Christian Shu recently sat down with Marketing’s Alexis Wellong to explain his new customer-facing role in Assembly Services. In this interview he explains what it means to be the point of “first contact”, the immediate improvement this will mean for our customers, but also how the position will develop over time. This blog will be followed by a second in a two-part series.
“I look at my new role as quite simply the result of a number of forces coming together. Firstly, as building upon the vision of our Assembly Service manager for growth, improved customer reach and performance, and secondly, as responding to the energetic dynamic that is currently cascading through the semiconductor industry in the form of new frontiers in research, development and technical advance”.
“Nick Evans, our Assembly Service manager, realized that new customers were finding it harder and harder to ‘get through the door’ and even when they did, were not always kept informed of the current status of their interest’s progress to the level we would like. He is a very “hands on” kind of guy, and in the past has prided himself on ensuring customer’s experience and the fact that we are paying attention to the process and outcomes they are trusting us to deliver for and with them”.
“At one level, this was a great problem to have. They reflect growing demand, and as we all know, some pretty interesting dynamics are currently at play within new technologies and the packaging they require. That acknowledgment doesn’t help the customer though. Nick, being the practical person that he is, took this inflection point and charted how we could use it to everyone’s advantage”.
“Which is where I come in. My new responsibility is both quantitative and qualitative; ensuring that the quotation process takes place within the shortest possible timeframe. By ‘quotation process’, I mean we ensure that technical and cost factors are covered to the point that our estimate is very close to the actual play-out of the project we have been asked to undertake, and secondly, we ‘push the envelope’ to improve the customer’s qualitative experience”.
“I would define that ‘qualitative’ aspect in three ways: improved listening, better responding, and advocacy. Responding to process enquiries seems a very mechanical activity, but it is actually quite personally and professionally engaging. If we can secure better focus and sharper understanding at the point of first contact, everything goes more smoothly. It is a bit like taking a journey. To travel as efficiently as possible, you need two sets of co-ordinates. The more accurate, the better. You need to know your point of origin, and where you want to get to. Using that analogy, my role is to do the “itinerary” for our customer and tell them what kind of investment that will require—in time, money, and other critical information. Of course, the initial quote is not exact, but years of experience allow me to deliver a strongly indicative overview”.
“With years of experience as a process engineer, the customer has to say less to get their intent across and be understood, and since I know my own and others’ skills, the pathway to a solution is also improved. It is about properly identifying and aligning knowledge”.
“I mentioned ‘advocacy’. This is something I feel passionate about, so I better say what I mean. An advocate is someone who ‘stands in for the interest of another’. Countries do it with Ambassadors, our customers have me. Well, at least that is the goal! I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I have always liked to keep an eye on how projects I help start proceed from that point and turn out for the customer. This is not entirely altruistic, in fact it probably does more for me since the knowledge I gain from seeing new packaging technologies adapted to new devices is what I love most about being an engineer”.
“You asked me about my typical work day. As for most people, it begins with interacting with some kind of software acronym. Ours has “C” for customer in it, followed by “R” for relationship and “M” for manager. This may seem pretty dull stuff, but I like to think that as I get to my desk on Monday morning, it sets my purpose for the rest of the week. I am here to help people. I am here to help our customers. Interest in our Assembly Services can come through members of the Sales team, service engineers, Marketing and so on. This is what the CRM program seeks to facilitate. Reviewing the data, I identify critical gaps in information, then get a conversation going with the appropriate people to fill in these gaps”.
“There is no set protocol in this respect; rather, it depends on the individual context. For example, if the request relates to a recent system customer, I can review any bespoke specifications, talk to the sales team member, and so on in order to gain further clarity. If these areas are outside of my expertise, I can contact the appropriate engineer in our company. This can often lead to a three or four-way Teams meeting. If we need further information from the customer, then that responsibility falls on the most appropriate person. That may be me, or it may be someone else who has a strong rapport, or who better knows the customer from a technical standpoint. Either way, I am central to the whole activity; to develop the quote, iterate, respond and align, and then finally, issue a formal contract”.
“That sign-off may end my formal role, but, as I said, it does not end my interest or involvement. I will follow the process through to completion, and learn. Exploring these new frontiers in the semiconductor industry, there can always be surprises. While you can’t beat physics at its own game, you can identify the solutions it hides. In this respect I see Assembly Services and our customer on a great quest together”.
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