We recently spoke with Jake Maynard, Sales Manager at Sutton-Garten Company, Welding Supplies & Gases. They are taking what would normally be everyday walk-in traffic and providing curbside service to keep their staff and their customers safe.
Using mobile products like TIMS Assistant and TIMS Delivery can keep you running smoothly and keep all the essentials your customers need close at hand.
If your company is implementing curbside pickups, TIMS Assistant and TIMS Delivery* smartphone apps can help. Both of these mobile apps let you create new orders or look up and process existing ones. You can scan cylinder ships and returns, price out products, take credit card payments, and capture electronic signatures.
We recently spoke with Jake Maynard, Sales Manager at Sutton-Garten Company, who provide welding supplies and gases. They have just set up curbside service for the sake of safety, for their customers and staff, and to keep business running. Here's what Jake had to say.
CU: How did you keep your customers informed of the changes to your regular services?
Jake, Sutton-Garten: We notified our customers through our sales team, email blasts, and also when customers called in. We tried to mimic the hardware/big box stores as Indiana put a stay-at-home policy in place. We added all social media outlets: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. This was really important as we wanted our “essential” customers to know that we were staying open but with changes in operations.
CU: How do you get your orders?
Jake, Sutton-Garten: Orders are called-in, emailed, or faxed-in. We pull all the gases and hardgoods together and place near our designated customer dock door. We added signs outside to educate the customers as they pulled into the lot.
CU: How did you coordinate this smoothly?
Jake, Sutton-Garten: Our dock guy is utilizing TIMS Assistant to help the operational flow. The first day is always the hardest but we have a good system in place now.
CU: What kind of response have you had after adding this service?
Jake, Sutton-Garten: I’d say it's 50/50 as some customers still didn’t know we were implementing curbside service. We're using TIMS Assistant, as this process can be done outside without the use of a desktop computer. The gas only orders are the easiest because we can scan empties and fulls outside and streamline the process. If the customer has called in, we pull all the product together and stage it until their arrival. If we have a non call-in we use TIMS Assistant to process the orders outside.
CU: What about your truck deliveries?
Jake, Sutton-Garten: Our trucks are still operating as we are deemed an “essential” business because we work in the food/medical business so we are still delivering direct to our customers.
CU: What other kinds of precautions are you taking?
Jake, Sutton-Garten: We used GAWDA as a reference in cleaning our cylinders and dry ice totes coming back from customers. We've implemented all the CDC suggestions for disinfecting, keeping a six-foot distance, and frequent hand washing. We supplied all drivers with disinfectant, instructed them not to have customers sign handhelds, and not to enter customers' buildings. We also hung all the CDC posters throughout our building and bathrooms.
Important: Using TIMS Assistant or TIMS Delivery for Curbside
TIMS Assistant - Scan cylinder ships and returns, process order, take payment payment, and email or print receipt.
TIMS Delivery - Use Walk-In Mode or Direct Mode to process deliveries.
We're here to help. Please contact us should you need assistance.
*TIMS 7 is required.