An On-site Problem-Solver
 Dan works for Illinois American Water as a Field Services Technician. In this role—which is a sort of jack-of-all-trades position—he works out in the field, directly serving customers in the Peoria area. “We’re the first point of contact, after they reach the call center,” he says, describing the company’s field technician force. Dan says he does everything from turning people’s water on and off and changing meters, to investigating and resolving low-pressure issues and/or water leaks at customers’ homes and businesses.
“When you can help a lot of customers, it makes you feel good,” he states.
“Most of our customers don’t ever really think about their water until something goes wrong,” Dan observes. “So a lot of times, if I’m going to deal with a customer, it’s because they are having an issue. In fact, a big part of my job is troubleshooting—helping customers figure out what’s going on, and giving them advice on what would be the next course of action (for example, whether they need to hire a plumber or maybe fix the problem on their own). Basically, it’s just trying to help customers make a decision. A lot of our customers aren’t very knowledgeable about plumbing or issues with the water, so they look to us to give them guidance.”
“It does make you feel good when you can go out and help people, and you feel you can actually make a difference with customers.”
Dan says about half of his work is completed without customers being present. “Whenever we can, we don’t involve the customer, because we don’t want to inconvenience them. A lot of our customers work. They have busy schedules. So we want to handle as many orders as we can without involving them.” Of course, there are some exceptions to that rule. “Sometimes you have to go inside the home, you have to involve the customer—say, if they have a pressure issue or if they are having an issue with their bill,” Dan explains. “Then we want to go inside and try to figure out if they have a leak. Also, if there are issues where we have to do regulatory work, where we are required to change a meter, we have to involve the customer.”
When he’s not working, Dan enjoys spending quality time with his young son. They have fun doing special things together, such as side trips to explore caves in Missouri.
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER
Dan says Illinois American Water has encouraged employees to get involved with the Children’s Hospital of Illinois, located in Peoria, because it is such a wonderful cause. “They gave us an opportunity to go do something for the kids at the hospital, and also for the caregivers there, to thank them for the job they do. It’s something that was encouraged by the company, which was nice,” he says. “And I think all of the employees here are passionate about that.”
He says he and several coworkers pitched in to help make a difference at the hospital. “We held some fundraisers here at work, and then we went out to buy stuff. We dropped off sweatshirts for the caregivers and goody bags for the kids,” Dan says. “Some of those kids are doing tests all the time. They don’t really get a chance to be a kid. So it was really nice to see that we were donating a lot of activity books and coloring books that all the kids of all ages there could enjoy and play with, and not have to think about everything else for a while.”
A Proud Employee of Illinois American Water
Dan says he feels “100 percent proud” to work for Illinois American Water. “I do enjoy working here,” he emphasizes. “It does make you feel good when you can go out and help people, and you feel you can actually make a difference with customers.”
“I think we do a really good job, especially here at the local level,” he says about customer service in the Peoria area. “And I think all the fellow employees I work with want to go out and help people. There’s no one here that doesn’t want to be an advocate for customers. So I think, in that regard, we do an excellent job.”
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