When I was a kid living outside of Columbus, as my father taught at Ohio State we favored an ice cream store that had a sign on the wall that struck me–even at 9 years old. It described how people who only cared for the price of something were doomed to get exactly the experience they deserved. I absorbed that as directing me to focus on the maximizing the experience and the value would follow. Yeah, a geek at 9. And I favored “Cherry Ice” or “Pink Bubble Gum” cones (my brother ate only chocolate).
Now I am all grown up. In the adult world of systems integration and custom engineering and manufacturing, the “little details” always matter. Requirements, cost, specifications, codes, and regulations are critically important to accomplishing the objective and satisfying our client’s expectations.
It would not be an overstatement to say that we have a laser-like focus on those things, drilling down into the details of the details. The hunger and need for specifics takes us to many places that ultimately help us produce the elegant and sometimes complex, sometimes simple, solution that meets the needs.
As we go through our process, which is documented, codified, audited, and constantly evaluated for improvement opportunities, we remind ourselves to periodically raise our perspective knowing that it is the experience that our customer will remember long after the projects are over.
Certainly price, schedule, and workmanship matter. They all do. They are the ante, the table stakes that enable us to participate in the process. It’s not taken for granted, but it is understood that what makes a client truly satisfied in the end (assuming the contractual obligation‘s are met) is how they are treated, how their project is appreciated, and how their objectives and values are respected by our teams. That is the experiential difference that we seek to provide as part of every engagement and program we undertake.
Those who don’t focus on the bigger picture and instead stay down in the weeds playing with the numbers, running late on schedule, or cutting quality corners will not only fail to delight and also to meet contractual obligations, they will also fail to deliver the necessary experience to that client. That will cause them to not want to return and repeat.
And Optimation, repeat business is that work we want most. It reflects successful experiences. It’s a reinforcement of positive relationships. It’s the best kind of feedback that says, “job well done”. It’s the experience that the client, and we at Optimation, will long remember and want to make happen over and over again.
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