ACR-News
Know what you want? Try our 'Supplier Directory' 

The ACR Industry needs a 'Fred' Award

It is around twenty years ago that Mark Sanborn, a professional speaker, trainer and author on leadership and customer services met Fred his postman. Mark had just moved into his new home in Denver when Fred knocked on his door, introduced himself and welcomed him to the neighbourhood. He also asked Mark about himself and how he wanted his mail handled while he was away. 

Mark was astonished. This was not the service he had come to expect from a postman. He was truly pleasantly surprised and delighted by Fred's approach and manner.

Mark became interested and asked Fred more about his job and how he approached it. Fred's answers inspired him to develop motivational seminars and a bestselling book (The Fred Factor) promoting Fred's attitude and approach to life.
In a nutshell, the Fred philosophy is to realise and practise that everyone can make a difference; success is built on good relationships; you must continually create value for others and it doesn't have to cost anything; you can reinvent yourself whenever you want.

In the past few months I have had the pleasure to meet two 'Fred's from the ACR industry. The first was a service engineer who I bumped into by chance when I walked into a client's refrigeration plant room on a site in Birmingham. The young engineer was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, helpful and a pleasure to speak to. The second was a food factory engineer who managed the refrigeration plant along with all the other services required in a modern food production environment. Although not a specialist refrigeration engineer, he went out of his way to provide the information I required and to answer all my questions and more.

Both of these engineers embodied excellent customer service qualities described in the 'Fred Factor'.

We should never forget that although highly technical by nature, the ACR industry is a still a service industry with customer service excellence being a key to business success. If you think that is a cliché, imagine how long a company can survive that ignores this in the competitive market place we find ourselves in today. Customers do have a choice and they will go to where they perceive they most consistently get what pleases and impresses them.

The 'Fred' philosophy is built on timeless values like personal responsibility, authentic relationships, and respect for others. It is in essence, a mind-set that looks for and seizes opportunities to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
The ACR industry has individuals who go beyond the ordinary and create extraordinary experiences for their clients. These are not only service engineers; they are from all business fields, from sales through to administrators. Their attitude to customer service should be recognised by this industry in the same way as technical excellence is. Normal is overrated and has never been a term that should be applied to our industry. We should have a 'Fred' Award, although I am sure that we can give it a more appropriate name from one of the many fine examples from our own industry.

View User Profile for SteveGill
Posted by Steve Gill 15 April 2013 23:21:00 Categories: Fresh Talk

Comments

By Arianna Linguerri
16 April 2013 07:54:00
Exceptional customer service costs no more to deliver than poor or mediocre customer service. So why don't we see more of it from ACR companies?
By Mary Fell
16 April 2013 07:53:00
Steve, I would like to know more about what you mean by exceptional service in the ACR industry. If we ran a coffee shop or a airline, there would be guidance and training available for the front-line staff. They would all be coached and would know how to behave. But in the ACR industry I am unaware of any company that coaches its staff in the subject.
In most service industries, staff would know to make eye contact, or add a bit of enthusiasm to their voice, because they would have been trained to do so. Nothing would be left to chance. This is not the case in the ACR industry. Can you write more about this subject, or suggest any suitable training? Do you offer any training yourself?
By Kieron Ellis
16 April 2013 07:52:00
As Steve says, most of us in this industry are in a service industry although we perhaps do not recognise it.
Most people don't choose to deliver poor service, it is that they don't choose to offer an exceptional service either. Most of our staff in all roles and levels execute their job functions blissfully unaware of the opportunities they forfeit daily to demonstrate exceptional customer service by taking the initiative to do the little things that leave big impressions on customers.
Exceptional blog Steve, well done in promoting this important issue.
By Musaib Faizan
16 April 2013 07:51:00
Thank you for bringing this award to my attention.
By Ed Rodgers
16 April 2013 07:50:00
Just be honest and open. That is the best way to be with customers. Don't try to fool or mislead them

Interesting blog. Can see why it is so popular, but why so few posts from Steve in 2013? Hope to see more in 2014 from him.

By Jon Forester
16 April 2013 07:49:00
Good blog but a truly astonishing comment thread. Is there anything that isn't covered here?
I heard about this blog form Linkedin because of the new ACR Industry Award for Customer Service. The blog from Steve Gill is excellent but the comment thread that follows is truly remarkable. I have never seen anything like this before in this industry.
There are so many excellent comments and discussions taking place in the early one. The discussions and exchange between commentators seems to have lost momentum as the length of the thread grew but if anything, the quality of the comments being left improved. There really are some deeply thought through comments here.
This really did capture the interest of the industry in a way that I have never seen before. Amazing.
All credit to Steve for writing it in the first place, but also to the many people who have left comments. So many, including industry leaders such as Graeme Fox and others. This really is the something the industry has been lacking before
Remarkable.
By Jocelyn Button
16 April 2013 07:48:00
Great article addressing a greatly overlooked issue in this industry; namely recognising those front line staff that make a difference - that make all the difference to this industry, to their employers, and most importantly to their clients.
By Steven Hill
16 April 2013 07:47:00
Steve excellent Blog, you got this nailed.
By Patrick Timmons
16 April 2013 07:46:00
To offer really good customer service, you have have the ability to see things from the customer's perspective.
By Eman Al Qaisi
16 April 2013 07:45:00
Very good Sir!
By John Martin
16 April 2013 07:44:00
Thank you for this article. Well written and very readable
By Mohammad Homaifard
16 April 2013 07:43:00
Awesome suggestion.
By ARIF HAQUE
16 April 2013 07:42:00
I cannot think of anyone worthy of this award in the ACR industry.
By Ammar Albustanji
16 April 2013 07:41:00
Good idea. Interesting blog.
By David Graham
16 April 2013 07:40:00
This would make a much needed addition to the stale batch of awards that this industry has. Very create suggestion
By Sven
16 April 2013 07:39:00
Everyone can make a difference if they chose to. You are right Steve, normal is overrated and shouldn't be a term ever used to describe this industry.
Well said.
By Dennis Donald
16 April 2013 07:38:00
Love the story of the postman. Just ordered the book from Amazon.
Thanks for bringing this story to the ACR Industry
By May Yeo
16 April 2013 07:37:00
Making individual sales is important but real profit comes from nourishing a relationship with a customer and watching it grow.
Extraordinary blog.
By Rakesh Singh
16 April 2013 07:36:00
Fantastic. At last, someone that notices the 'little' people in this industry that usually go unnoticed but who make a huge difference to both their clients and their companies. When bosses congratulate themselves for the profits they made, they forget the frontline staff that actually made the profit for them
Excellent idea for an Award as it will draw attention to the unsung heroes of this industry.
Great blog from one of our own unsung heroes.
By Yves Xi
16 April 2013 07:35:00
Greetings from Shanghai, China! ^_^
Inspirational Blog. Mr Steve Gill is one of the industry's world thought leaders and this blog is a must.
Please update more. There are far too few posts a year.
By JM
16 April 2013 07:34:00
I heard of the new award and that this blog was the source of the inspiration behind it. I can see why. Well done ACR-NEWS for getting the award underway, and well done Steve for suggesting it. This is a great blog.
It is rare that a blog gets noticed or makes a difference; this one has on both counts.
By JAMES THOMPSON
16 April 2013 07:33:00
The best I can give is get to know your customer well first. Only then can you give the very best service. Interesting blog
By Nicole Duran
16 April 2013 07:32:00
Wonderful reminder Steve. Focus on the our customers. This is an essential message to the industry and to us individuals within it.
Hope to win the Fred Award one day!
Nicole
By Fred Award
16 April 2013 07:31:00
It is not enough for a ACR professional to be right; our job is to be helpful.

Inspirational blog.
By Anon
16 April 2013 07:30:00
I work for one of the major contractors as branch service manager with a team 15 engineers so please excuse me for not giving my name.
I would like to share with you my experience this morning at our morning tool box talk.
I thought I would raise the subject of exceptional customer service. I referred to this blog and also told the Fred Story. After talking for about 15 minutes, I could see that everyone was already bored so I finished all off quickly by saying, perhaps if you all try a little harder one of you will make us all proud and win the award. This was met with silence. So, I said doesn't everyone understand what I am talking about. This was met with silence. So I asked, does anyone know what I am talking about? Still silence and blank looks.
In desperation, I spoke to the senior engineer and supervisor. I said, will you try a little harder to provide such extraordinary service? He replied, with a slightly mystified look, and said, "I'll try, but I already do everything I am supposed to do, so I can't see what more I can do"

Oh well, you win some, you lose some
By Steve Gill
16 April 2013 07:29:00
Dear All, thank you for taking the time to read this blog and to leave a comment (if you have done). You have all contributed towards getting this subject noticed and the Award launched.
Now we need you to help make the actual Customer Service Award itself a success.
Nominations are now coming in for the Award. If you nominated anyone here in the blog comments thread, please contact Lynn Sencicle (lsencicle@datateam.co.uk ) as you will need to nomination through the proper channels. Unfortunately, we cannot accept the suggestions without a nomination.
Details of how to make the nominations can be found at:
http://www.acr-news.com/news/news.asp?id=3512&title=Introducing+the+Customer+Service+Award+for+frontline+staff#

thank you all
Steve

By Dave
16 April 2013 07:28:00
In a nutshell, good customer service is expressing genuine interest in customers, and anticipating their needs. Simple as that.
Good blog, and even better blog thread.
By Clive Dawson
16 April 2013 07:27:00
I think that awareness is key. People don't know what they don't know. The first thing to do to increase awareness and improve the quality of customer service is to make people aware if it.
This blog has just done that. Now it is up to the rest of us to take note and make changes. Exceptional customer service is always voluntary. A person chooses to deliver exceptional customer service.
Taking Karen's point a few comments back, it is impossible to force people to offer great customer service if they are trying to stick to a false company policy. It is not genuine and immediately comes across as such.
By Paul Bickley
16 April 2013 07:26:00
Anyone who thinks that good customer service is wide spread in this industry should try being a customer for a while. 99% of the time, the service is indifferent at best.
I have only experienced less than a handful of instances when the service has been memorable for the right reasons in over 40 years.
Having an Award would raise the profile of this important issue and also the profile and practises of any winners. I agree, the ACR industry needs a Fred Award.
By Ken Salmon
16 April 2013 07:25:00
It is my aspiration to develop in this industry. Reading this blog is an inspiration. Opening the debate on customer service quality in the air-conditioning and refrigeration industries is a triumph. I hope that I can contribute to this industry in the future as widely as Steve Gill has done.
There is no secret to providing special customer service but we all need reminding of this some times.
By Andy Freind
16 April 2013 07:24:00
The trade associations and professional bodies could do a lot to improve their customer service. I think that all of them forget who their customers actually are and treat members as though they are doing them a favour allowing them to join. Should we feel privileged? It is time that they recognised us as funding them, as being the customers that we are and made it their highest priority to offer a better service and value for money.
By DAN HOBAN
16 April 2013 07:23:00
Wow, so many comments here it is impossible to read them all. I may be repeating what others have already said but I think that the best way to provide extraordinary customer service is to break with routine and consistently provide the little extras that leave a lasting positive impression with the customers.
This is a very unusual blog. Not what I was expecting at all. May be it is because it is different that it is extraordinary.
It seems from the comments that many others also agree. :-)
Dan from Reading. England
By John Bradley
16 April 2013 07:22:00
I think Karen's comment is very relevant about 'just being yourself'. The best ways to raise customer service are probably natural and intuitive rather than by forced company regulations and policy driven.
By Darren
16 April 2013 07:21:00
Having worked in the industry for almost 20 years I can honestly say that I have never ever had a boss asking me if the customer was happy in respect of customer service. I am always reminded to get my job sheet signed so that the visit can be charged.
I once had a baker who wouldn't sign because he wasn't happy with our service (I had been held up at a previous site and was 2 hours late. No one from the office had bothered to let him know). When I phoned in to tell my boss, all he said was 'ask someone else there to sign'!
By Karen
16 April 2013 07:20:00
Our company had some highly paid management consultants prepare a script for all service support staff to use during phone calls from customers. All it did was make us all sound impersonal. Several customer asked me if something was wrong when i tried to stick to the script. When i confessed to one that I know well, he said, 'just be yourself'.
I think that is the best advice. At work we often get stuck in trying to be or sound like someone we are not. We act differently to how we would at home or with friends.
Once I dropped the script and became myself again, the customers were all happier again and I believe that our service improved.
By Hyson
16 April 2013 07:19:00
Highly skilled as many ACR engineers are, lets face it, for whatever reason the quality of the service we now receive in the UK is mediocre. Whether this is due to the skills shortage putting time pressure constraints on engineers, or whether it is because they are in such short supply that can do just as they like, it is difficult to say. Very often we are sent inexperienced at the same rate as a highly skilled one.
There are some engineers offering good service but they are few and far between.
Good luck with the award, it will be interesting to see what this actually highlights and if this can help to raise standards
By Paul T
16 April 2013 07:18:00
I am not sure that most people would want extraordinary or over the top service all the time. I think in most cases customers just want to be acknowledged and appreciated.
By Jason Simpson
16 April 2013 07:17:00
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the 'extra'.

This makes a huge difference when it comes to customer service.

An extraordinary blog Steve, thank you.
By Brighton
16 April 2013 07:16:00
Excellent suggestion which is widely supported. Hope that it takes off and we find some worthy winners.
By Carol
16 April 2013 07:15:00
Just as sometimes a company's best staff are not noticed or appreciated by the management until they leave, the same applies to this industry. The great customer service by many frontline staff is neither noticed or appreciated by the industry. I am thinking of some of the great people at WR who will now be losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Many of these are good at what they do and greatly appreciated by their customers. Unfortunately, it looks like many will now be lost to the ACR industry as they seek employment elsewhere.
I think the proposal of a Fred Award is a wonderful idea and far more meaningful than the 'Contractor of the Year' award that WR won.
Some sour grapes here? Yes, may be. But the Fred Award is for the sort of people that we really should be showing our appreciation to and for. (Ed's note: see http://goo.gl/HZz7l8)
By Matt
16 April 2013 07:14:00
Great to see this initative finally take off. Like Mike, I hope this proves to be popular.
I wasn't particularly a fan of calling it the 'Fred'Award but giving it that name did at least give it a story. My only fear now is that the award name is fairly bland and doesn't stand out. It is not distinctive.
Name aside, the concept is great. Well done ACR News on taking this up.
By Mike
16 April 2013 07:13:00
Great news Lynn. Well done! I hope this award is the success that it deserves to be.
By Lynn Sencicle
16 April 2013 07:12:00
ACR News has just launched the Customer Service Award. We've designed it so that you all can nominate, and you all can judge. We did think about calling it Steve, Fred, Bob and a whole host of other names, but none seemed to quite fit. So we've decided to call it what it is - the Customer Service Award. Full details at http://goo.gl/HZz7l8
By Kirin
16 April 2013 07:11:00
I think the main difference with this Steve/Fred Award is that nominations would come from others. I think you will find that all the award that WR won had been entered by themselves. So, judges could only judge against others that had also made entries.
I guess that many companies did not enter. That may not have changed the result but at least the judges would have had a wider scope from which to select the winner.
I do not know enough about WR to say what went wrong but I know that there will be many worried suppliers and employees of WR and that is not nice.
By Nic
16 April 2013 07:10:00
A review of the Awards structure is long over due but it will probably never happen in a big way, but I expect that there will be subtle changes in future years.
What we actually need a more grass-roots initiatives like this one. That was the traditional approach.
By Matt
16 April 2013 07:09:00
Let just do it. Exceptional customer service is something to celebrate.
By Tom Grimes
16 April 2013 07:08:00
I read this blog after reading the distrubing news about WR. I was drawn to the blog by the word 'Award'.
WR have been very sucessful at winning awards recently and yet here there are finding themselves unable to pay their bills.
No one likes to see that. It will send out all sorts of mixed messages about the value of awards and also the policy that WR have followed
I am not sure of any conclusions that can be drawn at this stage but I would like to say that a customer service award for an individual is exactly the type of award this industry should be giving. It is a sad fact that the award dinners have become too much of a corporate exercise to reward each other. Sponsors give awards to other sponsors. Lets go back to the tradition of regonising individuals who contribute to this industry. This Fred/Steve Award does just that.
If someone from WR were to win it for his or her own personal efforts there would be some irony there somewhere. Good luck to all who enter. We do need good individuals in the industry to be noticed more rather than companies.
By Alex
16 April 2013 07:07:00
My experience of customers is the same as Toby's and also the same as Mike's (right at the start of this very long thread). Customers drive the price down to unsustainable levels and then complain when the service isn't up to standard. What do they expect when they pay late and too little.
I see little point in trying to offer a superior service because although as individuals our customers may appreciate it, as a corporate level, they really do not care, and as Toby points out are likely to shop around for an even more ridiculously low price the next time.
We are cutting our own throats and the customer is supplying the blade, and even sharpening it every now and then for good measure
Todd asked why there is no sponsorship, I can tell him: it is because we can as an industry cannot afford it. Better to get an end-user to sponsor it; they are the only ones with any money.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the blog and liked the idea, but it is a dream when it comes to the ACR industry because basically, on our side we do our best but are under resourced because we charge too low, and from the end users side, if we offered them a better service they would ask for a lower price option without all the frills.
By Toby
16 April 2013 07:06:00
I can say in all certainty that all of our customer are driven not by service but by price. No matter what level of service we provide, when it comes to contract renewal time they will switch contractor if they can obtain a lower price.
Our customer service reflects this purchasing approach by the client. We do what we have to do so that we are not in default or breach of contract but to do any more is a complete waste of every ones time and energy.
Yes, we could do more, but ultimately it wouldn't do us any good in either the short term or the long term
ACR customer are notoriously fickle and I would be surprised in this proposed award would actually be supported by the customers.
Nice idea though, so good luck with it.
By Mike
16 April 2013 07:05:00
Graeme, for what it is worth, I also read your comment on your most recent blog the same way, and not inviting further comment and effectively drawing the discussion to a close
Anyway, hope to see you at the ACR Show next year. It will be an honour.
And Jude, I agree, there is no hatchet here so lets move on. There are far more important things to discuss
By Sam
16 April 2013 07:04:00
Graeme, you know better than to expect everyone to agree with your position. There is too many politicians inside and outside our industry playing with it for their own ends.
If you ruffled some feathers that just shows that your words are being read.
Get back in the saddle and write some more, and then more again. Don't let some upstarts put you off
As for this blog from Steve. I think it is great because it has sparked a discussion that has prompted many who normally sit on the side lines to join in. This has been missing in this industry and its riddles spread to other blogs and discussions. The name of the game is engagement and for whatever reason Steve's blog has successfully achieved that. So, Graeme (and Steve) keep doing what you are doing. I hope to read more from both of you soon.
Sam from Staines.
Other comments page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Comments are closed on this post.
ACR News is the number one magazine in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry. Don’t miss out, subscribe today!
Subcribe to ACR News

Diary