Posted: 3/14/06
Fastenal growing in Caledonia
Call center helping bottom line
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
It has been a good year in Caledonia for Fastenal.
The company opened a call center on the second floor of the former Caledonia Elementary School building in February of 2005. Since then it has expanded into a second room, adding about 15 jobs.
The 40 total employees, who work to collect past due accounts, are increasing the companyís profitability.
For example, the company had about $2 million over 180 days outstanding at the end of 2004. That number is now at $500,000. Overall savings from the calling center are estimated at $3 million.
The 2005 annual report states that sales grew 23 percent in 2005, but accounts receivable grew by 13 percent.
Fastenal has 1,755 retail stores and 500,000 customers. The Caledonia workers call on accounts who donít pay their bills on time.
The number of days it takes to collect bills is down, as is the amount of uncollected money that have to be written off.
There is another less obvious benefit of the calling center: It is doing work that store personnel used to have to do. Now those store employees have time to make more customer contacts, which increases sales.
Michelle Reinhart, the manager of the calling center, took a few minutes away from her job on February 23 to give an update. She said that there is room for 15-20 more employees in Caledonia. She will have a better feel by the end of the summer whether more people will be hired.
The number of workers has grown because the company has added Fastenal regions for Caledonia workers to call. The final one, in Winona, was added in January. They now call all 12 U.S. regions and the one in Canada.
Retention of workers has been good, Reinhart feels. They come from Winona, Wisconsin, Decorah and other places in Iowa, Mabel, and Rushford, she said.
Their equipment and technology has improved too. The phone system is integrated with the computers so that workers can dial directly through the keyboard, and monitor and record calls.
Helping customers
The atmosphere is pleasant at the calling center. There is a low murmur of voices from people in their cubicles.
The main goal is to help customers, said Micah Butler, 34. He started working there about four months ago after moving to Caledonia from Arizona with his wife, Heather, and their four children.
Butler tries to build rapport with customers so that they can call and ask questions. Heíll see if they need help with invoices or copies of them.
Itís a customer service and not a collections service, he feels. ìIím proud of the fact that we can help out customers,î he said.
Butler is also pleased that the work is saving Fastenal money, and feels that goes back to customer service. ìIt brings you a type of satisfaction that you can help customers. ì
The job is a big change for Butler. He had an 18 month tour of duty in Iraq that ended a year ago. He repaired heavy construction equipment there. He is in the Wisconsin Army National Guard in Tomah.
Once change from that job is the team approach at Fastenal. Butler said workers in Caledonia will ask each other questions when they have a problem. ìIt works out better when you work as a team than an individual,î he said.
Heís seem some micromanagement during his 12 years in the Army. ìThe empowerment that they give everyone of us to make daily decisions, thatís a big change,î he said.
Each Fastenal worker has his own goals, he said.
Fastenal is based in Winona. It was founded in 1967 by Bob Kierlin. Its main product line is threaded fasteners, bolts and screws. It also sell general industrial construction supplies.
Most of the companyís sales are to businesses like contractors, manufacturers or service industries. It had 9,306 employees as of December 31, 2005. Last year it opened 222 new stores.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com