Highway to the Dryer Zone!

Went to the Premium Outlet Malls in Edinburgh, Indiana last Saturday on my way to see Straight No Chaser in concert and had to make an emergency bathroom stop.  To my surprise I found that they were using probably the best and fastest hand dryer on the market - that's right - its the Xlerator Hand Dryer!  These things sounds like a jet engine revving up but they get your hands dry in 5 seconds flat!  I have had some bad experiences with hand dryers in the past, especially the little ones you see in Wal-Mart or McDonald's.  I end up standing there for 10 seconds and finally getting impatient and rubbing my hands on my pants.  Not so with this dryer - our office loves it and we're wondering why we haven't installed our demo model in our bathrooms!

Stay Chill (and dry)!

New Moon Review

http://earlymorningrevelries.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-moon-team-jacob-no-spoilers.html

What an afternoon!

So at the request of the office, I am writing about this.  I was just asked by a guy out of state on the telephone while on a sales call if I was "single and looking".  Now, how does one respond to this?  My first reaction was, well not if you're in said state!  So I told him if I was in said state, perhaps.  Yeah...then he said he was joking to which I replied, I'm single and not looking.
::slams head down on her desk::
I need to sound ugly.  And I am blushing.

I need to Chill.

The "E-Cube"

Reading refrigeration blogs today has been very fruitful.  Looking at Today's Facility Manager blog I came across an amazing little invention.  Claiming use in the UK for several years and now being marketed in the US, this little itty bitty plastic box with wax in the middle supposedly can help increase your refrigeration's efficiency by 20%.
E-Cube's site (which ironically is also an Ubercart site [a shopping cart software developed from Drupal  by a company in our building] ) boasts that their invention will reduce compressor cycles by 50% and uses 15-30% less energy.
How does it work you ask?
Well, the box attaches onto the thermometer of your unit, which measures air temperature (highly volatile and unstable according to them) and not the actual food temperature.  The E-Cube uses a wax substance which imitates food at 15mm below the food surface.  Inside the wax is a thermostatic unit which then measures the temperature of the wax, hence replicating the temperature of the food instead of the air around the food.  It is available in 3 sizes so that it can fit most models.
For more information, visit their site.  But if you're looking for energy saving tips for your Walk-In Coolers or True equipment , this could be a solution for you.  One article states that you can get your investment back in as little as 2 years (maybe shorter).  It comes with a 5 year warranty and a 60 day 100% Money Back Guarantee.  Sounds like we around here need to try one of these!

Stay Chill more efficiently with the E-Cube.

LED to the Rescue

Been reading up on some of the new conservation standards coming out of DC this year and was surprised to run across an article about the Dept of Energy's requirement of LED lighting in all commercial refrigeration equipment by 2012.  Lane Burt writes an article about the pricing of these LED's, which to most in the industry is small beans compared to other issues on energy conservation, but he is confident that the LED prices should drop making this new requirement not such a burden.
Right now most of the display units from True, Turbo Air, ColdTech , etc are still using the incandescent lighting.  I spoke with our rep at True this morning and they have not been informed about True's plan to switch to the LED lighting as yet.

Stay Chill

Sale? Promo? Spam?

We're sending out a November Promo e-mail to those of our customers who have signed up for such things and the process of getting the correct title and the wording was very funny.
I believe one line was, "Buy a True and get a free self-esteem statement!"  The office had a good laugh at that one.  No, we wont' really give you a pat on the back when you buy a True, but....hey....maybe we will.
We've also got some other Commercial Restaurant Equipment out there on sale so check it out if you're in the market for some good stuff.  Stainless steel tables and sinks are really moving this season.  We have found that importing directly from China has its good points and its setbacks.  The communication barrier is a set-back. The excellent prices we are able to offer - perk!
Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Stay Chill!

Customer Service?

Our sales meeting agenda yesterday had this comment on it in section B2: "Good job balancing customer satisfaction with customer irrationality."

For those of us in the business of People we find that highly humorous.  Everyday we deal with situations where we communicate one thing and the customer hears what they want to hear anyway.  Its very difficult to make a customer happy when they don't read what you've given them, listen to what your saying or attempt to understand your point of view.  Customer are so used to the "customer is always right" that they rarely want to hear anything else.

I think that for the most part, the "customer is always right" mentality is lacking in general common sense.  Business practices should be centered around what is best for both the company and the customer.  The "Wal-Mart" style of business is pushing companies to bend over backwards for mistakes that are not their own.  I find it harmful to society to accodmodate consumers who have made mistakes.  I think it follows that taking away people's responsibility for their actions pulls down our society.  Yet this is what we are seeing in most aspects of commerce.  Those of us who cannot afford to use this business style are finding ourselves degraded for our bad customer service.  We are most willing to fix our mistakes and to make concessions based on certain circumstances but we cannot afford to be held responsible financially for those who "just got the wrong thing".  

At the end of this commentary I find it necessary to say that customer satisfaction is our priority.  We hate unsatisfied customers as much as unsatisfied customers hate us.  Yet I feel there is a certain balance that must be maintained between customer service, i.e., working the problem in order to find a solution that is best for both parties and the "customer is always right" mentality.  As the Proverbs say, Humoring the Fool with only lead him to further folly- or something like that.  I think its time for some tough love among the customer service agents in the world.  Take it for what it's worth.