After 24 years, Pat Goettel says good-bye, and we all cry.
Here's what you need to understand right off the top: before Patricia Goettel came to work at alpscontrols.com, we only had a small handful of employees. We didn't have departments for sales, marketing, or even software development.
In 1995, Pat joined alpscontrols. And then became the person who would set the standard for our world-class customer service.
Now, 24 years later, we pride ourselves on that service — and we know, right now on the eve of Pat's retirement at the end of July 2019, that she's the one who guided and shaped it into reality. alpscontrols President Dave Meyers says,
Pat was here from virtually the beginning, and she set the tone for what good customer service looked like. She demanded that we get back to customers quickly, that we answer the phones promptly and professionally. She took that role and helped develop all of the support processes that we use today.
Back then, alpscontrols.com was small. Really small. Like "three people huddled into a tiny room" small. We started out not so much of a stand-alone company, as much as a procurement resource for control contractors to pool together and get better pricing. Pat and the rest of our small team would take orders via phone or fax — logging them onto Excel spreadsheets and calling them into the small number of suppliers that we had.
Taking orders over phone and hand-typing them into Excel. Yep, that was 1995, all right.
In the ensuing years, Pat, through the many customer service employees that she has trained, has been instrumental in guiding us toward our current business model: efficient ordering; friendly, smart, and responsive product support; and paying attention to customers like a mother watches over her family.
Because that's how many of us think of Pat: she's our company mom. She cares deeply for our customers and vendors. She nurtures every transaction until she's certain it's right, and complete, and beneficial to everyone. And she remembers — with no exaggeration — a staggering, comprehensive history of alpscontrols, our customers, our transactions, and our legacy. Customer Service Supervisor Ernie Larson joined Pat's team about 11 years ago, and he deeply admires what she has achieved, saying:
The customers love her because she knows them all personally, with intimate knowledge of their lives and their business. Pat reaches them on a personal level, and it's the same with our suppliers. They know she gets things done, and her knowledge of the website is ridiculous!
The ending of Pat's tenure at alpcontrols.com also comes with another, unexpected, milestone: she's the first member of our staff to retire, so in addition to feeling her loss on a personal basis, we also have no clue what it's like to move forward without someone who is so important to us. It's extraordinarily difficult to imagine alpscontrols without Pat. August 1st will come without her sitting — at the insanely early, way-before-office-hours that were her tradition — at her corner desk in our support area. That desk area is like the beating heart of our company, a bullpen where people gather and thousands of spontaneous discussions have been launched: of products, POs, manufacturers, shipping, deadlines, and so much more. Her desk is where we've shared everything from news and surprises to laughter and donuts. Her desk will be empty and we will feel the vacuum of her absence with the memories of so many business and personal moments we have shared with Pat. Jim Kalafatis, who has worked closely with Pat for 21 years, knows he will acutely feel it when she's gone:
I’ll miss her. She is strong-willed and extremely determined, and I’ve always admired her personal dedication to our customers and vendors as people and friends first. I’ve seen Pat go to bat for them time and time again, and she always defends their needs over everything else. It’s something I’ve learned from her, something I know many of us at alpscontrols will take with us after Pat leaves for retirement.
Personal dedication. Getting things done. Sky-high standards of service and professionalism. A warm and supportive nature to everyone our business touches. These are the things we'll keep with us when Pat Goettel says good-bye to alpscontrols.
And as she goes, we'll send our love, our gratitude, respect, and more than a few tears along with her.
For more memories of Pat's long dedication to service at alpscontrols, take a look at this video: