Spring 2022 Hardlines Strategies

CUSTOMER PROFILE

industry was all about customer service and meeting customers’ needs. “I call our stores the ‘Cheers’ of Carlsbad because I love to call people by name and welcome them back,” Shoemaker says. “The clientele over the years has increased, which is exciting. We do change customers as the different industries come and go, but overall we have developed some deep relationships with customers and their businesses.” The company enjoys employee longevity, with many staff members recording 10, 15 or more years with BES Supply. Brininstool co-owns the company with his wife Jill Holt, who serves as vice president and takes an active role in the operations side of the business. Their son Tanner Holt joined the company two years ago, and Brininstool is grooming him to take over the reins someday. None of the employees joined the team with previous knowledge in the different specialty industries the stores cater to, but thanks to an intensive training program, they have the knowledge to serve those customers. When they first start, all employees spend two weeks in the warehouse, learning what products the stores carry and gaining an understanding of the way the company has diversified its offerings over the years. “I didn’t know retail or hardware when I came, and many of our employees didn’t either, so over the years we’ve developed our training programs to provide a comprehensive learning experience,” Shoemaker says. For the employees at BES Supply, being able to serve customers well comes down to product knowledge. Shoemaker says customers often call products by different names than the employees do, so she trains employees to ask plenty of questions to figure out what a customer needs, and even ask for a photo if they still aren’t clear on what a customer is looking for. “We really try to go the extra mile to help the customer find what they need,” she says. “There is definitely a

Many of the employees at BES Supply have been with the company for 10 years or more and enjoy the family-like atmosphere and support of the management staff.

Every new employee spends two weeks in the warehouse to learn as much as they can about the different specialty industrial, mining and safety products the company sells.

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