Ramblings of a January morning
As time progresses in the world of small business I am constantly learning and developing what I beleive is the best way to run Volo Aero MRO. Through my working life I have worked with a great many individuals, coworkers and managers and there is a lot I have learnt from doing myself, failing on my own (and with others) and seeing how other people work. The leasons that can be learnt from watching others is truely a gift- even if all it shows you is what not to do!
Throughout my working history I have spent a considerable time with customers, getting to know them on a personal level and getting to know thier fears and concerns. The trap I tend to fall into is that once I have learnt something I tend never to question it so if a customer explains thier issues to me 5 or 10 years ago I remember. The problem with this is that things change, you would not expect this to surprise me after all change is constant and ongoing.
A classic example for me was dealing with an OEM cusomer who for years was always driving down price year after year after year, otherwise known as the margin death spiral. Yes a process can be leaned out and improved but there comes a point where incremental improvements are not going to yield significant gain- the process is about as good as its going to get. So whilst trying to figure a way of telling the customer what we could do and could not do to meet there expected request I prepared for the dreaded call.
Well the day came I prepared myself and the call did not pan out the way I expected, the reason was the customer had changed thier proorities, its now all about on time delivery. The customer had reviewed its metrics and realised that its true savings would be better delivered by delivering more engines quicker than saving a few dollars on repairs. A realization that sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture to deliver real savings.
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