Tim Crets is enjoying the best of both worlds. As a customer service representative for Delta-Therm, Crets gets to talk to customers, and he exercises his technically-savvy side as well.

I knew that I could understand what people wanted and the type of system that they wanted because I already know the electrical side of everything, he explained.

The 31 year-old Palatine resident spent four years in the Navy as an aviation electrician. Before that, he earned an associate's degree in electrical engineering from ITT.

His education and training in the Navy - which he says taught him discipline, hard work and attention to detail provided the perfect springboard for a position at Video Jet Technologies in Wood Dale. I worked as a Technician III for five years there, he said.

After being laid off, he called a friend at an employment agency who told him about Delta-Therm.

I took this job because I wanted to get out of the technical field and I wanted to deal more with the customers, he said.

Crets joined the Delta-Therm family in December of 2008. He provides inside support and application design for two direct sales people, answers customers' technical questions, provides field assistance which includes take-offs and job site visits, and follows up on completed projects.

We needed to add someone in the department with some type of electrical background who could pick up the electrical terms and application design quickly, and who could handle himself on a job site, said Ada Cryer. We decided that Tim's associate's degree in electrical engineering, Navy experience, and five years providing technical support on industrial manufacturing printers ideally suited him for this position.

Crets is currently working on a project in Glencoe, IL for a customer who is installing a custom roof and gutter deicing system. He has been visiting the residence to take measurements and communicate with the consulting firm on the project.

 The customer seems to love every bit of it, he said.

Being patient and having a fast response time, plus an overall friendly disposition are the secrets to being a successful customer service representative, he said. Also, it doesn't hurt that he can talk sports with just about everyone in the Delta-Therm office.

There's not one person that I don't get along with, he said, adding that there are a lot of baseball fans in shipping and manufacturing.

Crets is a big St. Louis Cardinals fan. No one here in the Chicago suburbs gives him a hard time about that, he jests, because they know my team is doing so good.

Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Crets graduated from DeSoto High School in 1997. His military service took him to Pensacola, Florida and later, Chicago. He lived in Schaumburg before moving to Palatine to be closer to Delta-Therm's Wauconda location.

In his spare time, Crets hunts turkey and deer. He has been known to tinker with mechanical things like radio-controlled cars and helicopters, and he likes taking long bike rides through Deer Park near his apartment.

Crets is happy to be part of the Delta-Therm team, and sees potential with his position in the company.

This job gives me a lot of opportunity to encounter people face-to-face, he said. I'm not locked up in a factory somewhere. It's nice to talk to people and help them out.