30. Practice Transparency.

 
With appropriate respect for confidentiality, share information freely. Learn to ask yourself, “Who else needs to know this?” The more people know, the better we can collaborate, and the better we can serve our customers.

Chris' Message:

 

Transparency is ingrained in the Famous Supply culture. It starts with our monthly conference calls, branch meetings, and 1-2-1s where the flow of information both positive and negative is open for discussion. In addition to these formal exchanges, we have an open door policy and access to every member of the Famous team.

Transparency also takes place on an organic level where we are gathering information to create a more positive customer experience. A year ago we had a customer come into the Newark branch counter who was doing a job in this area for the first time. Our counter team took this as an opportunity; first to fill the order correctly and in a timely manner, and second, to find out what type of job he was working on and how we could help. The customer was doing a small job that day, but was getting ready to bid several large commercial plumbing jobs. That info could have ended at the counter. Instead, our counter team took the information and acted on the question “who else needs to know about this?’ They gave him a credit app, introduced him to the local famous team, and got him in touch with an Outside Sales associate. The Outside Sales rep followed up, quoted the jobs, helped the contractor work through challenges during the quoting process, and ultimately secured multiple orders.

We need to be transparent when negative situations arise, as well. Whether a special order part comes in damaged, a truck gets a flat tire, or we make an error on an order, we need to be transparent with the customer and work together on a solution. By being upfront with our customers we can react to any circumstance and put measures in place to eliminate future issues.

I have only met Dale Kosco once or twice, but I would like to recognize him and his CDC team for their efforts in transparency with weekly and daily communication. These efforts are very much appreciated along with the tremendous progress.

Thank you

Chris Wiersma
Customer Service Manager/Newark