Hi Steve. Very true what you say. Customer service is so totally under valued by this industry in favor of technical skills.  Some people are so rude and ignorant but they explained as being 'technical'.   I sometimes wonder if 'engineer' is another term for being autistic. "oh don't mind him, he's an engineer!"

Needless to say. I find this blog a real gem

I guess you are enjoying the Awards DInner in London right now. I hope to see the result posted later.  Good luck to all the finalists.  I have never been to London, or even England, but I can imagine what a grand event it will be.

This is the only industry award that I ever look to see who has won. Not because I know them but because I am interested in their story.

Hi Steve, I agree and would like to add that wha makes exceptional customer service is the ability to smile in face of adversity and challenge. The power of the smile ought not to be forgotten. Also I think it is important to say a willingness to help is far batter than trying to be better than others. There is a difference. One is a sincere desire to help and shows caring, the other is a driven ambition to exceed a target or the opposition.  I prefer to be helped for genuine reasons.  

Also a sense of humour if not seen as sarcasm can also help but needs to be careful, as it might be thought that one is not taking the situation seriously

 I think you are a person that attracts and succeeds because your mind is reflecting what you think

Excellent article. Thank you

Sylvia

Dear Steve,

There is a reason that I enjoy reading your blog posts: it's because you make sense! Thank you for the original thinking and writing: it is now always the person who is the most qualified, has the fancy degrees, that are invaluable to the company; often it is the person who just pitches in, regardless of title, responsibly or pay scale!

Inspirational!

Good writing. Smart thinking. Real heart

The headline caught my attention, and I laughed to myself "what is this guy gonna say?", but I stopped laughing mid-way through the mid-way when you threw it all out of the window.  High five on this unique perspective of our industry and for having the balls to say it.

ACR industry needs more leaders like you. And I ain't laughing as I say that

Thank you for this. This is such a simple read, yet powerful at the same time that hopefully it will inspire others to think about what they do.

It's all about the individual. A theme that runs through several of your posts.

A revolutionary idea  - treat site engineers as if what they do matters!

Great award, but why are only sales people winning it?

Anyone  else left a comment from Hamilton, Ontario?

Thank you Steve. It's heartwarming to see someone refusing to buy into the generalizations and stereotypes.  No group is monolithic, and one size never fits all.  You have said many times that this industry is great and is made up of amazing individuals.  They deserve recognition. It is great to read an article that treats all members of this industry equally - it treats people as individuals no matter what their role is.  It is not trying to sell anyone or anything, except this wonderful industry and the people that make it so

Bravo!

I get on well with all of my customers except one lazy one who just hates me. What to do?

Don't think she will be nominating me for any award anytime soon

Thank you Steve Gill for such a wonderful article and brilliant suggestion for an ACR industry award. I personally think that customer service skills has a huge impact on ones career.  I am not talking about if one is a computer geek or  software nerd, I'm talking about really life in the ACR industry. There is no doubt in my mind that how one treats customers shows a person's true personalty and how professional they are.  If there are any doubts, just look at the two previous winners of this award. Btw, I found it quite difficult to find their details and stories on the web. If they are to be used as role models, can we at least know more about them and can that be searchable?

I know I am repeating others, but I hope you will find time to blog again.  Your influence is important.

Good luck ofr the awards next week.  Another inspirational individual will be found!

Yes, yes, yes! Great article.  Not enough recognition given to site staff providing excellent customer service.  When will companies ever learn that staff visitng customer's premisies are the face of the company?

Hi Steve, how you doing?

Gavin Batty said to also say 'hi'.  He sent me the link to your blog today.  This is a great idea. I think this would also have legs here in the US.  Gavin said he will give you a call to discuss

I have never seen an industry blog with so many comments. This is amazing and must be a record.

I read the awards are next week. I don't know any of you finalists but good luck to all.  This is fantastic award dreamed up by a fantastic guy.

See you again soon

Sam

Anything i try to write as a comment seems trite. Suffice to say that I applaud Steve's insights into the workings of this industry and continual efforts to make things better for all of us working within it

Super blog Steve, and commendable idea for an award which has obviously touched a nerve with so many

Spot on.

At the risk of sounding like a sales pitch - but this is our way of banging the drum, so to speak, SkillFridge is having a presence at both at the ACR Show and the ACR News Awards.

Importantly, at the ACR Show there will be six youngsters from colleges competing live over 16 and 17 Feb who I'm sure would appreciate people from the industry showing their support and cheering them on. In person would be best of course, but for those who can't be there, please do tweet your support @skillfridge 

This is off subject

I was looking for somewhere to leave a comment about training and Skillsfridge at the ACR Show but couldn't really find a suitable news item on it.

I read Lynn's lead in the magazine this month about training SkillFridge.  I know that both Lynn and Steve are passionate about this subject. I understand that Steve is the Chair of the steering group and will be presenting, or announcing the winner at the Show.

I just wanted to say that I think it is great what you two (and others of course) are doing. To my mind, this is an example of people 'going the extra mile' for a good course. 

Thank you to both of you.

Hi Martin, it was nice to meet you too after all this time

Thanks for leaving the kind comment here. There have been so many wonderful comments left, it is quite amazing.  The ACRN Customer Service Award is in its third year now, and I am looking forward to finding out the winner is in a couple of weeks. 

If you are attending the ACR Show, I intend to be for all three days so perhaps we can meet up then

Steve

Hi Steve, it was great to meet up with you again at the dinner this week. Amazing, has it really been 25 years? You have been so successful. It has been interesting and  inspirational to watch your career progress, and your profile rise and rise. 

Lets meet up again soon.

I wanted to leave a comment here, because you do so many positive things for the industry. This blog is astonishing, so I thought one more comment by someone that you used to work with will add to its success.

Great article and great true message. Always like Steve's devotion to this industry

I learned something early in life that I still use today.  When I had a paper round at the age of 11 or so, I made homemade Christmas cards thanking my customers for entrusting me to deliver their newspapers 364  days a year (I reminded them that the only day off was Christmas day). I signed it 'your paper girl Jeanette'.  I got ten times more Christmas tips than the only other paper delivery boy in the area - my own brother (by then we had the monoply and the entire newspaper round!) . He has only scrawled 'Merry Xmas' across the top of their papers and not even added his name.

I am now on my fifties and running my own business. But I still send out handmade cards to all my customers and while I don't get Christmas tips any more, I get more repeat business and have a more loyal set of customers than anyone I know.

Great post Steve. Thank you......bosses overlook that engineers are the face of the company.  They congratulate sales for bringing the work in, but don't thank engineers for keeping them

The Fred story is such a simple, no-tech. heart-felt example of how customer service can have a huge impact in today's increasingly impersonal world.  When sales often sell via email quotes, in is the engineers who get out there day after day meeting the customers in person

great one!

Hi from Cape Town, SA.  I have seen comments left here from all over the world but may be I am the first from Cape Town, am I?

My husband and I run a small ac company here in Cape Town. Our business has grown largely by word of mouth sales.  When a new client is referred to us, I always write an informal note to express our gratitude, for without this person going the extra mile to think of us and recommend us, we would not have been able to grow our business. We started with just my husband going out and me doing the books and administration. Now we have 15 engineers. Trust from another is the greatest gift. And when a client goes the extra mile for us, that really says something about the customer service that we provide in the first place.  Feels good all around. What goes around comes around as they say

Steve, I just loved this article.  And by the way, we have your Mona LIsa poster on our wall here.  The message with the humour thrown in is so clever.

Thank you

Hi Steve. Great blog. Shows that you have great insight into the workings of this industry. But what I really want to say is that I thought your posters from a couple of years ago were amazing.  I have seen them so many places.  I know you won awards for them and I want to may praise and appreciation. They were absolutely great!

If you are at the ACR show, I hope to be able to meet you.

Andy

At last! Some one senior in the world of refrigeration engineering writing about customers!  Usually everything I read is about what refrigerant we MUST use, or why MUST change our plant, or why we SHOULD change our plants.  It is alwasy instructions from the 'experts' in the fridge industry to the customer.  Always advice advice advice, and never listening.

Full credit to Steve for giving both the customer AND the customer facing staff some credit here.

Full marks Steve. At last we have a champion of the customer, the contractor, and technology and the environment. 

This blog is not ordinary.  Steve has taken a ordinary subject and made it extraordinary

Thanks Steve

I saw a sign this morning which said "Customer service is not a department. It's an attitude...."

I agree, but would take it further and say "Attitude is down to individuals"....which is is what Steve wrote over two years ago.

Excellent blog Steve. It hasn't aged at all :-)

Very true Steve. Right on every front. Customer facing staff are overlooked and unappreciated but many in the ACR industry are actually doing a really good job unnoticed.  This is a positive that we should promote about our business.

A very powerful article. Love it! I will be using some quotes from it myself

I never get to meet any of our customers in person. But I speak to them via the phone, and email.  They are all faceless but I have learned that telephone manner is so important. If I sound and am cheerful, I am able to help the customer with their problems better. I find that that my listening skills are better because I was trained to listen very carefully to what the customer is saying and how they are saying. I cannot rely on body language. I have found that if I smile, even though they don't see it, they can somehow sense it. Perhaps my voice sounds different

Customer service is recognized as important in many businesses and industries but in the HVACR industry there is very little recognition.  This article makes a wonderful change from the 'how to charge a system; type articles that usually shared around the industry

Good luck with the award. I enjoyed reading the article. thank you