Closing the Circle on Customer Service Appreciation...

As indicated before in prior blog posts, good outstanding, even legendary customer service just doesn't happen... I'll go ahead and reveal the company name here as they deserve credit where credit is due.

Shane,

As you requested, Pam forwarded the e-mail to me. Thank you for the kind words on our customer service. People usually only take the time to give us negative feedback. Thank you for taking the time to let us know when you had good customer service. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.

Todd A. Gilpin

President

Gilpin Inc.

Now that is class, the Prez of the Company responded back...

See you on down the road...

Showing Appreciation...

As a follow-on to yesterdays blog posting regarding outstanding and legendary customer service, I received another email from the company with a follow-up to another question.

Hello,

Thank you so much for the information and this was very helpful. As I will be ordering through ___, "how" do I specify the #655 gate size and ID? Any estimate on what the cost would be?

Thank you again.

Regards,

Shane Allen

___ would need to do a “manual” order and fax it to us. That way they can write dimensions on the order. If you are certain that it is 45-1/2” from inside post to inside post then that measurement would need to be on the order. We do not sell direct, so I don’t have any retail pricing.

Hi,

Thank you for the GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE! Be sure to send this email on to your boss as you have done a bang up job and EXCEEDED my expectations. You need to be at the top of the list for a huge bonus and raise! I really expected the company to come back and say "we don't do design work - or not our problem or hire a contractor".

Thanks again.

Regards,

Shane Allen

Thanks, I’m forwarding it to my boss as I type.

Good customer service just doesn't happen. Outstanding customer service is a function of the culture of the company, hiring the "right people", and the overall dedication and belief in the product or service. It results from "within" and instilled from the top down.

One of my "mentors" is Stephen Covey of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principal Centered Leadership. Covey espouses on customer service over and over and how outstanding legendary customer service is not an accident.

1. Be Proactive

2. Begin with the End in Mind

3. Put First Things First

4. Think Win-Win

5. Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

6. Synergize

7. Sharpen the Saw

I've even got these on my office wall as a constant reminder of "What Matters Most".

Until next time, see you on down the road...

Every So Often...

Every so often you come across a company, like Synchro32, that provides outstanding legendary customer support before and after the sale. Basically, my entire career spanning my days where I cut my teeth at working for H. Ross Perot, Henri to his friends :), at the EDS - Electronic Data Systems, to Texas Foundries Citation Lufkin, Stephen F. Austin State University as an adjunct economics professor and Asst. HUB, Historically Underutilized Business, Coordinator, and now of course Synchro32 - I have been involved with customer service.

Synchro32 is only as good as our customers and sales prospects perceive us to be. Synchro32 straps on our metatarsals every day , don our hardhats and other personal safety equipment, and head out to provide the best support possible in the industry. We never rest on our laurels and the "report card" starts afresh everyday. It's like an old mentor of mine used to say, "What Have You Done for Me Today".

Anyway, I've been working on a DIY project around the house and am adding porch railing. Mind you, I am no Bob Vilia or "Men in Toolbelts" AKA "The Furniture Guys". I needed some assistance in determining what I needed to order and how many of what. So, I found the manufactures website and took some pics and measurements and sent it to them - hoping that I might get a reply other than "we don't do design work" or something like that.

Hello,

Shane Allen of Texas. I'm wanting to rail in my porch and have a gate. I've been looking at your supplies via. your website and ___ website, but I'm really unsure how to proceed in determining what I need, lengths, etc. I want to go with the steel Windsor plus.

Please see attached pictures. Any assistance you could provide would be most appreciated.

Regards,

Shane Allen

Well, after a very short wait, I received this...

The Windsor Plus comes in standard sizes of 4’ and 6’ sections. It mounts at 32” tall. It comes only in black.

The gate would be #665. We can make it to fit your rough opening as long as we have the ID when the order is placed. There would be an increase in cost. The gate comes with hinges, a latch and a keeper. It could attach to your existing wood columns.

For the 50-1/2” section you would get 1 - #575 6’ rail; 1 – pkg. #438 You can cut the rail to fit with a hacksaw. The fitting sets connect the railing to your existing columns.

We do not make a rail 82” so you could order 2 - #573 - 4’ rails 1 - #577 – 36” post; 1 - #579 flange for mounting the post; 2 - #438 fitting sets. You could cut the railing down to fit your opening. You would cut the railings to approximately 40”. The post is 1-1/4” in diameter so it would take up the balance of the area.

Thank you for your inquiry. Hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Now, that is an example of the type of legendary customer service that you will receive when you join the Synchro32 family.

On the flip side of this, if you don't provide legendary customer service, then bad - very bad things can happen.

A musician named _____ recently had difficulty with ___ airlines. ___ airlines apparently damaged his treasured ___ guitar ($3500) during a flight. ___ spent over 9 months trying to get ___ airlines to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom ___ guitar. During his final exchange with the ___ airlines Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for youtube exposing their lack of cooperation. The Manager responded : "Good luck with that one, pal".

So he posted a retaliatory video on youtube. The video has since received over 5.5 million hits. ___ airlines contacted the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally his response was: "Good luck with that one, pal".

___ Guitars sent the musician 2 new custom guitars in appreciation for the product recognition from the video that has lead to a sharp increase in orders.

Here's the video .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&NR=1

Now, I always check my "facts" regarding such things, the Wild West Web is full of pranksters, so my due diligence took me to this... (I'm a connect the dots kinda guy)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/24/united-breaks-guitars-did_n_244357.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/chris_ayres/article6722407.ece

and, here is one circulating around right now...
http://www.pcworld.com/article/184815/Fake_Steve_Jobs_Takes_On_The_Real.html?tk=rss_news

BTW - you may ask yourself why I did not post the company name or the persons name that provided me the wealth of information through outstanding customer service. Due to litigation tendencies in this country, I have found it best to NEVER EVER mention another companies name in a BLOG or anything else w/i public view - even if it is positive. Positive comments can sometimes be "misinterpreted".

Merry Christmas from AFS Milwaukee 2009

I had the great pleasure of representing the worldwide Synchro32 team by attending the AFS Wisconsin Chapter's Christmas party this last Friday night in Milwaukee. A great time was had by all. What an event! Hats off to Donna Nagy and Mike Czaplewski for pulling off this great and worthwhile event. The food was outstanding and the company great! I had a blast, met up with a lot of old friends and contacts and although the temperature was biting at 9 farheneit or so, at least it wasn't snowing. :)


Here are a few pics to share with you.





See you on down the road...

WOW! Has it really been TWO YEARS?

What can I say, December 1st 2007 - a day in which my life changed forever and for the far better! It was two years ago today that I "officially" joined the ranks of the Synchro32 team and opened up the North American office. It's been a wild ride the last two years. The first year was heavily spent in training and learning the Synchro32 "way" and getting the North American office up and running.

Just a quick history lesson on how this came to be - either through Divine Intervention, the Alingment of the Moon, Sun, and Stars, or just extraordinary good timing and a measure of luck. Of course, a good friend of mine says that it happened "because good things happen to good people" and because of my nature and personality, no stone goes unturned. It all happened when I was reading a Modern Casting magazine and saw an advertisement for Synchro32. I had been unemployed for nine months from Texas Foundries of Lufkin Texas due to the demise of the auto industry and had been reemployed at a local university as an Assistant HUB - Historically Underutilized Business coordinator for just a few months. At the time, I didn't realize it, but it was "good" that I had been downsized from Texas Foundries as the facility no longer exisits. I got out while the getting was good and came away with a generous severance package.

Anyway, I saw the Synchro32 Modern Casting advertisement and sent them an email congratulating them for offering competition in the North American market. I had never seen or heard of Synchro32, but being the capitolist that I am, I think competition is good and the more competition is even better. The furthest thing from my mind was obtaining employment with Synchro32 as they are based in the UK and even though my dad grew up and fought the great WWII in England, I had no desire to relocate there. Bitterly cold and wet winters, hight cost of livings, etc. Burr. I wanted to stay in Texas close to my family and friends. That is why I rode out nine months of unemployment.

Continuing on, I got an email back from Chris thanking me for the email and asking if I was interested in employment opportunities. Funny thing was, I got the email back almost instantly from him and it was the weekend - a testiment as to how good the Synchro32 support is! Heck yes I was interested, as long as it was not in the UK. Having been at Texas Foundries for just a week shy of tweleve years and intimately familiar with ERP/MRP computer systems, the foundry process esepcially in costing/estimating and production, I desperately wanted to get back into the metalcasting business. I had given up hope of ever smelling burned sand, walking through grit, and seeing "liquid metal" again. I sent Chris a resume and we chatted on the phone one day. I had a really really difficult time understanding Chris and his Welsh accent. At the time, I had no vacation time available to have an on-site interview in the UK, but Chris and Barbara were in no rush and we scheduled a visit for October 2007. Synchro32 wanted to establish a North American presence. All of this took place in either June or July of 2007.

Well, I arrived in the UK in October 2007 and were met by Barbara and Chris at the airport and we hit it off immediately. Chris and I have a lot in common. I met Simon and Lee for a company meeting. Lee was gracious enough, to let me stay at his house for several days and ferried me around while he taught me the ropes of Synchro32 support and sales.

The rest shall we say is history? Of course, history is still being written. "Tomorrow is promised to no one" - can you name that movie? My dad's favorite quote is:

"Yesterday is History, Tomorrow a Mystery, Today is a Gift, That's why it's called the Present"

See you on down the road....