Associate Member Profile - Reiser Canada

Putting the customer first – Reiser Canada

By Karen Sample and Janet Morley

In 1959 Robert Reiser & Co., based in Massachusetts, started importing German-made equipment for North American meat packers and food processors. As the company grew, Reiser Canada was established in 1987 just outside of Toronto to better serve the Canadian market. In 2007 the Canadian office relocated to a new, more spacious facility in Burlington, Ontario.

We caught up with Randy Belcot, Vice President of Sales and Julian McAuley, Director of Service to chat about Reiser Canada and what makes them stand out in the meat processing and packaging industry.

Customer First

It is no accident the company’s logo shows a handshake and declares, “Built on trust.” It is a reminder and a testament to their commitment to customer satisfaction.

According to McAuley, it is the company’s full dedication to serving their customers and not the bottom line that breeds success. “In the service department, we don’t just fix machines. That’s not how I think about it.”

He goes on to explain that, yes, machines that are not working properly do get physically serviced, but that is almost a minor part of the service equation. The most important part of the work done by the Reiser technicians he oversees is building and reinforcing customer relations because behind every broken machine is a customer whose production is delayed. They may have product with limited shelf life and they likely have people standing around unable to do their work. While fixing the machine is, of course, important, ensuring the customer is satisfied is the primary job.

“It’s pretty simple. Our mandate in service is to do whatever it takes to ensure the customer is satisfied whether that be relationship-wise or machine-wise, whatever it is. Technicians are completely authorized to do whatever it takes. If that’s a meeting over coffee and donuts or attending a social event, they can do that without question.” McAuley continues, “At Reiser, we still look at the numbers on the back end, but that’s not our focus. Our focus is really to make sure customers are taken care of. It’s exciting to live like that and to work like that.”

Hiring and Training

McAuley says that he’s learned from experience to hire technicians based on emotion. “The technical abilities are important, but we can train those, but if we can’t get along with the technician or their mentality doesn’t fit the mentality of Reiser, then it’s not going to work.

“Then when we get to the training, we do group training. It could be overseas. It could be in Germany, it could be in the U.S. It could be at head office in Boston. It could be with other technicians in the field.”

Once a year, all the North American service employees, about 170 or so, gather for a weekend of training and spending time together. McAuley believes this is an important part of building the best possible customer service department. “The technicians all want to gain new technical skills, but I’m always reinforcing with them that it’s really about building relationships with our suppliers.

McAuley says rather than thinking technicians work under him, he looks at it differently. “I work for them. It’s my job to give them the resources, the training, the time, whatever it is, so that they can do their job because they are the people that are in contact with the customers every day. We are there to serve you. This enables us to be nimble, make decisions and react quickly.”

Customer Relations Equals Customer Retention

Belcot says that Reiser’s customer base grows each year in addition to retaining current customers. Reiser’s diverse product line allows the company to provide different solutions. Once that first sale is made, things get rolling, “We build the relationship. We may start with one thing, and before long, we’re doing several different things with them. So that’s part of the retention and growth.

“It all starts with a sale. But you know that second sale all starts with how well you take care of that customer. That’s where our service department is critical and exemplary in how they do things. They make sure the customers are taken care of as Julian described.”

Audits – Value-Added Service

Reiser maintains support teams that can be deployed anywhere in North America to help find solutions for their customers’ processing issues. The team consists of meat specialists, as well as other experts. The “Fleischermeisters” or German-trained master butchers who work here in Canada, the U.S. and UK are invaluable. McAuley says, “These specialists are vital because there is a drain in the industry for this specific expertise in butchering and meat processing.”

Pandemic Shift – Growing Smaller

During the pandemic Reiser experienced growth in their smaller customer base. As people embraced shopping locally and found smaller, local establishments to favour, those businesses found themselves needing to serve a larger clientele. Local butchers, non-chain grocery stores and small markets were suddenly serving more people per day which meant they needed to turn out more product to sell.

The pressure was on those smaller operators and processors. Some of them got by with producing a little more manually, but others found the demands exceeded manual capabilities and it was time to automate. These smaller customers find the skilled staff at Reiser extremely helpful, especially the butchers and often call their Reiser contacts for input, advice or knowledge on a wide variety of subjects.

Belcot says although the growth of smaller accounts has levelled off, he doesn’t believe it will diminish or go back to pre-pandemic levels. “I think there’s still a place for it. A lot of people found new products that they didn’t realize were out there and I think there was a benefit overall.”

Reiser Canada Company

Burlington, ON Randy Belcot

rbelcot@reiser.com

(905) 631-6611 www.reiser.com