From Sawmill Design and Operation, to Sawmill Salesman

I’m sure you sawmilling families can totally relate. When the Sawmill operator has to use the Internet…yeah right!

Great sawmill operator, my husband Chris:

  • Kicked butt at the Shootout with Nathan and brought back some bloomin’ fine results (to be released soon).
  • Dreams up new sawmills and gadgets while I sleep… and they work.
  • Can fix any sawmill, anywhere, with zero tools, and often just over the phone!
  • Travels to the highlands of Papua New Guinea and sleeps under coconut trees without complaint…

So you’d think I would be ecstatic to have the sawmill brains in the office for once.

BUT.

Try and get him to sit still for more than five mins in an office meeting? Nope.

Tell him he has to write up notes from the last customer conversation? Grrrr.

Get him to proof the Instruction Manuals my team put together? ‘Real Men Don’t Read Manuals.’

Grammar and spelling? Let’s just say after 26 years he probably still hasn’t got my name right in the possessive for. ‘Kerris’ sawmills’… hmm.

So I have been DREADING having to teach my darling how to back up Aaron now that Jamie has left.

Guess what? So far I have managed to totally AVOID the situation (wives are never the best teachers anyway).

Jamie was very kind and sat down with Chris to show him our Contact Database (our list of customers and enquirers), and how we record all key details under their notes.

But boy, you should have heard the frustration in his voice complaining to me later though… how Jamie whipped through the steps like a whizz leaving Chris six blocks behind still trying to find the F6 key!?

I ducked for cover. And I guess it probably wasn’t the right time to mention the poor new owners feeling left behind when Chris is whizzing through a sawmill training session…

Next Aaron showed outstanding patience explaining the priorities and steps to take when calling an enquiry back.

Fingers crossed.

Then this morning all I hear is the sweet sound of my guys on the phone to enquirers and customers around the world.

No swearing, no keyboard bashing, just a couple of really good questions to my office about pricing and shipping deals to work on.

And I was pleasantly surprised to find he is agreeing with me on those pricing decisions – whaaat??

Whew!

I’ll give it a few days and monitor the stress levels when all our mill owners realize he’s in the office and he has to type in 39 conversation logs in a single day.

Oh and he went and got a new haircut just for his new office job.

Like you all can see it under that hard hat. Yeah right! 😉

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