Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/310350
May 2014 • The PCB Design Magazine 59 tim's takeaways Tim haag is customer support and training manager for intercept Technology. CuSTOMER SuPPORT continues realtimewith.com CliCk To View Video Interview Prototron's Mark Thompson is the guardian at the gates, so to speak. in the CAM department, he sees potential DFM issues with your design data before they become big problems. he and editor Dan Beaulieu discuss the extra services Mark provides customers, and some common mistakes that become evident after data handoff. Always Providing Extra Value to Meet Customers' Needs by Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO ing to try something new, which may help put their department or company ahead of the game. Obviously, there are some dangers here. Support can become co-dependent and destruc- tive. You need to make sure that those you are supporting are growing from your efforts and not just sucking the life from you. I have seen many instances where the same people need the same support over and over again. They are in a place where it is easier for them to get you to do their work for them instead of taking your ini- tial help and growing on their own. These kinds of destructive relationships need to be avoided. But the majority of your co-workers will flour- ish in a supportive environment where you are helping one another. Often it is seen as safer to work as an isolat- ed person, but it's definitely not better for you or your company. Yes, we can continue to work with our heads down and give quick answers to questions, ward off supportive teamwork and stay in our narrow comfort zones. Or we can reach out to our co-workers, bosses, and others in our company and support their efforts in or- der to be more productive. When others come to us for help we can view them as an annoyance to our immediate goal, or we can re-visualize our goal to understand that working together and supporting each other will ultimately pro- vide the best results for our company. The benefits of adopting a customer support type of thinking in our professional and per- sonal relationships allow us to grow not only as productive workers, but also as better peo- ple and stronger members of our community. PCBDESIGN