Relationships Still Matter

In this day and age of disruptive technology, crowd funding, and the anonymity of e-commerce, personal business relationships still matter. Perhaps not to the extent they once did, but they aren't extinct just yet.

At some point in the supply chain, people are still involved in the deal. From the person that packs your order (yes, even in the most automated of companies, there's still probably a human or two involved), to the customer service representative that answers your technical question, to the buyer that negotiated the contract with the supplier, people aren't quite obsolete.

At ADC, we pride ourselves on the personal touch. Sure, we employ automation — we have to in order to stay competitive and relevant. But, it is still about the people. From the manager that motivates and leads a staff of 40 in manufacturing; to the night shift supervisor that oversees a crew of mostly part timers working a second job and just trying to make ends meet; to the salesman that details the product to the busy hospital materials manager; people are still vital. From the CS rep that solves a customer's problems to me — the guy that still travels to the far corners of the planet to personally visit with the owners of the contract manufacturers that produce our components, it's all about the relationship. As I make my 65th trip to the other side of the world, more than a million flight miles in 30 years, I try never to forget that it's all about the people — whether it be the customer on one end, the vendor on the other, or the distributor in between.

On this last trip I visited 7 cities in 5 countries in 18 days. I met with staff in 3 countries and more than half a dozen vendor partners who employ nearly 500 to contract manufacture some of our components. It was a physically and mentally tough trip but it's how we start the process of making that Adscope™, Adlite™, or Diagnostix™ brand sphyg you sell or use.

And it all starts with a handshake.