We have some basic principles that guide us in fulfilling our mission as a business.
- We craft deals that are three-way wins. If it’s not good for our customers, our suppliers, and our company, we won’t do it.
- We empower our employees to run their own business, sharing our mutual success with our staff.
- Everyone at Diamond Bar Equipment, staff and customers, is part of our family.
- We set ourselves apart by our superior service and willingness to serve our customers. We do things differently.
- Our goal is always to help our customers by consulting on their wants and needs, not just to sell, sell, sell. If we can help somebody meet a challenge or solve a problem, we are satisfied, and the satisfied customer will tell others about us.
- This client consultation is always free. In fact, when somebody brings in a product that won’t work, where possible we attempt to diagnose the problem on the fly, and if we can solve the problem within a few minutes, we do not charge for the first 5 minutes of labour.
- We focus on what works for us and also works for the community. We therefore support our local kids’ sporting clubs, cooperate with other businesses, and offer support and warranty for products that we don’t sell but others do.
- Diamond Bar Equipment is owned by Bruce and Rita Heslop. We are not a public company, nor do we have any partners. This helps us create, monitor, and change our policies and guidelines efficiently. We work closely with our suppliers and customers alike. “Keep it simple” is one of our mottoes.
- Each individual within our organization has a primary function, but we all do whatever is required to achieve our goal of customer satisfaction. Our philosophy is never to expect someone to do something that we are not willing to do ourselves.
- We try to mind our own business and stay focused on our mission and goals. We avoid politics to the best of our ability, both internal and external to our business, in order to avoid public controversy.
- We do advertise, but we try to do so mostly in local papers to support local business. For the most part, we depend on word of mouth. Our customers are generally impressed with our service and business culture and will tell others about us!
- We do our best to place principles above personalities. In other words, we do our best to provide great service, regardless of the challenges. As our logo says: Service is our “brand.”
We are a sales and service company that specializes in small-engine equipment. We don’t just sell products; we consult with our customers to determine the best product for their needs. If we don’t have the correct solution, we direct the customer to a company that can provide the solution.
We do lots of work in the community with donations of labour and equipment to support everything from youth groups to organizations like ABA and the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce. We also support AOK in their assistance to families in need. I own just about everything we sell, or else I’ve owned it at some point in my life—I’m a collector, and I’m always tinkering with little engines.
We live, work, and play in Aldergrove, and we wanted to bring something to the community that would draw customers here.
Service
How does a small company compete with the proliferation of big-box stores dotting the Lower Mainland? The answer is simple: provide good service. We treat our customers with respect; we make their shopping experience fun, and that’s easy, because we’re having a ball. Our customers are laughing with us.
We’re not just trying to sell an item—we want the best solution for the task at the best price. That is based on our philosophy of the greater good for the greater number; profit without that is not our primary focus. We focus on what’s best for our suppliers, our customers, and our company.
We offer competitive pricing while at the same time offering the highest level of service. That generates returns to us. It’s not about blowing products out the door or making the biggest number on a single sale. We’re part of your community, and when you’re here, you’re part of our family.
Bruce Heslop
Growing up on a small farm led me to playing with small-engine machines, including lawn mowers, snowmobiles, and motorcycles. I was always working with tools, sometimes much to my father’s disgust if I didn’t put his tools away! The passion never left. I have more small-engine “toys” in my garage than anyone I know, and I always have. Playing with them has always been my hobby. I moved in a different direction in my career, only to discover after 25 years in telecommunications that my original passion was still there.
Working for almost 15 years in Burnaby while living in Aldergrove meant traversing the Port Mann Bridge twice daily. It was only 45 minutes years ago, but it became an hour, then almost three hours per day in the car, just going to and from work. I finally had enough. My wife suggested that maybe we should start our own business.
Once we made this decision, choosing what to do was easy. Finding a location, choosing suppliers, and finding a mechanic were all part of the early challenges. We decided that we wanted only first-rate products from manufacturers such as Husqvarna, Toro, Shindaiwa, and Stihl, to name a few. We also try to select suppliers with warehouses in the lower mainland so that we can turn parts around faster for our customers.
Rita Heslop
Rita’s background is similar to Bruce’s—her father was a mechanic and has stated that Diamond Bar Equipment is a dream business he wished he had had himself. Rita has extensive experience as an office manager in the construction industry. Her understanding of accounting practices has been an enormous help to Diamond Bar Equipment.
Rita has incredible organizational skills that are a huge help as well, especially in our parts orders. We have a child who attends school in Langley, and since many of our suppliers are also in Langley, Rita makes a daily parts run. This provides the fastest possible service time to our customers.
Staff
Dallas, our head mechanic, has over 20 years in the industry. He has been factory-trained on virtually all of our products in Husqvarna, Stihl, Toro, and Shindaiwa. You can have complete confidence in his work—99.7% of his repairs never come back.
Cody, Bruce and Rita’s son, is working in the shop. With more than a couple of years under his belt, he looks after most of the tractor repairs and servicing. Cody has gone through many of our suppliers’ training programs with manufacturers such as Husqvarna, Powerjet, Shindaiwa and will continue to enhance his knowledge and experience in reaching his goal of “super tech.”
Bob has many years’ experience in sales and parts. He has excellent customer service and has been a welcome addition to our family.
Lauren, one of Bruce and Rita’s daughters, has rejoined the team in Parts, Service and Administration after a few years in the Financial Industry. Lauren has experience in repairing small engines, knows how to look up parts, and also knows all about the equipment on our floor from a sales perspective. She has been through Husqvarna University and scored very high in knowledge of the product line and its history. She has been through similar training with Stihl and continues to advance her knowledge of all our manufacturer’s product lines. Lauren's sense of humor is loved around the shop.
Hannah, one of Bruce and Rita’s daughters, works in Parts and Administration but is still off on maternity leave. Hannah does whatever is needed to keep the business running. Her sense of humor is loved around the office. She has been through Husqvarna University and scored very high in knowledge of the product line and its history. She has been through similar training with Stihl and continues to advance her knowledge of all our manufacturer’s product lines.
