Customer Service

[Tiny]

In this down market customer service is more than important , It's key to keeping the doors open . I work for a crane rental company as a driver / wilfit . I have been with this company since May of 1980 .


Thru the years I have found that just sharing info with a customer about what is going on helps things . Company has a 5120 that takes a flat 9 minutes to fully extend the boom and half that time the upper engine is running hard but you can't see anything happening .

I will explain the details about why that is . Seems like that helps . Just keeping them informed on what and why will make the job run better .

Being a driver I can get to the jobs before the hydro's on most of the taxi cab jobs . I'll make 1st contact and find a way to get the rig off of the street and somewhere close to where they need to be . I'll see if the boom dolly has to dropped off or weather it can stay close to the machine . Do they have a clear path ? Do they need to move something ? Anything underground that can be a problem ?

All of these questions SHOULD have been addressed on the site visit before hand but we all know that information will be left out or overlooked at times .

I also try my best to never answer a customers question with " I don't know " or an " I'm not sure " .

So I am just wondering how many others have similar situation and how you take care of the Customer ?

 

[VoodooMojo]

When a contractor bids on a project he has only one problem, will his bid be accepted. The moment the contractor is awarded the contract for the project he is faced with countless problems. Money, Engineering, Manpower, Material, Weather, Permits, Equipment, Insurance, Safety, the list goes on and on.

When he rents or purchases goods and services for the project he is doing so with good faith that they will be aiding him with the resolution to his problems and not contributing to the stress, headache and chaos of the project.
His simple equasion is "this equals problem solved" or "this has only added to the problem"
So the correct side to be on for your customer is the Problem Solver side of his equasion.

It sounds like you (Tiny) are providing the solutions the customer desires even before he realizes there could be a problem!
A lot of that comes from your 30+ years of experience in the industry but I will wager that is the way you conduct yourself in other aspects of your life as well.

Your statement of never using the "I don't know" phrase I am sure is replaced by "Let me get that information for you", isn't it?

As you, I always tend to be a champion for our customers. Within reason.
Knee pads are for cement finishers.

 

[gostr8r]

Very nice narration and expalnation too VoodooMojo!

 

[Hard Nocks]

This is a great topic, and even if most of us work for big companies, this stepping into the gap between the customer and our company is what keeps our company "the service provider of choice". And also it looks good for us when the companies talk to our foreman and ask for us to be on the next job. I always try to do the job better than the customer expects, if reasonable, as well as have a good artitude, and it has shown in my job results and my employer's treatment of me. A good attitude, a desire to help the customer, and a safety mentality means I make more money, and enjoy my job more.

 

[Hard Nocks]

May I add, that I really enjoy being here and learning from the people on here who enjoy the job, and passing on to the others here their skills, experiences and their attitude. It makes me a better operator to draw on this wealth of experience. Oh, and I am stealing the knee pads comment...and substituting welders for concrete finishers...hahaha!

 

[Tiny]

Here it boils down to this , In the small market that we have around here ..... If I/we don't take care of the customer there are 3 other outfits that will .

This might not be as it should but the order of importance for me is ;

1 Take care of the machine . Make it work wise as as quickly and safely as possible .

2 Protect the company . That can be as simple as making sure people , trucks and equipment stay clear to stopping the the lift if something is not right .

3 Take care of the customer . Answer all questions . Be as helpful as possible .

That seems to work for me .

 

[Dualie]

Lately i spend more time holding the customers hands than i do actually doing the work

 

[trainwreck]

For us customer service can be very hard at times. 99% of what we do is for the Union Pacific Railroad, they want thing to happen right now all the time. But they cant seem to plan more than 10 minutes ahead. So we spend alot of time running our butts off trying to get equipment to where it needs to be when they want it there. There is one thing that the owner of the company told me that i will never forget, he told me it does not mater what it take or what it costs give the railroad anything they want and make dam sure they are happy.

 

[NCT]

Hi Tiny,

I was wondering if you could tell me how you were able to plug in that signature of yours? I can't seem to find where in settings to edit mine. Thanks for your help.

NCT

 

[Tiny]

I believe you have to have more than 3 posts under your belt before you can start a thread of your own . The signature controls are not there either if memory serves me until after 3 posts .

 

[NCT]

Ahh, yes. Thank you! Gonna get posting

 

[BridgeCraneJen]

This is a great topic, and even if most of us work for big companies, this stepping into the gap between the customer and our company is what keeps our company "the service provider of choice". And also it looks good for us when the companies talk to our foreman and ask for us to be on the next job. I always try to do the job better than the customer expects, if reasonable, as well as have a good artitude, and it has shown in my job results and my employer's treatment of me. A good attitude, a desire to help the customer, and a safety mentality means I make more money, and enjoy my job more.

Hard Nocks, you have such a great attitude!!! I agree with you... being helpful to the customer doesn't have to be a chore! Especially when you realize how much it actually benefits you in the long run.

 

[Nige]

My thoughts .........

First up in any sort of market we have to remember that customers have a choice and to leave a positive impression with a customer is far better than leaving a negative one when it comes to generating repeat business.
Trying to look & act professionally is also a good one.
I have no problem with replying to a customer "I don't know the answer to that" but it's immediately followed by ........ "but I can get the answer for you". In my opinion it's unfair of anyone to expect you to know everything. Knowing where you can find information is key, not keeping it all in your head to mess up the thousand-and-one other things you have to be thinking about.

 

[BridgeCraneJen]

My thoughts .........

First up in any sort of market we have to remember that customers have a choice and to leave a positive impression with a customer is far better than leaving a negative one when it comes to generating repeat business.
Trying to look & act professionally is also a good one.
I have no problem with replying to a customer "I don't know the answer to that" but it's immediately followed by ........ "but I can get the answer for you". In my opinion it's unfair of anyone to expect you to know everything. Knowing where you can find information is key, not keeping it all in your head to mess up the thousand-and-one other things you have to be thinking about.

I read an article a while back that explained the best way to talk to your boss, when you don't know the answer. You place the part you don't know in between two more positive statements. Instead of just saying "I don't know", you can start off with something related that you DO know: "I know that we quoted this and this." Then insert what you don't know: "But I am not sure of that specific part offhand." Then, say what you said "But I can get the answer for you."

Because, you are right... you can't know everything, all the time... And if you pretend to, you are just BS-ing and no one likes that!!

 

[Nige]

Always remember the old saying though ........ "You can get further on an inch of BS than you can on a yard of sandpaper" .... or is that the salesman's motto..?

 

[BridgeCraneJen]

Hahaha! No, I didn't know that saying. Funny, though. No one likes a smarmy salesman...but BS can help you sometimes, I'll admit...

 

[Hard Nocks]

B.S. baffles brains.... Unless they actually are as smart as they think they are... Eventually if you B.S. for long enough, you better be good at making them think you were just seeing if they knew what they were talking about. Although it is getting harder to find the ones that are as smart as they think they are!

 

[Nige]

IMO if you could buy salesmen for what they're worth and selling them for what they think they're worth you could make loads of money ....

 

[BridgeCraneJen]

Hahaha! Nige, could you be implying that salesmen tend to have big egos?

 

[John C.]

I've been around this customer service debate for a long time and been wrapped around every which way possible. I've come to think of it this way. Customer service is required on both sides of the transaction.

I've had dealer wrenches rip into machines and find all kinds of things that are worn and just decide on their own that every part that shows a little wear has to be replaced. A call goes out to the customer at the completion of the job to come get the machine and the bill is XXX. The customer is surprised and angry about the cost and refuses to pay. I think anyone can see the customer service problem here. Or maybe a parts guy receives a call and says the part is here without checking the bin. The customer makes a long trip only to find the part isn't in. And by the way it will take a week to order and cost freight on top of that. Again the issue is obvious.

On the other side is the service guy that does make the calls and lets the customer know the issues and costs, says OK to all of it, and then decides he isn't going to pay. What about the parts guy that does tell the customer the cost of the part plus the freight to order it in and all the customer wants to do a verbally abuse the parts guy? Well the service customer is a jerk and a crook for leading the service supplier into this. The parts customer is also that plus an idiot because he is yelling at the guy who has no control over price and availability. So now we have customer service working against the people who are trying to provide it.

So if I'm the customer getting service work done I set the terms of the job out up front. I define what I want on a work order and further describe how I want items outside of the work order handled. I'll state that I'm to be contacted on my cell phone at this number before any other work is to be undertaken or the cost of the job exceeds X dollars. If I'm surprised by a price on a part and think the dealer should have it in stock and I shouldn't have to pay freight, I'll thank the parts guy of the information and ask to be transferred to the person who is in charge of this.

When I was younger and dumber I would become the knuckle dragger walking into the dealership wanting to turn the first unlucky person into mush because I figured I had been treated unfairly. What age and experience has taught me is to form good relationships with each of the dealer contact people. If something does go wrong, those people will usually support me when I take the problem to the next level. I treat my suppliers like they are my customers and I've found they treat me really well in return.