Still Superior (After All These Years)

Imagine there was a map with a yellow dot for every home or property throughout the lowcountry built, repaired, or restored over the last 25 years by the Superior Services of Dave Miller and his inimitable team. Through all the setbacks, changes, growth, and brands that deliver “more ways to serve,” there would barely be a spot left in the region that hasn’t been made better and brighter. Surprisingly, it was never Miller’s original intention to become all things to all customers, but it was his ability to see and meet that need that turned Superior into the all-encompassing home services solution it is today.

For nearly 20 years, while running the company formerly known as Superior Heating and Air, Miller watched clients cave under the chaos of multiple vendors handling all the different areas of their home or facility, balancing communications between disconnected sources and acting as their own contractor even on small projects, trying to translate much less trust so many voices on their best options. Embedded in those decades, and from his unique vantage point, Miller saw all the ingredients for Superior’s recent coming-of-age story as a whole-home, full-service provider.

Doing Things Right

“When I first started after working with my parents in residential construction, I had the contacts of my partner, George Lee, who was well established, and the family business connections too, so even though we were just a one or two man show, with just one or two large homes at a time, and only working the HVAC side, we had the ability to hit those jobs head on with expertise and build from there.”

Build they did, not just the company, but companies and homes throughout the area that bear the Superior name. Branching out on his own 5 years later, he was still in his 20s and heading into a recession with a steep learning curve ahead. In his toolbox, however, was everything he’d learned watching his dad and from his parents’ client relationships.

“The greatest thing I inherited from this was work ethic,” Miller credits. “Instead of saying no when he hit a challenge, my dad always said, somebody’s going to do it, it might as well be me. He taught me to ‘figure out how to do it and do it right. Work hard, save when you can, do your best to grow, set the pace, and always do things right for you and the customer.’”

With this as his core, through recessions, covid, and present-day economic challenges, Miller measures, “Every year, there’s been growth. Nothing’s been the same for anyone since Covid and we’ve struggled just like any business, but since rebranding in 2019 as Superior Services, we’ve focused on making a whole team for a whole, healthy home approach.”

Miller’s method isn’t traditional – it’s about creating an environment for your family where everything has been managed by someone you trust. “We manage the air your family breathes, the floors you walk on, ridding carpets of allergens and debris, the water you drink with our plumbing filtration, electrical, and maintenance. We’ve implemented auto-shutoffs so if there’s a water emergency, the home owner can shut off from wherever they are,” which is incredibly beneficial for travelers, owners of rental properties, and those who have a second home in the area. It’s a wide net for which Miller has amassed a Nate Certified team boasting the highest certification in the industry. “We’ve taken what we’ve learned and created turnkey, one-stop customer services.”

Bringing Superior Home

It’s a methodology that Miller has not only infused into every home, every job, every project, but into his own family’s home in Hampton Hall. “When it came time to build for us, I had a reputation to live up to. I was Dave Miller with the yellow trucks, always in someone’s face about these kinds of things, so I wanted to build something different. There was a freedom in working on our home because I could be more experimental. If I wanted to change something, redo it, take my time, I was the client and wasn’t going to get frustrated. That gave me room to play a little more, and I love showing people the house. The pool is intense with glass everywhere so you can see through the pool area. It’s an infinity pool that disappears into a firepit with TVs hanging from the ceiling and 100s of feet of low-voltage lighting that highlights the space. I think I have 15 apps on my phone that handle all the tech in the house.”

His own personal drawing board, the Miller family homestead was recognized by the Homebuilders Association. “More than anything I’m grateful for what we’ve been able to build and where God has put us in all of this.”

The “us” in that gratitude extends from family to team to clientele. “I’m fully aware there are smarter people out there, which is why I’ve depended on building a team of knowledgeable experts around me. I’ve always learned from the management and leadership skills I’ve seen in others. The best managers we’ve had, past or present, have been the ones who know how to get the most out of the team they lead.”

Miller always shares credit, not fully embracing that a climate of that sort is often established by example, from the top down, and by hiring for heart as much as expertise, finding experts who innately bring with them the Superior spirit and work to assure all boats rise together.

Miller takes this commitment to others seriously and personally, saying, “It’s a lot of pressure, not ever wanting to let a customer down. We want to make everybody happy if we can. We made the trucks yellow to stick out and be remembered, but the other side of that is you stick out and are remembered, so you can’t make a wrong move.”

Any genuine expert is going to weigh their work with a heavy hand, as does Miller, testifying, “I’ve made every misstep there is to make.” He sees what he can fix, we see what Superior has already fixed in thousands of homes. When asked what’s over the next hill, Miller isn’t that kind of visionary (he hires the right marketing partners for that sort of thing). Miller’s gift is more niche: He reads the room, takes the temperature, and adjusts for the target.

“I’m just focused on holding steady, holding on, holding the course. I’m looking forward to cruise control for a bit – cruise control and quality control. I know we’re making an impact and it’s a great feeling whenever we get positive reviews, but I just want to focus on continuing to do the things we do well.”

“Things,” like running a longstanding and well-loved local business, doing more with less in challenging times, and still ending up with Superior results, are where Dave Miller started, what he learned from his parents and his first business partner, and what he’s stayed true to, ever increasingly, for 25 years and counting.