New Office Improves Glu-Lam's Customer Service
by Eric Alman

	Eric Alman, son of Glu-Lam's owners Phil and Elaine, is heading into his junior year at the University of Montana as a Physics major. Eric has been working at Glu-Lam-Log as long as he can remember, and has done everything from pulling weeds at the plant to maintaining computers and processing bulk mailings. Now, he's attempting to put some of his college education to use by trying his hand as a contributing author for Glu-Lam-Log Notes.

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“It was a no-brainer,” says Phil, referring to the new office. “I’ve always held off making cosmetic changes at the office because the production plant comes first. But when the office got to the point where it was showing signs of hurting customer service, we made the decision and it happened very quickly.Dealing with problems before they become a crisis is an approach we take pride in.”

	Mary Hoy, the company bookkeeper, enjoys her new workspace. Mary’s latest challenge is learning new “Year 2000 Compliant” accounting software. Additional computing power and a hookup to the internet also give her the opportunity to help out with leads generated by the company’s web site.

With the goal of minimizing any disruptions in customer service, the company chose to make the move down the road over their Christmas break. “It was the best time to move,” explains Phil. “No new orders, production was shut down, you can hardly get anything shipped and it’s the lowest point of the year for business.”

“We made this decision really fast,” says Phil. “Elaine came to work and said, ‘You should take a look at this new place down the road.’ I looked at it and knew instantly it was right for us, so by the next afternoon the facility was leased.” On December 24th, after the employees left from the company Christmas party, the move began. By January 2, 1998, the move was complete.

Although the idea of working over Christmas break was not thrilling, it seemed like the best way to make the move. “It’s consistent with our way of doing business,” reiterates Phil. “We chose to inconvenience ourselves rather than our customers. We worked solid from December 24th to January 1st so there would be no lapse in service. Our goal was to have all systems working perfectly by the first business day of the new year. We wanted the move to be entirely transparent to our customers.”

The move gave Glu-Lam-Log a modern, spacious office. During the move, a new, state-of-the-art phone system and computer upgrades were installed. “The office was set up for the best possible communication,” explains Phil. “Added phone lines and a new phone system eliminate busy signals and assure that customers reach a real person. Our computer system was designed to improve the way we do business. And with a more spacious showroom and large conference room, we can be a lot more professional when we host the increasing number of people who visit us. An enlarged mailing and sample storage area and a spare, fully equipped work station were also included in the new office layout.”

One of the best features of the new location is the office’s Lucent Technologies phone system. “Our old system was really getting overworked.

	Daily UPS pickup at the office assures prompt delivery of more than a thousand boxes of samples that are sent out each year.

Now, it’s like having an operator at the front desk,” explains Phil. The completely programmable system rolls each call over to the next available line until it gets to the fifth line, which has call waiting. Every call comes in on the main 777-3219 phone number, but the system directs each call to an open line. “It works so well you forget how it works,” says Phil. “I had no concept of how good it was when I bought it. When it really comes down to it, our goal is to personally answer every call within two rings during business hours. This system has made the difference in us meeting that goal.”

Computers continue to be the backbone of Glu-Lam’s customer service. With the addition of four new Macintosh computer workstations, this backbone became even more solid. Phil explains, “With every call we receive, important information is entered into the system. Since every workstation in the office sees the exact same information, anyone in the office is capable of answering questions. Our computer system actually helps us be more personal with customers.” The fact that the company now has a successful website makes the new computer system even more essential; it takes a powerful computer system to handle the site, and the potential customers that come through it. “We’ve even set up an additional work station just for peak periods of activity. It was simply essential that we upgrade our computers if we were to continue to offer the type of service our customers have come to expect from us.” Computers have made it possible for the company to maintain exceptional service over a period of steady growth without increasing the number of staff members.

Given the way Glu-Lam-Log has grown in the past few years, having better office space is really a blessing.

The new office is more visitor friendly than our old facility. Here, Luca Polverini, who markets our products in Italy, works on the preparation of a bid.

“It’s a lot more fun coming to the office in the morning when you know you’ve got a comfortable work environment and the capability to show off your products properly.” As the company has grown, more and more people have shown up to see our products. There has always been a need for an office that could showcase the company’s products while allowing the staff to conduct business on a one-to-one basis in a comfortable environment. “The benefits of the new office space are countless,” Phil explains. “One example came when a gentleman, who was just in the valley to visit his kids, saw the new office and stopped in to check us out. That visit resulted in an order for three log cabins. All in all, I couldn’t be happier with the new office and the way we have equipped it.”

With all the land at the production facility, it would seem practical to locate the office on that property. But as Phil explains, that is not necessarily a great idea. Besides the fact that the plant area is dirty and noisy, other issues have convinced Phil that perhaps a little separation is best. “Over the years Bob and I have agreed to stay out of each other’s part of the business. When you work in a closely held company, as we do, it is best to stay out of each other’s hair. We’ve been wise enough to follow through with that concept.” This explains why, for the past nine years, the company has maintained some distance between the office and the plant. “If it hadn’t been this way we most likely wouldn’t be together today.

	A fully equipped spare workstation has been added to accommodate excess workload. Here, Jack Wenger, an accounting consultant, and Mary Hoy work on the setup of new accounting software.

The separation between the two is good for us, and for business.”

Basically, it all boils down to a simple idea: it was expected that someday the company would move into a bigger office, and it finally happened. “That’s all,” concludes Phil. “It’s merely that we did it and it’s really no big deal.” The idea was to get it done before there was any trouble. “I could see the handwriting on the wall. And if we grow another million dollars and start running out of room, I’ll just do it again.”

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