http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zGSSo7R7qw&feature=youtu.be

Derek Volk attended the Maine Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Summit at Sunday River in Newry, Maine on February 3, 2012. It is an amazing event where Maine’s business leaders and legislators (from both parties) get together to spend the day (and evening prior) discussing what needs to happen to enhance and grow Maine’s business climate. The event was attended by about 100 business leaders and many legislators, including Derek’s wife, Rep. Amy Volk of Scarborough, who helped lead one of the panel discussions.

Rep. Amy Volk and Rep. Chris Rector listen to a concerned business leader

                        Derek Volk’s dog, Winnie, listens to the Management meeting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gouGBTYK1Bs&feature=youtu.be

In this edition of Volk Packaging’s “Box Talk,” sales rep Frank Crossman talks about how he and his fellow sales reps go the extra mile for our customers.  What Frank neglects to mention is that just this week he drove down to Pennsylvania and back in one day to work on a project for a customer!  He left at 4:30am and got home after midnight.  Now if that isn’t dedication I’m not sure what is!

Actual email from a customer . . .

Mr Volk,

My name is Andy from Concord NH.  I had been referred to your company from a client we both do business with.  We had been using Smurfit Stone and Rock Tenn to do our boxes as we have done work with them Purchasing their Aluminum Plates and Film and such but the service had been lacking as of late.  So we had used you on a new project and everything thing went well so we switched over to you on our latest order.  

Our salesman Brian had stopped in and picked up samples and he is great but what I want to let you know is your pricing is fair but it is the OUTSTANDING customer service I have received most especially Kelli Tix that has made me want to write to you.  I have had to contact her with multiple little questions due to the owner here being busy and having to go through me to get the answers he needed and everytime it was a quick response but not only that, unlike most places that make you feel like your a pain in a$$, she made you feel like it wasn’t an issue and that makes working with your company a pleasure.

I feel the good people never get enough acknowledgement so I wanted to let you know that you have a great staff from the members I have dealt with and Kelli has been Outstanding!!

Andy

 2011 Customer Survey – Question 10 – The people at Volk Packaging care about my business  AVE SCORE: 9.66

One of the reasons that Volk Packaging has such an exceptional workforce is because they honestly and sincerely care about their customers.  We all realize that without our customers we have no jobs.  They are truly, as Benjamin Volk used to say, “our bread and butter.”

2011 Customer Survey – Question 9 – Quote requests arrive in a timely manner  AVE SCORE 9.51

A famous golf quote is “100% of putts that don’t reach the hole don’t go in.”  The same could be said about quotes.  We don’t get orders if the customer does not have a price to place a PO.  Therefore, we work hard to make sure every quote that comes in to us gets processd, routed and quoted as soon as possible.  Most quotes are completed within 24 hours, many within just a couple hours.  If you are ever waiting for a quote for more than a day, call us because something must be wrong.  We promise we’ll jump right on it.

Derek Volk’s wife, Amy, is a Maine State Representative representing coastal Scarborough.  She is a frequest guest on Ray Richardson’s morning show on WLOB.  On Monday, January 16, 2012 she was on Ray’s show where she usually talks with him about what is happening in Augusta but during this episode Ray wanted to talk about Volk Packaging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ICiFSSm0hg&feature=youtu.be

2011 CUSTOMER INSIGHT SURVEY – Question 8 – Sample requests are processed and arrive in a timely manner – AVE SCORE 9.75

Volk Packaging has a tremendous Design Department.  They work diligently to make the most creative, efficient and effective designs possible.  They do this while also maintaining the knowledge that the customer has a budget to stay within and needs the samples quickly to move forward with their project.  This is the second highest average score we reveived in the 2011 Customer Insight Survey.  

Pictured:  Designer Kevin Shea with Derek Volk

2011 Customer Insight – Question 7: If the boxes are not as expected Volk Packaging addresses it quickly and effectively  AVE SCORE: 9.41

No one makes a perfect box every time and sometimes deliveries do not go as expected.  The difference between other companies and Volk Packaging is our response to negative feedback.  If we receive any information from a customer indictating there is a problem we address it immediately and effectively. 

Today Volk Packaging hosted a “Box 101″ class for the Maine Food Producers Alliance.  They are a terrific group of Maine business people trying to be successful in the very challenging food industry.  The 2o guests in attendance were producers of everything from lobster bisque to medicinal marijuana.  While one guest traveled by bike from Saco we had one person from as far west as Farmington and another from Downeast in Machias.  After a plant tour Derek Volk taught a 2 hour class that focused on all the basic facts one needs to know when buying corrugated boxes.  He covered such topics as how corrugated is made, how the test and flute impacts everything from stackability to pricing and what styles are best for different products and industries.  When his lesson was completed Volk’s Design Engineer Kevin Shea spent an hour or so on printing issues related to corrugated packaging.  Everyone was served lunch, Derek and Kevin held a Q & A session and the guests were on their way.  We received many positive comments that it was a morning well spent.  We look forward to hosting another class soon.