Customers Get the Family Treatment
Inside Dental Technology delivers updates on digital workflows, materials, lab techniques, and innovation in dental technology through expert articles and videos.
November 1, 2017
Volume 8, Issue 11, November 2017
Page(s): p. 54
Walk past a Nowak Dental Supplies sales representative’s office, and you’re likely to hear jovial conversation rather than robotic sales calls. Nowak’s representatives are in no hurry to hang up and move on to the next sale. They want to get to know customers on a personal level in order to serve them best. Nowak believes that customers desire an alternative to the big-box stores, one that emphasizes customer service. That’s why the primary tenet that company president Shawn Nowak preaches is treating customers as they should be treated, which is a rarity in the world today.
Nowak’s dedication to its customers is evident in their clients’ stories. One laboratory owner, for instance, had a break-in at his facility in which all of his equipment was stolen or trashed. Nowak’s message to him was, “We will help with whatever you need. If you need $100,000 worth of equipment, we will have you covered. If the insurance process delays your payment for 6 months, then so be it.” For Nowak, it was not about making a profit off of the sale. It was about getting that laboratory back up and running. With next-day shipping, the laboratory was back in operation within 3 days. That type of service would not happen with many large retailers; in fact, one other retailer told that customer that the equipment he needed would be over his credit limit. With Nowak, that was not a concern. Taking care of the customer was most important.
Nowak was also there for a laboratory that burned down a few years ago. The company committed to providing everything at wholesale cost because making a profit was not important in that situation. Nowak also put the laboratory owner in touch with the National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL) for special disaster-relief funding. When Hurricane Katrina destroyed Nowak’s facilities 12 years ago, the NADL came to its aid, so now Nowak pays it forward.
The company’s efforts have been recognized in the past with an NADL Supplier Member of the Year award, and this year Shawn Nowak was honored with the Vision Award, presented in recognition of incredible vision and tireless service based on an individual’s dedication to the dental laboratory profession. Shawn’s work on the Race for the Future, an event benefiting the NADL’s Foundation for Dental Laboratory Technology (FDLT), was a primary factor in his earning the Vision Award. Shawn also serves as treasurer of the FDLT, and is the first vendor to serve in an executive capacity on any NADL or FDLT board.
The awards and executive position are an acknowledgement of the passion that Nowak Dental Supplies harbors for the laboratory industry. Nowak treats customers like family, and while the company has grown by at least 20% each of the past 7 years, it plans to remain faithful to the foundation that Shawn’s grandfather and father established years ago: Make customers the priority, and everything else will follow.
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