Taking nothing for granted
Western Facilities Supply grows revenues by cultivating existing accounts and aggressively pursuing new ones
By Bridget McCrea -- Industrial Distribution, 7/1/1998
It was just last summer that America's businesses were reeling from the effects of United Parcel Service's employee strike. Firms nationwide were forced to seek alternate shipping methods, and UPS competitors like Federal Express and Airborne were swamped. Disrupted service from the strike hurt small businesses like The Jody Bergsma Gallery in Bellingham, Wash."We were completely lost," says the gallery's production manager, Linda Marrom. "We were forced to turn to the post office, but their shipping requirements were very different than what we were used to."
To get her artwork shipped out of the company's two main art galleries and one warehouse location, she found herself relying on Kevin Greer, her sales representative from Western Facilities Supply, an industrial paper and janitorial supply company based in Everett, Wash.
"He went well out of his way to get everything we needed, and drove back and forth delivering the right boxes and other materials," says Marrom. "Without Western Facilities Supply, we would never have survived the strike."
Founded by William Knehr in 1950 as Everett Wholesale Paper Co., Western Facilities Supply is a distributor of janitorial equipment, chemicals, industrial paper, retail packaging, food service disposables, and safety, office and printing supplies. Today, the company is headed by Peter Knehr (William's son), who took over as president in 1987 and changed the company's name last year.
"We sell much more than paper," says Knehr, "and our new name really reflects what we do, and more accurately describes the company." At age 83, William Knehr now serves as chairman of the board.
Catering to small customers
Western Facilities Supply serves a diverse customer base which includes manufacturers, health care providers, tax-supported entities such as school systems, churches and church-supported entities, the redistribution sector, and the food service industry, not to mention small accounts like the art gallery. With projected sales of $5 million in 1998, WFS has doubled in size since 1992. To get the word out about its products and services, Western Facilities Supply maintains two branches and employs six outside salespeople and three telemarketers. In addition, the company has a Web site where customers can view products and send inquiries. Line cards, packaging catalogs and color brochures round out the company's marketing efforts.
"We're different from our competitors because of our small size," says Knehr. "We're able to make decisions quickly in response to market changes or customer requests. In that sense, we can service, or lend a higher degree of service to our customers than our competition can."
Joe Jordan, a WFS sales representative, says the firm's low, $100 minimum order for customers allows it to target more business.
"We have a great reputation for catering to a market that is being ignored by the larger companies," he says. "While our competitors have increased their minimum orders to $500, effectively prohibiting those companies who struggle to reach that number, we've earned a reputation for trying to accommodate everyone."
That reputation, along with the company's five decades in business, helps Jordan when it comes to making sales. Recently, he came across a new client due to the negligence of a larger competitor. "They'd really been taken for granted -- by both the supplier and the manufacturers -- for years," he explains, pegging the customer's potential buying power at $80,000-plus annually. "We walked in and introduced ourselves, and they signed on with us instead. People often forget that you have to make the call in person, and this company hadn't had a personal visit from the distributor or any manufacturers in a significant amount of time."
That attention to customer service transcends into all other departments, office manager Barbara Johnson says. "We've carved a niche in the marketplace by providing a superior level of customer service not only to large customers, but to small ones as well," she says, citing an incident when a company ran out of a paper product that they desperately needed.
"There was a long weekend coming up, and they were really in a bind," she recalls. "To solve the problem, one of our customer service representatives dropped the items off on his way home from work that day." According to Johnson, this particular scenario is not unusual. "We deliver on a daily basis, and it's not uncommon to see a salesperson run out the door with products for customers," she says.
For Judy Cole, purchasing coordinator at Compass Health in Everett, keeping her 30 sites fully stocked with janitorial supplies and paper products is a daily challenge. To solve the problem, the mental health services provider turned to WFS two years ago.
"When we order products, they don't miss a beat in getting them delivered on time," says Cole. "At one point, we needed a specific type of paper holder and our office manager wasn't sure how to use it. To solve the problem, they sent over an account representative to assist with the problem. Western Facilities Supply is a hometown business that has really grown with the times. They're very current on how they do business. We're now using e-mail to get our orders over to them, and they're working on developing an online order form."
Having recently installed both a new Microsoft-based computer system and a new phone system, WFS is ready to tackle new growth while giving its existing customer base an improved level of service.
"Their system is really light years ahead of most of the distributors that I call on," says Howard Knopf, territory manager for Seattle-based Kenco Sales. As a supplier of food service disposables, Knopf recently discovered the benefits of the company's new phone system when he needed to quickly track down a particular WFS salesperson. "They had a customer who was looking for a particular item, and I needed to get the product and pricing information to him immediately. Because of their cellular system, which supports a two-way radio, I was able to get back to the salesperson within an hour -- a process which usually takes one or two days."
Another of the company's suppliers that benefited from Western Facilities Supply's forward thinking is Los Angeles-based Elkay Plastics, Inc., a manufacturer and importer of flexible bags. General manager Dennis Wheeler says, "In upper level management, it's rare to find someone who can communicate via e-mail. With Peter, we can do just that. His company also has great internal communication, and they are a very trusted trading partner of ours."
Knehr believes his firm's future is limitless and he plans to tackle it in two ways: by cultivating existing business and by keeping his eye out for new opportunities.
"Our sales organization is growing, and our business is increasing," he explains. "While this is happening, our company is also looking for suitable acquisitions to increase our market share dramatically and quickly."
COMPANY SNAPSHOT
Western Facilities Supply
President/CEO: Peter Knehr
Chairman of the Board: William Knehr
1998 sales: $5 million
Founded: 1950
Headquarters: Everett, Wash.
Branches: Bellingham, Wash.
Key lines: Safety, printing and office supplies, janitorial equipment, chemicals, industrial paper, retail and wholesale packaging, food service disposables.
Web site: www.westfacsup.com
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