If he hadn’t hurt his shoulder years ago, Rick Warren might be a master plumber today instead of Retail Business Practice Manager at SOS.
His injury meant he could no longer make a living working on commercial construction sites, so the journeyman plumber put his wrenches away and went back to school. With an associate’s degree in applied sciences, he got in the door repairing and putting together PCs for a telecommunications integrator in the mid-1990s.
“When the PC work got slow I was given the option to look for another position or take up working on NEC legacy telephone systems,” he says. He chose the phones. With experience in both technologies, it was natural that he started looking into the field of computer-telephony integration. And in doing so he met Lawrence McNutt at SOS.
“His attitude and willingness to push the limits of the technology is what drew me to SOS,” says Warren.
That was in 1999. Today as part of SOS, “anything that has to do with small business or legacy telephone systems comes through Rick,” says CEO Gia McNutt. “He is responsible for staff development, best practice and standards development and implementation. He also put together the nationwide network of subcontracting companies that SOS works with to complete national projects such as the one for our client with 250+ groceries across the U.S. Rick has remarkable talent – both in relationship building and leveraging technology to help SOS clients.”
Warren's work kept him on the road a lot when SOS started working coast-to-coast a few years ago. He had to spend a lot of interviewing subcontractors and training them, then going through one or two implementations with each to see if they could handle the work. Even after that, they had no guarantee of remaining part of the team.
“We’ve definitely cut a few of them and we always keep an eye on them,” Warren says. “You can’t be too lenient when customer satisfaction is at risk.”
Warren likes the fact that the people at SOS look out for one another, something he hasn’t found in some companies.
“I have never worked with a better group of people who truly embrace the team concept and continually show that you can rely on them in any situation and do not have to worry about getting stabbed in the back ever. It basically takes a little bit of the stress off,” he says.
“I know that working here at SOS will give me the opportunity to work with leading-edge technology in our field. I also have the comfort of knowing that I work for a stable company ran by employers/owners that are dedicated to building not only a successful business but successful relationships with their customers.”
While he doesn’t have to draw on his plumbing skills anymore, Warren did retain something important from his first career: his work ethic.
“Working in construction, you get paid better the faster you get the work done,” he says. And that fast work had better be done right, because “there is always a general contractor or inspector coming behind you.”
SOS CTO Lawrence McNutt praises Warren for helping SOS go beyond the contract with his “incredible dedication and high standards.”
“Rick has worked more than 24 hours straight at times, and is fanatical about details and customer service,” he says.
When he’s not working, Warren likes to get outdoors and stay on the move with dirt bikes, wakeboarding and hot rods. He has restored several vehicles, and is working right now on a 1969 Bronco.
