Quick and effective communication is critical to the success of any distributor, and Baltimore-based Cornwell Tools dealer John Patterson has developed a few ways to improve in this area to help make his job easier.
He recently started saving his customers’ telephone numbers in his cell phone to better be able to identify them when they call.
“I have it set up through Apple iCloud so it isn’t taking up memory, but I can access everything on my phone,” he says.
For example, one of his customers recently contacted Patterson about purchasing an item while the distributor was at his son’s lacrosse game. Because he could readily identify who it was and what he needed, Patterson looked up some product information on his phone, took a snapshot of the product and texted it to the customer immediately. Patterson’s efforts were rewarded, as the customer purchased the product.
Another way he has been able to leverage communication to achieve better results on the job is by dealing exclusively with one customer service representative with Cornwell Tools. Whether he emails or calls, she’s always quick to respond and attend to the situation. They trust one another, and they understand one another, Patterson says.
“If I had to say thank you to people, the first person I’m going to thank is my wife,” he continues. “The second person I’m going to thank is my customer service rep, because she makes my job 10 times easier.”
