41. Building Customer Relationships with John Allen

Andrea and Griff are joined by John Allen, Customer Service Manager, to discuss the many roles he has filled in his career and what helps him be successful in building relationships with our customers.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to Loaded, the Han Ready Mix podcast with Andrea Meyer, Griffin Hahn, producer Lex, and we have a special guest today.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

You said talk less, so I'm just talking.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

I said repeat the same words less.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Okay, fine. All right, we'll do this then. John, John Allen's with us today. Welcome to the pod, man. Thank you. Thank you. Very excited to have you.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

I can't tell if you've been avoiding us in this podcast or okay. I was reading that correctly then.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Well, you have you have no excuse today. It's the coldest day of the year and not much else to do. So we were able to drag Johnny in for the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

I I did not have the heart to tell Griffin no.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

So I kind of cornered him with it, to be fair. I did kind of say, Hey, you good for recording the podcast Thursday, John? And he's yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

All right. All right. Well, do we have any announcements today before we get started with our interview?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Um well, it's still snowy and still miserably cold. And I very excited to see another three to six inches of snow coming Saturday. So yes, super fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

This is not great news. Um, we have had a few people in, uh very few loads of concrete going out, but there are a few people that had to come in and do that. And we had some people in helping with snow removal, uh, extra fun project of removing snow from the roof of the office because the gutters were jammed with ice and causing problems. So I just want to make sure we extend our sincere appreciation to the people that bundled up and went out and handled all that stuff this week.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

And one of those was our very own producer, Lex, who really should have had a hard hat on for sure with his ice project. But yeah, he did help.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

It was it was bad. It was I don't think I've ever seen an ice jam on a roof like that before. So uh appreciate, appreciate all the effort.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

And the other thing I wanted to talk about, answer a question that I've had a few times was if we are lighting a truck for the holidays and when it will be out there. What's the what's the update on that?

SPEAKER_02 2:22

We are working on one. It started this morning, and Lex and I are hoping to have it out front and lit up Monday afternoon.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

So when this podcast comes out, the truck could be out there.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

It it depends on when the podcast comes out.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

I appreciate that. I think it's a good goal to have it out there by Monday, and it's always so many people love it. So I'm glad we're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

My wife was already asking me, she goes, Is your truck out there yet? Because we like to bring the boys by and get a picture every year with it. So um, yeah, definitely looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Lex and I have come up with a couple different ideas for for this year. So we're gonna have to freshen it up a little. Add on to a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

All right.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

That's another thing, John. You were kind of voluntoled for. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

It's your lucky week.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

That's twice this week, no.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Who knows what's gonna happen next week? You're gonna stay home next week.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

That might be a good week.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

All right. Well, let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Yeah. All right. Well, so John, you've been with us for what, 28 and a half years, 29 years, something like that. 28 and a half. Yeah. So yes. That is a long time.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Before Lex was born?

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah.

unknown 3:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

How's that make you feel?

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Old. So you've worn like half the hats that are available to wear in this company in that time frame, right? You were driver. I've run a plant, been dispatcher, dispatch manager, uh kind of served as the project manager on the I-74 bridge, ran quality control. Now you're kind of a our customer service manager. That's a that's a lot. That's a lot of that is a handful of things, yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Um, and I and I've really at the end of the day, I've it I've enjoyed all of them. Uh it's and it's something that I think that you know the Han family has provided an opportunity for not only myself but others to to start at the bottom and work your way up. Um, and I also think that that process helps people grow and to be better at what they're doing because they understand both sides of the company.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

So yeah.

unknown 4:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Well, you get so you got started to drive up at Eldridge, is that right?

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Yes. When I started there uh May of '97, uh, most of the parking lot was mud. Uh-huh. There wasn't a whole lot of pavement out there, but the plant had just been put up. Yeah. It moved from Ipsco. So it was on the the start of its, you know, growing.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

So did you have a CDL when you started?

SPEAKER_02 5:06

I did not. Uh as a matter of fact, I one of my friends that I worked with where I was working before here, uh his family did the radio, all the radio truck radio work. Um, he his family was Raycom, and I worked with him, and he said, Hey, you need to make more money than what you're making here. You should go apply over there. So I did on a Friday. Um, talked to Scott Gordy, who was up there at the time. He asked me if I had a CDL, and I said, No. He said, Well, when do you want to start? I said, Well, when do you want to when do you want me to start? And he said, Well, you can start Monday if you want. So Saturday morning, I went up to the DMV, and then you could just walk in and take tests, you know, whatever. And I got my permit. And so Monday when I started, I had my permit, and away I went. So but they haven't kicked me out yet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

I always love the stories that you tell from those early days in Eldridge. That sounds like it was a lot of fun. You know, I think there's the one about the uh chalking the wheels up or we did we did like to have some fun up there.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Every once in a while we'd, you know, send somebody out and jump on the back of their trucks to check their shocks. And we may have jacked a car or two up, you know, just so the wheels were just barely off the ground. So when the guy went to leave, he couldn't go anywhere. We didn't know why. Um and we had one guy, uh he was a kid, he was young, 20. I think he was just 20. He lived over in Illinois, but he was always late, always late. Good kid, good driver. So we kind of we gave him some shit the day before. We're like, dude, if you're late again, you're done. You're just done. So we got there at five o'clock the next morning, and he's asleep in his car outside the gate. So we covered his car up with a tarp. So when the sun came up, it didn't wake him up. But no. Hey, a lot of fun. Um and I I don't think we hurt too many feelings. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

But oh gosh, that's funny. Uh so all right, so thinking about all those different roles that you've had, and I guess maybe we should talk about your current role is is going out and and on our biggest and most complicated jobs, making sure things go well, being prepared, you know, when when are poor is going to happen, what are they gonna look like? Um kind of staying on top of those things so we can build schedules, you know, accurately in advance. And then troubleshooting problems and making sure the poor days go well. Um what's the most difficult kind of role you've had or or thing you've had to accomplish in in the last 28 and a half years?

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Um I think the I think the hardest thing is always mending with so many different personalities. There's a lot of different people out there with a lot of different personalities and a lot of different attitudes and and outlook on on what they do and what we do. So it's kind of tough sometimes to, you know, to get those people learned and and and understand what's okay to say around them and and how it's okay to say it. And you know, it's it's it's just learning to to to fit in with who they are. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Do you think that's the hardest thing? I think that's the thing you're the best at? Um it's maybe both.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

It can be it can be difficult.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

It takes effort, but you nail it.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

So how would you give advice to, you know, l let's say a driver or or somebody else that's dealing with customers that um like Andrew said, you're that's like your superpower, right? That you can get along with everybody on on job sites and the the diversity of of the requests from our customers and the way they respond to those and the timeliness of those, it can it can be challenging. So how do you what what's what's your advice you give on on the best way to be as successful as you have been at building those relationships?

SPEAKER_02 9:24

I think the the biggest thing that we have to understand is that we're all here for the same reason. And everybody has bad days. Everybody gets a little rowdy, they get a little loud. You know, I don't think that there's really over the years I've very seen very little ill content with any of our customers. Yeah, there's some out there that get a little rowdy, and some of our drivers can get a little rowdy back, but I think, you know, giving taking a step back when a situation starts getting a little heated and just understanding that, you know what, I it isn't gonna go anywhere if everybody's loud and and getting carried away. And so I think it's sometimes when we get into those situations we don't know exactly how to react. But I think the best thing for us is to just step back, let it calm down, you know, and normally it normally it goes away. Yeah. You know, um, I over the years there have been customers that have, you know, come up to my truck when I was driving and and hooting and hollering. And, you know, some of those guys, if you hoot and holler back, yeah, then they're like, oh, well, that guy's not gonna take this from me. Yeah. And then he just doesn't do it anymore. And then, you know, you got the guy that hoots and hollers all the time, no matter what. And you know, you it just you just have to understand you're here, you're here to work, you're here to do the best you can. And sometimes biting your tongue and looking the other way and letting it go is is the safest bet for everybody, really.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

One of the things that I see from you on a job site that I think makes a big difference is I think our customers can kind of palpably feel how invested you are in their success. You know, proactively looking out for what pitfalls might be coming, what could make things better for them, the things they could do different, things we could do different. You know, I think that they all feel that when you're on the job, you know, the day before or the day of uh a big poor, and they know that you're really looking out for them, right? And we joke all the time that, you know, half the time we don't is it's not even like you're you're you're really working for our customers, not working for us, right? But uh but I think that that to me, that's what is uh what's been so successful for you in in building those relationships is that you're all in on making sure that they have a positive experience.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Well, and and and it's not just for them, it's for us too, because if things go well for them, then things go well for us. And you know, it it works kind of both ways. And if if they're done sooner with our help, then that allows us the freedom to to move on to other jobs or other projects for the day. Um and you know, if they're you know, maybe they're short people, maybe whoever's on the running the job, you know, doesn't have time to worry about the logistic of where the trucks cover coming in or going out or, you know, and uh it just it's helpful for us to to be a part of that and to help them get through what they're going through.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

I know you maybe haven't listened to all of our podcasts here, but we've talked a lot about how we had to learn the idea of assuming positive intent. And I think that's something that you're naturally really good at. You were already doing that before most of us caught on to it, where you see everyone as trying to do their best from the beginning and you're pretty open-minded and willing to give everybody a shot uh to get started. Well, I mean, eventually you close the door and you probably won't open it again. But to start with, I think you're pretty open to everybody.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

I you know what? It I don't know if I got the outlook for my mom or if it just came naturally or just something I learned over the years, but it just it it just makes it easier, you know. And and regardless of what the situation is, if you go into it with a little more relaxed attitude and and feel for what's going on, it just makes it easier for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

So you even you gave me a shot on my first uh week here.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

I I did, I did, and and you've done very well.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

So when I started, everyone was really uh not sure about this new lady in the HR office and sort of tiptoed around the office and didn't really include me in anything. And just out of the blue, John came in and dumped a project on my desk and said, I hope you can do this for us.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

It was in your wheelhouse.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Yeah, yeah, we figured it out.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Well, let's get into like what is a typical day look for you like for you, John? I mean, in the season, right? Not not this time of year where you're recording podcasts and decorating crit uh tree trucks.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

But um a typical day. Uh usually I try to have my day planned the day the afternoon before whether I'm gonna be on a job site or whether I'm able to be on five job sites throughout the day, or you know, if it's just one big one, uh getting an getting a feel for where I need to be and what they're doing to help get us there and get through what we got to do. You know, some days aren't as busy as others, some jobs aren't as big as others, so it it does free you up to to stop at several different jobs and just check on things and see how things are going and see how the drivers are doing on those jobs and and how we're performing as a whole.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

I think of it kind of like you're a job site scout sometimes, like you're the first one to go out there and look for, oh, here's the manhole we might run over and put a flag on it, or here how can we attract people to the right entrance? How can we how can we make sure that this is gonna go smooth?

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Right. That and and you know, there's an order in for Wednesday, and and you've got a pretty good eye after all these years to be like, no, that that's not gonna go Wednesday. Or or there's an order in for Friday, and you're like, we should be prepared for this to go Wednesday because they're they're running ahead of schedule, they just haven't told us yet. Right. And those those things make such an impact, not only to those big jobs that you're looking at, but to every other job that we're doing, because then we can help build a schedule that we can keep to, you know, around those. So um, yeah, absolutely. What do you see as um some of the the most common problems or challenges that you help resolve when you're on job sites?

SPEAKER_02 15:47

Um, I think a lot of them are are more logistical in mind as far as how we're getting in, how we're getting out, where the washouts are. Um, you know, and then you move on to to slump control and and and what they need, what they're allowed, what we can give them, um, you know, and hopefully within a a short amount of time on a on a big job, being able to get that dialed in so it it can go as smoothly as possible as far as getting trucks unloaded and and off the job.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

So you spend a lot of your time, I think, communicating, right? Right. Back with dispatch with the plant. What do you see is the importance of that between the the customer, quality control, dispatch, the plant, like uh how how do we how do we do better on that and get more information flowing around?

SPEAKER_02 16:44

I think it's really important and helpful that all of those areas are are communicating with one another. Um it doesn't it it it's not always as easy as it sounds, especially if you have a job and it's busy and yeah you know hard to keep in keep in touch with the planner or the QC or dispatch, you know, because it it is it can get busy and it can get hectic and so sometimes we do lose that that sense of communication, but it it is uh very important to have it and very important to try to communicate how things are going, you know, in in all departments.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yeah. Well, that's where I think it's important that you've been in every one of those chairs, right? So you you know as when you're batching, there's like this fog of war that like you know what it looks like when you leave, when the truck leaves. But unless people get feedback to you, you don't know if you're bashing it too dry or too wet or or um and same for dispatch, you know, we have a lot more technology now to be able to track what's happening. But sometimes the technology can't give the full picture of what's happening on a job site. Right. And and it can look like, oh, there's not a gap between trucks, but because it takes five minutes to get a truck into a particular spot, that yeah, there might be one there, but we need to have extra there because it's we got to maneuver around a building or what whatever it is, right? So um I think that that makes a big difference when you sat in all those seats and you know how important it is if you don't get that piece of of information that that the people on the field are party to.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

So and the other thing that helps with with starting where I did as far as driving goes, you know, when we do have new drivers come along, show up on a job site, aren't real sure or unsure about how things are gonna go or what they can do or can't do, you know, and it's nice to be able to help them out and and kind of move them along and help them grow as well.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

What do you think if if let's say a new driver is listening to this or someone that's moving into a new role, batching or doing quality control or any of that? What what would you tell them is the most important thing that you would want them to know about um just about the job or or or giving good customer service, anything like that?

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Well, I I I think any any of us need to understand that that's why we're here is is customer service, you know, and and and and yeah, the the quality of product product is important, but our delivery of that product is just as. Yeah. You know, from taking the order to batching it and delivering it. So anybody that's part of any of that really needs to understand that the best we can do to get from that first phone call to the tr to an empty truck on a job site is all of those parts play a big role. All of those parts are important from and as smoothly as we can get that to happen for our customers, the better it is for us.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah. When our customers think about us, what do you think they value most?

SPEAKER_02 19:46

I think I would have to answer that with it's a relationship between our customers and ourselves. And yeah, there's some monetary transactions there, but I think what's more important is the the the actual relationship with us and our customers, you know, whether it's knowing their name or or understanding what they need or us doing what we can to help them out. Yeah. And yes, the quality of product is important and the pricing is important, but you know, having that relationship, you know, with our customers to be able to help them in turn helps us.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Yeah. No, I think that's totally key. I think we have to remember that it's likely that a lot of our customers could go find it cheaper, you know, could get concrete cheaper somewhere else than us. Um and so uh the onus is on us to to build those relationships and provide the support and value, both in the product quality, the service, you know, everything that makes it worth it that to work with us, right? That's where we've positioned ourselves to um to try to be, you know, we're we're not trying to be dollar general. We're trying to be, I don't know, whatever the the high end, you know, uh I thought you were really going somewhere. Oh, I thought I was too. And then I ran into a cul-de-sac. Uh you get the you get the gist. Uh, you know, that that we're trying to provide, you know, uh kind of the the best service that we can, uh, an experience that's unlike what um other people that do what we do can do, right? So all right. Um you've seen so many people come through this company. I mean, the stories that especially you and Darren tell just is sometimes it's hilarious about some of the some of the best people that worked here and some of the not best people that worked here. What do you think separates, you know, the people that really make this a success, to make this cr this career a success for and and the people that are um, you know, they're they're good, they're good employees, but you know, when you look back thirty years later, don't stand out. You know, what's what's the big difference?

SPEAKER_02 21:57

I uh I think uh that the ones that I've seen stick around or do the best for us, even if they even even if they haven't stuck around. But when they are here, they understand that you know this is a good place to work. It's a family-oriented company. And and there's there's a lot to be said for that. You know, there's a lot to it I think you people have a tendency of putting more into something they can see. Yeah, you go to work for you know Amazon and you know you don't know who Jeff is. He's on a big yacht out in the middle of the ocean and you know I when you see the other side with your family, you know, you can walk down the hall and and and talk to you or your dad. And that makes a difference. And I and I think it makes a difference for a lot of people that have worked here because they're able to see what's actually there. Yeah. You know and that's you know and and and to become part of the family is you know I think it's important to people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Well I I definitely agree and I appreciate that that that's kind of your take on on what makes the difference and I'd you know as we've grown over the years maintaining that family right uh atmosphere is is been paramount importance and and can be a little bit of a challenge sometimes. You know you hire HR ladies like we did with Andrea's you never know. No, I think we assimilated we got her assimilated to our culture yeah drop me down. So uh great well that's that's awesome. That's that's all the questions I had for John do you have anything else andrew?

SPEAKER_00 23:42

I I had a loaded question and I hope that you didn't already answer this one but an anonymous caller wanted you to tell us about the best practical joke you were ever a part of at Honready Mix.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

I really have to believe that it was the jack in the back of the car up that's my favorite convincing the kid that he had put helium in his tires instead of air um because he like I said he was young and naive and I he bought every bit of it. He he really did. Ironically the same kid we convinced that he was on his way to a wall job and that he had to run the crane and you know how important it was not to knock people off the wall with the bucket. So uh that was probably the worst 15 minute drive of his life getting to the job site and then realizing that that none of it was true.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

So that's great.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Yeah. Awesome. Well thank you John that I think this has been very insightful and and hopefully it's helpful for you're a great interview.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

We'd have you back.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Yeah well I I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

I also think this might be when you share this podcast with your coworkers at the other companies that you work for this might really expand our audience.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Well I I'm sure there are a couple that will probably listen. Yeah great that's great.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Thanks for listening everyone we'll see you again next week.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Thanks so much