Solutions Current Issues > Oct.Nov.Dec_2008 >FIRST ARTICLES
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SAVING THE CUSTOMER IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE
RL Hudson Territory Manager Jay Gilliland truly believes in the adage that the customer is always right. Except when the customer is wrong. Or, as Gilliland puts it after saving a customer an estimated $18,000 in shipping charges by countermanding the customer’s instructions: “Sometimes you have to do what is right for the customer even if it’s not what they asked you to do.”
This is the story. One of Gilliland’s customers faced the prospect of a production shutdown unless parts from RL Hudson arrived by 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday.“Because they had exhausted our inventory more quickly than expected, we had to expedite more material to our warehouse in order to keep them running. Time was so critical that the customer authorized air shipment of the parts, which would have been very expensive.”
The product arrived on a Friday afternoon. Jay loaded it into a company truck and made the three-hour trip in time to keep the line running. This process was repeated two more times before the customer’s production schedule leveled out. Jay was happy to make the drive even though the customer had authorized shipment via air regardless of cost. “I couldn’t let them spend the money on air freight when they were only three hours away by land. A few hours of my time was nothing compared to saving the customer a total of $18,000 in air freight cost. Plus, we ensured it was on time with doorto- door delivery.”
LESSONS LEARNED FROM A CUSTOMER SERVICE GURU
Even experts in their fields can use a refresher course. That’s why some two dozen RL Hudson managers and staff recently joined five hundred of their counterparts in an afternoon of information and inspiration.
The font of this customer service message was renowned Oklahoma State University Professor Dr. Lee Manzer, who for more than thirty years has been involved in outreach programs from the OSU Center for Executive and Professional Development. One of the university’s most popular speakers, Dr. Manzer addressed a packed banquet room on the Broken Arrow campus of Northeastern State University.
One of Dr. Manzer’s central messages is attention to detail. His thoughtful presentations use basketball as a metaphor for business — noting that during a 40 minute game, one player will rarely have the ball for more than three minutes. While rookie players tend to focus on scoring baskets, great players recognize that the outcome of the game is determined by what they do during the other 37 minutes when they do not have the ball.
As explained by Dr. Manzer, too many businesses look to sales and profits as the measure of success,when sales and profits will typically take care of themselves if the company and its people focus on the details of creating value for customers. A positive attitude also plays a crucial role in a company’s successful customer relations.
FAREWELL TO A FRIEND
For six years, RL Hudson has benefited from the engineering expertise of Dr. Shenghong Yao. Shenghong and his wife, Dr. Yibing Du, and their two children, Bowen and Enbo, are moving Pennsylvania, where he will be an engineer for a lab equipment company.
The Yao family move was necessitated by a job change on the part of Shenghong's wife, who is an energy analyst.
Reflecting on his time with RL Hudson, Shenghong said he enjoyed solving customers’ problems. “Each day there was a new project or a new application — it was very challenging, but also fun and rewarding.” President and CEO Rick Hudson noted, “His legacy will live on through his accomplishments.”
VIDEOS NOW ONLINE
Our new fast-paced and informative videos Providing a behind-thescenes look at four key RL Hudson capabilities, our new fast-paced and informative videos are available for viewing on the company’s website.
