One of Spectrum Surgical Instruments Corp.’s customers shudders at the thought of the company not being around and having to rely on another company to provide the services and prices that Spectrum does.
That’s quite a compliment for any company, so Rick Schultz, president and CEO of the surgical instrument sales and service company, is elated, but he also continues to work hard to make sure those levels of service continue. In fact, his mentality is, “You don’t want our product without our great service,” and this outlook has kept the company’s products and services from becoming a commodity.
At Spectrum, customer service is taken so seriously that the company created a new position — vice president, chief customer advocate — which is prominently mentioned on the Web site and communicated to customers. This position is charged with retaining customers, fixing 100 percent of all problems and issues that arise, enhancing and improving the Spectrum experience, and it also comes with the pure authority to spend $10,000 to fix any problem.
And that’s not the only place that Schultz is willing to spend money to make sure he gets great employees who, in turn, give great service to the customers. He believes it’s the CEO’s responsibility to take care of the employee, so he also strives to recognize the fun events in his employees lives — from birthdays to baby showers — and have celebrations around the sports teams they care about — from Ohio State football to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also has an employee appreciation week each year. The five-day celebration includes magicians, massages, cookouts, games and charitable fund-raising by the employees. While this may not be cheap, he’s willing to spend the money on employees and says that’s why many companies have poor service because they don’t spend the funds to take care of employees.
How to reach: Spectrum Surgical Instruments Corp., (330) 686-4550 or www.spectrumsurgical.com
