Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast brought to you by Mitre Brands University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sheri Conner and I am your host.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: So, good morning.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: We are here on the Clear Impact.
[00:00:28] Speaker C: Podcast and we're recording from Tacoma, Washington today.
And Jillian Flint is actually on the phone because she couldn't be in the office, but we wanted to include her. So welcome to the podcast, Jillian.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:43] Speaker C: Yeah, thanks for making some time this morning.
And so we're just kind of doing some introductions and hearing from different voices across the enterprise out here. And so tell us a little bit about your background and maybe like your current role and responsibilities and what you do here.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Sure.
So today I actually lead the efforts of our customer and warranty services team. So I've been here for 17 years.
[00:01:10] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: I started in manufacturing, which really gave me a strong foundation of how our products are built and all that entails into, you know, providing the customer that valued product we provide on a daily basis. So that was incredibly helpful for me as I moved into the customer service role, which was new to me at the time and has been over 15 years now. And pretty early on, you know, it was something I found a true passion for connecting with customers, driving meaningful change.
And I've just stayed focused on improving that customer experience and strengthening trust with our partners and growing our long term relationships.
[00:01:54] Speaker C: Nice.
And so you oversee a team of people then?
[00:01:58] Speaker A: I oversee, yes. So any of our brands in the West. So Milgard, Anlin and Western Windows. So both our customer care representatives that are helping customers, you know, over the phone or through our various channels. And also our field technicians, which are located anywhere from California to Hawaii. You know, we service everything in the West.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: Okay. And I know that that's a pretty big scope.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: It is. It's fun. I mean, I'm still learning, you know, 17 years into this and I learned something new every day. I tell our new team members that all the time. You know, I'll ask how's training going? And wow, it's a lot to learn. I said, you know what, I'm still learning. I'll learn something new about our products or about our customers or about an opportunity every day. So just making sure everybody knows that the learning never stops and that's what makes it fun and exciting.
[00:02:44] Speaker C: Oh, for sure.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: You can't get bored. There's definitely no way to get bored around here.
So which of the letters in the Mitre brand's acronym do you think that your role best supports would it be? Experiences or Trust.
[00:03:01] Speaker A: Oh, gosh, that's really hard. You know, I think it's. And I'm sure maybe some others say the same. It's multiple. Right. But the ones that resonate with me, really, when I think of my role and how I provide value, is trust, relationships, and experience. Right. You know, trust is built when customers know we'll show up and we'll take care of them. Right. That's what good services, and that's what anybody wants. I want that from a brand that I'm purchasing from.
[00:03:26] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Relationships grow with our customers when we listen and we respond, and then that all drives that experience. Right. So it's about that experience from the time they place the order or the time they're interacting with our service team. If we create that trust and that relationship, it'll kind of make that experience one they'll remember and tell their neighbors, tell their friends. We really value that as a business. You're often not replacing your windows every month or every year.
[00:03:53] Speaker C: So we.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: We really rely on that word of mouth with our customers talking to others.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Yeah. And fortunately, I mean, Milgard's had an amazing reputation.
Western has an amazing reputation, as does Anlin. And so there's no slackers in the lineup on the Western side of our business. So I'm sure that makes it a little easier, you know, but also a higher standard to uphold.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. I mean, you hear about it, the years, you know, the Milgards going back to the 80s when we started our warranty team, and people remember that we have customers calling from 88, 89, and the delight they have to say, you guys haven't changed. You're still there. For me, it's pretty amazing. Those are always the things that brighten your day when you hear those stories.
[00:04:39] Speaker C: Yeah. I was loaned a copy of the Milgard story and actually had a chance to read that on my way out here, and I was so impressed with just everything about the history of the company and the Milgards themselves, and had a chance to meet Jim Milgaard last year at the CX event and did a podcast episode with him and Rod Hershberger and also Pete DeSoto, all three of them. So it's quite a legacy and what a privilege that we get to work for them.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: Yes, it is. And the unique and amazing thing about it is that spirit of people has continued through the Milgards, and now, you know, with the Mitre team is people business.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been an amazing experience for us, too, with, you know, PGT coming into the fold. You Know PGT Innovations and all the sister brands and just going from a publicly traded company to a private company and just learning more about the different facilities. And I learned today that we have employees in 41 out of the 50 states in the US which I thought was super interesting. And so, yeah. So I have one last question and I tie this in because we're Mitre Brands University and so we're always talking about learning and growing and developing. And so what is something interesting or cool or weird, it can be personal or professional that you're learning about these days.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: Well, probably a topic that's come up quite a bit, but I can tell you I'm still learning a lot about AI and how technology can support our team and that it's not a replacement. It can support that human connection. Right. So we're developing tools or we have developed tools and we continue to improve tools. So AI chat we introduced last year as well as remote video diagnostic support for our customers. And it's a constant reminder that this is enabling our teams, right? Helping them to be more present for the complex and kind of human parts of service, giving them more time to listen to kind of grow those relationships. And it's pushed me more to think about how can we further utilize those tools to grow our people, invest more time in training, growth, career development. And I just think we had a CX training with our customer care team. So we kind of do a smaller event with our customer care teams and we did a whole section on AI and how it's going to help you, right, get away from, you know, the narrative of being afraid of AI. But how AI is going to help you spend more time creating relationships, you know, doing the mundane tasks for you. Right. Like, wouldn't it be great if you had an assistant rather than doing those administrative tasks? Every day I do the same thing before I can get to my real work. And I think just really digging into that with our team and then just learning ways to keep utilizing those tools to make it better for them in the future.
[00:07:28] Speaker C: Yeah, it's an amazing time to be alive, isn't it?
[00:07:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: So much has transpired. I know I don't know your age bracket, but I remember like I was in high school before the Internet.
And so like the fact that we have all of this at our disposal and then now we have AI that can process everything for us is just mind boggling.
So, yeah, maybe we can all enjoy more leisure time at some point, right?
[00:07:53] Speaker A: Yes. Yes.
[00:07:56] Speaker C: Awesome. Well, Jillian, this has been an amazing conversation. Thank you so much for making time to chat with me today. And I'm going to be in Tacoma the rest of the week. We're going to be over at the Pultrusion plant.
And then I get to do some tours this afternoon, which is really fun. I get to see some new things that I haven't seen before. So if you're ever in Florida, you got to come find me.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: I will. I love a good sunshine. So thank you.
[00:08:19] Speaker C: Yeah. All right. Take good care.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: Thank you for.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: The Clear Impact Podcast is brought to you by Mitre Brands University. We are a part of Mitre Brands, a family of leading window and door brands united by our passion for quality and relentless pursuit of 100%. At Mitre Brands, our common purpose is to deliver value by manufacturing the finest products, services and customer experience every day, everywhere. Our window and door brand deliver regionalized expertise, products and services, all backed by a national company.
Mitre Brands University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
