James Burati of 1–800-PACK-RAT On The 5 Ways To Create a Wow! Customer Experience

Ensure everyone has insight into customer feedback. We send surveys to every customer after their order is completed. This data is compiled and shared with our teams so we can all understand the highs and lows our customers experience and then work together to continuously improve. The customer experience will always be evolving as technology changes and people’s expectations change.

As part of our series about the five things a business should do to create a Wow! customer experience, I had the pleasure of interviewing James Burati.

James Burati is the Chief Sales Officer at 1–800-PACK-RAT and is currently responsible for driving all residential and commercial sales for Zippy Shell / 1–800-PACK-RAT. Mr. Burati joined 1–800-PACK-RAT in March 2006 as an Operations Manager in Greensboro, NC after 3 years in management roles at Enterprise Rent A Car. Burati is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Greensboro with a degree in Business Administration and holds an Executive MBA from Ohio University.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I started with 1–800-PACK-RAT in 2006 when we only had 3 locations in North Carolina. I started with driving our MiniMovers (the trucks we use to deliver containers) and after an intense 3 months of learning the business, I moved to the Washington D.C. area to open our first location outside of North Carolina. From the Summer of 2006–2008, we grew the business by using a franchise model and then the housing market crash of 2008 hit. At that time, we had more than 25% of our rented containers returned with the uncertainty in the economy. Franchisees were a bit hesitant to continue opening franchisees, so at the time we traded equity for assets and transitioned to a corporate-owned model. During that time, I had success growing the D.C. market through commercial business and was given the opportunity to create the business development team. From there the call center transferred to my team and a few short years later marketing did as well, at which time I was promoted to SVP of Sales and Marketing. In 2018, 1–800-PACK-RAT merged with Zippy Shell and the combined entity experienced tremendous revenue and EBITDA growth leading to my current role of Chief Sales Officer. Our team managed through the COVID pandemic with continued growth as consumer behaviors changed in real time. The business move to working remotely helped 1–800-PACK-RAT/Zippy Shell gain market share for local and long distance moving.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

This seemed like a mistake at the time, but it laid the groundwork for our company’s culture to this very day. While running the Washington D.C. market we focused on growing the business by targeting the restoration industry. The restoration business responds to fires and floods, so responding quickly is essential. Our local team took the notion of always saying yes to the extreme, by committing to delivering 20 containers to an apartment complex between 12am and 5am after receiving the call after 5pm the same day. This commitment to servicing our customers lead 1–800-PACK-RAT to being the premier vendor for restoration companies across the country by committing to service levels no one was able to match. To this day, 1–800-PACK-RAT/Zippy Shell will work with our partners to create logistical solutions for any circumstance.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

After the 1–800-PACK-RAT/Zippy Shell merger Mark Kuhns took over as CEO for the combined entity. Prior to Mr. Kuhns assuming the role, Bob Poirier was CEO from 2005 to 2018. During that time Mr. Poirier served as a mentor while promoting me from Assistant Manager to Manager to Director of Business Development and ultimately SVP of Sales and Marketing. During that time Mr. Poirier engrained in my mind, “you must manage the business by the numbers.” To this very day I set aside time each morning to review everything from our marketing spend the day before, to how many people visited our website, to how many orders were placed. Our business has so many variables that have significant impacts on revenue and EBITDA managing by numbers is critical to understanding current trends and future forecasting.

Let’s now pivot to the main focus of our interview. This might be intuitive, but I think it’s helpful to specifically articulate it. In your words, can you share a few reasons why great customer service and great customer experience is essential for success in business?

Sure, and I think this is a great question as a lot of businesses are focusing more and more on providing a good customer experience. For us in the moving and storage industry, the process has not changed much through the years. When people need to move, they usually contact multiple companies to get quotes and availability, and for many years it was the company with the lowest price that would win the business. These days people are more willing to spend money if it will be a better experience, a more reliable service, more convenient and flexible, and most importantly less stressful — it is no longer just price driving the final decision.

Another reason customer service is especially important for us is that people are trusting us with their belongings. They are using our containers and our services to move not only their household goods, but irreplaceable memories — photo books, items that have been passed down through family, etc. We need to make sure that they know we are there for them every step of the way. Moving is very stressful, and if we can provide high-quality service from the first phone call to final delivery, it will make for a better and less stressful experience for our customers.

With people being more connected through social media and the increased prominence of review sites, providing a great experience is crucial to company growth. One person’s negative experience can now reach hundreds, maybe thousands, of other people. This can have a huge impact on businesses.

Finally, we know that when someone has a good experience, they will forever be a brand advocate and word of mouth is one of the best ways for us to get new customers.

We have all had times either in a store, or online, when we’ve had a very poor experience as a customer or user. If the importance of a good customer experience is so intuitive, and apparent, where is the disconnect? How is it that so many companies do not make this a priority?

While I think we can all envision what a good customer experience should be, sometimes there are factors outside of our control that can taint that experience.

One example was when the pandemic first started, we had to find a way to keep our employees in a safe and healthy environment while ensuring our customers did not feel the impact. Not all companies were agile enough to find a solution and many had to close or lost employees. Our team was able to quickly mobilize our personnel, provide people with work-from-home equipment, and ensure anyone still at our location could follow all CDC guidelines. This allowed us not only to show our employees that their health and safety comes first, but we were also able to provide consistent coverage on our phone lines and out in the field.

Do you think that more competition helps force companies to improve the customer experience they offer? Are there other external pressures that can force a company to improve customer experience?

Yes, although for us, it isn’t just about being better than our competitors, we want to provide the best experience we can envision — and we don’t want to just be the best in our industry, we want to be the best part of our customer’s day. We see that as making sure our entire process from start to finish is focused on our customer and giving them the ability to customize a solution that fits their needs and budget. I do think some companies may place a higher priority on the customer experience if they feel they are getting behind the competition. I do think some companies may place a higher priority on the customer experience if they feel they are getting behind the competition. Companies understand that there are many ways to separate themselves from their competition and if they offer a sub-par experience, they can quickly lose business. We have often heard from our customers that they chose our company based on one phone call alone — that our representatives were friendly, took time to understand the customer’s needs and customize a move plan, and were not pushy, and therefore they chose us over our competitors regardless of any other factors.

Can you share with us a story from your experience about a customer who was “Wowed” by the experience you provided?

We often have customers email us to let us know about how great their moving experience was with us, either with our sales and service team or interactions with our drivers and warehouse staff.

One that really stands out for me was a customer who was trying to coordinate a move at the end of the year. They had booked with one of our competitors and found out at the last minute that they were not on their schedule. The customer was a family of four — the husband was an ICU Nurse on the COVID floor at a large hospital and was working very long hours, and the mother was a stay-at-home-mom with two children under 2. She was trying to coordinate her family’s long-distance move during the holidays when things are already stressful. She called us once she found out the other company was not going to be able to meet their schedule and were unwilling to offer any solutions. Our customer service agent talked her through everything and helped her book her move. She wrote a letter to his supervisor describing how calm, solution-oriented, and positive he was and how grateful she was that he could make this all happen so quickly — and that he had saved their Christmas!

Did that Wow! experience have any long-term ripple effects? Can you share the story?

This customer knew a lot of families who would be moving soon and recommend us to them and anyone else needing a moving or storage service.

We also shared this with our entire team, and I think stories like this lift everyone up. It is amazing to see how much impact we can have with just one phone call!

Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience. Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Focusing your solutions on the customer and giving them as much control as possible is imperative. Flexibility is rare in this industry, so ensuring the customer feels comfortable and in control will supplement the customer experience in the long run. With 1–800-PACK-RAT, the customer chooses their dates, they choose their container size, and they choose their storage options, putting control in their hands and giving them an individualized experience that they can feel good about.

2. Providing best-in-class solutions is also critical. We have the highest-quality containers in our industry — all-steel, secure, and only our customer has the key. By offering top notch solutions, our customers can trust us with their things and sleep easy at night knowing it is safe and secure.

3. The business leaders need to empower their employees — they need to provide them with proper equipment, proper training and support, and ensure they have created a positive work environment for everyone — when the team is set up for success, it will no doubt impact how the customer is treated

4. The entire team — meaning every person in every department — has an impact on the customer experience, even if they don’t have direct contact. It is something each individual needs to think about from their own perspective to ensure that we are all on the same page with the same goal, putting the customer first.

5. Ensure everyone has insight into customer feedback. We send surveys to every customer after their order is completed. This data is compiled and shared with our teams so we can all understand the highs and lows our customers experience and then work together to continuously improve. The customer experience will always be evolving as technology changes and people’s expectations change.

Are there a few things that can be done so that when a customer or client has a Wow! experience, they inspire others to reach out to you as well?

I think most people like to share this naturally. If they have had a great experience, they enjoy telling others as it could help them in the future. There are also tactics such as referral programs to try to incentivize that communication

My particular expertise is in retail, so I’d like to ask a question about that. Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise retail companies and eCommerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?

While we don’t face that problem necessarily, I would advise that companies focus more on the benefits of their products and why they are different — doing as much as they can to personalize that messaging. The other place to combat the competition is to provide a seamless, friction-free digital experience which is something we are focused on. People are busy and if they hit any sort of snag during the purchase process, or experience any confusion, they will exit the buying process and find another solution quickly.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate to be part of many great teams and one thing holds true for all of them — never become complacent. My team members have heard me say countless time complacency can kill and company, so if I were to start a movement it would be to make sure no one becomes complacent in life. Always be looking for ways to improve and enhance current processes and situations.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesburati/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!