Boilers and East Tennessee 

If you’ve ever been to East Tennessee (think Great Smoky Mountains and Dollywood), you know boiler installations are not the norm outside of large commercial and industrial applications. East Tennessee is an area dominated by heat pumps and gas furnaces. For training and heating purposes, NCI installed two mod-con (modulating condensing) boilers in our headquarters. At this point in the project, all tubing under the slab is complete and connected to 10 different manifolds. Our job now is to install home runs from each manifold back to the mechanical rooms before the drywall contractor starts.  

Dominick Guarino, NCI’s CEO, brought me and Adam Mufich to Tennessee for a week to finish the installation. Everything was going great until we realized we underestimated how much REHAU PEX O₂ barrier ¾-inch tubing we needed by about 200 feet. Remember, since there aren’t many boiler installations in East Tennessee, finding the tubing locally would be a miracle.  

Dominick called Eugene Ivey, the local sales representative with RE Michel, one of NCI’s industry partners, to see if they had the tubing in stock. If they didn’t, it would mean another trip for us to Tennessee and a lot of additional expenses. The drywallers and painters were already scheduled and on a tight deadline. This oversight would set us back at least a month and possibly ruin plans we have for our High-Performance HVAC™ Summit, September 1-3, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. 

Answer the Phone 

When Dominick called, Eugene was with a customer in Crossville, Tennessee, almost two hours away. Dominick explained the situation and Eugene told us he would see what he could do. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, it turned out another customer had ordered too much tubing that was the correct size, type, and amount we needed. Best of all, the R.E. Michel branch was less than one hour away. 

None of this would have mattered if Eugene hadn’t taken care of the first important part of customer service. He answered the phone. Instead of screening his calls with voicemail only to forget or ghost the caller, he answered the phone. After answering, he checked on a product that most likely he wouldn’t have in stock. He didn’t hand off the responsibility to someone else or make excuses. Instead, he did the work and took care of our immediate needs. Eugene cared about fostering a relationship, even when it was inconvenient, and seemed likely they wouldn’t have what we needed. 

If you’re in customer service, how well do you answer your phone? Do you genuinely care about the person on the other end of the call, or are they a bother? How is your attitude when you answer? Do you brighten the caller’s day or add to their frustration when they’re in a jam? The difference could mean repeat business for you or a gift to your competitors who provide better service.  

Do More Than Expected 

Dominick thanked Eugene and told him we would head to the local branch to pick up the tubing right away. Eugene told Dominick that it wouldn’t be necessary. He said that as soon as he finished with his current customer, he would drive back to the Knoxville branch and pick up the tubing, so we didn’t have to stop working. This would allow us to continue knocking out tasks on what was already a tight deadline.  

We were thrilled R.E. Michel had the tubing, but Eugene went the extra mile to personally deliver the product to us. He could easily have let us stop what we were doing and make the trip. We would have been happy to do that, but instead, Eugene put himself in our position and asked what he could do to make our job easier at that moment. Instead of looking at the transaction selfishly, he looked at it from our perspective. We assured Eugene we would be happy to get what we needed ourselves, but he insisted he was happy to help and thankful for the opportunity. Wow! 

In a world of ordinary people, it’s the small “extra” details that make you extraordinary. How often do you go the extra mile for your customers? Do you simply do the bare minimum, or do you put yourself in the customer’s place and ask what you could do to make their lives easier? The difference could be a customer who brags about you to others or one who forgets you exist.  

Be Professional 

A few hours pass, and Eugene arrives in White Pine, Tennessee, with a box of REHAU PEX O₂ barrier ¾-inch tubing. He kept his word and did what he said he would do when he said he would do it. The timing was perfect. We invited Eugene to join us for lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. It’s the first time Adam and I met him.  

Eugene is friendly and has a firm handshake, but not one that’s overbearing (you know the type). His appearance is professional and clean, even though he just came from a job and had to haul around a large box with an inch of dust on it. Whether or not we like to admit it, right or wrong, all of us judge others by their appearance. Eugene showed up looking like he cared and took pride in his work and himself.  

How do you show up? Are you early, late, or do you even show up at all? How is your appearance when you first meet others? Our work often requires us to get dirty, but just because that happens, it doesn’t give us an excuse to show up messy. Sometimes, looking professional is just as important as being trusted. Ask yourself this: Are you dependable? If you tell someone you’ll do something, do they roll their eyes when you aren’t looking, or do they know you’ll complete the task? The answers to these questions determine if you are the “pro” in professional.  

Be Intentional 

Once we finished lunch, we headed to the building to show Eugene around and let him see how his exceptional service saved the day. After he dropped off the PEX tubing, we continued with the job, getting it done on time. We made our last connection 30 minutes before I took Adam to the airport for his flight home that Friday evening. Like I said, it was a tight deadline. 

As you read this article, you might have caught yourself saying, “This stuff is simple” or “I already know this.” That’s the great part. It is simple, yet most people don’t do it. They won’t put in the work to do the simple things that produce the greatest results. To do this, you must be intentional. If you find yourself not getting the results you want, ask yourself if you’re doing the simple things. And if not, start. 

So, how do you become intentional? One method that helped me was from the book “How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling” by Frank Bettger. In the book, Bettger shares a method Ben Franklin used. He made out 13 cards, each with a new habit or trait he wanted to learn and apply. He would keep one card with him each week and intentionally work on the principle. Once he was done with one card, he would put it back and use another the following week until he progressed through each card. Over the course of a year, this allowed him to repeat each trait four times a year. Eventually, these new habits and traits replaced the ones he wanted to remove from his life.   

Eugene is new to his position and looking to reestablish connections with former customers. If how he treated us at NCI is a small sample of his intentional approach, I’m going out on a limb to predict R.E. Michel will lead the East Tennessee market in no time. Customer service is alive and well, but it’s your choice whether you choose to provide it.