Benjamin Kramm

It is my responsibility to ensure the growth of our company by attending trade shows and visiting customers in person. I have developed my customer care and sales skills while getting a better understanding for international business in agriculture. This unique role allows me to work with many different cultures and languages, enriching my daily work and helping me to learn lots about the different places on our planet.

I work within the Ag Department for the Archwall and Double Corrugated Bins, from quoting, taking and processing incoming orders, to end-user or installer troubleshooting. This position has a wide range of customers located within Canada, the USA, Australia and Sweden. In the daily duties I communicate with the customers as well as our inhouse Design and Engineering Team, Production, Logistics, Shipping and Accounting departments to ensure all customer orders and requests are met in a timely manner.

I am the direct contact for the customer from order entry to order completion. I also provide additional support to the customer after the building has been delivered. This position requires thorough reviews of the customer's order and requirements, and clear and precise communication with our design and production teams. As a CSR all orders under $2 Million I manage on my own. The collaboration required to fulfill my duties has enhanced my teamwork skills and increased my confidence in decision making.

Alberts Bistro was a customer of mine when I worked at Canadian Linen. When I heard he was looking for an extra hand over the busy summer season I join their team of servers. It was a really fun Job. Partway through the summer I took on the responsibility of yard maintenance. This was great for me as I have some previous landscaping experience and enjoyed working outside when the weather was nice. It was a new side of customer service that I have not previously explored.

My responsibilities included collecting accurate information from customers, to create descriptive work orders and to schedule appointments efficiently to maximize technician output and reduce customer waiting times. The day-to-day customer interactions were my favorite part of the job. I got to help people solve their problems and gain their trust and respect where they would gladly return as a customer and also recommend their friends and family to come as well.

As Covid slowed down business in all areas, my time at planet kia came to an end. A friend of mine sent me a job link to work as a fire alarm salesman. I loved that as I went around to the clients’ homes, I was able to do walk throughs and educate them on the potential fire hazards that exist in their home. However, in order to sell our systems, we were given a very specific script that was completely focused on selling based on fear. I felt evil having to exploit the fear and quit 3 days later.

Planet Kia was a customer of mine from my time at Canadian Linen. When I let them know, I had given my 2 weeks and am looking for a change due to a back injury, they asked me to come in for an interview right away. This was a step down in pay, however I wanted to learn more about the auto industry as well as gain more experience in Customer service. As a service advisor I learned to manage my time and to stay focused in a very fast paced environment. My attention to detail definitely helped me suceed.

As a customer service/sales representative, I built trusted relationships with my customer to help them meet all their needs using the services and resources available to me. The unique aspect of this position was that I did it all. I was selling the product, delivering it and servicing the customer as often as required, with minimal supervision and a pay structure that encouraged additional sales. I learn about all aspects of the service and sales industry including inventory management and warehousing.

I came to maple leaf to work night shift on sanitation. I enjoyed the position a lot due to its independent work nature. I was responsible to clean my area to meet strict food safety standards. I later moved to a production position on the morning shift. It was hard work, but I loved the community and support that could be experienced every day. Most of my colleagues were immigrants like myself and did not speak the best English. This helped me develop skills that helped me a lot in the service industry.

This is a Job I would never do again yet recommend everyone looking to work in an office does at least once. It was very valuable in developing my phone skills. Most importantly it taught me not to take the work interactions personally and to leave the stress of work at work.

I worked for Rick over the summer between high school and University. He was an amazing boss and taught me a lot. We did mainly concrete construction for shops or barns. The biggest project I was a part of was Potato storage sheds just outside of Carberry MB. I learned to be discipline and to be a team player. These two skills served me well in all subsequent jobs. Rick was a role model to me and to this day us a person I have only respect for in what he has influenced in my life.