Precast Inc. - May/June 2008 - (Page 38) F E AT U R E Life isn’t complete until the customer says, ‘Wow.’ By Ron Hyink S ometimes it’s the little things in life that keep us going strong. We can toil all day and a lifetime doing what we love to do in our jobs, and maybe we can even make some money at it. But that doesn’t always scratch the deepest itch of gratification. There’s something more that needs to be seen than your name on a product, something more to be felt than a tidy profit in your pocket. Sometimes you just need someone to take notice, someone to recognize the drive and determination that got you to the head of the class, something to make it all worthwhile. It’s the feeling of accomplishment, the point of highest achievement – the raison d’être – when someone says, “Wow.” Mike Vaughn, president of Vaughn Concrete Products (VCP) based in Henderson, Colo., puts forth an unusual amount of effort to hear that word, or some variation of it, from his customers. For him it all starts with a quality product and unrivaled customer service. More than just a company slogan, everyone at VCP strives to equate their name with reliability and the Wow Factor. Early birds Vaughn makes his point by telling the story about a deal he struck a few years ago on a box culvert project. Although his bid was 20 percent higher than another precaster’s, Vaughn told the contractor he could save him a lot of money by using his two-piece precast box culverts. The contractor didn’t believe him, so Vaughn promised to meet the competitor’s price for the culverts if the contractor would split the difference of the installation costs. Compared with the 13 days and $480 per hour required for the competitor’s product, Vaughn placed 540 feet of box culvert in 10 working hours on site. On the day of installation, VCP was ready. “We had everything lined up the night before,” he said. “We started there at 5 in the morning. We had three people just hauling with trucks, so we always had something to unload.” Our crew knocked off at 4 that afternoon, then finished the job early the next morning. “Then (the contractor) said, ‘Wow,’” recalled Vaughn. “And that’s what we want, is the customer to say, ‘Wow.’ And they only have to say that once. That was just pretty neat.” It’s common for Vaughn or his employees to hit the road 38 MAY/JUNE 2008 | PRECAST INC.
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