The Customer Meeting

Because of the volcano-induced delay, I had plenty of time to prepare for the meeting. Historically, this kind of session had not gone well. A bit of background.

There is a world-wide shortage of computer memory.

A small group of companies located in Asia manufacture memory for almost all computer servers. In the interests of operational efficiency, all suppliers have an extensive and complex supply chain – which means that nobody actually controls manufacture of the components that are necessary to build their computers. Nobody maintains inventory – that would add cost. Moreover, the ‘just-in-time’ manufacturing model means that nothing is ordered until (just before) it is needed – and just after a buyer has issued a Purchase Order. Thus, when demand declines, it impacts factories immediately. In this recession, demand declined dramatically. Memory manufacturing capacity dropped so much that factories were closed. Unfortunately, it is far easier to close a factory than it is to open a factory. Creating a memory fabrication plant is capital-intensive and time-consuming. So, although demand has recovered, shortages remain – and will remain for some time. My conclusions about this situation will be the subject of a subsequent entry.

The customer, aware of the shortage, is totally understanding. Waiting for the meeting to begin, I reviewed the situation in my mind. It was simple, he customer wants all of their orders to be delivered:

“Immediately, Dan. These are business critical systems.”

“There is,” I explained, “a global memory shortage.”

“We are a big customer – one of your biggest – and we need priority.”

“You were a big customer – the year before last.” I thought. “Last year your order volume dropped by…”, I said.

“We demand the highest priority.”

“All of our customers demand the highest priority,” I thought.

We had put several procedures and processes in place to track the orders and make sure that they received the appropriate attention. The shortages, however, remained. In spite of our effort, I wasn’t convinced that the customer would understand.

I had a quick lunch at a Chinese take-out place before the meeting. My fortune cookie was auspicious.

Present your best ideas today to
An eager and welcoming audience.

But I was still skeptical. And I was prepared. I had statistics, reports, plans and facts. I knew that I was ready for anything. The customer opened the meeting.

“I want to thank you for the amazing effort you’ve made. We notice substantial improvement and really appreciate what you’ve done.”

I was ready for almost everything. This particular gambit had me flummoxed.

“And, I know that we can sometimes be, well, difficult, so I would appreciate it if you can tell us how we can improve our processes.”

Not only was I flummoxed, I was gobsmacked. I was speechless. I was..

“Are you okay, Dan?” the customer asked.