Follow Up & Follow Through

Be sure to follow through and do what you promise to do. Better yet, strive to exceed your customer's expectations. Communicate before, during and after a job. Be sure deliverables are on time and inform customers regarding delays and rescheduling. This goes a long way to build customer loyalty, repeat business and word of mouth referrals.  Source:  http://www.manta.com/

Custom Components Supplies Sunshades For Largo Medical Office Building Restoration

Custom Components Company recently supplied over 1,700 LF of clear anodized aluminum sunshades for the Largo Medical Office Building restoration (Largo, FL).  The sunshades are 30" in depth with 6" airfoils.  Gobbell Hays Partners, Inc. (Nashville, TN) was the architect on the project and Wallace Associates LLC ( St. Petersburg, FL) was the general contractor.

AIA To Launch Database Of Stalled Projects In Need Of Investors

Following in the well-trod path of Match.com and other online dating services, the American Institute of Architects thinks it has found a way to attract investors to the thousands of industry projects put on hold—send the potential suitors to cyberspace for a database of the good-lookers. That is, the AIA is compiling a list of stalled projects nationwide that “make sense” to move forward but for lack of financing, and a list of the types of projects that financial entities specialize in.  Click here to read more

Quote Of The Week

Quote of the Week:  "Customer service is not a department...it's an attitude." - Mac Anderson

Stay In Touch With Your Current Customers

It's vital to provide ongoing communication with your current customer base.  You've spent valuable time and money acquiring new customers and according to statistics, 20% of them will purchase from you again.  Make sure you communicate with customers on a regular basis, solicit their feedback and provide value to them over the long - term.  Source:  http://www.manta.com/.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week:  "Before we buld a better mousetrap, we need to find out if there are any mice out there." - Yogi Berra

View Our October Newsletter

To view our October Newsletter Click here

Coming Soon! Our New Online Store



Watch for our new online store coming soon!  We've added more products, more photos, a better shopping cart and loads of other features to enhance your online buying experience.



Customer Service - Where Have You Gone?

  

Recently, I was reading an article from Kris Vockler's blog in the USGNN Newsletter entitled "Why Is Customer Service So Difficult?  It really got me to thinking.  Lack of, or poor customer service, is a real pet peeve of mine.  As Kris said in her article, how is it that some companies "get it" and others don't seem to have a clue?  I will site an example from a trip my wife and I took  recently to attend a wedding of the daughter of a long time friend in North Carolina.  We flew a prominent airline, and to put it mildly, they made what should have been a pleasant experience a nightmare.  The flight from Tampa was scheduled to leave at 6:45AM, and ended up departing 45 minutes late, due to a mechanical issue.  OK, I know things happen, but during the entire delay, the pilot came on only one time to let us know what was happening and the progress being made, or lack of it.  Now I'm becoming concerned that we are going to  miss our connecting flight in Charlotte to take us to our ultimate destination in Asheville.  We get to Charlotte in enough time to make our connecting flight only to find that it was delayed twice and then cancelled!  I should mention here that the wedding was at 4:00PM the same day.

When I asked why the flight was cancelled, I was told "maintenance", and instructed to go to the other end of the terminal and to get "re-booked" on another flight.  A number of disinterested looking booking agents informed us that they get get us on the 4:30PM flight to Asheville.  When I told them that wouldn't work because the wedding was at 4:00PM, they looked at me with a blank "oh, well" stare.

I should add that this prominent airline recently ranked second in airlines with the most complaints.  I wonder why?

Tired of dealing with people who simply did not care about customer service, I decided to take control of the situation.  I whisked my wife down to Enterprise and rented a car for the two hour drive time trip to Asheville.  What a difference!  A young lady named Lea showed genuine interest in our plight , got us on our way in 10 minutes, with a free upgrade.

Enough of my ranting.  The point is, both of these companies are going to get letters from me.  What do you think each one is going to say?  With competition as fierce as it is today, and companies both large and small going out of business, you had better take care of your most important commodity, the customer.  Somebody once said that it is ten times more difficult to get a customer back than it is to get them the first time.  Someone also said"  the customer is the reason we exist."   Both are good business mantras to live by.

Customer service where have you gone?  I miss you.

Check out the 10 phrases that will make your customer feel loved.  Click here

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week:  "If you help enough other people get what they want, you can get everything you want." - Zig Ziglar

New Project Award - Mesa College - San Diego,CA

Custom Components Company announces the award of a new project in San Diego, CA, the Mesa College Math and Science Building.  The new structure is a $92 million, 180,000 square foot, four story facility in the Clairemont area of San Diego.  The new building houses four floors of classrooms, laboratory space and offices for the departments of biology, chemistry, mathematics and physical sciences.  Additionally, several faculty/student interaction areas have been incorporated into the building’s design.  The new Math and Science Building will be constructed of structural steel with concrete shear walls and exterior curtain wall.  The building’s design incorporates numerous sustainable features, with the project team targeting LEED Silver certification by the US Green Building Council.  All classrooms, teaching laboratories, and the majority of the staff offices will optimize the use of natural daylight.  The windows will utilize high performance, low “E” glazing that will allow natural daylight to enter the building, while rejecting unwanted ultraviolet and infrared light waves.  This, in turn, will help reduce the amount of energy required to condition the building.  The roofing will consist of cool-roof material, which also will reflect unwanted energy and reduce the amount of energy consumed.  The project will add much needed academic and teaching space to the Mesa College Campus, supporting the math and physical science curriculums.  The teaching spaces extend beyond the classrooms and into the surrounding landscape to include an outdoor teaching courtyard, geology demonstration courtyard and a 100+ species botanical collection.  The Architects for the project are Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker and the general contractor is McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., both of San Diego.

Custom Components Company is supplying exterior and interior stainless steel and glass railing, monumental stair railing and roof railing for the project to Enclos Corporation (San Juan Capistrano, CA).  They will coordinate the delivery and installation of the product.  Custom Components Company’s independent sales agency for this region is Architectural Glazing Solutions.  Mike Varney from this firm was instrumental in securing this contract on behalf of Custom Components Company.

Check Out Our Latest Projects On The Behance Network

Check out some of our latest projects on the Behance Network Click here

Be Speedy In Your Decision Making

How fast or slow does your company make decisions? Rapidly growing businesses have tied the speed of their decision making to their success. There are not a lot of examples that show success from slow or drawn out decisions. Business owners need to be quick, smart and able to change their view based upon new facts.

Architectural Billings Index Up Sharply in August

The Architectural Billings Index (ABI) took a surprising sudden upturn in August.  As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architectural billings and construction spending.  The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the August ABI score was 51.4, following a very weak score of 45.1 in July.  This score indicates an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).  The new projects inquiry index was 56.9, up sharply from a reading of 53.7 the previous month.

Ask Every Customer This Question

Ask every customer this question:  How did you hear about us?  It will help you to effectively target your marketing efforts and dollars.