Without solid customer relationships, there would be no growth for distributors — so for successful businesses like Acme Construction Supply, providing top-tier customer service is always a priority. And Eric Shira, Acme Construction Supply’s Business Systems Manager, finds that incorporating technology like Prokeep allows his team to do just that.
Acme Construction Supply is a construction supply company comprising 19 branches spanning the West Coast from Seattle to Phoenix. They sell supplies, safety materials, tools, and everything in between, Eric has been with the organization for nearly six years and very much enjoys working alongside his team to serve his community.
Using technology to streamline service
For Eric who runs the IT team, technology is a means of empowering his team to get more work done. “In general, I think it’s economy of scale, being able to do a little bit more while maintaining the same amount of personnel, without overtaxing them.” He said. “Just making things a little bit easier to do.
By modernizing, distributors are able to streamline operations and reduce the workload on staff, allowing them to focus their energy on attending to customers.
Centralizing communication through Prokeep
For employees at Acme Construction Supply, implementing Prokeep, a customer experience management software, created a centralized workspace for all business communications. No longer did employees need to give out their personal cell phone numbers, nor did customers need to wait for long periods on hold.
When asked what value they were hoping to add with Prokeep, Eric responded; “Once we got people like HR in the room and told them, ‘Well, hey, yeah, so our employees are using their personal cell phones to connect with customers,’ HR was like, ‘Hang on a second. Maybe we don't want to really encourage that.’”
Through Prokeep, all business communications took place from one store-owned account, accessible from any counter computer. Prokeep eliminated the need for personal cell phone use, boosting transparency and breaking down silos among employees.
Better team collaboration with internal messaging
Not only has Prokeep centralized business communication, eliminating the need for personal cell phone use, but it has allowed members of the sales team to connect with greater ease.
“The other benefit that we have is that our outside salespeople use it quite a bit to connect with our inside salespeople,” Eric told us. Instead of spending time calling and waiting, outside salespeople are now able to internally send a text to another employee through Prokeep’s centralized messaging channel. “That way they know it’s getting taken care of by somebody,” Eric said.
Strengthening customer relationships and empowering teams for success
With Prokeep, employees at Acme Construction Supply are able to effectively manage their workload, communicate better internally, and provide better service to their customers. “The customer loves being able to say. ‘Here’s my email address…,’ and they know that this group of people is getting it taken care of.” Eric said to us.
“With bringing that customer service level up… now they’re able to hopefully balance that workload a little better as opposed to it all falling on one person,” Eric shared. By communicating more effectively and from one easily accessible, shared account, team members at Acme Tools are set up for success and readily available for whatever their customers need.
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