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who owns the client?


The look on Oscar's face was as priceless as a kitten looking into a fishbowl.  Those jubilant feelings were evaporating quickly as overwhelmed Oscar began to consider his response to the customer simple statement of "you mean you are not always going to send Johnny to my site anymore?". Today, in many cases, the fact that a worker actually "owns" a customer is one of the primary reasons Oscar ended up with his nickname of overwhelmed. It is next to impossible to drive superior service performance to our client while balancing the customers favorite worker. We have known all along that this delicate balance of a preferred worker per jobsite is important to attract new workers and maintain long fruitful relationships.

Why? No doubt a relationship with the customer is very important. Can you honestly say if you had the information; where the equipment was located, site nuances, access codes and ladder positions, would you continue this same ridiculous practice? Is it in the company's best interest that a single worker owns the company's clients? Should we reinforce this behavior by hiring workers not only on their skill level but also on the number of contracts and customers they can bring with them? When will the madness stop!  As our workforces continue to dwindle, it will become increasingly important that we get the right person with the right skills on the right work activity. Our clients may love us and like Johnny and his personality; however, if we don't maintain that equipment, keep it running trouble-free and energy efficient, we are out of a job. God bless our customers as they should throw each and every one of us to the curb if our number one priority is not asset optimization.

So what's the sense of urgency? We are exploring connected systems and artificial intelligence daily, the effort is significant and worthwhile. Our challenges in evolving the industry, while technology may take center stage now, will really boil down to our ability to change our business and our culture. We must start breaking the dependencies and democratize the way that we objectively distribute and manage our clients and work activities.

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Next post:  who's data is it?
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