Reardon Pallet Company provides pallets and crates to customers in the Kansas City area. The company, headed by Dan Reardon Jr., supplies new and recycled pallets in standard and custom sizes, as well as crates and lumber.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the best piece of business advice that you have ever received?
Reardon: Trust is the most valuable trait in every business. Having employees, customers and vendors that you can trust is the first step towards every successful business.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one thing you do at your company that is different from other pallet companies?
Reardon: We started from scratch in 1995. At the time, we were happy to get any piece of business, no matter how small. For instance, we provide custom size pallets in any order quantity (even just one). As we have grown, we never turned our back on customers that still require that kind of service.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one of the hardest business decisions you have ever made?
Reardon: Business decisions tend to make themselves. The hard part is accepting the consequences when they affect someone personally.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned about customer service?
Reardon: Always start by listening to the customer. They will tell you where their pain is. Once you know that, you can help them solve that while simultaneously building a relationship.
Pallet Enterprise: What performance indicators do you track to measure how your company is doing?
Reardon: I use dozens of indicators, both internal and external, to track the health of my organization, industry and region. That being said, the most important is turnover in customers, vendors and especially employees.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one thing you wish you knew a long time ago that could have helped your company along the way?
Reardon: I wish I would have been more willing to embrace change quickly, whether it be market changes, automation or management. It is too easy to approach everything from a ‘wait and see’ perspective.
