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Building a Relationship.

Article Excerpt
Building a Relationship

BY BILL SWICHTENBERG

Good customer service is the key attribute of Best Supply Company. It means going beyond what is expected and helping customers do their job better.

Sometimes bigger is not better. A personal touch can go a long way in keeping a customer for life. That is what Shelly Feinman, owner and "customer care specialist" for Best Supply Company, Dallas, Texas, has found in his 30 years working in the jan/san industry.

Feinman learned the value of customer service early in his sales career. Selling women's clothes and eventually men's suits prepared him for the rigors of a maintenance products' distributorship. He learned how to make cold calls and listen to the needs of the customer.

"If you can sell women's clothes, you can sell anything," says Feinman.

The start

It wasn't necessarily Feinman's goal to have his own distributorship. He was content to work for somebody else and just part time. However, his former employer's business practices led him into a different direction. Back then, many of his clients were tight on credit and were in a bind.

"My boss didn't want me to sell them any more products. I couldn't just abandon them, so I sold them behind her back and on the side. She eventually caught me and ultimately fired me," says Feinman.

Not permitted to call on his former...

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