DRIVING QUESTION
Whose problem am I actually here to solve?
OEM
Builds the equipment. Makes the steel and the parts. Very good at their own catalog.
Integrator
Designs and installs the system. Usually who you work for.
Distributor
Holds inventory, handles the transactional side. The larger ones design too.
End user
Runs the operation and lives with what gets installed. That's Dana.
Analyze. Communicate. Design. Defend.
WHYCustomers buy judgment, not steel. Anyone can read them the catalog. They pay you to know which page to turn to and which to skip.
WHENYou're the first technical person in the room. Discovery is yours before anyone draws a line or prices a part.
WHEREBetween the customer's problem and every downstream trade: controls, install, maintenance, finance. Each of them works from your calls.
NOT WHENYou're taking the order as written. If the customer names the product and you just quote it back, they didn't need you in the room.
FAILURE IF IGNOREDTwo systems have already died on Riverside's floor. You'll see what killed both of them before this program is done.
The MHA Way, Rule 1The customer is usually describing symptoms. Find the problem.
The MHA Way, Rule 5Simple solutions are harder to design.