Masonry Magazine August 2004 Page. 31
Mason contractors are starting to see lower prices for laser products as multiple industries find uses for them.
Mason contractors are starting to see lower prices for laser products as multiple industries find uses for them. The initial cost of laser equipment could run into thousands of dollars. But electronics manufacturers have always found ways to lower prices as popularity brings benefits of scale. Mason contractors are starting to see that effect with the laser as multiple industries find uses for them.
And like most electronics today, miniaturization is giving us the laser adapted to smaller packaging and even handheld units such as those mounted on levels instead of tripods. Multiple axes can be found in single units, allowing vertical, horizontal and adjustable angles to be directed from a single unit.
Rotary Units
THE KING OF THE LASER LEVELS, though, is the rotary unit. In this unit, the laser beam a series of dots strobing rapidly - spins around in a circle. It spins fast enough that you actually see a line, not dots. Because you and OSHA don't want eye injuries, the power of the laser is strictly limited. It will still be visible in a normally lit interior at a reasonable distance and usually visible at a much-reduced distance outdoors and in daylight. Laser enhancement glasses will make the laser line more visible at a greater distance by filtering out competing colors.
To use a rotary laser outside, you will be better off using a detector or receiver, a small box with a sensing strip tuned to the frequency (color) of the laser light. This picks up the signal you can't see with the unaided eye in normal outdoor light.
A good example of the rotary laser level is the PLS-5X from Pacific Laser Systems (PLS) in Sausalito, Calif. This self-leveling, point-to-point alignment laser tool is designed for layout of control points and lines in outdoor conditions, especially in bright sunlight. Working range is 250 feet and more with an accuracy of one-eighth inch at 100 feet. Market price is about $500, and they are available from distributors.
Customers are always number one
MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
When a customer calls about a problem on a project, will the employee who takes the call treat this customer as though he is there to serve the customer? Or, will he make the customer feel like he is doing him a favor helping with his problem? Do your employees realize that the only reason any company exists is to serve customers and nothing more?
I recently booked an all-inclusive trip to go to Cancun with my wife, Donna. Since the trip was a surprise for Donna, I decided to book the trip myself. When I called my travel agent, a lady took the call to help me book the trip. Although she was kind of pushy with me to make up my mind on the package I wanted, I still booked the trip with her. My father-in-law has been extremely sick, so timing of this trip was very important to us. Therefore, I bought insurance so I could cancel the trip anytime up to the very last day. As fate had it, two days before the trip my father-in-law had to go back into the hospital, and Donna and I felt we should stay with him. When I called the travel agent to cancel, she was still a little pushy, but helpful in cancelling the trip in the last 10 minutes of opportunity to save the $3,400 spent on reservations.
I called back a couple days later to reschedule the trip. She (my travel agent) said there were no available rooms at this resort to rebook. I asked if she could send me some brochures of options of other places we could go. She got a little pushier and said she could not send them in the mail, that I would have to come and pick them up. I asked, "Why?" She said, "Because we do not pay postage." It is a half-hour drive from my office to hers. So, being the businessman I am, I told her, "If I send someone to pick them up, by the time they get there and back I will have $50 in the trip." I could tell she thought that was ridiculous. Obviously, she could not understand how I value my time and the time of my people. She did offer to drop them off at a local bank that was 20 minutes closer and said I could pick them up there. Not a very impressive offer compared to her company spending 37 cents on a stamp and sending the brochures. In the end, she faxed them to me.
When I changed the trip to Aruba, I asked about getting insurance again since the situation with my father-in-law is still touch and go. She said, without even checking, "I'm sure they won't give you insurance again after you have already cancelled once." Boy, did that make me feel good as a customer. Of course, like most good customers I was too busy to worry and complain about the way her agency works. So, I never complained about it. Obviously, I won't be booking any more trips with her travel agency. Can you blame me?
Is the same thing happening in your organization without your knowledge? Are you losing good customers over a 37-cent stamp? Unless we are constantly displaying to our employees that the customer is number one, things like this can go on in our company unnoticed. So, let's make sure our employees know that the next time the phone rings, whoever takes the call asks the customer "What can I do for you?" - not "What can you do for me?"