Necessity is the mother of invention—and of good marketing campaigns. Morrisville, N.C.-based Professional Builders Supply (PBS) kept that in mind as it worked on a campaign to highlight its commitment to customer service.
Walk into any of the dealer’s four locations and one of the first things that you’ll see is a large poster featuring a picture of a PBS employee and details about his or her dedication to customer service.
Here’s the wording on one poster: “Meet Tammy. Tammy IS Professional Builders Supply. Tammy answers our telephones in two rings or less … no machines, no voicemail … a real live person. That’s just one of the small things we do to stand out from the crowd. Tammy, like all of our team, understands that you effectively
sign her paycheck and without your business, we have no reason to exist. That is why, she not only has a sense of urgency in taking your call, but she does it with a great attitude and a sincere desire to help you solve your problem. At Professional Builders Supply … it’s about the service! And Tammy makes sure of that!”
“The associates selected for this campaign were chosen because they are our high achievers and perform their job based on our mission statement and core values,” says Beth Clarke, executive assistant and program coordinator.
“Ours is a people business,” Clarke says. “While our management team and our account managers are critically important, it is ultimately the order puller, the customer service associate, the receptionist, and the truck driver who have the ability to create a lasting impression.”
The campaign not only promotes the PBS brand and its commitment to customer service, it also reaches out to current employees, potential employees, and even suppliers and prospective suppliers.
“When that driver or load puller reads those comments, it gives them a stronger sense of pride in what they do because they know they are being recognized for the work they do every day,” Clarke says. And because contractors recognize employees from the posters, they feel like they’re working with a person they know.
In the past two years, PBS has featured 13 employees on the posters. Each of those staff members gets a framed 8 ½-inch-by-11-inch copy. The company also uses the layouts for ads in home builders association newsletters and as banners on its website.
Keeping the campaign simple has kept costs low and the time involved at a minimum. The company says that it spent about 60 hours on the campaign, including ad design, photo coordination, printing, and framing. Total cost: $1,200. And because the campaign has worked so well, PBS will do it again next year.
