Brothers and sisters:
Sound carries in a hatch. If you are yelling more than going up, going down or stop keep in mind that what you say can be heard throughout the building. Do you really want to question your colleagues parentage or wisdom while the building owner can hear?
Treat everyone you encounter as a customer. About 20 years ago, I was working in outside sales and talking with a potential customer about a proposal. After sitting through thirty minutes of insults to me, my company and the sales process as a whole, I politely stopped him and asked if he was done. When he said yes I said “life is a very funny thing. I don’t know where I will be in ten years but if it is working as a buyer at your biggest customer I’m crossing you off of our vendors list.” After that exchange our conversation took a different tone.
Be mindful of what you say and how you say it. An innocent comment, off-hand remark or even the tone you use can become a source of hours of conversation between you and your boss.
Not everyone has your background or experience (part one). I have a rule when calling around for information: if you can’t get an answer to your question within three phone calls, you are either calling the wrong people or asking the wrong question. This is the time to reevaluate your question, information the question is based on and maybe even your sources.
Not everyone has your background or experience (part two). When you are trying to explain something to someone it is often times better to show them with pictures or in person than explain with words. I was once trying to explain to a customer why his elevator kept shutting down and what needed to be done to fix it, but it wasn’t until I took him to the machine room and showed him that he understood what was going on and what we needed to do to fix it.
When you are talking to your boss about work that needs to be done be as specific as possible. Selling a customer a repair is good but selling them a repair they don’t necessarily need is bad. Which leads me into…
Customers talk among themselves. Just like anyone seeking out advice, customers will seek out the experience of others when determining whether you are worthy to seek out or keep as a vendor.
This is just a small sampling of thoughts I had on the subject. While it is not meant to be complete, it is meant to give you a starting point to evaluate how your customer perceives you as an ambassador of your company. If you have anything to add, please email me at the address below.
This article originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of the Elevator Constructor
Through the Mill 