Tip No 7: Be exceptional
Mark McKellar
Field Sales Representative, Journalbooks/Timplanner Calendars (UPIC: TIMEPLAN)
Industry Career Snapshot: Eight years in the industry, including six years at Journalbooks in inside sales, creative sales support and field sales. He started his career with a distributor company.
Nominated by: Dawn Hays, Sunrise Identity
How He Earned Superhero Status: “Mark goes above and beyond to know our client list, their likes and dislikes. He is always one step ahead of us with new products and creative ideas—always showing the next big thing in journal books,” says nominator Dawn Hays, Sunrise Identity. “He is understanding when it comes to a sense of urgency, welcomes a challenge and comes back with more than one way to solve an issue.”
In Mark’s Own Words
Best Part Of The Job: “I really enjoy working with a made-to-order product. Everything is very hands-on here at Journalbooks. Being able to see a project through, from marketing strategy to concept creation to manufacturing a unique, one-of-a kind product is really exciting.”
Most Valuable Customer Service Lesson Learned: “…bad service is so much more abundant than great service. And exceptional service really shows through in the individuals who care. I don’t mean people who are caring individuals, but people who care about what they do, regardless of what it is they are doing—people who stand by what they say and take ownership over their actions. It seems to me like great customer service is a rare find, so when I come across it, I really, genuinely appreciate it and make sure to recognize it. And that in turn encourages me to pay it forward.”
Tip For Great Customer Service: “Live by the Golden Rule. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. If you want to be treated exceptionally, you need to be exceptional. Positivity is a big staple in my method of operation and that positivity is contagious … that kind of a ‘give a smile, get a smile’ mentality goes a long way.”
Wish For One Superhero Power: “I’m not sure if there is a superhero who has this power—which would thus make it so much more powerful—but it would be the ability to control gravity. If you think about it, that power could potentially be limitless with its applications. I could save our customers 100 percent on freight charges and get custom Journalbooks delivered in the blink of an eye by creating a gravitational wave in front of our packages and let the books ride the wave all the way to Nashville [or any other location] at the speed of light.”
Best Personal Service Experience: “Almost three years ago when my son was born, he had to be admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit at the Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar); he would not feed and his blood sugar would not come up. My wife and I stayed in the hospital for nearly a week, only being able to see our boy during specific visitation hours in the NICU. The nurses we had during our experience were nothing short of amazing—making sure we were comfortable, offering advice and generally comforting us, letting us know that our son was going to be alright. They provided expert care not only to our newborn but to the two of us as well. During one of the toughest times of our life, being unsure of what was going to happen, the nurses provided us with so much more than what I’m sure is in their job description.”
How Mark Saved The Day
“Most recently he created a book that mimics a composition notebook and turned the project in record time,” says nominator Dawn Hays. “Mark has a great understanding of design and his work blows away the clients with creativity.”
