PPB November 2020

SARA HARRINGTON, CAS Client Care Specialist ROBYN Promotions Years with this company: 14.5 S ara Harrington, CAS, learned the fine points of customer service early on in her career while managing a retail store for a home décor company. Part of her job was to make customers feel welcome and eager to do business with the company. Her current position with Oklahoma City- based distributor ROBYN draws on those skills and has given her plenty of opportunity to grow as a customer care professional. Now, as a member of the company store team, Harrington provides a direct connection between clients and all departments at ROBYN, from ecommerce to fulfillment, ensuring that all store programs are successful. The role is the perfect fit for Harrington and the distributor. “Sara’s attention to detail, diligence and creativity has made her an invaluable part of the ROBYN team for almost 15 years,” says her nominator and the company’s vice president of business development Eric Granata, CAS. “She fiercely advocates for her clients both here and with our decorators. Sara is also a creative thinker. If an order begins to go sideways, she will save the day with out-of-the box thinking that gets everything back on track.” He also is impressed with her broad knowledge of her clients’ brands and aesthetics. “She works hard to develop an understanding of what her buyers need and is able to anticipate which products will have the most interest from her buyers,” he says. An example was a holiday gift project for a large client. The project included assembly and the client was very specific about how they wanted their brand and products to be presented. Granata says Harrington worked with their assembly team to carefully train each individual on how to place the items in the box, fold the tissue paper without wrinkling it and package the items with precision. “Her attention to detail was unmatched and the whole time she would take photos of the process and send them to the client for approval. She also checked each finished box to make sure it was how her client wanted it to be.” One-On-One With Sara Harrington, CAS How the pandemic has affected her approach: With so many extra variables added to nearly every order, over- communicating and trying to inform ahead of any delivery/stock/other issue has been key. I wouldn’t say I’ve had to change, just make a few adjustments and stay on hyper client-care mode. Her inspiration to deliver great service: I have a deeply rooted work ethic (from my parents, I think), which makes it nearly second-nature to go above and beyond to make the customer as happy as possible. I expect to be treated well when I am the customer, so I provide the same to my customers. No. 1 tip to share with others: Put yourself in the customer’s shoes, think reasonably and do what is right to put a smile on their face with the whole process. Best personal customer service experience: When on a trip, we stopped at a little boutique. While my purchase was small, the way I was treated by the shop owner/cashier made me want to go back and shop there again. She made it personal, took time to make me feel important and shared her joy. That is the way I pray my customers feel when working with ROBYN. Service Superheroes | FEATURE | NOVEMBER 2020 | 21