What kind of an impression does each of us make on our clients when we work with them on daily basis? Do we leave them with an experience about which they feel good? Are they likely to want to rehire us for the next project, and to ask for the same team?
The other day I had a very unpleasant experience with the financing arm of a car lease company (which shall remain nameless). They called me repeatedly during the week claiming that I was behind in my payments by two weeks. My records showed that I had actually overpaid by one month, but they hadn’t cashed the check. The customer service representative was not helpful at all and, after fifteen fruitless minutes, I asked to be transferred to an account manager who could promptly reconcile my billing.
I was put on hold for ten more minutes and when the manager finally answered I was asked to give him all the same account information that I had previously recited to the service representative. I was back to square one. Fifteen minutes later he concluded that I would have to speak to a different department altogether and asked me to hold while he explained my situation to a “higher authority.” Ten more minutes passed, yet when the new “authority” came on line I had to recite the account information all over again. By now I was thoroughly frustrated and wondering why I was doing business with this company at all.
It actually took a fourth individual, and a total time investment of one and one-half hours, to finally resolve the matter to my satisfaction. With the exception of the fourth individual, the company’s representatives were ineffectual and uncaring. To say that I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth is an understatement. I resolved to seek a different financing company once this car lease had run its course. Nice car….bad company!
At TRO JungBrannen each of us is a customer service representative in some way - whether we are answering the phones, working with user groups, overseeing construction, or managing the invoicing process. It is not enough for us to design an inspired building; we must provide our client with an extraordinary and inspiring experience as well.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Too Much Stuff?
Do you remember the George Carlin comedy bit about having a place for your “stuff”?
In light of the global economic malaise, a lot has been written lately about our country’s obsession with having a lot of “stuff.” We all have too much of everything, really, and could do just fine with a lot less. For the profession of architecture that may mean fewer new buildings, at least for a while.
The other day Paul Nakazawa, an architectural futurist (among his many other talents), spoke to the Boston Society of Architects Board about the future of our profession in the context of an economy which he believes will recover slowly over several years. He suggested that the demand right now for traditional architectural services – namely the design of new buildings – simply isn’t there. New buildings are increasingly difficult for clients to finance, and like the rest of us they are going to try to make better use of the “stuff” they already have!
Now, perhaps I am a bit more upbeat than Paul, but I believe that as the economy recovers, clients will once again seek competitive advantage through architecture and, like federal and state agencies, they will embrace sustainability as a cornerstone of their business platform and engage those firms, like TRO JungBrannen, passionately committed to the design of carbon-neutral, zero net energy new buildings.
Meanwhile, it seems to me that our firm is coping exceptionally well during this economic transition because we also offer integrated, highly specialized, multi-disciplinary design services that include visionary master planning assessments, strategic repositioning, energy conservation analysis, and a host of other analytical services that transform a client’s business or institution through enhanced efficiency and operational connectivity rather than through new construction.
George Carlin would probably acknowledge that we have the right “stuff.”
In light of the global economic malaise, a lot has been written lately about our country’s obsession with having a lot of “stuff.” We all have too much of everything, really, and could do just fine with a lot less. For the profession of architecture that may mean fewer new buildings, at least for a while.
The other day Paul Nakazawa, an architectural futurist (among his many other talents), spoke to the Boston Society of Architects Board about the future of our profession in the context of an economy which he believes will recover slowly over several years. He suggested that the demand right now for traditional architectural services – namely the design of new buildings – simply isn’t there. New buildings are increasingly difficult for clients to finance, and like the rest of us they are going to try to make better use of the “stuff” they already have!
Now, perhaps I am a bit more upbeat than Paul, but I believe that as the economy recovers, clients will once again seek competitive advantage through architecture and, like federal and state agencies, they will embrace sustainability as a cornerstone of their business platform and engage those firms, like TRO JungBrannen, passionately committed to the design of carbon-neutral, zero net energy new buildings.
Meanwhile, it seems to me that our firm is coping exceptionally well during this economic transition because we also offer integrated, highly specialized, multi-disciplinary design services that include visionary master planning assessments, strategic repositioning, energy conservation analysis, and a host of other analytical services that transform a client’s business or institution through enhanced efficiency and operational connectivity rather than through new construction.
George Carlin would probably acknowledge that we have the right “stuff.”
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