Field Engineer Takes Proactive Approach to Customer Support

Larry Lindsey says he was born with a condition called the “customer support bug,” which compels him to go all out in his job as a Honeywell field service engineer, even helping prevent customer issues in the first place. “If you take care of the customer, everything else will take care of itself,” he said.

Lindsey should know. He’s been in the customer support business for 45 years, including almost 20 years at Honeywell. “I’d been working as a contract field engineer with several business aircraft original equipment manufacturers,” he remembers. “I jumped at the chance to join Honeywell because I always had such a good experience with them when I was on the OEM side. I feel right at home here because everyone feels the same way about meeting customers’ needs.”

Today Lindsey is based in St. Louis, where he’s focused on meeting the needs of business aircraft manufacturers, operators and channel partners throughout the Midwest. His territory includes such business aviation hubs as Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City and Wichita. He also leads the Honeywell Technical Core Team (TCT) for avionics, which includes 31 experienced field service engineers based globally, including at key customer sites.

“We started the TCT concept in 2011 by bringing together engineers with deep expertise in all avionics product categories,” Lindsey explained. “We work together to solve customer issues quickly and efficiently. Our shared experience is so broad and deep I like to say ‘It’s hard to stump the collective genius of our field service engineers.”

These TCTs focus on being proactive and helping prevent problems before they occur, which involves opening lines of communications between Honeywell and customers. The team often conducts training classes and information sessions to help customers understand the capabilities of their avionics and how to keep systems and databases current.

“In many cases, customers don’t think about us unless something goes wrong. But there’s no substitute for building strong customer relationships. It’s part of our job to be proactive and reach out to them just to say, ‘How’s your airplane flying?’ or ‘What can we do to make your life easier?’”

The TCTs also pride themselves on solving issues upon first contact. “Customers want to know we’re invested in a solution and will stay with them until their issue is resolved,” Lindsey said.

The team thrives on customer feedback. They hear lots of positive buzz about Honeywell technologies including the breakthrough JetWave satellite communications system, which enables the best inflight connected aircraft experience, the Primus Epic integrated avionics system, and the business aviation industry’s first touchscreen displays.

“These are some of the most exciting products to come along in my long career,” Lindsey said. “It’s very gratifying to be of a company that is so clearly on the leading edge when it comes to creating great avionics and a great experience for customers.”