Industrial Distribution

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