Ecmweb 7415 Engineers
Ecmweb 7415 Engineers
Ecmweb 7415 Engineers
Ecmweb 7415 Engineers
Ecmweb 7415 Engineers

Curing Customer Confusion, Part 1

May 19, 2015
Training employees thoroughly is essential, but sometimes you also have to train your customers about proper procedures.

Anyone who’s managed a team or a company in the electrical business knows that employee training is essential to success. But have you ever thought about customer training?

One reason you train employees is so they understand the proper way to do the work. This saves you time and money. Don’t assume that your customers know the proper way to do the work, or that they don’t need to know. The training isn’t the same, but it needs to be done in both cases.

Consider this example. Your customer has a shutdown scheduled at its facility and asks you to bid on “a basic package of electrical testing.” You tender one bid, and your competitor tenders a much lower bid. Guess who gets the job?

The revenue you lost here is lost forever. There is only one shutdown this year, which means you either get the work now or you never get it.

arhendrix/iStock/Thinkstock

But you had discussed this with the plant engineer and thought he knew what a basic testing package would entail. How could someone leave out insulation resistance testing of the service and feeder cables, as your competitor did, and slip past the plant engineer?

The problem in this case is the client company has a three-bid policy. The plant engineer has to turn in three bids. They weren’t for the same work.

Yes, you did “train” the plant engineer on what your testing entailed. But you didn’t train the plant engineer on why each element is essential and why each must be specified in the request for quote.

The plant engineer sent the bids to the plant controller, who simply picked the lowest bid and ignored the other two. He didn’t know a basic testing package from a comprehensive one and assumed the bids were for the same work. He thought “basic testing package” was some electrical industry jargon that, in his 12-hour work day, he didn’t need to spend time learning about. Back at the corporate office, the division vice president made the same assumption.

The good news is that you have time between now and the next shutdown to make the case for the missing work. Of course, you’ll need to use this time to train the plant engineer on what specifically to put in the request for quote and why.

What you really need, however, is a systematic approach to training your customers. In Part 2, we’ll look at some ideas for making that a successful endeavor.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.

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