The ACR Industry needs a 'Fred' Award

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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.

Posted by Steve Gill 15 April 2013 23:21:00 Categories: Fresh Talk

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Comments

Stacy Wardlaw

04 January 2016 12:19:16

Agreed. Seen these Fred qualities in the simplest of people. They standout for being the way they are.

Ruth Villano

04 January 2016 12:00:42

Really a nice article that teaches how a person should be at all times without any expect of return. As someone working on a service desk, I can relate to this article very well.

Good luck to the finalists in this years Award. You are all inspirational

Sunny

04 January 2016 11:56:36

Don't you think that this is a little onesided? If customers treated us better, it would be easier to be nice and helpful to them.

Dave Frost

04 January 2016 11:52:12

Steve, don't you think you's have more impact with your posts if you advertised them more? Your Poster campaign was huge, a global success, because you used LinkedIn to promote it, but your blog is more word of mouth promotion. I didn't even know it existed until this morning when a rep mention it. Also, the titles aren't that catchy. This one is ok, but some of the others give no clue as to what they are about. In this age of search engines, and google, they could do with being more industry specific and focused.

I think your blog post are great and it is a shame that they are tucked away as they are.

Anon

04 January 2016 11:30:20

I wouldn't ever confuse acts of kindness with customer service. Some may call it selfish, but I have the feeling that it is what we expect to get in return from customer service that makes it all worth while.

Nina Newton

04 January 2016 09:53:12

Happy New Year, first day back

I don't normally leave comments but some of the ones left here are so good I wanted to respond

First, what a fantastic story from Katherine Oste - wake up and smell the flowers, they are all around us. Another reason to call the award a Disa perhaps??

And the comment from Christine Stark about kindness - what a great observation. I wouldn't have ever associated customer service with acts of kindness but I can see very well where you are coming from with that one.

So many remarkable comments. This blog is inspiring with awesome good habits worth adopting and maintaining. Very insightful. A real ACR industry gem. Someone (i think it was Lynn) called it iconic, how very true

Julia Navarro

04 January 2016 09:40:34

Very simple, yet extraordinarily powerful message Steve. Thank you!!

I read Lynn's comment that over 700 have voted this time for the Award in February. Fantastic. What an amazing success. This is real example of engaging with the ACR industry. Many have this as some sort of aim, but Steve and Lynn have achieved it. Well done you guys.

Eric Schneider

03 January 2016 23:41:07

Great blog. It shows that small actions speak volumes.

David Thompson

03 January 2016 23:37:15

It doesn't take a lot of effort to enrich the lives of those around you and in doing so, enrich your own life. The Fred Factor is a great example, and yes, we have the Steve Factor who is doing the same in his own but very different way

Steve Guillot

03 January 2016 23:26:02

Valuing contributions considerably raised job satisfaction and self-worth so this Award will have the same effect which is no bad thing.

Katherine Oste

03 January 2016 23:21:22

Reading this post, and the comments, has made me want to share a story of my own with you.

It is not job related but it was a small gesture by a cute little girl that changed my entire day, and many days after when I thought of her. I was sitting in a park on a beautiful day, absorbed in work related thoughts when a little girl came up to me, smiled, opened her hands, pointed and said "it's a flower". I followed her gaze, and at first I thought, 'Yeah, it is' amd was just about to move on with my thoughts when i looked at her smile and realized 'Wow, yeah, it is a flower and it is absolutely wonderful' Even though I had been sitting there for nearly an hour and thought I was enjoying the sun, I wasn't really paying attention to anything around me due to the noise in my own head.

It doesn't matter if it's people, nature, our jobs, or whatever - once we stop the noise in us and start looking around and seeing things, we change the way we act. This affects everyone, and everything around us. Its the same with this article. This article has led to us looking around at the wonderful people around us, and we have found some flowers. Disa, and Laurence, two industry gems that may have been overlooked if it hadn't been for this article, and the ACR News Awards.

Steve has a habit of doing this. His refrigeration industry awareness poster campaign which one an Award last year was a truly global phenomenon. I read that they had over a million downloads. That is amazing by any standards. The theme of that, if you recall, was opening the eyes of people to the amazing things that refrigeration does for the modern world.

To my mind, Steve is the equivalent of the little girl in my story. He has opened my eyes to the wonderful people around me that makes up this remarkable industry

Rachel Gelis

03 January 2016 22:06:47

Great message: people do matter.

Thanks for sharing

Thao Tan

03 January 2016 22:00:59

I agree with Sanjukta. As someone who started their career serving tea and coffee to executives in their meetings, I can definitely say that those who take the time to say hello are the ones remembered and the ones that made me want to work better for them

Tiffany Vardanyan

03 January 2016 21:40:23

Very true Christine. People will always remember kindness

Jackie Belford

03 January 2016 21:06:04

Good point Christine! I say all the time:it costs nothing to be kind!

Maybe if the blog had been longer kindness could have been explored as another expression for customer service

Anyway, this was a splendid story, and great post

Jackie, from LA.

Ken Fisher

03 January 2016 20:34:17

Thanks for sharing - loved the story

Jenna Coykendall

03 January 2016 20:31:53

Love this!Some people do not need to be nice and helpful in the workplace if they don't have to.In fact they find it demeaning in some way. I think this is one of the flaws in modern professional engineering practise. The idea that being nice and smiling dumbing down being a professional engineer in someway.

Thankfully the idea of being nice to the customer in the professional world is strongly related to emotional intelligence, which thankfully more employers and companies are taking seriously.

If this comment sounds strange to many working in small companies, it probably because it is strange, but the truth is, that in the HR world of large multinationals, unless we give it a name , such as EI and sell it to the board as the latest thing, it won't get any attention. Perhaps I have been in HR too long!

That aside, this is a wonderful blog post, and great to see the author leading by example.

Good luck to all the finalists in February. I haven't voted yet. That is next on my to do list :-)

Happy New Year

Christine Stark

03 January 2016 19:05:10

Oh dear, such a typo :( the first line of my previous comment should have read

I find it strange that kindness isn't mentioned.......

Hope it makes more sense now

Christine Stark

03 January 2016 18:58:57

I find it strange that 'kindness' is mentioned anywhere in this blog, nor in any of the comments that I have read (I haven't read them all though). What Fred exhibited was good old fashioned kindness. Kindness is a disappearing act in today's world....professionally and personally.Kindness is what fuels our world in a positive way. Kindness helps everyone, even the giver. It is what I live by daily. I don't dress it up by calling it customer service. Customer service sounds false to me, something that we can turn on and off. But authentic kindness can only be shown by those who are also moral, generous, judicious, self-aware, sensitive, focused on priorities - the list is way too long, but the point is that these and other qualities are inexorably tied. Further, all that good stuff really does rub off on those around you. Hard to argue with the benefits of that. Oh yeah - AND the recipient of kindness is typically pretty happy too.

I have worked in the AC industry all my career and know good customer service when I receive it, as I expect no less, but I also recognise kindness, and that feels far more special to me.

Audrey Woodley

03 January 2016 18:45:25

I actually know Mark Sanborn. I have heard him tell the Fred story many times. It is a great story and makes one wish that all service providers were as thoughtful as Fred. Steve has taken the Fred story together with his own experiences and applied it wonderfully to the ACR industry. I also met Steve in Vegas when he won the Gold Stevie Award for Customer Service. What a nice person he is. A real English gent. Awards are great way of promoting something important, so one for customer service in the ACR industry was long overdue. I read the profile of the first winner Disa. What a gem. I haven't read the profile of the second winner but I expect she is too. All these three are crowned for their exceptional customer service but I imagine that they all also have their feet planted firmly on the ground. Really winners like these put aside their crowns and show people that they are human too, and that they care. It is those values that shine through in this blog. Exceptional article.

Sanjukta Nunez

03 January 2016 18:05:25

Good article. I see that many complain about their bosses. Something I value and look for in leaders of companies is simply stopping to say "hi, hello, how are you?" and listening each day when they meet staff members. This goes along way to show you know that they are important and creates a better workplace atmosphere. The staff are then far more likely in my experience to pass on to the customers the same courtesy to the company's customers. Work places with ignorant bosses often have poor customer service records.

Kelly

03 January 2016 01:37:59

I don't know if to be happy or sad after reading this. Many people leaving comments feel inspired but I feel depressed. My boss only happy if produce good results. If i spend time helping a customer I think maybe the results will drop because I have less time for my job. Sad but true.

Lina József

03 January 2016 01:33:03

What an empowering article. Excellent read. I never knew that the Refrigeration industry had such an interesting blogger.

This one made me think alot. I have so much to do in my career and my life. What an inspiring Award. Great!

Ken

03 January 2016 01:26:24

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Happy new year Khun Steve!

I read this blog first time. It is very good. Praise to the ACR industry. Thailand has big ACR industry. Hope to see you again soon at Exhibition

Steve Holland

03 January 2016 01:09:42

My wife who also works as my secretary/office manager is brilliant at this (are you reading this dear?). She is a genius at striking up empathy with customers in person or on the phone. They instantly take to her, due to her approach. I can't explain it or describe it better (i wish i could bottle it) but it certainly works and has been a godsend at helping me to grow our air conditioning business. Steve is right, we do sell ourselves short as an industry when it comes to acknowledging the talented and hardworking individuals that make this industry. My wife isn't an engineer but as a business (and a husband) I would be lost without her. She is better than Fred any day

Sarah Venables

03 January 2016 01:00:09

I read this, then your other blog posts, and this one again. I do like your ideas and approach

Please don't ever be tempted to write a '10 ways..etc! type article. You get the message across far better and with an entertaining story too. So refreshing.

I like the way you continue to push boundaries. I am not from the ACR industry but I don't need to be to appreciate your fine writing and creative ideas. They all ring true for many other industries too so I and others can so easily relate to them.

I was told that this blog post was iconic, and I wouldn't disagree at all with that description.

I hope to read more from you soon

童俊锟 (Kate)

03 January 2016 00:17:07

when u wanna provide a good product. try to think urself as a customer. will i buy it? will i need it? sth like that. services are the same.

Rachel Rocha

03 January 2016 00:03:04

#iconic One of my 2016 New Year's resolutions is to be more positive in everything I do and reading posts like this one everyday will make it easy. Thank you for your help

This is a great article with a great outcome. We must think creatively of bringing all parties together for the greater good. This article promoting the individual worker for awards and it has happened. What an inspirational story of change for the better that is. I am inspired for 2016 to make a change. Thank you Steve

IAN P

02 January 2016 23:55:57

This award is hardly going to make a dent in an increasingly incestuous industry award system that remorselessly heaps awards upon sponsors. This one, and the ones for students/trainees stand out as genuine, but I haven't any time for the others.

Ben Alexander

02 January 2016 23:42:18

I don't make resolutions. I set goals! Until this moment, providing excellence in customer service didn't feature. It does now. Also, make a difference. #inspirational & #iconic

Dina Awad

02 January 2016 23:33:03

Thanks for this beautiful article. The story reads so well and points to offer some good food for thought for personal development. It helped me to envision what is missing in my contact with customers. It is time to stop shrugging my shoulders.

The refrigeration industry needs to take note. It needs to appreciate what we have and knowing how to make the most of it. This will lead to a better industry. We need Mr Gill's positive psychology on an industry level. We believe too much that we are under the dogs, and the poor relations in engineering. Start to appreciate ourselves and then others will follow. We should stop under valuing what we do

I do not usually read blogs for the refrigeration industry because quite frankly to say that they are of little interest to me. This one is the exception although I only heard of it now.

I read that it was not written recently which surprised me. But good to know that the Award that Mr Gill proposed was adopted by ACR News. Credit to them for the foresight to do this wonderful thing for the ACR industry.

May be one day I win it too :-) My belief is that this could be true. I also have belief that I am speaking here to the author Mr Gill but I see that other comments never receive a response (no like, no comment, none so ever etc). Its quite intriguing to know if Mr Gill reads this still. I leave comment anyway

Happy new year and good health to all

Keisheia

02 January 2016 22:02:03

Thank you so much for this link Pam. I have been feeling unhappy in my job recently and been thinking about making changes in my career. I now realise that I need to make changes in myself first. I confess that I have let work things get on top of me and havent always done my best for the customer. Reading about Fred inspired me. If I make some simple changes to my mindset, my actions will follow and I can finish each day feeling that I have done my best. Growth can be obtained when you conquer yourself first. My main focus in 2016 is growth. So I may look to change my career for sure, but first I will change my attitude. I didn't know that the ACR industry had an award for individuals doing their work. It always seems to be for best new compressor or something like that. This truly is an inspirational idea. Thanks Pam #iconic is spot on

Jane

02 January 2016 21:48:55

So refreshing to read! Great post.

Clare Gilmartin

02 January 2016 21:39:20

Thank you for writing this post. It is certainly worth sharing, keeping and framing!

I have heard it said that exceptional customer service is like a flower which does not grow well in everyone's garden and it does not come overnight. it takes many days and nights of nurturing before it will grow and blossom into the remarkable flower that will take people's breath away.

Fred the post mail man was a great example to use, and now the ACR industry has 'flowers' of its own. I liked Martin Gentle's suggestion to name in the Disa, which is a type of flower. What a wonderful suggestion and fits well into Steve's proposal that we find a suitable name from the industry rather than call it a 'Fred'.

Be well and happy new year

Amy Smallwood

02 January 2016 21:28:27

I really appreciate this post a great deal. I was wondering whatever happened to the renaissance man (or woman) then this pops up reminding me that they do exist. Its a simple, yet joyful and valuable message that inspires us to be better in every aspect of our professional lives. I had already made my New Year's resolutions (and already broken a couple!) but I will add excel at customer service in good time for Monday morning. Thank you Steve, you make a great ambassador for the HVACR industry

Julian Dodd

02 January 2016 19:23:41

Very creative, Gives a fresh perspective on the Air Conditioning & Refrigeration industry, especially those working within it. Thanks!

Andrea Crowley

02 January 2016 18:42:15

Love this idea...and...its wisdom

Darryl Fraser

02 January 2016 16:44:23

Happy New Year from Cape Town!

A friend suggested that I read Steve's blog on customer service during the break. I must confess that I put off reading it as it didn't sound like the most exciting thing to do during the holiday. But what a surprise it has turned out to be, however I must say that it isn't a blog about customer service at all. With lines like: "a mind-set that looks for and seizes opportunities to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary " and "Normal is overrated and has never been a term that should be applied to our industry." this is much more of a motivational article than it is about just customer service. Steve's passion for the ACR industry shines through and is infectious. I understand that it is now an old blog with the proposed award actually having been launched. Fantastic.

I was told this was iconic, and I must agree. But no way is it simply a blog about customer service. It is praise for all those remarkable people who make our industry so special.

Darryl Fraser

Chris

02 January 2016 15:49:12

Thanks Steve, these are great words of encouragement for everyone who is starting out on a career on the tools in refrigeration. The hands-on guys who help the customers on site, will get help and good will in return. Those that don't bother being polite to the customer are always the ones we receive the most complaints about. It isn't necessarily that their workmanship is worse, it is that they don't get the favours that we all need to succeed on site.

Sandra Poyma

02 January 2016 15:13:35

Great read but something you didn't mention is that potential future employers may also select a candidate for their customer service skills. I was told by the recruitment agency to highlight this aspect on my CV and hey presto my current employer told me that I was invited to interview in the first instance because they saw that on there.

For anyone looking for a job change in the new year, this might just swing it for you

Steven Prevost

01 January 2016 15:11:28

Happy New Year!

Thought I would take advantage of the break to catch-up on some emails. A colleague suggested I read this blog, so here I am.

The examples given by Steve (and also by Mark) prove the point that first impressions really count for a whole lot when it comes to building lasting relationships. Mark Sanborn was blown away by Fred's helpful and caring, attentive attitude. Steve tells of the first impressions when meeting two site engineers. If there was only one thing I could take from this blog, it would be the importance of first impressions. But , there are several things I can take from this blog as it is multi-layered in its messages, perhaps the most striking of which is that we as individuals can all make a difference if we chose to; individuals do matter.

My colleague said I would find this post 'simple but effective'. Very true indeed.

Stephan

30 December 2015 20:58:31

A late night from Berlin. Thanks for sharing this article. Excellent if I may say so

The ACR industry is large in Europe. I this award will be popular here also

Alex

30 December 2015 20:24:57

This is awesome! (yikes is that a lame word these days??) seriously this is good and well worth sharing. Steve I love that you work globally and can bring that experience to your blogs

iconic (another overused word but rightly used in this case)

Danielle

30 December 2015 20:04:57

This is the most concise and valuable articles I have read in many weeks. Everyone in the HVACR industry should read this.

#iconic

C. Vickers

30 December 2015 19:58:40

Insightful blog. Nothing worse than being than turning every member of staff into a sales person chasing a quoto rather than providing excellent customer service.

For those that need help honing selling skills, I would recommend Walt Slaughter who has a really good seminar:

(https://www.seminarinformation.com/qqbpca/value-selling-in-todays-markets)

Vasco

30 December 2015 19:52:10

I disagree that excellence in customer service is key to business success. Nobody likes the people at our local wholesaler, but they offer a fast service at a supposedly low price, and are without doubt convenient. But the company is essentially faceless, or worse; those that we actually have the misfortune to meet are unhelpful, uneducated, unknowledgeable, and give the air of total indifference born from lack of motivation. But having said all that, it doesn't influence our buying decisions at all. I know a really nice guy who works for a competitor in the next state, but they are too far and too expensive. So being nice and helpful doesn't mean that we ever buy from him, we don't

For small businesses, like a family run business for example, exceptional customer service may work, but for megacorporations like the one I work for, who purchase through global deals and purchasing departments, having a human face, friendly or otherwise doesn't help at all

This blog is a good talking point, and I agree with much of it, but to claim that it will improve business is simply wrong

Veronica Sullivan

30 December 2015 19:37:34

Greetings from Denver.

Steve, in the space of less than an hour you have become by far one of my favourite writers. I can't think of another blog about the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry that is anywhere near as good as yours. In the past hour, reading through your posts I have learned and questioned my own industry paradigms with the articles. Thanks for writing with such honesty.

I used to think this industry was dull and that I was unappreciated. Well not any more

Thanks for sharing

Justine O'Reilly

30 December 2015 19:29:30

Great advice. Genuine business relationships take time, mutual trust, respect and a healthy dose of humble attributes. Proving exceptional customer service will enable a personal connections to be an effective way to sustain reciprocal and mutual growth regardless of industry affiliation. Word of mouth recommendations and integrity will trump cold networking every time. The message(s) in this blog (I think there are several with undertones too) come through loud and clear. Another great article well worth the Evernote clip :-)

Rosa Gallegos

30 December 2015 19:18:16

"If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want" : Zig Ziglar

Customer service is just helping people get what they want,,right?

Diogenesn Moore

30 December 2015 19:15:10

Great article thanks for sharing

Corrie

30 December 2015 19:10:56

Mr Gill, you said it perfectly!

This is Awesome, Well Written Piece! If only more would think this way, what a wonderful and loving industry this would be!!!

It's so important to stay teachable...so important to be humble...and so important to step outside of SELF and take a chance by helping someone else