Meet the PartnerShip Customer Service Staff

July 30, 2014 at 10:40 AMScott Frederick

PartnerShip Customer Service Staff

The PartnerShip customer service representatives (or CSRs) play an important role for our company and our customers. Through telephone conversations, emails messages, and online live chats, they are responsible for helping our newest customers setup FedEx accounts, get LTL and truckload rate quotes, create online accounts, track shipments, and answer just about any and all types of questions you can imagine.

Once a new customer is fully on-board, they work closely with our sales staff to ensure each customer is personally introduced to the dedicated PartnerShip account representative with whom they'll receive the next level of support and consultation for their freight shipping needs. A few of our CSRs have worked so well with our customers and our sales staff that we moved them over to our sales department where they can build even deeper relationships with our customer contacts. As a result, PartnerShip has some new faces in our customer service area, and they are a terrific bunch! So terrific, in fact, that I'd like to personally introduce you to each one of them.

Nicole Hardman

You could say Nicole is the "veteran rookie" of the bunch. Nicole joined PartnerShip as a customer service representative a little under a year ago. However, she was not entirely unfamiliar with our company at the time - her husband Brian has been a part of the PartnerShip sales staff for the past six years. When she's not helping PartnerShip customers, she enjoys spending time with her family, camping, reading, and watching movies.

Allison Passero

Allison joined PartnerShip nearly four months ago (on the same day as Julieann and Briana). Previously, Allison worked for Fifth Third Bank for five years where she held numerous customer service positions and was recognized for demonstrating Fifth Third Bank's Core Values and driving customer service results. Allison graduated from The College of Wooster with a Bachelors of Psychology. She enjoys crafting, music, hiking, and knitting.

Julieann Fox

As mentioned above, Julieann joined PartnerShip nearly four months ago. Julieann recently worked at Green Circle Growers as an Orchid Classifier and before that worked for Equity Trust Company as a Client Relations Manager. She is a graduate of The University of Toledo. Her outside interests include Zumba, parenting, outdoor adventures, weight training, Cleveland sports, and traveling.

Briana Zajac

Briana also reported for duty nearly four months ago.  Briana previously worked for Teletech for past six years as a Customer Service Representative helping clients with T-Mobile and Geek Squad. She also worked as an Inventory Control Administrator at Bonne Bell where she processed orders. She enjoys her family and friends, watching movies, doing Zumba, and attending parks.

Shauntá Dennis

Shauntá is our newest customer service representative. She just started with PartnerShip last week, so we're very excited to have her joining our team. Shauntá has worked for Teletech for the past six years. She started as a Customer Service Representative answering incoming calls from customers and assisted with general technical troubleshooting. Most recently she was the Technical Support Supervisor where she led a team of 30 agents and handled escalated customer interactions.

Jennifer Hammersmith

Of course, all of these new CSRs are managed by Jennifer, our outwardly friendly, but very professional, customer service manager. Jennifer has been with PartnerShip for eight years. She absolutely enjoys helping our customers, she is a student of shipping practices, and she directly manages one of our important shipping programs for a major non-profit organization. When she's not managing, training, and motivating her customer service staff, she enjoys spending time with her family, crafting, ironing (really?), and watching movies with her husband.

If you have a question for the PartnerShip customer service staff, they're ready and willing to do their best to help assist you any way they can. Just Contact Us and we'll take it from there.

By Scott Frederick

 

25 prizes in 25 weeks - results through week 20!

July 29, 2014 at 7:39 AMMatt Nagel

For the past 20 weeks we've been giving out prizes as a way to say thank you for helping us celebrate 25 years of helping businesses save money on their shipping. We've kept you updated the whole way — from week 1 through week 10 — and now we have 10 more lucky winners to share with you:*


Week 11: Masha from Avins USA, Inc.                   

Week 12: JoEllen from The College Store — SUNY Potsdam

Week 13: Kevin from Kent State University Bookstore

Week 14: Sheryl from Rose-Hulman Bookstore

Week 15: John from CSC Products Inc.

Week 16: Don from MCC - Maple Woods CC Campus Store

Week 17: Betsy from Northern Michigan University Bookstore

Week 18: Ed from AB Bookstore

Week 19: Jeff from OnHand

Week 20: Gary from B Street Music

 











Congratulations to all our winners who received a "PartnerShip 25th Anniversary Prize Pack," and thank you to those that provided us with some great pictures of their businesses (as shown to above).

With week 20 in the books, you still have five more weeks to take home a prize! All you have to do is enter your business into the contest by visiting PartnerShip.com/25th and filling out the entry form. There, you can also view our 25th anniversary thank you video, learn more about PartnerShip, and take a walk down memory lane!

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out PartnerShip Employees Reflect on 25th Anniversary for some insight on what this milestone means to our company and its employees!

*Winners will also be contacted directly

Another Great Year at Summer NAMM!

July 28, 2014 at 7:35 AMLeah Palnik

NAMM ShowMemberCtrPPTOur very own Harry Centa, senior program manager for PartnerShiphad the pleasure of attending Summer NAMM 2014 in Nashville earlier this month. NAMM (one of over 120 associations that endorses PartnerShip for shipping services) supports businesses in the music products industry, and this annual show attracts some of the most fascinating and talented people around.

One of the biggest highlights of the show was the Top 100 Dealers Awards, which recognizes the industry's very best music product retailers and shares their stores' strategies for success. The —Dealer of the Year' and eight —best of' category winners are chosen from among NAMM's Top 100 Dealers, named earlier this year. Congratulations to The Candyman Strings & Things of Santa Fe, New Mexico for winning the top award of —Dealer of the Year.'

This year's Summer NAMM also proved to be another successful show for PartnerShip! It was a great opportunity for Harry to connect with NAMM members and educate them on the services and discounts available to them through PartnerShip. The NAMM Shipping Program provides members with discounts on their inbound and outbound, small and big package shipping, one of the many valuable benefits offered through the association. Harry also collected submissions for a drawing for a $100 Visa reward card. Congratulations to our lucky winner — Christie at Hell Creek Music & More!

Thank you to NAMM and all of the Summer NAMM attendees for helping us make it BIG in Nashville this year! Check out the slideshow below to see pictures from the show.

Congratulations to our new Certified Transportation Broker!

July 23, 2014 at 7:38 AMScott Frederick

All of us here at PartnerShip would like to congratulate Polly Gordon, our truckload brokerage manager, on a very important achievement. This past weekend, Polly earned her certification as a Certified Transportation Broker (CTB) through the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA). Polly put in a lot of hard work and dedication into earning this certification. It will serve her well as we take our growing truckload brokerage services to an ever expanding customer base.

The CTB Program was developed by the TIA to increase the professionalism and integrity of property brokerage, meet the educational needs of brokers, and expand basic knowledge of the brokerage and transportation industry through a rigorous certification program. Certification provides an additional edge in the competitive transportation marketplace. It demonstrates to customers that you have the knowledge base, professional integrity, and professional commitment best suited to meet their transportation needs.  The CTB is considered one of the most valuable credentials you can earn in your brokerage career. Visit the TIA website at www.tianet.org to learn more.

If your reading this article and you are a shipper with truckload shipping needs, please let us give you a quote on your next full or partial, dry van, flat bed, or refrigerated truckload shipment. We promise that Polly and her team will find you the right carrier and the right rate to fit your need.

By Scott Frederick

PartnerShip Employees Reflect on 25th Anniversary

July 14, 2014 at 10:08 AMScott Frederick

In case you missed it, PartnerShip is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. In March of this year we produced a thank you video for our customers. For this video, we recorded a message from PartnerShip president and COO, John Finucane, as well as some short video clips of our office and employees. I think the video turned out very nice, and we actively showcase it on 25th Anniversary Thank You Page, and on the PartnerShip YouTube Channel

Although we didn't include it in our final customer thank you video, during our March video shoot we also interviewed a few PartnerShip employees and asked them to reflect on the company, our culture, and our 25th anniversary. We received some great, heartfelt comments from the brave employees that stepped in front of the camera and microphone; so I'd like to share them in this special video presentation. This is a true testament that PartnerShip is a great place work - with a genuine focus on customer service, teamwork, family values ... and having fun while doing it.

If you're interested in joining the PartnerShip team, please visit the Careers page on PartnerShip.com to see what opportunities may be open within our organization.

By Scott Frederick

The 2014 Summer Fancy Food Show

July 7, 2014 at 2:42 PMMatt Nagel

Summer Fancy Food ShowPartnerShip, as in years past, exhibited again at this year's Summer Fancy Food Show - North America's Largest Specialty Food & Beverage Event. The event was held in New York City from June 29th - July 1st and featured 180,000 products including confections, cheese, coffee, snacks, spices, ethnic, natural, organic and more. The show also boasts 2,400 exhibitors from 80 countries & regions.

Highlights from the show included:

  • The 2014 sofi Awards Ceremony — a red carpet awards ceremony acknowledging the best innovations and tastes of the past year. Check out who took home the gold this year.
  • Business Builders — a free "match-making" program for exhibitors and attendees
  • Numerous educational programs — ranging from —The Business of Specialty Foods to —The State of the Specialty Food Industry 2014'
  • Exhibitor Showcases — the over 2,000 exhibitors always bring new, innovative products that make this show what it is
In addition to the above show highlights, PartnerShip also gave away a $100 gift card to one lucky entry from the show. Congratulations to Cara from Texas Hill Country Olive Company for being our lucky winner.*

Since PartnerShip is the endorsed company that manages the Specialty Food Association Shipping Program, is an important relationship-building event for us. Harry Centa, senior program manger for PartnerShip, attended the show to spread the good word about the PartnerShip services and discounts available to SFA members for small package and freight shipping. Harry also had a chance to take a few great pictures at the show that capture the sights, energy, and fun that this show offers year in and year out. See our Flickr slide show below for the highlights.

*The winner will also be notified directly.