Hang in there Buddy!

A young consultant with just a couple of years of experience was asked if he would like to go onsite. His company was providing remote support to a large global customer but there were many issues coming up and needed a specialist to go onsite to fix the issues. Without taking much time to think, he said yes. It looked like his dream came true. He did not expect to get an opportunity so soon. He informed all his friends and got them jealous, made a list of places to visit, things to buy with the money he would make. He was super excited and eagerly awaiting for the day to arrive. Finally the day arrived and he landed at the customer location.

Little did he know what he had to face. He was bombarded with so many issues on day one. He met one of the meanest and toughest customer and boy he was just way too overwhelmed. It was too much for a young consultant on his first visit. He just did not have experience of handling these issues and the customer. That night he called his manager and was literally crying and begging him to book his return ticket immediately and send somebody more senior to handle the crisis. His manager calmed him down and told him he is looking for a replacement and needs time. He told him “give it your best shot, I will have a few people supporting from offshore. We are ok if you fail but give it your best shot.”

The young consultant felt better but the thought of going to work and facing the angry customer sent shivers. For the next one week the same story continued. Every night the young consultant would call and cry and his manager would speak a few words of motivation, promising a replacement soon and would end the call saying ,hang in there buddy!

Hoping that the replacement was arriving and mustering some courage he started to burn the midnight oil, searched, researched, reached out to people and started making progress over the next few weeks. What overwhelmed him initially did not look so complex now as he began to unravel the bugs/issues and started fixing them. His confidence levels grew. He was answering customer queries and being assertive. He stopped calling his manager for the replacement and went on with his work. Customer stopped complaining and started listening. Soon they made very good progress.

What started as a one month assignment ended up as a one year assignment. At the end of the assignment the young consultant was no longer the same. He truly understood what an onsite experience meant; battles to fight every day, fires to be doused, tempers to be assuaged, problems to be solved, realistic expectations to be set and met. The boy grew up. He now became their top notch consultant, product expert and built a flair for handling the toughest customers. Once back home he thanked his manager for all the calls and support provided. He said “This experience is priceless, had I taken the easy way out and returned back home, I would never have become what I am today. He also asked him casually â€œ why didn’t the replacement never arrive “ His manager smiled at him and said â€œ because there was none” both had a big laugh. “ and by the way we have another assignment coming up.. You know what to expect right” and they both smiled.

He met a very enthusiastic young team member who just collected his travel documents and was all set to travel to a customer location for the first time. The young consultant asked his senior “any advice for me?” He said “just hang in there buddy, you will make it! “