Donna Genie worked at King's Company, a lumber brokerage in Gerard, Ohio, in 1990-1991 and learned customer service by watching owner John Watt and colleagues go far beyond the job: helping strangers on the phone, hosting supplier trips, building relationships that mattered. That culture stuck with her.
1990–1991
Gerard, Ohio
Bo (Beau) Velo, owner John Watt, and Marcia Presley (admin).
John Watt's son
Customer service is so important and we always hear a lot of stories say you just don't see it anymore. And I want to tell you about a basis for my background in customer service. When I was in college, I had the opportunity to work with, now looking back, a phenomenal company that has set the standard for how we handle customer service. I'm Donna Bordeaux with calculated moves. And we always want to make sure that our customers are like a member of our family. I know that's super cliche and it's not really family. I don't want to demean that in any way. But we want to take care of our customers. We care about them. And that's what most people find is so hard to find these days. It seems like customer service has just gone by the wayside. It's a matter of meh, let's just get it done and whatever. And we don't want to treat it that way. When I was in college, I was interviewed and worked for a company called King's Company. They were in Gerard, Ohio and they still exist today, probably because of their great customer service. This is a small family owned company and they sold lumber. They were lumber brokers. If you've ever driven down the road and seen a truck full of plastic pipe and you know all those pipes are in a band, when you cut that band, they all fall apart. King's company sells lumber that will keep that problem from happening so that when you unban those, when they arrive on the site, they don't all just fall out. It also helps them travel more safely and make sure that the load is secure and doesn't cause any traffic problem. So they offer a valuable service. And they had a list of really valued suppliers and customers who just loved what they did. They made it their job to make sure their customers were well taken care of. And there lies the premise for our calculated moves today. One time when I was at my job, I was kind of young and naive at this point, I was still in my college, college days. And one of our partners there, Bo Velo from Ohio, phenomenal guy. And he answered the phone. And these days we weren't, I'm going to date myself. We weren't on the Internet these days. It was all phone based and in person customer service. So Beau answered the phone with his happy little smile and whoever was calling called the wrong number. Now, we didn't know this. Beau was on the phone for about 15 minutes talking with the person, finding out who they were, what they did. He actually was helping them figure out who they could call to get where they were trying to get to, because obviously they had the wrong number. Bo went above and beyond to a guy who was not a customer. He was just putting out the spirit of customer service that he did to everyone else that he ever met. And if you ever met Bolo, you know what I'm talking about. He was an incredible guy. And our other owner, John Watt, was an incredible guy as well. John would go out to see people he knew about their families, their kids, he knew what sports teams they loved. Every year he would do an annual trip and bring on his suppliers and customers from the South. This was in Ohio. And John would, on his dime, he would take everybody to go see the Alabama, Arkansas game. They had a big rivalry going on. And if you've ever been to south and football, it's not a. It's not a little event, it's a big time event. So he would bring everyone there on an annual trip every year to go enjoy that game. And they had a lot of fun and fellowship. One time I had moved after I graduated and I was sad to leave, but I moved and John came into town and he called and said, hey, come meet me for dinner. It ended up I went out to help him pick up a supplier and we drove to Raleigh for the night to go have dinner, and I sent him out on a plane. I drove back to Charlotte and drove his rental car back. So a guy who just had an amazing spirit and really embodied what customer service is all about and what having a business that brings joy to people is all about. I'll tell you some more about some more things that I did at King's company in a future video. And I will stop by not mentioning Marcia Presley. Marcia was also a fixture in the business. She was their admin arm when Beau and John were on the road. Marsha was there to keep it all together. She made sure all the trucks were flowing and getting the product to the right people at the right time. And Marcia is still there to this day. I'm not going to date myself, but I worked there in 1990 and 91, and Marsha still works there today. And John's son is now running the business. So great people, great legacy, and they have left a forever imprint on me. And I want you to think about the times when you've had great customer service and embody that in your business like I do.
