Spotlight on Fluke Calibration DoD Sales Associate Joe Baker and His Metrology Career

We’re proud to feature this interview with one of our team members who helps customers move forward with Fluke Calibration. Looking for help with a Department of Defense calibration lab? Contact Joe Baker at 425-446-6388.

The school required a commitment of 14 months enrollment, plus extending his military service from four to six years. Joe signed up without quite knowing what he was getting into. “It just seemed very interesting to me. I didn’t know much about it and once I got there, when I found out it was electronics–we actually learned back then how to repair, solder--oh I was in heaven.”

He adds, “I realized it was a shining gem of an opportunity to get into a metrology career field, not only one that I enjoy and love, but something that teaches.”

Joe spent six years in the active military and two years in the reserves. In 1996 he began working for Marconi Instruments, where he added RF electronics to his technical metrology repertoire. In 1998 he joined the Fluke Service Center in Carrollton, Texas, where he worked on oscilloscopes. “We had a big contract that I oversaw. Then we acquired Wavetek and I became the lead technician over the Wavetek products. We had a precision and an industrial side and I was the daytime lead over the precision side.”

“That part’s awesome--the people that we work with every day and the passion they have for their job.”

In 2006, Joe gave a presentation on behalf of the service organization. Fluke Calibration leaders noticed his technical expertise, military background in metrology and excellent communication skills. Soon afterward, Joe began selling Fluke Calibration equipment to the Department of Defense.

Selling the calibration and metrology products required learning about them, and Joe took a direct, hands-on approach. “We started with electrical when we bought Wavetek. I already had an RF background so that was easier for me. The temperature product was not too difficult, but I had to work a little extra on the pressure side. I did attend all the training courses. When we bought Ruska I went down to Houston, I went to Phoenix [home of former DH Instruments], and I went to American Fork [home of former Hart Scientific]."

“It was exciting to get to work with these well-known calibration and metrology companies (Hart Scientific, DHI), getting to work with people who have the same amount of passion and number of years in the field– sometimes a lifetime of years working with the products. That part’s awesome--the people that we work with every day and the passion they have for their job.”

"You can be successful by solving a problem, helping the customer, taking care of an issue.”

Joe takes a unique approach to selling. “I take sales a little bit differently because I think of what I don’t want people to do to me when they’re selling, and I try to do everything differently from that aspect,” he explains. “I want to be somebody that when the customer thinks of me and the company, they think that company and that guy helps me. I have a problem, he solves it.  You know, you can be successful without putting a lot of pressure on people.  You can be successful by solving a problem, helping the customer, taking care of an issue.”

Why Fluke Calibration? “One of the things I can say from doing sales is something inevitably goes wrong. The sign of a good company is how they take care of it. And I want to be part of the solution where, even if the customer has an issue, at the end of the day they can say that company, or that guy, stands behind what they do.”

”I just try to do what I would want somebody to do for me if I were in a predicament … and I needed my equipment back. It made me realize what we do every day matters to people.”

Joe has a lot of stories from both his service and sales roles. “When I started visiting calibration customers, one of them said, do you remember that time you were going to your brother’s graduation and you took a unit from Service to the airport so it would get back to me on time? That kind of put it into perspective of why I love the job. I just try to do what I would want somebody to do for me if I were in a predicament and I was calling a large company and my lab was down and I needed my equipment back. It made me realize what we do every day matters to people.”

"We get to see a lot of very interesting applications that not only keep our military ready but keep people out of harm's way or safe."

“We get to see a lot of very interesting applications that not only keep our military ready but keep people out of harm’s way or safe. It makes me proud when you walk into a place like a volt reference lab and you see Fluke everywhere. We’re working with the highest labs and we’re pushing the limits of the measurements we can do with very low parts per million in many measurement disciplines.”

“We’re pushing the limits of the measurements we can do with very low parts per million.”

After 21 years at Fluke Calibration, Joe Baker has started to consider his metrology career legacy. “I was that person who was brand new. Now I’m 21 years at Fluke next month and it just flies by. Hopefully I can leave the same impression with my passion and energy that the people who were before me left with me, because I really enjoy working for this company.  I love what I do.”

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