It's Not About Me

interact with your competition on a legitimate basis. Walt Disney’s Carousel of P rogress attraction sponsored by the General Electric Company opened at Walt Disney World in 1975. As part of our industry conference, we had the unusual opportunity at that time to see the “inner workings” of Walt Disney World…a grand tour of what really goes on behind the scenes of the public part! We got to see rooms full of costumes and tunnels and people scurrying about; we were treated to a seminar on how they approach serving their customers. Every person is a performer…when they are in the public eye…they are on stage! Whether they are a food worker, a hotel desk clerk or Mickey Mouse, they are on stage performing for the public. Why do you think grounds are spotless, why there is never a “burned - out light bulb” to be found, why everything is p recisely how you would imagine a “Magic Kingdom” to be? They work around the clock when the park is closed to make sure all of the surroundings are kept in immaculate condition. Ever go somewhere and the restaurant or business ONLY opens promptly at 11AM or whatever time…so you are ten minutes early and you must sit out in your car waiting; meanwhile the business staff are sitting inside doing nothing! How is that for a favorable impression? I do not even wear a watch, but I am NEVER late for an appointment; in fact, I am usually early! I have never been refused entry at Walt Disney World or Disneyland even if I arrived a little early…they have PLANNED their schedule to make sure their guests have a “great customer experience” … and that includes gett ing into the park early if you happen to arrive a few minutes early! It is the little things in life that can make a big difference in how your customers perceive your business. • User’s Manual/Databook – In our age of electronics and the Internet, it is hard to fathom when people had to rely on manual filing systems for retrieving product and application data but that is how it used to be back in the “dark ages”. Industry catalog data was produced on i ndividual product sheets which were numbered and kept in a binder. Companies used to have literature libraries and they employed librarians to receive, index and maintain suppliers’ catalog data for their employees to use when specifying or designing prod ucts. In fact, Westinghouse’s entire product catalog was said to be about six feet long if mounted in a single reading file; the Semiconductor section was assigned to the 54-000 series of numbers!

Back in the 1970’s, Texas Instrument and Motorola both produced large single book catalogs for their Integrated Circuits that you could buy from Radio Shack, but no one in the discrete semiconductor business had tackled assembling all of their technical data into a single book. Things were about to change at Westinghouse Semiconductor; in 1978 at our National Sales Meeting in Seven Springs, PA (30 miles from our Youngwood, PA plant), I handed out our new Westinghouse Power Semiconductor User’s Manual and Data Book. It became an instant hit with our sales force and our customers.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Power Semiconductors – but were reluctant to ask! Ideal for all users of power semiconductors regardless of job function, technical background, and experience level…two books in one, 8 ½ x11 form at, easy to read, fully indexed, and 432 pages. We sold the book back then for $6.50 with free shipping; of course, we sent our existing customers FREE

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