Supporting dozens of clients throughout the world is no easy task. Five months ago, GlobalSim spun off from Kongsberg and once again became an independent company. With this change also came a restructuring of the support team. Without the global Kongsberg network to rely on, GlobalSim turned to Dan Olson, a longtime employee and industry veteran who has extensive knowledge of simulator systems and strong working relationships with clients across the globe. As the new VP of Operations, Dan has re-prioritized customer support. Over the last several months the approach seems to have been working. GlobalSim held a successful User Conference in April in Salt Lake City and has since renewed Service and Support Plans (SSP) for some important clients. “We’re starting to hear over and over again that our support team is one of the best in the industry” remarks Olson.
Change didn’t happen overnight for the customer service team as efforts were underway for months prior to the corporate restructuring. GlobalSim increased its staff and commitment to ensure that every customer had a voice and could help influence improvement. Dan Olson continues “Once we broke off from Kongsberg, we really pushed hard to get the entire organization to focus on customer support. Now everyone in the company is charged with satisfying customers. We draw from all the departments and have a deep bench of engineers and technicians, but most of the responsibility falls on Tony and Max.” Olson is referring to Tony Coates and Max Barker, who (along with Dan) manage the bulk of the customer service responsibilities for GlobalSim.
Tony Coates has over 20 years of experience in hardware support, he is a critical member of the team for assembly, diagnostics and repair. His responsibilities include customer relations and listening to our client’s needs. He is able to identify issues that come up and solve them in a timely matter.
Max Barker is somewhat new to GlobalSim having joined the company in early 2015. His background includes over 20 years of experience in technical support. In addition to his hardware experience, Max contributes to software testing and troubleshooting both the port and construction applications.
Each member of the support team travels the world to support clients, often working in tandem with other GlobalSim technicians and engineers. “We support all of our clients during the warranty period and the majority go on to purchase a service and support plan.” says Olson. “When somebody purchases a simulator from our company, they’re getting much more than a system, they’re getting world-class service and a working relationship that continues for years.”
In Montreal Canada, GlobalSim client MEA (Maritime Employers Association) seem to reflect Dan Olson’s sentiment. Speaking about the decision to choose GlobalSim, Sebastien Lambert (Director of Training from MEA) remarks “What I wanted to know is how the after sales services that they had at GlobalSim. That was a key point for me. When you have troubles you want to have access to someone, to speak to someone very fast to trouble shoot those issues and Globalsim offers that!”
