CARES

Do Your Suppliers and SMB Partners Go The Extra Mile?

There is no such thing as the perfect supplier or partner. Mistakes are made, milestones are sometimes missed. It’s the reaction to problems, even when it isn’t their fault that shows you their true core values.

Case in point: it was Friday, December 23rd. We were all ready to enjoy a long holiday weekend.

The day started off like most Fridays but veered awry when we received a call at 10:30 a.m. from one of our clients who informed us the overnight package we sent them with the week’s payroll checks had not arrived.

We immediately called the overnight service and they assured us the package would be delivered shortly.

Another two hours passed… still no package!

We called the carrier again and they reconfirmed that the package was on the truck ready for delivery. Naturally, we expressed to them the importance of the delivery contents and that our employees must receive their paychecks before the holiday. They thanked us for our patience and again assured us the package would be delivered that day.

Hours later, at about 4:00 p.m., they admitted the package was snowed in – clear across the country!

Racing against time

This is when ClearPath sprang into action. We ran a report listing the employees whose checks were in the package. The file was then sorted by those issued live checks versus those with direct deposit. Our team split up the list of 40 employees who were issued live checks and began placing phone calls to each of them.

Some employees said they could wait until the package was delivered after the holiday, but the majority needed their money as soon as possible – relying on it to finish their holiday shopping and other expenses.

ClearPath issued replacement manual checks for everyone that couldn’t wait. We collected the employee’s banking information from each person. The team then split the checks up by bank, five in total and hand-carried the payments to personally deposit the money into the employees’ accounts.

Not all banks were local, so we offered to overnight the remaining checks for Saturday delivery. Another team member raced to Fed-Ex to make sure we met the shipping deadline.

We even had a team member go to our own bank, cash a check, and then take the cash to Western Union to send money to an employee who had already left town on their holiday vacation.

Treating people right

There were six team members going in different directions, as well as the team members who provided support – ten in all. We didn’t have to. It wasn’t our fault the checks weren’t delivered. It was quitting time before a long holiday weekend.

But we all asked the question, “What if that was me? How would I want to be treated?”

The answer was simple. We would want our employer to care enough to make things right, even though it wasn’t their fault. There was no way we could leave these people high and dry.

We all met back at the office at 6:00 p.m. that Friday night. We felt good that we had made the difference in our employees’ lives and were able to make their holiday a little less stressful.

So how do your suppliers and partners measure up? Would they go the extra mile? This might be a particularly important question to ask if you are a SMB trying to get the attention of a large Employer of Record.

Consider ClearPath as your Employer of Record service. We treat your temporary employees as if they are our own and will always go the extra mile. This is our brand promise to you.