Sometimes, working in a Service Department requires doing…a little bit extra.
On a Thursday morning, right before the Christmas holidays, a customer in Greece called with an urgent issue with one of their MPS presses. The press was down and required a new drive. If sent by courier, the replacement drive would arrive earliest Friday night, which was too late for the customer to meet their committed production demand.
After some quick research, our Service Manager Marc-Jan Goossink discovered a faster option to get the required new drive to the customer and get their press up and running — to take the next available flight and personally manage the delivery in Greece. And the lucky person asked to carry out this important task was me!
I immediately went home to pick up my passport and kiss my girlfriend goodbye. I then drove to Dortmund (Germany), caught a flight to Munich and took another flight to Athens. After a short night’s rest, I boarded a 7:00 AM flight to Thessaloniki which arrived at 8:00 AM, and met Dimitris Sirmatakis of Valtsanis, our local MPS agent.
Dimitris and I drove to a bus station and arranged for the part to be sent by priority post. It successfully reached the customer in time to get their press running and complete the necessary print jobs for their customers. In the afternoon, I flew back through Munich back to Dortmund, arriving back home close to midnight — exhausted, but in good spirits.
I missed the MPS Christmas party, but I got a chance to play Santa Clause and experience the joy of making a very happy customer! :)
In the end, it’s customer satisfaction that matters the most.