Page 9 - sept-oct 2021

safety & education

THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

REPRESENTATIVES by Pat Thornton

aula Laney has grown up in the propane ing for the Oklahoma LP Gas Research, Market-
industry, working in many capacities ing and Safety Commission before moving to her
beginning with the family business in current role with EDP
POklahoma to her current role as Director “Every employee plays a role in safety,”
of Safety for Energy Distribution Partners, Chi- Laney said on the webinar “How CSRs respond
cago She’s been at the forefront nationally in to customers can be the difference between life
the development of propane curriculums and and death ”
the delivery of classes Still, there is one area of “CSRs are the
industry education that, in her opinion, could use first line of communica-
additional attention tion with customers and
“There are some in propane who believe it is very important that
that training only needs to be given to people they give customers the
who handle propane, but what about people correct and complete
who handle people? In the June webinar series information they need
hosted by Virtual Propane Expo (VPE), Paula quickly,” she explained
Laney, director of safety for Energy Distribution A common example is
Partners (EDP; Chicago), discussed the important
role customer service representatives (CSRs) play continued on page 16... uPaula Laneyu
in the propane industry Her webinar was titled,
“5 Critical CSR Mistakes Every Propane Company WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE
Makes and How to Fix It ” FROM AMERICA’S
Laney listed five common mistakes a CSR INDUSTRY LEADER
can make: PRODUCTS:
1 Making assumptions about the caller’s • New TRANSPORT TRAILERS
• New BOBTAILS
situation before getting all the facts • New BULK STORAGE TANKS
2 Failing to treat an emergency or priority Ask about availability of
used or refurbished
call as an emergency transport trailers and bobtails
3 Not remaining calm during emergency SERVICES:
calls and not delivering the necessary and com- • Refurbishing & Repairs
• Blasting & Painting
plete safety message to the customer • 5-Year Inspections
4 Being an “order taker” rather than taking • Annual Inspections
• Stress Relieving
the time to understand the needs or situation of • Parts
the customer
5 Avoiding or ignoring opportunities to PROUDLY MANUFACTURED & ASSEMBLED IN THE USA
learn more about propane and propane appli- MISSISSIPPI
cations that could benefit their customers. TANK COMPANY
Laney grew up in her family’s retail propane HEADQUARTERS INDIANA DIVISION
business, Liberty Propane Gas (Cookson, Okla ), P O Drawer 1391 1301 East Elkhorn Road
Vincennes, IN 47591-8004
Hattiesburg, MS 39403-1391
working in many roles She then spent nearly 20 PH: 800-331-8265 ext. 224 PH: 812-886-8265
FAX: 601-264-0769
FAX: 812-886-8979
years as director of safety, education, and train- www .mstank.com
EMAIL: salesid@mstank.com
EMAIL: sales@mstank.com
9 Alabama Propane Gas Association | September / October 2021