Often boardroom discussions for service businesses focus on
customer satisfaction. Our conversations lead to the topic of customers who
“get it” and those who don’t. How can our service be evaluated by a customer
who doesn’t see non-events as the result of efforts? I am not very good at
brazing. For the most part I have been in-house employed and had the luxury of
maintaining equipment as opposed to the outsourced service who attends to
emergencies. The job focus is very different and different skill sets are
required.
Once I worked at
a multi-building site which had five walk in freezers. Mostly due to an
unstable power grid we had frequent power outages of significant duration. When
I came to work with them there was a budget line item for replacement of at
least one refrigeration compressor annually, at about $4,500. In my formative
years I had learned what damage these outages can do by breaking crankshafts,
pistons, and rods upon a return to power. When the first outage hit I ran to
all the compressors and closed the suction valve. Then I could perform a
supervised start up and avoid compressor damage. I also provided refrigeration
wrenches at all the smaller compressors with suction valves. The building
mechanics were instructed to isolate the compressor if an outage of more than
20 minutes occurred. In three years we lost no compressors. Since we avoided
failures, the brazing skills, little that they were, never got used.
Along comes the
fourth year and we relocated a walk in freezer. The evaporator was in a
difficult location and I was moving into bifocal age. I just couldn’t get the
joint brazed. I had to bring in a service contractor to finish the job. All
hell broke loose. What kind of mechanic can’t braze!
I guess if we
lost more compressors I could have honed my skills. Maybe I “didn’t get it.”
That was about 20 years ago. It is amazing how each experience teaches us
something…… and how well we remember.
Bernie
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