PPB November 2018

FEATURE | Service Superheroes and multitasking are all excellent tools as well, but if you’re not genuine and nice, how far will it get you? You have to be genuine and nice. You have to be real. Best Personal Customer Service Experience: As a dedicated professional wrestling fan, I’ve followed the WWE since I was a child, but there is a revolution for alternative independent wrestling taking place. There is a two-brother tag team named the Young Bucks and I have followed them for quite a while. Recently they came to perform in Philadelphia, about 15 minutes from Hit’s New Jersey office. As I walked in the door that evening, the gentleman taking my ticket saw the shirt I was wearing said “Young Bucks” and told me I should go over to their table and meet them. My heart began racing in anticipation and I headed their way. Unfortunately, they were already heading into the locker rooms to begin preparation for the evening’s fights. I had missed my two favorite wrestlers. Low and behold, without me realizing what was happening, the same man who took my ticket apparently watched all of this happen. He went into the back and convinced the Young Bucks to come out and meet my friend and me. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life and reminded me what it feels like to receive customer service that is above and beyond anything one would ever expect. I will never forget meeting them, and that this one person who went out of his way ended up making me happier in that moment than I could recall in years. If I could ever make someone—my incredible teammates, my CSR partners, my outside sales reps or especially my distributor partners—as happy as I was on that day, in that moment, then I will truly feel that I have become successful in customer service. Until then, I will continue to strive to improve and get better so that I may, one day, make one of our clients feel the same way that I did on that night. HEATHER HEIDRICH Customer Service Representative Stouse Years At The Company: 2 W hen a customer service rep handles deadlines and problems so smoothly that the customer almost forgets the rep is a vendor, that’s a Service Superhero— that’s Heather Heidrich. “She has repeatedly shown the initiative and professionalism to see an order completed and shipped on time and has gotten art or technical answers for a project with the clock ticking,” says her nominator, TomHall, owner of Southern Sales and Marketing. “She treats our company as if she works for us. She is just the best.” Heidrich, who has been in customer service most of her career, formerly held an even more challenging role—as an account manager dealing with customers who were affected by phone, internet and security system outages caused by natural disasters. Best Part Of The Job: I enjoy being able to provide a product that my customers’ end-user clients need, want and love once they receive it. I want my customer to be the superhero with their end user. Biggest Challenge: Being so new to this industry, my biggest challenge is helping the customer identify what they need—even when they don’t necessarily know what their end user wants. This challenge is something that I look forward to every day. Motivation To Deliver World-Class Service: I enjoy working with our customers to help them grow and increase their revenue. Identifying what they need to fulfill their end-user requests helps them understand our product line better so they can use that information with other clients. I also like offering additional complementary product ideas our customers can mention the next time they speak to their end-user client. The team of people I work with every day also motivates me. From the managers in the office to the employees shipping our orders, I have a dedicated team backing me up. This gives me the confidence to provide customers with the world-class service they deserve. No. 1 Tip For Great Customer Service: Listen to your customers. Without the ability to listen carefully to what a customer is saying, a message could be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. Listening isn’t just about hearing. Best Personal Customer Service Experience: While planning my wedding, I attended many weekend wedding expos. I remember walking around looking at everything and feeling so overwhelmed. What did I need? What did I want? Could 30 | NOVEMBER 2018 |