Effective communication is a key interpersonal skill and learning how each of us can improve our communication is beneficial to all. Communication is a two way process, so improving communication involves both how we deliver and listen to the message. To best service our customers, EXAIR has many ways to share and receive information.
There are the standard methods, of course, that have been around for years. Phone and fax are still very useful, and everyone has noticed that fax is slowly becoming less utilized. As dreaded as it may be, email is certainly a valuable way to communicate, especially as it allows ‘attachments’ such as photos, which as the saying goes, are definitely worth a thousand words. If video or 3D models are exchanged I am certain the number of words increases.
The newest technology for communication is via ‘chat’ which can be accessed from the EXAIR website. Here, you can chat with an Application Engineer and do something as simple as confirming a part number to something more involved like sizing a Cabinet Cooler System.
Chat Live with an Engineer ‘Button’
The US Postal System is still a valuable communication tool, as we send out the EXAIR Catalog (currently volume No. 30) and the EXAIR-Mail (Number 109/Fall 2016 issue just went out), and some Purchase Orders still are dropped off by the Postman.
Another method of communication is face to face. We have what we call the ‘Demo Room’ here at the factory in Cincinnati, OH. In this room, we have every type of our Intelligent Compressed Air Products, in just about every size offered, ready for demonstration and testing to your application. We’ve had visitors from all over the world come in and share face to face their applications and collaborate with us and test out the EXAIR solution.
Lastly, and since you are reading this you already are familiar with the EXAIR Blog – a great way for us to share with you our musings and thoughts, in a way that makes it a personal take on the EXAIR products and our interactions with our customers.
Effective communication is very important to us and what we do here every day. Feel free to utilize one or more of the Contact Us tools to communicate with us and we’ll be in touch!
That’s the goal – we want it to be easy for you to do business with EXAIR. I understand this is not exactly a quantitative expression, and everyone here likes to have data to back up our claims. Well, here are just a few ways that I have found to verify we are easy to deal with.
Whenever you call in, the phone is answered by a live person. This of course is true for Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM EST – what most of us consider “normal business hours”. The team that answers the phone is also our Order Entry team who can help with pricing, some general product questions, lead times, freight quotes, etc. And, if you need additional technical information or an expert to assist you with implementing a solution for your problem, they are the team who will pass your calls on to my team, the Application Engineers.
We have a full staff of Application Engineers who are here to assist with selecting the right product to fit your needs and troubleshooting existing compressed air setups. Our Application engineers are experts at determining how much compressed air can be saved compared to an existing setup and how that translates into your dollar savings. They understand how important it is to you to keep your processes OSHA compliant and personnel safe. Our Application Engineers also walk you through any returns which may occur with our 30 day trail period, which brings us to the next topic.
We honor a 30 day guarantee on stock products. This permits you to get the product in to your facility and put it through the paces and if it doesn’t perform to your standards, give us a call. We will take the item back and issue you a full credit for the purchase price of the product. I should probably state at this point that – Yes, we do deal with applications we have not dealt with before. In these situations we remain confident in our recommended solution (or we would not have made it) but will remain close to you as the installation and implementation occur just so we can help troubleshoot if necessary. If it ends up not working – see the first 3 sentences.
On top of all those, we stand behind our product with a 5 year built to last warranty for compressed air products, and a 1 year warranty on electronic components. This just goes to show how strongly we believe in our workmanship and our products.
30 Day Guarantee
In case you have never called or sent in an inquiry from one of the numerous ways we offer to contact us, please do. I can assure you that you will receive a timely response from a live person that will give you the best answer possible. If we don’t have the answer, we’ll tell you and many times we will offer a good place to find a solution.
Recently I was having some issues with my cell phone dropping calls and frequent undelivered texts, emails and voice-mails so I placed a call to my provider to see what could be done. From my previous experience with cell phone providers, I knew this was going to be a tedious process but was hoping for the best since I have been an 8+ year customer. So I contacted the company last week and explained my situation. They advised that the service in my area had been acting up and they would need to open a file on my line that could take 7 – 10 days before I would receive a response. The VERY next morning they called to tell me that there were issues with the coverage in my area but it had been resolved.
So as the week went by and I was still experiencing the same issues, I called the company back. This time I was transferred to the technical department so they could troubleshoot my device – after a 2 hour phone call, they could provide no reason as to why I was having issues and offered me no course toward a resolution. Now frustrated, I decided to visit their website and participate in their chat option to see if we could get to a resolution. No such luck, I now had to elevate the situation and speak to a manager.
After 17 phone calls to customer service and a total of 5 online chats, I finally got the one person who was actually willing to help. After reviewing the notes on my account, she offered me a free upgrade, without extending my service contract, shipped the replacement phone for overnight delivery and waived the $40 activation fee for the new device. Of course I was pleased with this resolution but asked why it was necessary to jump through so many hoops about the same issue – “it really depends on who you talk to and if they want to do the work or not”. In my opinion, that’s a pretty sad approach toward servicing a customer.
At EXAIR, our main focus is customer service and we will make every attempt to provide assistance and handle your request(s) in a prompt and thorough manner. The fact is, a sales person can sell just about anything once. It is the service that you are provided – that installation and maintenance guide or 3D model that can be easily downloaded – that takes a company with amazing products over the edge. We strive to ensure you have every possible way to reach our Application Engineers. We are here to help you not only determine which product will work best in your application, but also to help you troubleshoot your existing product, determine what air savings you have gained from installing an engineered solution, as well as figure out ways to make your operating area a safer, quieter place for your employees.
Here are some very recent comments we have received from customers:
“Super fast service. EXCELLENT!” – Joe, industrial laser manufacturer
“I called your customer service line and Vikki Foley was very helpful and even though it was late Thursday afternoon, she sounds like she enjoys her job.” – Mark, rapid prototyping and product design company
“Fantastic service. Very fast responses and concise information.” – Chase, display technology manufacturer
“Russ Bowman was an excellent help. He was respectful and went out of his way to find information that I requested. Would definitely recommend working with Exair. Outstanding customer service!” – Kathryn, engineering consultant
We can’t ask for anything more than that. We want to do the work, we want to make it easy for you.
Please feel free to contact us – via phone @ 800-903-9247, by email techelp@exair.com or our online chat for assistance with your compressed air application today.
I have recently had a few dealings with other companies recently which has left me with two reactions: 1) How they are still in business? and 2) They really have their customer service running well. The first company was, of course, a large conglomerate that provides our home internet service. The second company was a web-based company providing clothes dryer repair parts.
So the first company, it is a local supplier of internet service. I called to try and upgrade my service to higher speeds and see when I could get it changed. I have had their service for over 8 years and haven’t had a whole lot of issues with them, everything has been pretty good. That is until I tried to use their live chat feature on the website where I was told one price for the service, I then questioned why that price didn’t match the one on their site and was told in order to get that price I would need to call a certain number and speak with a representative. I thanked the person and made the call. It took me about 15 minutes or so to get to an actual human and then ended up the price still wasn’t the same and got a little run around on features, so I decided I would look at competitive service.
I spoke to their competitor in my area, which was very straightforward with pricing and answered every question I had directly and gave me a very speedy installation date of the next day, but were about 5 dollars more expensive. So I called my current provider back and got yet another different price but did finally get some straight answers… and then we got to the installation date – 3 weeks out. I asked if the fact I was a long-standing customer that was upgrading mattered and found out that is actually hurt my installation date. Since I was merely an upgrade it was extremely low ranking, but if I signed up for additional services then I would get someone to install it within 3 days. When I expressed my concern for this practice I was greeted with silence and sorry that is just how it is followed by when would you like me to schedule this.
So, needless to say, I contacted their competitor, laid everything out and got the service installed the next day, today I call to cancel my existing service and will hopefully never have to look back. The moral of the story here is, even though I was a long-standing customer the provider saw no merit in that and actually ranked me even lower than a new account. They were very cumbersome in how they answered questions which left me feeling uncomfortable and I couldn’t get even the same bad answer from the three different people I spoke with. Ultimately I left them as a customer and am glad to be with another provider.
As for the second instance, I needed to fix the clothes dryer because it was making some funny noises. So I took a few pieces off, moved stuff around, didn’t see a whole lot wrong and put it back together. It started making the noise again so I gave it “The Fonz” treatment (hit it hard) and all was good. The next time I went to dry something my wife then accused me of not starting the dryer because everything was still wet. I took a look into it yet again and this time I took the dryer all the way apart thanks to an informal video from the manufacturer. The problem seemed to be some bad preventative maintenance on my part and hair/lint wrapping around a roller guide which cause the roller to stop and the drum to start going slower, as well as a lot of burnt crud around the heating element. So then the parts search began. I found a company online whose site was easy to navigate, had lots of pictures, even used their live chat which I got quick responses from, and even found videos of how to fix the exact problem I was having. So I ordered the parts late at night on Monday, their site showed in stock and shipping the next day. Tuesday I end up getting a confirmation that the parts will be shipped. Wednesday I received the parts as well as a follow-up e-mail confirming that the parts had been delivered.
The moral of this interaction as a customer is that I experienced what I hope our customers at EXAIR experience everyday. All the information I needed was in one place and easy to find, all the parts were in stock, I got quick responses that were truthful, and in the end even after I ordered the part I still got great customer service. Needless to say I have bookmarked their site and will be returning.
Here at EXAIR, you don’t get greeted by a robot when you call during business hours, you get greeted by a human. We do our best to ensure all information you need is accessible from our site, as well as back that support up with our Application Engineering staff being available by phone, e-mail, chat, fax, visits to EXAIR, and even mail if need be. Then if you decide to order something from us, if it is standard stock, we ship it same day as long as we get the order by 3 PM EST and are shipping within the United States. Then, we offer helpful videos, as well as support after you have made your purchase. On top of all that, we stand behind our products with a 30 day guarantee and a 5 year built to last warranty.
So no matter how small a project you have, or if you are having any issues with your existing supplier for compressed air products, contact us and see if you notice a difference.
