Woooooshhhhh!

By: Craig A. Ruark, LEED AP

Here I sit starting at a blank page, watching the stock market plummet, wondering what I can write in the next newsletter that will stimulate business during this time of economic uncertainty.  In the past I have written about "Integrity", "Quality", and "Service"; the ideals that make Nevada By Design a great firm for which to work and demonstrates the attention we give to clients.

After subsequent deep thought, I have chosen to write about the extent to which one firm went in an effort to prove to me the quality of their product.

You see, back in early March, I was working the registration desk for the "Hotel Developers Green Convention", held at the Green Valley Ranch.  In the afternoon I walked around the convention floor speaking with the trade show exhibitors.  One of the exhibitors was Wendy Grossmann, Corporate Account Executive Worldwide for Kohler.  As I approached the booth I saw Wendy, proudly sitting on one of the many toilets displayed in the booth.  Wendy greeted me from her comfortable perch and asked me if I had seen their new line of "low flow" toilets.  I replied that we have a "low flow" toilet in our office; in fact it was such a low flow that when you finished your job; you flushed twice, plunged once, and flushed again to clear the bowl.  A 1.2 gal per flush turned out to be a 3.6 gal event.  Wendy then asked a couple of questions about the type of toilet, shape, color and how long it had been installed, then asked me for a business card which I was obliged to give.  After taking my card, Wendy told me that she would be sending a free toilet to our company.

A couple months later our new toilet arrived in three different shipments just as Wendy had promised.  After four hours on a Friday afternoon (as you can tell I am not a plumber), and a little help from Clayton Neilsen, P.E. extraordinaire,  the installation was complete and I turn on the water to our new toilet.  No leaks!  Things were looking up.  Now I have to tell you that this new toilet came with a Slone Flushmate pressure tank that uses 1.4 gal (or less) of water per flush.  Due to my plumbing skills, I was a little hesitant to push the lever the first time but I did, and Woooooshhhhh, the pressure was fantastic and the toilet has been a wonderful improvement to our office.  Not to mention the fact that I have not had the plunger in my hand since the installation.

When asked the question, I didn't really know if our old toilet was a Kohler that did not work efficiently (which by the way it was not), or some other brand.  Regardless, if it was or not, Wendy did not have to offer to replace our existing toilet with her latest model.  In fact, as a civil engineering firm she had nothing to gain by giving us the toilet as we do not specify plumbing fixtures in our engineering designs.  However, Wendy knew the quality of her product and she also understands what it means to have a satisfied customer.  Wendy's gesture also demonstrated the integrity of both her company and its employees.

In my job, I attend over a dozen professional meetings and functions a month.  As I speak with perspective clients, eighty percent of them tell me that they; 'wish they can find a quality civil engineer!'  Please note that NBD is not the only firm providing quality engineering service in Las Vegas and there are many reasons for client dissatisfaction - but that would be the subject for another time.  However, as a civil engineering firm we don't have tangible items (like a toilet), to give away to potential customers, so it is difficult to show the quality of our work without actually being hired to do a project. 

Of course we would like to prove ourselves on your next project but some people are hesitant to change horses so to speak, even if they are losing the race.  So here is my suggestion.  The next time you as an architect, contractor or developer, run into a civil engineering problem that seems to be holding up your project and your current engineer seems perplexed, give us a call.  If it does not involve starting the engineering from scratch, we will look over the problem and see if we can give you a quick suggestion to take back to your engineer.  It may be as simple as a fresh way of thinking that brings forward a new workable idea, or at the worse we can help confirm that your current path is the only choice.  Regardless of the outcome, it will give you a chance to see how we approach a project. 

At NBD, we strive to give you that Woooooshhhhh feeling as we make your civil engineering challenges disappear.