Season’s Greetings

The date was Friday, 01 Sept 2017 – Hari Raya Haji (A public holiday). 6:45 AM.

The phone rang, and it’s the early morning on a public holiday. I looked at the name on the phone caller display; it’s one of our global key customers! Why on earth would he call me at this timing on a public holiday? I pick up the phone and slide across the mobile phone to answer his call. His name is Lee.

Lee quickly indicated his purpose of calling was that he had an urgent request and was in need of an item from Phoenix Contact that he had forgotten to place an order for in his purchase request. Delivery from his staging area would be on the following Monday, 3pm, in which the forwarder would come and collect the crate to ship overseas. Extremely urgent! He requested a quote from me, following which, he would issue a Purchase Order (PO) on the spot and wanted us to deliver the item to him ASAP.

Let’s put things into perspective. It’s a holiday, very early in the morning; the office is closed for the holiday and the warehouse was not in operation that day. No one was at work. He knew.

I indicated to him that I could give him a quote immediately, in which he could PO us immediately. And our customer service officer could process the order on the following Monday morning and release the item by 2pm on the same day from the warehouse, if there were ex-stock. (Only 1 hour before his delivery window)

I went on to check the stock status and replied him that there were enough Ex-stock for his request. I gave the quote to him and Lee informed us that he would place the order on Monday first thing in the morning via his company buyer. As such, both of us kept in view that this was the most urgent thing and the first thing to do on the morning of the following Monday.

Monday, 04 Sept 2017

I called Lee to confirm that his buyer would release the PO so that we could expedite the process. Just before noon, his buyer released the PO. I instantly informed our Customer Service Officer, Julia, of the urgent request (which I had made known to her prior to the incoming order) asking her to to process it immediately and also to inform the warehouse to release the goods ASAP.

2PM, I received the items on my desk, and tallied it against the order and packing list. As always, there was no room for error.

Raced my car down to the customer’s place (within speed limits, of course) and handed over the goods to Lee by 2:45PM, 15 mins before his forwarder’s timing. Lee checked the goods, signed over the items and put the items into the crate together with other items to be shipped on the spot. As if on cue, almost right after he put the items in, the forwarder arrived to collect the crate.

Trust is not easily earned, and even more difficult to give. As a result of this incident, Lee was elated that we were able to meet his urgent request despite the fact that it was over a public holiday and from then on, we have gained his trust in us. Although we do not encourage last minute affairs (especially on public holidays), I believe that you can put your trust and confidence in us to deliver!