I recently interviewed Doe & Ingalls’ long-time customer service specialist, Dawn McLachlan. Dawn is a hallmark of Doe & Ingalls. She started with the company in December 1988 as the first customer service specialist, and was the second person to be hired by co-founders Tom Merrick and John Elmo. She’s known by her colleagues and customers for being an important contributor to making the supply chain run smoothly. Here’s what I learned from her.

Working for a growing company

Our company originally started in an old tobacco warehouse with no air conditioning. We’ve grown a lot since then—many years ago we moved our operations from the original warehouse to a cGMP-compliant facility. In the past few weeks we’ve broken ground on a new and expanded facility in Research Triangle Park. Along the way, we’ve transitioned from a regional company to a national one, with locations in five states (Florida, Maryland, California and most recently Massachusetts after acquiring Doe & Ingalls, Inc.).

Having experienced so much change in the company, I asked Dawn if there was an essence of the company that remained the same throughout the years. She had an immediate answer: “[Our co-founders] Tom and John wanted a company that really took care of the customer… going the extra mile for them and treating them with honesty and respect.” Dawn went on to talk about our current customer service team, and how Tom and John’s philosophy still lives on today, “Everyone is honest—we all work well with others. We’re hard working, handling lots of different tasks at once, and we dig in there and go to town.”

Support and friendship

I asked Dawn about the most fulfilling thing about being in customer service. When she answered, she smiled and said, “The most fulfilling thing for me has been developing friendships over the years. My customers are not just customers – they’re my buddies. I’ve had some of my customers since I first started with the company.” When Dawn says that, she’s completely serious: in the time she has worked here, many of her original start up or small scale customers are now doing full-scale, commercial manufacturing.

She went on to talk about how it feels when you’ve built a solid working relationship with a customer. “When you work with someone for awhile, you know what they like and what they don’t like… you really care about them and you want to take care of them. That’s what I love about my job. My customers are actually my friends.”

The importance of communication

During our conversation we talked about what customers are looking for when they reach out to us. “When customers call us, they’re looking for support, someone who’s knowledgeable to help them find a product they need.” There are times though that customer service isn’t able to find the exact product because the customer is looking for advice on a product or specific grade to use for their project: “If we’re having a hard time finding the right product… we’ll call sales to help navigate the customer through the different products. [From there] sales will then advise them on the right grade helping them find the best product.”

Throughout our conversation, Dawn repeatedly mentioned how important communication is to the customer, “Communication is the biggest thing in keeping our customers happy. We keep customers up-to-date on their orders. Whether it’s good or bad news, we share it with the customer—if you say you’re going to do something for them, you do it. It’s important that the customer has the correct information so they can prevent shutting down a production line.” Dawn went on to say, “If we don’t have information, we’ll call or email the customer and let them know we’re working on what they need, so they’re not in the dark wondering what’s going on.”

Throughout her time with Doe & Ingalls, Dawn has had numerous experiences with the company. She’s seen many successes and some failures. After reflecting on her time with the company, she said, “I’m committed to this company, and I’m proud to be with a company that has grown, and has done business with integrity…it’s been exciting and rewarding to be with a company like this through the years.”