I’m happy to report results from some local tests of our new cleanup products for kitchens and restaurants. I’m calling on area restaurants to see if customers want the products and how they would want to buy them.

I went into a local restaurant yesterday and talked to the general manager, who I’ll call Joe the Manager. I explained the purpose and applications of our products in detail. Joe proceeded to dump a pot of water on their slippery floor in the kitchen for me to prove the effectiveness of the products. I used the large PIG® Spill Cleanup Pad to absorb the water. (It was quite a bit of water). After the Pad reached maximum absorbency, I went over the area with the PIG® Absorbent Flat Mop. The floor was completely dry in less than 1 minute,

Then Joe opened a 35-pound container of liquid shortening and poured some on the tile floor. I was a little concerned because it was a fairly large amount of oil on the floor. I demonstrated the small yellow PIG® Spill Cleanup Pad for this application. It covered the entire spill and absorbed most of it. I folded the Pad and wiped the floor, removing most of the oil. I then went over the area with the Flat Mop and completely dried the area. This process also was completed in less than 1 minute.

Joe was very impressed and ordered a box of large Pads, small Pads, PIG® Spill Cleanup Socks, and a Flat Mop. He saw value in our products and then asked about our full-line catalog. He is looking to replace his floor mats and has what appears to be something similar to our PIG® Elephant Mat in his restaurant. He is in the market to buy a roll of durable mat that can absorb oil/grease coming from the back of the house to the front of the house that can also offer traction, which they need because the mat is located on a “ramp” that goes from the kitchen to the dining area.

Joe asked me to drop the items off either Monday or Tuesday next week!

I started at New Pig in Customer Service for 9 months taking calls at 1-800-HOT-HOGS®, then I switched to my current job, where I call customers to find out how they’re using PIG® products. I help customers figure out how close they are to qualifying for special pricing programs. I call companies ranging from giants (I called Honeywell today) to not-giants (think Joe’s Construction).

Customers love New Pig. Okay, not everyone. Half of the customers I talked to today said stuff like “You guys are great to work with” and “We love your product.” The other half were more focused on nuts-and-bolts stuff like pricing. But no one was mean or anything. You do get those calls sometimes, when you catch a person on the wrong day or whatever.

Once in a while, a call is just kind of weird. When I was in Customer Service, I had one call where a customer wanted to change the billing address from his home to his place of business because–well, I want to keep the customer’s confidentiality, so I’ll stop right there! Make up your own reason! 

It’s toward the end of the year, so some customers are out of money to purchase with, but they like it that we’re putting ourselves in their minds for next year.

Posted in Customers By Colby

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