At some point, all of us have needed to contact the customer service department of a company over the phone or online, whether to troubleshoot a
lawn mower, wearable fitness tracker, resolve an account
error or something else. And while (hopefully) most of
the time we end up conversing with an actual person on
the other end, we often take for granted the role that
person plays — especially at a large company.
This is why I felt fortunate to get a behind-the-scenes
look at Grainger’s Janesville, WI Contact Center in
early May. There, I was able to see the MRO products
distribution giant’s four-story facility where tens of
thousands of customer orders and questions are taken
care of every day by a team of approximately
1,200 representatives. They
field more than 27,000
customer interactions every
day, whether by phone, email
or online.
It’s one thing to know
there’s someone on the other
end of the customer service
line taking care of you; it’s
another to see it happening
all around you across an
expansive office space.
“In the B2B space, it’s a
partnership — it’s not just one call and you never talk to
them again,” says Shawn Mulligan, Grainger’s Janesville
contact center site director. “Our customers are letting us
know what they need and want to run their businesses
and keep their people safe, and what they need from us
to do that.”
Janesville is the largest of Grainger’s contact centers
— which used to number 150 before a consolidation into
three national locations that started in 2017 and expected
to complete this year. The company says the consolidation
has already resulted in more effective and cost-efficient
customer service.
The Janesville facility was built in 1988 and Grainger
gradually moved in over the next two years before
Grainger purchased Lab Safety Supply in 1992. Three
Shawn Mulligan
Grainger’s Janesville
Contact Center Site Director
INDUSTRY INSIDER
Inside Grainger’s Largest Contact Center
By Mike Hockett
All photos
by Industrial
Distribution
A museum-like display of
Grainger products inside the
first-floor lobby area.