United Trimen’s Joel Paynter Goes The Extra Mile
Joel Paynter, our United Trimen Business Development Specialist, talked with us about his commitment to customer service, celebration of customer wins, and appreciation for the United Trimen team in this month’s Spotlight On. His experience in hospitality, customer service, and sales gives him a well-rounded perspective on what customers want.
Passion Turned Professional
A United Trimen team member for the past 18 months, Joel brings 18+ years of hospitality and sales experience to his role. Rushing home to watch his favourite cooking show after school, Joel had an early appreciation of the culinary arts. With longtime dreams of becoming a chef, Joel began his restaurant career at Earls Kitchen and Bar, working both front- and back-of-house. It was there that his enthusiasm for the industry blossomed, eventually leading him to pursue a degree in hospitality management.
Not long after graduation, Joel moved into restaurant management and ownership. He recalled one ownership experience fondly, saying, ‘For the market that we served, we were awesome. We had customers who drove an hour to come have some fish and chips, and you’re like, “Okay, I guess we’re doing something right.”’
A Commitment to Care
On an average day, Joel receives a wide variety of customer requests in his inbox. Inquiries can range from a Mom-and-Pop diner in need of parfait cups to a hotel looking to replace its entire dinnerware set to a rush-order toaster that must be delivered in two weeks. Joel enjoys the variety of tasks, saying that no two days are the same. Drawing on his many years spent in hospitality and sales, Joel underlined the importance of good customer service. “It doesn’t matter what role you play, you will always have the ability to impact that customer positively or negatively.”
Joel does whatever’s possible to make customer requests a reality, even when they’re on a tight timeline. He talked about how he couldn’t make it possible without the support of his team at United Trimen. ‘I feel like our company is really being built in a manner that we’re surrounding ourselves with people who want to put in the extra effort to make sure the customer is taken care of. If there’s an emergency order that needs to go out, people are ready to help, asking, “Yeah, what do you need? Let’s go!”’
Bringing Customer Visions To Life
When asked about a memorable customer interaction, Joel shared a particularly impactful experience where he helped a son take over his father’s business. ‘His dad was a restaurant owner his whole life. And he worked for his dad. His dad finally said, “Are you ready?” He’s like, “Well, yeah, but I don’t want this. I want it to be my own.” So we helped him change the whole concept to what he wanted.’
‘He had a tight deadline for reopening, and he needed everything, plates, glasses, you name it. We worked through the whole thing. We got him what he needed. We pushed hard. He called me afterward and said, “Dude, we did it. We’re open.” I was like, “Well, you did it. That’s a lot of work you just did, man.” He goes, “No, like we did it.”’
Recalling the memory, Joel smiled, “It really hit me that it’s everyone along the way who needs to come together as a team to succeed. It’s neat to know I helped him complete his dream. It’s really neat getting to feel that.”
Helping a customer reach their goals is Joel’s favourite part of his job, ‘The best part about helping a customer is not the sale at all. The best part is getting on the phone with that chef or GM and hearing how excited they are about this plate or glass we recommended. They’re putting it all together as a place setting and just saying, “This is so beautiful.” I may not always get to see it in person, but I can see it the way they talk about it, and I can feel the excitement too.’
L’équipe de spécialistes de United Trimen est prête à vous aider à choisir les accessoires les mieux adaptés à vos besoins, que vous ouvriez votre premier restaurant ou que vous procédiez à l’audit d’une cuisine existante.
Écrivez-nous à l’adresse sales@unitedtrimen.com ou appelez-nous au 800 461-0000.
