I rolled INTO bed at 4:30 this morning with a tired body but a gratified mind. I’d just completed what essentially was a 23 hour day, making three customers very happy and “saving the day” twice. This business is very gratifying to me because I get to save the day all of the time.
The thing about saving the day is that it isn’t because of any single skill I possess more than the fact that I push very hard to answer and/or return phone calls. I guess it hadn’t hit me how important that is until at 1:00 AM I needed a hydraulic hose made to complete the emergency service I was doing for a customer that was willing to pay “any price” to get that hose replaced. Do you know how hard it is to get a hydraulic shop to answer their phone at 1:00 AM? Even if they advertise mobile/emergency service? I ended up having a guy drive from Flint to Romulus (and presumably back) to make a 6″ long hose.
I don’t always answer the phone in the middle of the night because people in India think that’s a good time of day to see if I’d like a subscription to Good Housekeeping. However you can bet that if you call twice I’ll at least roll over and see what the voice mail has to say. If I’m already working, well you might have to wait until I shut down all of the power tools and check the phone. Regardless, your call will get my attention soon.
I’m in business to solve problems for people. The third call of the day yesterday was one of those kind of calls. It wasn’t so much about welding, but rather “please come solve our problem!” And I did. I finished the job I was working on, showed up ahead of promised time, and kicked their problem in the butt. I did most of the work myself, but the I also made sure the work I’m not equipped to do got done too, which is where the hydraulic guy came into play. Basically I put together a total solution so the customer could quit stressing about their broken trailer and worry more about getting sleep before their big weekend event.
I’ve always been a problem solver. My military supervisors and mentors always encouraged that “whole picture” perspective that’s needed to solve problems. It paid off when I was in the Air Force, and it still pays off now. My dad says “shut your mouth and open your eyes.” That one statement is probably one of the most useful things I’ve ever heard. You can’t solve a problem until you see what you’re really up against.
Meanwhile, there’s a very happy customer putting on their display in Ann Arbor this weekend, and a very gratified Gary sitting here realizing that every day brings a new and exciting problem to solve.
If you’ve got a problem, call us and we’ll either solve it or find people who can. That’s how we roll.