Meet Mario and Amber Traina | Co-Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mario and Amber Traina and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mario and Amber, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
It takes years and a lot of training to become an electrician and learn how to do the job safely and not all electricians are the same. A lot of homeowners fall into the trap of collecting bids for their project, and then choose an electrician based on the lowest price they’re given. Or they think choosing an electrician based on the bid that falls in the middle is a safe route. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Getting electrical work done is an investment in your home, and it’s critical to be as sure as possible that the electrician doing the work will complete it accurately and safely. When the homeowner makes a decision on price alone, they could be making a decision that costs them more than they bargained for. For example, often a lower price can mean an electrician that isn’t experienced, doesn’t provide quality work, doesn’t offer guarantees, isn’t licensed or insured, or may mean he’ll stop returning your calls if there is a problem with his work later on. The best way to choose an electrician is to look at their overall reputation. Look at their Google reviews. How many 5 star ratings do they have? What do their customers have to say about working with them (homeowners who have actually hired them)? Also, make sure the electrician is licensed, bonded, and insured. The last thing you want is an electrician who doesn’t have his license or isn’t insured to get hurt in your home and sue you down the road. Some homeowners take their chances and this is a costly and unnecessary risk! Do they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee? Will they be there for you if they made a mistake and need to come back to correct it? Lastly, how experienced are they? When it comes to the electrical in your home, you want someone who is reliable and knows what he is doing! Incorrect wiring can at worst cause a fire in your home and simply isn’t worth the risk. So the next time any contractor quotes you a price higher than expected, understand that the unique skill required to do the job right and be there for you when you call is an investment that is worth it. We like to say, “Cheap ain’t good, and good ain’t cheap!”

What should our readers know about your business?
We started our business shortly after moving to Prescott Valley from New York City. Mario had almost 20 years of electrical experience under his belt at the time and had worked in a wide variety of conditions that really set him apart as an electrician. He worked on everything from small apartments to huge high-profile jobs around Manhattan such as subways, in major city hospitals, homes and wholesale supermarkets in Brooklyn, and more. As many people know, New York City has the highest standards of work ethic in almost every industry. So Mario’s electrical skills in commercial, residential, and industrial were incredibly strong. After being in Arizona for a short time, Mario got his license, a van, a logo, and started helping customers as a one-man band. It wasn’t long before I, as his wife, quickly saw gaps that needed to be filled with incoming calls, scheduling, marketing, and administrative tasks, especially if we wanted to grow. My background is in business conference production in New York City, and I produced conferences for business professionals centered around the customer experience. That allowed me to learn a lot from Customer Experience Executives of Disney, Nike, Pepsi, Zappos, and similar companies. One of the takeaways that left a big impression on me was that the employee experience is just as important as the customer experience. Happy customers often start with happy employees. With that and Mario’s knowledge of what electricians usually make in Arizona, we were both passionate about running a business where we could pay our employees a great wage. As we’ve grown and restructured our business model, we’ve been able to pay our electricians more and more. On top of an amazing salary, we like to give them occasional bonuses, host company picnics for their families with raffles, monthly cell phone reimbursements, and whatever else we can think of within reason. When our team tells us, “I have more money in my bank account than I’ve ever had before and I don’t know what to do with it!”, that makes us incredibly happy and fulfilled. Many of our team members have spouses, partners, and children. Some have wives that don’t work because they’re taking care of the children, so knowing they can provide for their families comfortably is so satisfying. Not only is providing great pay important to us, but maintaining a positive team culture is also one of our main values. When we hire, we hire for attitude and then skill. We say we can always teach skill but we can’t teach a positive attitude. Afterall, we aren’t running a Tony Robbins empire! If someone has a bad attitude or generally a negative outlook on life, that can become a cancer to the business that first affects the team and then the customers. So, our team members are upbeat and friendly (and we as the owners have the same positive attitude) so we have fun with each other, which they then know they can have fun and be that friendly with our customers. One of our electricians is a drummer on the side, so when he connected with a customer at his home over music, they ended up jamming out together in the homeowner’s garage before getting down and dirty with the electrical work! These are the kind of experiences we want our customers to have. Not only are they getting great electrical work that is done safely, but they can connect with our team in a friendly way and have a little fun if they want to! We aren’t just electricians or a repair shop. We are a service business. As a boss, Mario is terrific with the guys. There is never any micromanaging. On the contrary, we hire people we trust, train properly and give our team a lot of empowerment to make smart decisions. Because of this and Mario’s jovial nature, sometimes the guys will come back to the office or call Mario on their way home just to have a chat and a laugh. Our team embodies our values of high quality work, friendliness with professionalism. So when we start with the basics of treating our team right, we see that the customers feel that and our business grows.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We always take visiting friends and family on hikes to Sedona. It’s so beautiful! We love getting out in nature and of course, we take them on local hikes in Prescott among the pines, but there is nothing like those red rock views! We like to take them to Chocola Tree in Sedona for lunch because the vibes are right on point with the Sedona experience: spiritual, unique, peaceful, a bit hippy dippy. It’s overall a fun treat, especially when dining in their outdoor garden.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We want to thank all of our loyal customers who believe in us and see the value in the work we provide for them. Our customers are the driving force of all that we do. Being able to help them and make them happy is what makes us excited to wake up in the morning!

Website: www.alliedelectricllc.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliedelectricllc/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alliedelectric

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cEggHRXWoc