of bed like you mean it because there is no time for mediocrity.”

CM: Why do you do what you do?

JS: I enjoy working with my hands and I enjoy helping people. Plus, growing up doing this specific trade made it an easy choice. When I was a sophomore in college,  I was watching some guys working on an air conditioner through the window of the classroom. I remember thinking in my head that they were doing something wrong and I would have had that fixed by now. I realized at that moment my heart was still in HVAC…I love the HVAC trade, plain and simple.  

CM: One fun fact about you, Jake.

JS:  I have downhill skied all of the black diamond trails at Vail.

Getting in touch with our team - including Jake! - is easy; just contact us here.