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Does it have to be like this?


Perched at the entrance to the small retail shop, influential Irene patiently waits for the opportunity to help a fashionista find the perfect combination of clothes and accessories.   Avid Andy, a seasoned HVAC tech smirks as he passes the shop on the way to his gate, amused by the idea of "clothing accessories" in general and the fact that Irene is outside the shop wearing a light parka in the middle of summer.  Everything about that brief slice in time points to curious conditions constraining the ability to look at things differently and deliver service in a unique manner.  A retail shop, with no external load and minor internal load (as those incandescent floods for product were changed to LEDs months ago) has the air conditioner at capacity with absolutely nobody around except poor Irene.  While not my area of focus, why isn't this place adopting a bricks and mortar based non-sales attendant model with tags on merchandise and digital retail accounts on the clients mobile devices? 



If our perspectives could just be a bit wider wouldn't this client be the perfect candidate for C02 and motion based control on the HVAC systems, IoT controls to track and understand who is touching what product, electrical work to install RFID readers at the doors (non-sales attendant purchasing), and maintenance contracts to monitor / visit the sites at some frequency?  If our objectives were aligned to the customers throughput expectations, in this example the ability to have visibility and browsing to a captive audience within an airport, shouldn't we be having THOSE conversations?  Who gives a crap what the space temperature setpoint is?  Aren't we all really "masters of rotating and energized equipment"?  I can't remember the memo that asked us all to myopically look at our ability to provide value to our customers.  As trades based technical service providers were are in the catbird seat, broaden your perspectives and adapt to opportunities in this every changing world.



Whether you think you can, or you think you can't --- you're right.  (Henry Ford)



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Next post:  perceiving the service professional

Questions?  feel free to leave replies or direct message

See all of the "last mile worker" posts here:  http://lastmileworker.com

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