DIRECT LINE
John Friesen
President and CEO
installation , decommission , inventory management and troubleshooting ).
The company has worked with some of the biggest data centric clients in the world , including Facebook , Yahoo and LinkedIn , but for John Friesen , President and CEO at Direct Line , the most valuable asset at the company ’ s disposal are its people and a culture instilled from top to bottom that the customer comes above anything else .
“ Customer service is my first priority , profitability second ,” he says .
Friesen comes from a background of working in customer service and customer facing roles . It is this experience that he feels allows him and the Executive Vice President of the company , Ignacio Del Rio , to be the market leaders in the data center design and construction space .
“ Our team recognizes that if you aren ’ t out there trying to provide solutions and you ’ re just doing the minimal of what ’ s expected , then you ’ re creating problems . Go above and beyond and you become part of the solution ,” he says .
Friesen remains fully active within the company ’ s day to day operations , often heading out into the field with project managers and customers . While recognising that he himself is not a mission critical element , Friesen does so to show both his people and the customer how much he values the role they play .
“ The more active I am , the more people can see how much I care about this ,” he says .
“ Our guys have to care about what they do , like what they do
166 May 2017