By Dianne Feen
If you think that nice guys finish last, then you haven’t met Tom Scalera. This local Boca Raton businessman keeps a low profile but does some high profile work.
As the president and CEO of Stanley Steemer of South Florida and the Treasure Coast, he interacts with hundreds of people on a daily basis.
And he loves every minute of it. Scalera not only relishes interacting with people, but it is his mission to make them happy (no, he is not a descendent of Mother Teresa).
His aim to please was ingrained early on in this native New Yorker. His father Thomas owned one of the most successful Sunoco stations in White Plains (and Pennsylvania) and taught his sons to enjoy hard work and to respect the needs of the customer. Although these two things seem antiquated in today’s irreverent work places they are firmly cemented in Scalera’s foundation.
“My father taught me it’s about integrity. You should do what you say you are going to do and if a customer needs anything you should take care of them,” said the father of two.
So Scalera does just that. He not only interacts with customers on a daily basis, but he makes sure that his staff treats customers as if they were on the Forbes list of Billionaires. “We call all our customers to make sure our men were courteous and friendly, and we answer the phone by greeting our customers cheerfully.”
There’s a lot more that Scalera’s company does as well. They not only clean rugs and furniture, but they do indoor air quality upgrades by cleaning air conditioning coils and removing pollutants (their motto is a clean home is a healthy home).
This may sound too good to be true, but if you ask Jessica Rodriquez she will tell you this stuff really works. “My four-year-old son Frankie had severe asthma and allergies but after Stanley Steemer cleaned our air conditioning system his health improved dramatically.”
What is amazing is that 10 percent of the public has allergies and asthma. And South Florida is a haven for these tiny allergens (been there; done that) that need eradicating. That’s why I was so amazed when Scalera told me about their new byoGlobe treatment that kills bacteria and viruses. Apparently they use this product on cruise ships to kill bacteria and in hotels to change smoking rooms to non-smoking ones.
Scalera takes this stuff so serious that he has a “Healthy Home Package” that eliminates the bad air in homes and offices. And it’s also what makes him feel good about himself and his business.
“I’m all about helping people; it’s not about the money. When people’s lives are changed for the better it makes me feel good. I get the most satisfaction when I can help affect a person’s life.”
And this is not just hyperbole. After the earthquake in Haiti, Scalera came to the rescue for his Haitian employees. Since most of them needed money to send to their families Scalera gave each employee of Haitian origin $1,000.
He also came to the rescue for another person, Al Green. When Green’s wife passed away he asked Scalera if he could work for him (to keep busy). Scalera not only gave him a job, but together they launched a new venture with synagogues and churches. This new program gives 10 percent of any job done back to the house of worship as a donation.
Scalera also gives $50 gift certificates for any $5 donation made to Relay for Life (of the American Cancer Society) and he was a generous sponsor of the Junior League Woman Volunteer of the Year Award event.
What is also amazing is that Scalera started out cleaning carpets for Stanley Steemer in 1982 (when there were only four franchises). Now there are 300 franchises and Scalera’s is one of the top producing ones.
And it’s easy to see why. “We always ask our customers if they need anything done. It’s nice to do something unexpected – because people don’t always remember what you said or did, but they do remember how you made them feel.”