Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1406534
88 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2021 We've had an excellent retention rate because of it. We decided we wanted to be all things to a chosen few as opposed to trying to be all things to all people. at was our approach. e key is always to exceed their expectations so when they grow, we grow with them. Johnson: You're looking for a very specific kind of fit, somebody who values you as much as you value them. at makes good sense; I'm curi- ous how you characterize your ideal customer. Walker: I don't think we've trapped ourselves into saying that the customer must be at a cer- tain revenue level or must be doing this or that. Instead, we look at all the different ac- counts and determine the best fit for us as we are looking for customers that will stay with us for some time. Johnson: I'm hearing qualitative reasons and measures for an ideal customer. Walker: You can have all the systems you want in place, but at the end of the day, you have to work with other people. You must be engaged and feel that they value you as much as you val- ue them. Too oen, companies are just look- ing for revenue generators, but if that customer doesn't value you, how long does that revenue generator last with you? We don't do a lot of the NPI prototyping work here in the Bay Area just for the sake of just prototyping. We'll do prototyping if it's going to translate into production, but if some- one is just looking to get 50 or 100 prototypes done and then send it offshore, we're not the right supplier. For anyone that we engage with, we apply the same amount of focus with the big guys as the small guys. Once we're committed to someone, there's a lot of upfront work that we put into it, and we would just never recoup the value and the time and effort we put in to build 50 or 100 pieces. I couldn't charge any- one enough for that. So that's kind of the ap- proach that we take. Johnson: We've just come through 18 months of very interesting times to be in business. How has it been for you at Javad? Walker: We've had some good days and bad days. Unfortunately, my friend Javad suc- cumbed to COVID in May 2020. It came upon us very quickly. Not only did I lose a business partner, but he was a very dear and close friend. at was one of the things that hit home. Aside from the personal heartbreak of that and what it did to the company, since May of 2020 to to- day, it has reinforced that everything Javad and I decided to do 10 years ago when we start- ed and continued for the past 10 years laid the foundation for a very solid company. We still have a thriving company and one that I know he would still be very proud of. You don't ex- pect COVID to hit, you don't expect a loss to happen the way it did, but the fact that we're still progressing is a testament to everything that we put in place here at JEMS. Now, on a business level, we do a lot of work for military, aerospace, and medical, so those clients didn't have the same COVID impact as others would have. at soened the blow for us. We were down for just a matter of weeks. Once back operational, with all our COVID Gary Walker