Don Matre is CEO of Pallet Services, a family-owned pallet supplier with locations in Buffalo and Rochester, New York. It serves customers in the greater upstate New York and western Pennsylvania regions. The company supplies both new and recycled pallets, and its operations employ more than 150 people.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the best piece of business advice that you have ever received?
Matre: It came from my father. In the 1990s I sold my company to PRANA, a start-up company focusing on rolling up pallet recyclers across the country. The sale was mostly a stock transaction. Three years later the company was bankrupt, and their holding company was attempting to sell my company to a competitor. I was devastated as I believed I had let my family and employees down. My dad’s exact words: “Don, it’s no big deal if we lose the business. We started it once; we can do it again.” I believe this advice gave me the ability to be fearless when it comes to business.
Pallet Enterprise: Have you recently started pursuing any new markets/product lines?
Matre: We’ve been increasing our recycled and ‘combo’ pallet production. We invested in a Robotic Dismantler and Badger sawmill from Alliance Automation to increase our recycled material throughput. We also recently invested in two PALLETMAX nailing systems, also through Alliance Automation, to completely automate and increase our recycled pallet production.
Pallet Enterprise: How do you decide whether or not to try a new idea in your company?
Matre: We always welcome new ideas; I don’t believe there’s ever a bad new idea. I’m never afraid to be the first one in on a new idea. If a new idea fails eight out of 10 times or two out of 10 times, you can still come out on top.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one thing you do at your company that is different from other pallet companies?
Matre: We touch almost all parts of the pallet game. We do new, recycled, ‘combo,’ remanufactured, A grade, B grade, Peco, Chep, IGPS, dock sweeps, pre-cut lumber, grinding. We have many different revenue streams. We have all our eggs in many different baskets instead of just one or two.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one of the hardest business decisions you have ever made?
Matre: Closing one of our locations in a different city in the late 1990s. It was very difficult to let go of hard-working, loyal employees.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned about customer service?
Matre: Never burn a bridge. A lot of the customers you lose end up coming back eventually. So never burn a bridge or take it personally. You can’t cross a bridge you burn.
Pallet Enterprise: How do you go about your workday to stay productive and on target?
Matre: My 6:30 a.m. ice bath every morning to get my mind and body focused for the day. On my drive to work, I talk to all my managers and always have three or four target goals for us all to hit each day. It’s important to have everyone on the same page working toward the same goals every day.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the biggest challenge facing your company at this time?
Matre: Labor shortages, depressed pallet pricing and uncertainty in the economy.
Pallet Enterprise: If you could change any business decision that you have made in the past, what would you do differently and why?
Matre: When I was younger I thought the measure of success was doing as many sales as possible, and never saying no to an opportunity. What I would do differently is not expand so quickly without considering first if it was profitable. Being the biggest is not always best. At one point we increased our sales fourfold, but in the end, we made less money.
Take on new business that makes sense and let the other opportunities go. It’s important to focus on what you do best and what you know, to emphasize and expand the things you are good at.
