About a year and a half ago, Steve English left his corporate job and founded English Directional Drilling – a family owned business in east Texas. He did not make this decision lightly. He conferred with his wife, Joanne English, and sons, Race and Cam, and they agreed to go all in on this decision. Steve said, “It was a big stretch to make this change, but after prayer and soul searching, the whole family got on board.”
The Family that Digs Together, Stays Together
In a past life, English had worked in the timber business and he had seen a variety of equipment used in the field. He was familiar with other equipment brands, but Vermeer was not on his radar. He made several attempts to engage with other equipment dealers; however, because of his lack of longevity in the drilling industry, English could not get his phone calls returned. Frustrated, he reached out to a mutual friend who referred him to Brad Horn, sales representative at Vermeer Texas-Louisiana in Kilgore. English met with Horn and Ray Miller, the local sales. They had lunch and soon after Horn provided English with a quote.
English said, “Brad was there with numbers. He followed-up. He called me back. And he’s someone I could make friends with.”
When sales reps at Vermeer Texas-Louisiana make a sale, they also work to create lasting relationships and become partners with customers. Customers aren’t limited to working 9-to-5, so it is important that the Vermeer team is available to support them no matter when they are working. One particular Friday evening, English and his sons, who server as field and safety administrator and driller, were working just south of Midland and ran into an insurmountable drilling obstacle. English gave Horn a call.
“The service we get from Brad is great. He goes way above and beyond. I called him rather late [on a Friday night] with a problem that stopped me from drilling for a pipeline company.” He continued, “We were out with our first machine (a Vermeer D60x90 horizontal directional drill) pulling pipe over the weekend, and I got in a bind. I called Brad and he worked with the Vermeer Texas-Louisiana branch in Midland to get me what I needed to continue working. Even the pipeline company we contracted with was surprised we were able to continue working the next morning – on a Saturday.”
Because of the strong Vermeer Texas-Louisiana dealer presence in Texas and southern Louisiana as well as Horn’s positive working relationships with drillers in the area, he is always able to help English when called upon. “It’s so much more than just boring a hole,” English remarked.
In addition to the service he’s received from sales, English has taken advantage of Vermeer’s Total Package Promise that includes initial equipment set-up and training, inspections and preventative maintenance with the service department. As a result, he and his sons have also developed an invaluable working relationship with the team at the Kilgore branch as well as Vermeer Texas-Louisiana’s HDD product specialists. “As a small business, I can’t afford to be waiting a week for repairs. Thanks to Vermeer, I never am. I just don’t know where I’d be without them,” English commented.
He said, “The whole Kilgore group is just awesome. They understand how I work and hustle, and they accommodate me. The whole group is just amazing.”
When asked how the recent COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has affected his business, English remarked, “We haven’t slowed down much. Some jobs have gotten postponed, but it has given us time to take our equipment into the shop for routine maintenance. It’s just letting us get caught up, really.”
English described English Directional Drilling as a small, but successful outfit. “We wouldn’t have made it without Vermeer. The good Lord just put the right people in place for us,” English closed.
During this time, Vermeer Texas-Louisiana is thankful for all of our customers, they are essential partners and critical in helping our country continue to run. We’ve always been in this together, but we are extremely grateful to have cultivated relationships, like the one with English Directional Drilling, during this time.
