Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: Be Great

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For the written transcript, keep reading...Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a French critic, journalist, and novelist, once said, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." When I look at our industry, Karr's observation seems shockingly accurate. I keep waiting for things to get better when it comes to performance, but they never seem to. When I talk to customers about board houses, and why they don’t like dealing with them, it always boils down to one thing: They don't like the way board shops treat them.

I am told over and over again that board shops do what they want when it comes to quotes, for example. From the accuracy of the quote to the time it takes to quote something, board shops never seem to get quoting right.

Delivery is another problem. Every single customer I’ve spoken to has a story about how their boards were not delivered on time and no one notified them, until it was too late for anything to be done. One board buyer went so far as to say that he would rather deal with the Department of Motor Vehicles than deal with board shops. How low is that?

Another buyer told me that every single board shop he talks to claims to have a nearly perfect delivery schedule, yet when he decides to order from them, delivery problems always arise. Why do so many board shops claim “nearly perfect” delivery claims? Most of the industry numbers I meet say that, on average, delivery accuracy is in the low 80s.

What can we do to get the respect we feel we deserve? We all are working hard, right? We are all doing the best that we can, so why can’t we get our customers to love and appreciate us?

I don’t have all the answers, but here are a few ideas that will make you a better supplier to your customers overnight. As always, these things are not complicated--they never are. They do require dedication, passion, and perseverance and we all know you have those attributes. After all, we’re in the board business.

First, take your customer seriously. Listen to what she wants and give it to her. When quoting, quote the project exactly how she asked for it be quoted. The customer does not care about your price breaks or your lot size preference or whether or not your computer program can handle their requests. Just do it her way. Quote the quantities she wants. Promise the deliveries she wants and give her the quote as quickly as you can. You'd be amazed at how many buyers told me that they take the first quote they receive (especially when dealing with QTA requirements) and order the boards from that company. They just make sure they have everything  they need on the quote, and then they place the order if it seems reasonable. Many have told me that if the quote is not laid out the way they want it, they throw it out. Quote the way they want it quoted--see how easy that can be? One more thing: Stop taking so long. This is not rocket science. This is a quote--stop with all the fancy footwork and just quote the damn thing. The price has nothing to do with what you think your costs are (I still have never met anyone who knows what their costs are), but, rather, what the market dictates... whether you like it or not.

Deliver the boards on time. For heaven’s sake, this is not 1975. We are not reinventing the wheel. Most of the time you are building boards similar to the ones you have built 100 or even 1,000 times before. Just put them in on time, push them, and deliver them on time. Use the real dates, don’t fool around with stupid systems to fool your people into getting them out on time--just develop a culture that gets them out on time.

Finally, develop a company-wide, customer-centric culture and then communicate that culture to all employees, all the time. Read it, say it, repeat it: "The customer is always right. We are here to serve our customers. Without our customers we have no business." Figure out ways to knock your customers' socks off.

I know that we all want to think of ourselves as innovators and that’s a good thing, but don’t limit innovation to process and technology--extend it to customer service. Have brainstorming sessions with your teams that focus on how you can better serve customers, how you can develop new and significant ways to elate your customers by exceeding their expectations. Do this and it will make your company stand head and shoulders above the completion and it will make you successful and profitable as well. It’s only common sense.