Our business is largely phone based. Our customers are all over the country, the technicians are all over the world, and in many cases we develop close relationships with these people. We know how business is, what is happening in life, but in many cases it is difficult to find an opportunity to meet people face to face.
Having an office that is centrally located for our customers changing that dynamic and I am enjoying the process very much.
Several weeks ago a customer in eastern Illinois who I have talked to for quite some time called and needed a TTR. I knew from previous conversations that his technicians were familiar with the Vanguard test sets and I recommended the Vanguard ATRT-03. It is a Vanguard test set that handles tests three phases, is very accurate, and it would work well for his application. We discussed shipping cost estimates (he was pleased that his cost to do a Vanguard test had gone down dramatically due to our recent office opening) and the order was queued up.
The day the equipment was due at his office, I showed up on his door with the Vanguard test set in hand. Needless to say they were expecting the FedEx guy, but they were still happy to see me. It was a great opportunity to meet someone that I had talked to over the phone for quite some time and really understand what their business is up to.
I am looking forward to seeing more customers and getting to know more people directly as the Chicago office matures.