John Powers于2005年继承了父辈的百年电梯安装服务公司，并在2006年将公司地址由韦茅斯迁至位于昆西的威拉德学院大厦。John Powers是一名斯基尤特当地居民，目前拥有200名客户和8名全日制员工。大约40%的业务涉及客服电话，20%的业务为新电梯制造安装，另40%的业务为电梯的更新。
贵司在今后的发展中会专注于那方面的业务呢？
　　我司主要扩展客服领域的业务，并把目光投向了英国市场。但我们的主要市场还是昆西，南部沿海以及波士顿。目前，我司已建立了分支机构。网站也在发展之中，主要服务地区为新罕布什尔州，缅因州，罗德岛州，以及康涅狄格州。所有这些业务的扩展都使公司变得强大起来，而有些大公司是不提供这类服务业务的。
我仍想与我的客户进行进一步的沟通工作，在我的业务中，我认为人与人之间的沟通是相当重要的。
贵司的目标市场是哪里呢?
　　我想说公司的管理很重要。我们主要还是针对南部沿海，而且我们在该地区也有许多工程公司，建筑公司等相关产业链。
在电梯行业里会有哪方面的竞争？面对竞争，您又是怎样处理对待的呢？
　　每一个客户都有权选择电梯公司，所以竞争是相当的激烈的，哪怕是小公司都不可避免的去面对。当客户与大公司达成协议后，能够得到相应的服务变得更困难了。你还不得不将客服电话打到中部地区。
　　我认为我们有自己的优势。你可以在本地区呼叫我们的客服。我的大多数客户甚至有我的私人电话。如果紧急呼叫能够得到及时的响应，那才是客服专线。我想那才使我们真的处于竞争核心地位。立即响应——这是我们行业的核心竞争目标。
贵司与州政府公共安全电梯检修部门的关系是怎样的呢？
　　年检是由我司负责的，然后再报告给客户。电梯检修证明需要上交。我们与公共安全部门协调安排必要的维修。另外，公共安全部门也会每年审核一次的。
　　州政府也投入了一定数量的检修人员，同时也出台了新法规条例表明：如果你没有在规定的时间进行检修，上级部门会处罚你的。如果过期6个月，便会有停业整改的处罚。
贵司最新的产品的进展处于什么状态呢？
　　绿色节能产品正在研制，循环可再生材料也被用于轿厢内部。人们乐于接受电梯轿厢使用回收再利用的金属，木质等材料。等等这些，最具价值的核心在于，当我司选购电梯材料的时候，我们要确保供应商为我们提供绿色循环的产品部件。
如果你被困在电梯中了，你会做什么呢？
　　你什么也不要做。所要做的就是静下心来等待救援。顶部的安全舱口并不是为你逃生设计的。
　　当你困在电梯里时，最安全的地方还是电梯。试图逃离，撬开电梯门并不是最佳选择。静下心来耐心等待，如果碰到服务好的电梯公司，你的等待时间就会少些了。

备注：本文为译文，内容以原文为准 来源：enterprisenews.com，金萍翻译

Century Elevator Keeping It In the Family

John Powers took over his father's elevator installation and service company in 2005, and moved Century Elevator Inc. from Weymouth to the former Willard School building in Quincy in 2006. Powers, a Scituate resident, now has more than 200 clients and eight full-time employees working at the company he owns. About 40 percent of the business involves service calls, while 20 percent is new construction and the remaining 40 percent consists of elevator renovations.
What are you focusing on in the coming year for your business?
(We are) looking to increase the service base. We are putting it out there to a more New England market. Originally our core foundation was Quincy, South Shore (and) Boston. Now we are kind of branching out. Our website which is under development, will offer services to New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, (and) Connecticut, in some parts, because there is a market there. What is happening is the independents are getting stronger because the larger companies are not providing any service.
I still want to be able to communicate on some level with my customers. That personal communication is so important to my business.
What are your target markets?
I would say (property) management companies is a big key to it. ... We do some pretty big developers on the South Shore. ... We have a lot of engineering firms, architectural firms that we align with but also (retail) chains, too.
What is there in the way of competition in your industry? How do you manage it?
Everyone has to use an elevator company. The competition is pretty fierce. It's a small industry but it's a very competitive one. ... When a customer (uses) one of the big companies as an elevator company on contract, it's much more difficult to get services. You are calling a call center in the middle of the country.
We have the advantage. I think the independents have the advantage. You can call us locally. Most of my customers have my cell phone. And so if it's an emergency issue, if it's an immediate issue, that's the line of communication. I think that really sets us apart from our competition. You have to be able to respond in this industry immediately. That's the core of what people are looking for in an elevator company, is responsiveness.
What is your relationship with the state Department of Public Safety as it relates to elevator inspections?
It's a yearly inspection and (what) basically happens is we maintain and report to our customer, that your elevator certificate is up and we schedule all the necessary repairs with the state Department of Public Safety. At that point, the department comes in and they go through a complete safety check every year.
The state has put on a number of new inspectors and they are going around enforcing. There are new laws in effect that if you don't have your elevator inspected on an annual basis, they surcharge you. If it's expired beyond six months and if it's beyond a year they will shut it down.
What are the latest advancements in new construction?
There's a lot of green technology going on. ... You have a lot of recycled materials being used in cab interiors. ... People love being able to say that they have an elevator cab interior that uses reclaimed metals and wood. ... It's a real focus, and when we buy materials from elevator providers, we make sure that they are part of the "green system."
What do you do if you get stuck in an elevator?
You really can't do anything. The elevator is designed so that you are basically in there and waiting for someone. It's not designed for you to use the escape hatch up top.
The safest place to be when you are stuck in an elevator is in an elevator. ... Trying to get out and prying the doors open is not a good idea. Just sit and wait and hope that you have a good elevator company that is going to respond in a timely fashion.