Our Blog

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” – Abraham Lincoln

2013 – One Day at a time

And in 2013 one day at a time is how Patriot will improve its customer service, environmental sustainability programs, and logistical measures aimed at saving our clients time and money.
By listening to our clients and responding in a professional manner with speed and efficiency, we build trust. By employing green resources in our refurbishing procedures as well as in our internal systems, we stay competitive in our market. By bundling jobs well, using our resources wisely, and daily investigating our logistical management for efficiency, we create a uniquely designed, proficient service able to meet any type of client need.
For an example of meeting our client’s needs, check out The Lemonade Crisis in this issue. It is just one example of Patriot’s unique ability to customize solutions to the vast array of logistics problems.
Happy New Year to all!

~Debi Weakley

Warehouse Spotlight – Pacific Northwest

The Extra Mile – The Lemonade Crisis – The Overnighter

BIRTHDAYS
Jan. 17 – Scott Bigler
Feb. 21 – Yogesh Bhakta
Feb. 28 – Manuel Rosales
March 22 – Rose Hoffert

Warehouse Spotlight – Pacific Northwest

Our current Kent, WA office was originally opened in Hillsboro, OR in 2006. When it was decided the office would run more cost effectively in Washington, Kevin Galloway agreed to relocate and we opened up an office in Bellevue before moving it permanently to Kent. As far as we know, Kevin’s moving days are over.
Recently, Kevin acted as an excellent sales and marketing rep in the PacNW region when he found himself trying to work with a difficult transportation company used by Verizon on a particular shipment. When the job was finally complete, Kevin told his Verizon contact to call us next time because we could have shipped their items cheaper and faster without the run around from the other company.
The client was appreciative of his help and next time we’ll get to prove we’re the better choice for their transportation needs.
We all represent Patriot to the client. Every job, every shipment, every contact leads the client to either trust or question our service abilities. Unlike public marketing, our market is niche, meeting the needs of retail facilities managers. The best sales approach for our company is to daily solve logistics issues in a cost effective manner for our client. We need their word of mouth to tell other facility managers that we are an effective and innovative company that will provide a service like no other.
Kevin works hard to refurbish items in-house rather than use a costly third party. I asked him to share a tip that has helped him to reach this goal.
With the exception of tears in fabric and frame damage, Kevin restores all vinyl benches to their “like new” condition using an easy to use and affordable product. At $12.00 per can, “…this simple cost cutting procedure has allowed PacNW to save on costly upholstery repairs.”
Kevin says, “Color Coat is formulated to match, restore or change color on: flexible plastic, rigid plastic, vinyl, carpet and velour. Color Coat is the industry standard for vinyl or plastic restoration. It is a fade-resistant, flexible, permanent coating. Instead of re-upholstering faded benches you can restore them to their like new condition.”
Do you have a refurbishing or warehousing idea that has helped in your day-to-day operations? Email it to me at: dweakley@patriotadvantage.com

EVERYDAY COMMITMENTS

THE LEMONADE CRISIS
Recently, our client in the Mountain region found themselves in an emergency situation when they needed to store 4,276 cases of lemonade in two different cities in Utah. It was late morning when they called, so we didn’t have much time to research, decide and move the lemonade before closing time at the storage facilities. We needed a climate controlled, 10 x 10 unit that we could access any time of day. We were able to find the perfect units located an easy distance from the place of origin. By 10:00 pm that night every ounce of lemonade was safely housed in a storage unit.
This is the type of work that makes Patriot so invaluable to its clients. These are the type of business solutions that we produce and that give Patriot a reputation for problem solving in a timely manner.

THE OVERNIGHTER
Our Mountain contractor, Jeff Lewis, recently took a shipment to California on a very strict timetable. He sacrificed to make the delivery and our client was pleased. Unfortunately, we made this look so easy that our client didn’t realize that the request was nearly impossible without ingenuity and sacrifice.
We are currently developing our sales and marketing department, but the majority of our marketing is in our everyday commitment to solving logistical problems in a timely and cost-effective manner. We want a client so impressed with our work they wouldn’t consider going anywhere else for their business solutions.

May we all realize impressive results in 2013!

From the Desk of Sales and Marketing

GOOGLE PLACES
For the marketing department, our most recent and important focus is on our Google Places Ranking. This is a no-cost advertising medium utilized by Patriot to improve our presence online.
Every Region should have received a postcard from Google by now. The purpose of the card was to verify our address and finalize our spot in the database.
Why is Google places so important?

1) Google Places results display first on search rankings, which greatly enhances the chance that potential customers will click on our site.
2) Google Places results display when someone is searching for a product with a location and/or name. This means that this person is likely a buyer and someone we want looking at our site.
3) Google Places allows us to define our service areas quickly and easily.
4) Google Places results always displays first regardless of where Patriot ranks on its list. We are doing everything to maximize the traffic to our site.

We are looking forward to maximizing our online presence through many other mediums as well. If you have any questions or additional ideas, please shoot me an email or give me a call.

~Jarred Hettinger
Director of Sales & Marketing