EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE By Shad Peterson Three Secrets to Success When Customer Service Is Your Only Product I N THE HALLWAY OF OUR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS AND OUR SUBSIDIARY OFFICES , there is a tree-shaped sculpture of the “Sasser Family Values.” These tenets shape the way we conduct our daily business at Sasser Family Holdings. At the top, the first and most important value boldly states: “Our only product is superior customer service.” to-day basis through our interactions with our clients and employees. 1 Offer “ands” not “instead ofs.” For almost 87 years at each of our busi-ness units, we strive for improvements that, first and foremost, address the changing needs of our customers. For example, Union Leasing, our automo-tive fleet leasing subsidiary, launched a customer portal so customers could access their important information 24/7. The improvement did not replace our dedicated client service team; it enhanced it. The service was an addi-tion to what we offered, not a replace-ment of something that is valued and needed (our customer service). As a fourth-generation, family-held commercial and industrial asset services and management company, this state-ment is nakedly true. We do not manu-facture widgets or intellectual property. Instead, we wrap our expertise and service around an asset that companies need to transport their products and goods. We work with customers to meet their transportation needs so they can better serve their own customers. Many companies place a value on customer service, but at Sasser Fam-ily Holdings, we live it. As a result, we have developed some definite secrets for bringing this value to life on a day-60 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE Let customer need determine ser-vice development. Some of the best ideas for improving your business are inside the minds of your customers. Don’t be afraid to ask them what keeps them up at night or how you might be able to enhance your service. One of our subsidiaries, Xcēd Aviation, a provider of aviation ground support equipment, listened to the customer and developed a new service offering. Its new trade-in, overhaul and incremental sales pro-gram addresses the problem of aging and even malfunctioning assets for the customers. It now has a win-win solu-tion for customers and the manufactur-ers, all from listening and responding to its customers’ needs. Customer perception is predi-cated on employee experience. Your employees are your No. 1 asset. They also deliver your true product: 2 3 service. If you want your people to provide great customer service, create a working environment that supports it internally. This becomes apparent when you remove the walls between an employee experience and customer experience and provide opportunities for customers and employees to inter-act and experience your culture. For example, our subsidiary, Chi-cago Freight Car Leasing, has brought customers to Chicago for a fun week-end, which ends with an event sup-porting a local charity, Avenues to Independence. This nonprofit helps provide independent living opportuni-ties to adults with physical, intellectual and other developmental disabilities and has been supported by the Sasser family for generations. The gesture al-lows the customer to experience what our employees experience and illus-trates our family culture, dedication to our community and customer focus. Subsidiary CF Asia Pacific mirrors this as it gathers employees, suppli-ers and customers to watch the Mel-bourne Cup horse race and raise mon-ey for Kookaburra Kids, a nonprofit that supports children with family members suffering from mental ill-ness. What better way to enhance the relationships between the employees and your customers? Everyone’s customer service is a unique, personalized product of its own. However, when customer service is your only product, it’s more impor-tant than ever to get it right every day. ■ Shad Peterson is President of Sasser Family Holdings.