Rick - Hey guys, it’s Rick from Elijah Tooling.
Normally I say give me two minutes, but I think it'll take me longer.
So, today I am interviewing Hannah.
I'm trying to find out what I don't know about Hannah today.
So, she works customer service for us and inside sales.
And I'm just gonna pick her brain a little bit and see whether I learned something.
Maybe you guys can learn something at the same time.
So, Hannah, I want you to start by just telling us a little bit about you.
Hannah - All right.
Rick - What do you like to do, because I know I already know, but go ahead.
Hannah - Yeah, so I have a passion for horses, and training horses and teaching people to train horses.
So, that's what I do outside of when I'm working at Elijah Tooling, and I also like to meet people and talk to people, so that's a big aspect of my job.
Rick - that's right.
You do a pretty good job of it.
Hannah - Thank you.
Rick - So, I'm really curious about your interactions, because you're making regular calls to our customers - why is that? By the way - does it fit anywhere into our mission or vision?
Hannah - Absolutely you know, we say we want our customers to get the best of everything.
Not just products, but also in service.
So, it's really important to us - to ensure that you are being served well, getting everything that you need, all the support you need and that you're happy with your products.
Rick - Right.
So, in that aspect of it - what's it like making those calls?
I mean they're warm in a sense, but what kind of feedback do you get?
Hannah - Well you know it really depends on the purchaser, sometimes we're talking to the end-user specifically, and that's my favorite because I really get to see their interaction with our products and get their direct feedback.
A lot of them say you know; they love the products, makes their life easier and that's one thing that really enjoy about my job, is that we're not just affecting the bottom line, but we're affecting people's job satisfaction.
Rick - Yeah we've talked about this in meetings, but you just use the ‘love’ word.
An emotional word.
They love our products.
I mean, that's a strong word, but have you ever sort of drilled down, as to why they love the use of our work-holding fasteners and maybe our fixtures, I don't know which products you were talking about right then.
But have you gotten kind of deeper with them on that level?
Hannah - Sometimes we can get in some good conversations about how they're actually using them.
Of course, efficiency is a big thing.
A lot of machinists love - how easy they are to use.
You're not having to take apart these really intricate complex setups.
You just use anInvert-A-Bolt™.
It's super simple, super fast.
We all know that happy employees work better.
So, that in turn - affects your bottom line too, and if they're happy in their work - they're going to have more longevity in their career.
They're gonna perform better, for your company, and I think our products really enable that.
Rick - They can go to their boss and go, “Hey check it out, I just saved 30 minutes!” that kind of thing?
Hannah - Right!
Yeah and we all kind of you know - shrug and kind of get a little bit upset, when we have to do tasks that are just really tedious, and I feel like theInvert-A-Bolt™ and the UCMF plates really take that aspect out of their daily lives.
Rick - Yeah, I think you're right.
So, have you had a tough one?
A difficult conversation where maybe we, “Hey, you know cover my face - we kind of screwed up’?
Hannah -Yeah, there's been a couple of instances like that, where we've had to really look at, “How do we make a situation right?”
That's a priority here.
I learned that from the get-go, I just started six months ago.
So, I'm still kind of new to the machining industry, but the bottom line across the board - the customer comes first.
RIck - We don’t hang them out to dry?
Hannah - Absolutely not.
We will do whatever it takes to make the situation right.
Whether that's helping them through their problems by putting them in touch with a machinist that's using that product too.
Fixing our mistakes if we screwed up.
We're human, everybody does.
Rick - Thank you, I appreciate that.
Hannah - Where we try to do it as quickly, and as efficiently as possible, and really make up for you know where we may have missed up.
Rick - Do we ever like - help them out on the other side of that problem?
In other words, maybe a gift or somehow try to compensate for their troubles?
Hannah - I feel like we do.
I feel like we do a fairly good job of that, you know we've got a return policy in place, but you know we really care.
We want to make the situation right.
Our customers are our first priority.
Rick - Yeah.
So, you know I could probably talk with you for 30 minutes about this, but what do you want to say to our customers?
I mean talk to them; what's in your heart?
Because you got to talk to them and they get to talk to you.
It's like; they actually like talking to you.
It's the best I can tell.
Hannah - I hope so.
Rick - You get the chance to just speak directly to them right now.
Hannah - I think the one thing that I would want our customers to take away from this video, in particular, is - we do care about your feedback, and your preferences, your needs in your daily lives.
So, if you have something that comes up, you think of something - please tell us.
You know it's kind of like pulling teeth sometimes to get information from our customers because a lot of times we kind of just you know they shrug us off a little bit.
Rick - We're kind of in a throwaway culture you know, “Oh it sucks. That's gone, I'm just mad at whoever it is that sold it to me.”
Without helping them correct that.
Hannah - Right, and I just want to encourage them to speak up.
Rick - Can you help us?
We would appreciate it if you would let us know.
Hannah - Absolutely.
We really would, and like we talked about; we will do everything that we can to make the situation right.
So, don't hesitate to reach out, whether it's good, bad, or the ugly.
You know, let us know.
Rick - So, a couple more things.
So, in your position is it easier for you to do your job, or harder to do your job, if you're not selling a quality product?
Hannah - It will be a whole lot harder.
Rick - A whole lot harder, right?
Hannah - Absolutely!
I hate being the bearer of bad news.
Rick - Yeah
Hannah - And I really want to have positive conversations with our customers, and hear their experiences.
So, if our product isn't quality, I'd probably dread coming to work.
Fast.
Rick - Right.
We kind of took a little bit addressing the issues that people have sometimes, but by and large, you've got very positive feedback, right?
Hannah - Oh yeah.
Rick - It's rare that somebody's having trouble.
Hannah - Absolutely.
It's been amazing to see the feedback that we've gotten.
We've had folks say, “It’s fixed our problems!” You know, “We were struggling with XYZ, and these products were the solution.”
We've seen how it affects the bottom line.
We've seen how it affects the end-user - specifically at the machine, not just for their company, but for them - and that I think is important.
Rick - It sure is.
Well, Hannah anything else you want to tell them?
Hannah - We appreciate you guys!
A whole lot!
Rick - Yeah.
Well, I want to say; That we're really grateful for you as well, and we're also thankful for people like Hannah.
We’ve got a great team and we want to serve you!
Hey, see you next time!
CEO & Founder of Elijah Tooling
