CE Pro June 2023 - 32

CE PROFILE
Acoustic Design Systems
and running. In 2005, Sterle got his first
new construction project and was an early
proponent of pulling fiber in the walls. Over
the next several years, he grew the company
slowly to 11 employees and by 2008 ADS
was earning nearly $2 million in revenue.
" I think
where a lot of
integrators run
into trouble is
their lack of longterm
[support].
Customers get so
frustrated with
you not being able
to show up and
help them. "
-Chris Sterle,
Acoustic Design
Systems
Changing the Business Model
Then came the housing bubble crash. Las
Vegas was one of the hardest-hit cities in
the U.S. The phone stopped ringing, but
the three-year downturn gave Sterle time
to focus on how to build a more sustainable
company, while shrinking the staff down to
just three.
" I realized that just getting big custom
projects one or two at a time was not a sustainable
business model. You are married to
ADS' headquarters
includes a 6,000-squarefoot
warehouse that
can also accommodate
several vehicles.
those projects forever. You are always waiting
to sell the next project to get a little more
money to pay off the last project because of
how long the timelines are spread out. So,
I went to Toll Brothers because they were
building the highest-end production homes
in the area, and they were really options-forward
and technology-forward, " he explains.
" I asked them to give me a chance at one
community, and to let me meet with the
buyers and try to sell them technology. I put
everything I had into that one community
and the relationship. I aimed to be the best
contractor they ever had. I did everything
they asked for and more, " he adds.
Among the skills Sterle brought to the
Toll Brothers homes was immaculate wiring
expertise that included 90-degree turns
One of ADS' tenets is bringing customworld
best practices like quality rackbuilding
to the production builder market.
and not sharing stud bays with line-voltage
electrical wiring.
" I brought custom-world best practices
to the production-builder world and they
loved it, " he says. " They had a contractor
they could rely on. They were happy. We
were doing a lot of option sales, which
means they make a lot of money. "
That focus on high-quality, precision
work soon led to contracts for multiple Toll
Brothers' communities and eventually to
the point where the builder was not even
putting it out to bid - ADS got all the
business. That was 12 years ago when the
company had just five employees. Today,
ADS has 60 and is actively engaged in 20
Toll Brothers' communities in Las Vegas and
nearby Henderson plus another six over the
border in St. George, Utah.
As part of the process, ADS aims to meet
individually with each Toll Brothers' buyer in
a small showroom they have inside the Toll
Brothers Design Center. Using Salez Toolz
options selection software, the ADS sales
team maps out a client's system right in
front of them in a one- or two-hour meeting.
In 2022, ADS completed 3,300 projects,
of which 750 were newly constructed
32 | CE Pro June 2023
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CE Pro June 2023

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