Meeting Customers' Needs by Being Approachable

Yesterday I got some great feedback from our customer on the Lincoln Christian School remodel project.

The Development Director, Mark Powell, says everybody from Willmar Electric has been great to work with on the project. Mark said Humberto makes a point to say hello every time he sees him.

What is the big deal about saying hello to somebody? It must mean something or our customer would not bring it up. Humberto’s warm greetings stand out, and Mark likes it.

One of our core values is Meeting Customer Needs.

Meeting Customer Needs goes beyond saying hello, of course. We shined well beyond our morning greetings. The completion day for the project is today, and today the school is moving into the new space.

We had a short window to complete the project, and we worked with the general contractor and other trades to meet this need. It is a very satisfying feeling knowing we accomplished this goal while maintaining positive relationships with the customer. Meeting deadlines can become contentious, but we try to stay approachable even under the stress of a hard deadline.

We had dozens of people work on the project. Having a customer tell us every one of them was great to work with this summer drives home an important point. We are trying to have a culture where each individual naturally lives out our core values of:

• Treat others the way you want to be treated
• Merit Shop
• Thrifty
• Meet customer needs

Thank you to everybody involved in the Lincoln Christian School project.

Red Dirt, Twang and Genuine People

I know George Jones is dead. I realize it was reported widely on April 26, 2013, when he died. I remember because I spent the day listening to his songs on Spotify. However, when he did not show up last night, I became 100% convinced. I am now sure of it. Why? Let me explain.

Willmar Electric has an office in Lawton, OK, every summer the crew has a picnic at Bryan Gilland’s house. I had heard about the party and wanted to see why everybody bragged about it. So I bought an airline ticket and headed out.

Let me set the scene.

The temperature reached 103. I have no idea what the heat index was, in fact, at the party, several of us discussed how we thought the whole idea of heat index was a joke. Let us face it 103 is hot. Figuring out how to make it sound even hotter is an unnecessary exercise. According to the weatherman was day two of two weeks of 100 plus temperatures.
Welcome to an Oklahoma August.

The wind was about 20 mph. Earlier in the day, one of the people had commented on how at least it was not windy. Late in the party when the wind “died down” to about 15 mph people noted it was getting calmer!!! Although technically correct I would say, the word calm was the right word to use. They still had heavy objects on the plates and napkins. To keep them from blowing away. (This is a Midwestern tradition; it is not a party until you have chased down a paper plate blowing in the wind.)

The good news was the wind was coming from the south, and the house was on the south side of the gravel road. Speaking of which the directions to the party should have been, take the paved county road without a shoulder six miles until it curves at the county line. Then take a right on to the next gravel road. When you get there swerve to miss the wild boar in the road and take another right at the next gravel road. Then the house is the first house on the left. Please park in the ditch.
The house was not only the ranch style. It was a ranch. Cattle in the back. Very small ranch, only 80 head of cattle. When I owner of the cattle talked to me about working the ranch, he joked. “It’s hard work taking care of the cattle. Until about 9:30 am, and then I wonder what I should do for the rest of the day.” (Please insert rim shot.)

I am going to waste some of your time by letting you know we had a BBQ. Cooked by our host. If I need to know what the side dishes were, I do not know if we can be friends. (Baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, and peach cobbler).

Over the speakers, they played country music. I mean real country music, David Allen Coe and Chris Stapleton country, not Oliva Newton-John and Luke Bryan.
There was red dirt as far as you can see. Red like Reba’s hair. Dry red dirt. Each step of Drew Janz’s cowboy boots sent a plume of powder into the air. I made a lot of fun of Drew for being an “old man” and wearing jeans and boots to pool party, but part of me wishes I had done the same. Half the party dressed like Drew and, to be honest, they fit the scene; the other half dressed in shorts like me and fit the weather. Drew’s wife said, “He only wears shorts when we camp.” No, wonder he likes to go camping.

Forget George Jones I should have been expecting Henry Fonda’s Tom Joad from Grapes of Wrath to show up.

By now, you must be wondering what my point is. What is the big deal about the scene you are setting?

I will explain it.

I would say everything about the party was similar to a scene out of a Hollywood motion picture except Hollywood would not understand or be able to recreate this scene.

I like genuine people. My biggest turn off is phony people. Hate is a strong word, but it is safe to say I hate pretentious people. I cannot stand phoniness or pretention.

I struggle when I am around them.

I work at a company whose purpose statement is “People Making a Difference for People.” I had spent the prior two days going around one by one shaking the hands of each of my Oklahoma coworkers. Nearly every one of them had told me the thing they love most about their job is the people. The people they work with, the people they work around.

As the partygoers sat in the chairs, they brought with them to the party and talked or played yard games they put on no pretensions. They enjoyed each other for being each other, no small talk needed because these people genuinely cared for each other.

The food was fantastic. The music was awesome. The weather was predictable. But it was the people who made the difference.

As the party ended, Mike Frakes asked if I was going to say something. I told Mike I was not. He seemed surprised. I did not give him a reason, but I will let you in on a secret. I had two reasons. Either I would have wrecked the moment by talking, or I would have started to cry in public. Neither is a good idea. Therefore, I stayed quiet, enjoyed the moment, and drove away a happy man.

I hope I am not giving you the impression I think I am some country guy. I am a city slicker through and through. I own and wear cowboy boots because they are comfortable. I listen to classic country music because it reminds me of visiting my grandparents on their farm, and I miss my grandparents. I am more comfortable downtown or at a sporting event full of people. This event’s greatness was not a matter of meeting my preferred style. This party’s greatness was the people who put it on and the people who came to enjoy each other.

If they have another party at Bryan’s, I will encourage more people around the company to join me.

Planning Leads to Organization

I recently lived out an example of why being organized matters.

Over the winter my wife, Sue and I decided we wanted to take a short trip this summer to one of our favorite places to visit, Kansas City. We have been there numerous times and decided to have Sue’s parents, Chuck and Karen Stern, join us. We thought they would enjoy many of the places we wanted to visit.

So like most things in our lives, Sue and I started by making a plan. The first step to having a good plan is to have a purpose.

So, we made a list of things we wanted to do. The reason I wanted to go on the trip was to see the National World War I museum, and for Sue, it was to revisit the Hallmark Headquarters, which is also a museum but of love and thoughtfulness. We also wanted to eat at Sue’s favorite place, The Plaza III, and stay at the Raphael Hotel on the Plaza. Because we were taking Sue’s parents, we added Union Station, Model Train Display, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and a barbeque joint. I also wanted to see the Negro League Hall of Fame potentially, and Sue was curious about the Arabia Steamboat Museum. We also were willing to go to the American Jazz Museum if Chuck and Karen wanted to check it out.

(Secret is Sue’s parents are good musicians who often still get out their saxophone and clarinet. In fact, at 76, Sue’s dad is adding saxophone to his list of talents. Why not, as we found out this weekend at Hallmark Grandma Moses started her 23-year painting career at 78.)

Next, we found out all the hours of operation and locations for each place and came up with a plan of action. Hallmark had to be done on the first day because it was not open on Sundays.

Now we had a plan — time for the trip.

Our first stop would be going to a BBQ joint, knowing this was what Chuck was most looking forward to we needed to get this right. If you been to Kansas City, you know, it is easy to find a great place to get Barbeque. We went with Jack Stack’s Freight House location because it was near Union Stations. (If you prefer Gates, Arthur Bryant’s, or Oklahoma Joes, please forgive us, but Jacks is good, and the location was perfect). Chuck loved it.

Then Union Station, the model trains and Hallmark. They are all very close to each other. However, things were going so smoothly we had extra time. But because we had a plan, we could quickly decide we had time to go to the Truman Library!!! Again, everybody loved it.

We found out where we originally wanted to have dinner had moved so despite having reservations we changed course and found another place to eat on the plaza. Again, a very easy task. We had made it easier because we had a plan.

Before we went to bed, we reviewed our plan for the next day mentally. Breakfast at Gram and Dun then the WWI Museum. If the Museum wasn’t as great as people said it was, we would be done early and could hit some of the other “maybes” on our list.

The WWI Museum was awesome if you are into history and haven’t been to it, you need to schedule a trip. We didn’t get done early. All the things on the maybe list would need to wait for another trip.

It didn’t go as planned, but because we had a plan, the trip was a success. We met our purpose and hit all of our goals. It was completely stress-free.

The example above is personal, but it reinforces why Willmar Electric has Organized as part of our brand promise.

(If the Kansas City tourism board needs a spokesperson, Karen Stern is the gal for you.)

Elmo and Frank Chapin, Millennials at Heart? Doubtful.

I get frequently told how today’s young people are concerned with sustainability and using our natural resources wisely. I hear people tell me all the time about how millennials want to know; their employers are socially conscious and not wasteful.
Good. Glad young people are concerned. However, hopefully, they don’t think they invited the idea.

I’m fifty. During my fifty years, the two people who did the most to conserve precious resources are my Grandpa, Elmo Chapin, and my Great Uncle, Frank Chapin. They would be in their mid to late nineties if they were still alive today. The only influence either had on today’s young people is they raised nine people, mostly baby boomers, who became the grandparents to several dozen millennials.

Elmo and Frank ran a company, Willmar Electric, with the core value of Thrifty. By thrifty I, the textbook definition of “using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.” I’m not talking about being cheap.

My Grandpa and Great Uncle also looked out for the environment in direct ways. They picked up trash when they saw it on the ground. They shut off the lights when they left the room. They walked when possible.
The best example of thrifty at Willmar Electric throughout our history is Pillsbury paper. This movement was brought on by my father, John.

The Pillsbury Company was a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company that was one of the world's largest producers of grain and other foodstuffs until it was bought out by General Mills in 2001. My dad got us access to large amounts of paper Pillsbury was getting rid of because the promotions they were using the paper was for had run their course. To them, the paper was waste. To us, because the back side of the paper was still blank, it was only half used.

We stocked our copiers and fax machines with this still usable resource. All internal documents got put on the back side “Pillsbury” paper from the late 70s into this millennium. Our stock of paper outlasted Pillsbury itself!

In 2019 being Thrifty means sending tools, we no longer need but are in good working condition to mission organizations who can put to the tools to use serving a high calling.

What does all this mean in the big picture? It means I don’t like having people telling me the world is going to end if we don’t force everybody to change their behaviors.

Two quotes I think make this point well.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
― Rumi

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy

Elmo and Frank Chapin lived a life devoted to using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully. On a personal level, they raised their children to do the same, and those children raised a couple dozen or so grandchildren to do likewise. Then we took it to the next level with dozens more. I’m sure my children’s generation will do the same regardless of what others are doing, not because of peer pressure but because it is the right thing to do. On a professional level, the same generational movement happened within Willmar Electric because My Grandpa and Great Uncle lead by example and it’s making a big impact.

So let’s start with ourselves and see where it leads.

Watch What You Say: Your Children Are Listening

Sue and I, try hard to make sure we don't miss chances to impart wisdom on our children. The older they get, the more those sessions involve their help in breaking down the situation to get to piercing out the lesson at the heart of the case.

When my children each graduated from high school, I wrote them a book. The book was full of stories from their youth and how those events provided lessons for the future.

Recently on a trip to the west coast both our daughters, Anne and Sara mentioned they had recently reread their book.

Last month our son, Mike, mentioned some comments a made about our church hiring off duty policeman for our services. He said, "I think of your advice on the subject often. Does it surprise you? You probably forgot you even said it." I had not forgotten what I said, but I certainly haven’t thought about it since the words came out of my mouth.

For me, it was a quick remember how our children our students of what we say and do. In my case, it also showed me how my kids are learners. Wanting to improve every chance they get if it means applying the advice from their parents.

Wow!!!

Great stuff. No pressure.

I don't see it as pressure. I see it as an opportunity. I realize I need to study and analyze what I do to make sure I am acting out what I want to teach. I feel energized to break things down and figure things out to several levels.

To me, it seems fun and challenging. A challenge that will help propel me forward with energy.

I owe it to my adult children to continue to be somebody worth modeling and somebody whose advice is worth taking.

It is not only a challenge but a compliment. I'll take both. Thank you, Anne, Mike, and Sara.

March is (or isn't) Minnesota’s snowiest month.

We live in a world where we often hear the term fake news thrown around.

Today at work we came across a situation when people threw out lots of facts about how we did something at Willmar Electric. Instead of using it as an example I found a separate true story we can all relate to and will use it as my example to keep from embarrassing any coworkers.

I grew up in Minnesota and was frequently told: “March is the snowiest month of the year.” People love to throw this “fact” around. I even verified this sentiment with 3 Minnesota natives today.

Every March somebody would point out how winter was nearly over, and some wet blanket would announce while you know, “March is the snowiest month of the year.”

If you are a Minnesotan feel free to answer Mr. Wet Blanket with, “If I wanted to be in March I would cheer for the Timberwolves.”

Another classic is how “it always snows at tournament time.” I ‘ll leave this statement alone other than to say if March is so snowing and the tournaments are in March you don’t need a very high level of education to put it all together and deduce it will snow during one of the tournaments. (I now live in Nebraska; I’ll point out

Nebraskans say the same thing and the same level of genius is needed).

Guess what the snowiest month of the year is in Minneapolis?

It’s not March. March is the third snowiest month of the year. My source is the Minnesota Department of Resources (https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/climate/twin_cities/snowfall.html). I first heard this news around the turn of the century from Metrologist Paul Douglas on WCCO-TV and then by Dave Dahl on KSTP radio. I believed them. I’m still nervous you won’t, believe me, so I found a second link (https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/minneapolis/minnesota/united-states/usmn0503).

If you live in Lincoln, like I now do, and you need to see your data, I found this (https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/lincoln/nebraska/united-states/usne0283). It is interesting to note the season totals for Lincoln this year add up to the average Minnesota total.

Which when pointed in a group today prompted my Nebraska based coworker to turn toward our Minnesota coworkers and ask "how can you live there?"

She was told, "it's the woods and the lakes."

Finally!!! A Minnesotan who didn’t try to trick us by saying it’s not that cold. Had he tried that old trick we would have more facts to verify.

Hopefully, we are now all on the same page. January is the snowiest month in Minnesota. I hope this doesn't ruin your day or make you think your grandma was a lair. Feel free to track down your wet blanket friend and tell them to cheer up the end is near.

All this information on winter weather gets me back to my point of fake news. It seems the idea of people saying the same thing over and over again gets the majority of people to accept the information as truth.

As I said above today at Willmar Electric I was involved in an issue where during two different conversations two claims counter to each other were claimed as true. My response was to point out the good news. We have the information available to find out what is happening and react according to the facts.

Isn’t it cool we don’t have to move ahead making decisions-based on contradicting stories. We don’t have to accept under proven statistics as our proof.

Back to the weather, relax Minnesota the worst is over. But also remember on average you should still be getting another 10 inches of snow. Don’t worry you have an extra 60 hours of sunshine to melt all the new snow and the stuff underneath it. If you don’t believe me check the links I attached.

Good Customer Service Involves Results

My back has been hurting for about three years. In 2016 I was too busy as National Chair of ABC to do anything about it when the pain started. For another 18 months, I just put up with the pain because I’m not very good at stopping to go to a doctor appointment. It’s a hassle.

Early in 2018, I went to the doctor, and he tried a few things. Physical Therapy and pills didn’t’ solve anything so before I broke down completely from a physical standpoint, “broke down” went back to the doctor in early 2019. He gave me a few more options before anybody tries to operate on my back.

I would rather have back pain then a message and didn’t want stronger drugs, so I opted for going to the Chiropractor.

It has been a great experience. I will admit my back feels a little better. But the best part of going to this chiropractor is the lesson I am getting in customer service. (The worst part was looking at x-rays showing I have very little cartilage between two of my vertebra).

Everybody in the office knows my name when I walk in. (Of course, they know I’m coming because I have a prearranged appointment). But seldom are people excited to see me when I enter the room. So this is a nice change or pace.

The staff at my chiropractor’s office take customer care to the next level. As they escort me to the room for my treatments they ask about my time between visits. Not by saying something generic like “how was your weekend?” They ask things like “did you have a good trip to Oklahoma?” Or “how was weather in Minnesota?” Or other very specific question based on the last conversation we had.

They explain to me exactly what is going to happen next before moving to the next step.

When the chiropractor comes in the room, it is more of the same. He remembers the exact condition I was in on my last visit before I have to remind him.

Remembering details about me is impressive service, especially when your reason to go to a place is for personal care.

Meeting customer needs is one of our stated core Values at Willmar Electric. We pride ourselves on knowing what the customer needs and meeting those needs. We think to listen to a customer tell us their story is a key step in giving them good customer service.

If you remember from the first paragraph in this story, I didn’t get help with my back because I don’t like to go to appointments. I consider doctor appointments to be a hassle. But good customer service helped get me over the hassle factor.

I realize customer service goes beyond just caring and listening. Customer service also involves results. If my back doesn’t get better, I'll stop using the chiropractor.

Willmar Electric’s customers also want results. Yesterday Lee Freudenburg and I went on a customer visit. During the conversation, the customer, LES, kept telling us how Mark Ashcraft and Lee solve their problems. Highlighting the conversation by saying “I call them because they know us and they know what they are doing.”

I love it. I want the core values to go beyond something we say in the morning huddles. I want customer service to be something my customer tell other people about us.

They are Yellow not Green

Tennis balls are yellow right? I have never thought any other way. The facts are clear. You can literally see for yourself. Sure, I've seen some off colored balls from time to time. I've been present for radicals showing up with white or orange tennis balls. Trying to be cool or different.

Recently the International Tennis Federation declared only yellow or white balls could be used.

But never green. I've never seen a green tennis ball.

My wife and daughters on the other hand claim they have never seen a yellow tennis ball? They claim the world is full of green tennis balls.

What is this craziness? Why are they so foolish?

I have looked for common threads. Is seeing a tennis ball as green a gender thing? Could it be women see this particular object differently? Nope, I've asked around and found a couple of things. There are a collection of people who see tennis balls as green. Not all of them are women.

It leaves me wondering how can these perfectly rational people see something so basic so different than me. I've been told they can see how I would see tennis balls as yellow but they insist they are green. I can't even go that far. I don't see any green when I look at them.
Let's back up a step. Maybe these "green tennis ball people" aren't perfectly rational. After all, how could they be considered rational?

They can't even tell the color of a tennis ball.

Enough about tennis balls. Let's consider the big picture.

I would like to get into "group think" and lack of diversity of thought. Maybe even tolerance.

I love my wife and daughters. I respect them and their brains. When they say tennis balls are green they aren't trying to be argumentative. (Although, when the subject comes up, they aren't trying to stop the argument either).

How does this relate to other issues? I think the parallels are quite strong.

In the world we live in today we tend to view the other side of an issue as the enemy. If they can't see things our way they are just flat wrong. Some issues push us away from even being friends. Certainly, people aren't breaking off friendships over the color of a tennis ball, but you wonder where rational people draw the line.

Can we still be friends if we disagree over immigration, gun control, religion or even daylight savings time? (What about a Yankee fandom? Pity yes, befriend no way).

When somebody sees something differently than I do I'm trying to make my first reaction to consider their view.

When somebody sees something differently than I do I'm trying not to let their view define their entire personhood to me.

I know in a business situation we are better off when a diverse group of people shows up to solve a problem. If we all have the same perspective or views as each other our solutions get stale, boring and even a little ineffective.

I've heard it said the first idea is the worst idea but the most important. The first idea gets the ball rolling down the path to making an improvement. But in a room full of diverse thought the first idea is shaped, molded and improved upon. The end product is sometimes nothing like the first idea. But without the first idea, you would still be stuck in the past. The less productive past.

Tennis balls are yellow. But listen to the other person because they might offer an insight you find quite useful.

Sue's Secret Recipe is Simple: Execution.

I have a great wife. She has many wonderful qualities. People hold in her in high regard for several reasons. She is pretty, smart, organized, and a great conversationalist. She is so wonderful I could never list all the great things about her. But for the rest of this blog I’m going to focus on one of the things she is most noted for.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

She makes the world best chocolate chip cookies. (And she makes them all the time). People request them for parties. People expect them at parties.

When a neighbor from our old neighborhood told me they had bought a acreage and were moving he said “I still consider us neighbors and at Christmas we will still expect Sue’s annual plate of cookies, I’ll stop by and pick them up.” How about me? Will you miss Sue’s charming husband?

Our daughter is all grown up and on her own. When she was staying at our house while we were on vacation, she had a large group of friends over to our house. The friends commented the house “wasn’t same without your mom’s chocolate chip cookies.”

She send them back to college with other people’s children.

At potlucks Sue brings chocolate chip cookies. During the potlucks I go over and tell people, usually the new people, “have you had the chocolate chip cookies? They are terrible. Whoever made them must have forgotten an ingredient.” I once said it from the stage. I have to use the line on strangers because the regulars know what I’m up to. (I wanted to take as many home as possible). It seldom works.

At our new house we have new neighbors. When new people move in we bring them chocolate chip cookies. Sue makes them. I deliver them.

At Christmas time we also give out cookies to our neighbors. When I returned for a second time with more cookies I got asked “The Question.”

What is the recipe?

And just like Sue has trained me I always give the same answer.

It’s just the one off the Nestle bag!!!

Then the person starts to argue with me. “It can’t be, they taste better then anybody else’s, my kids fight over them.” Others says “I’ve tried that recipe and they didn’t taste this good.” Ultimately people try to get to the bottom of things with “What is her added secret?”

The last question is our favorite question because we have a stock answer.

“Love, she adds an extra touch of love.” Most of the kid’s friends add this line for us. It’s legend among their friends they have heard it so often.

You might be wondering what is the real deal and why I’m I writing about it.

I have an even easier answer for that question.

Execution. She follows the recipe.

When I say “she follows the recipe” I mean exactly that. She doesn’t use it as a guideline, she follows it exactly. No substitutions. No rough estimates on amounts. The measuring cup is level. The oven temp is exact. She uses butter, not margarine.

Her execution is perfect.

She executes the plan. She plans for perfection and then gets perfection every time. She has practiced literally hundreds of times. (At least twice a month for over 25 years!!) On the rare occasion they don’t turn out to her standards she starts over again. She doesn’t settle for ok or second best. (But if you know me you already assumed, she clearly wouldn’t settle for second best.)

I don’t know who said it first but you often hear how in football even if the other team knew what play you are going to run you will succeed if execute the play properly.

(I can’t resist throwing in my favorite football quote on execution. When in the middle of a 26 game losing streak to start the franchise a reporter asked Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s Head Coach John McKay “what he thought of his teams execution?” He replied he was in favor of it. McKay and I are talking about a different kind of execution).

Take a good plan, practice your craft and execute the plan and you will have success. Is a very simple recipe for success. It works just like recipe on the bag of chips.

Again, make sure you follow the steps correctly.

Step one, buy the right brand of chips. The recipe is on the bag. From there it is all about execution.

(((Bonus secret. Don’t bake the cookies. Most of the time we just eat the dough. Don’t worry you’re not going to get sick or die. Live life on the edge, eat raw cookie dough. The Chapins have never used a sick day and we eat cookie dough at least once a month))).