My First Year with FinishMaster

You know what they say about time flying when you’re having fun? My first year at FinishMaster proves the days pass quickly when your job is both exciting and rewarding – this year has been a great adventure! Over the past 365 days, I have had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful people within FinishMaster, including my fellow teammates, customers, and vendors.

When I joined the company last year, I wrote a blog about my first 142 days. Now I am back again and would like to share some of my experiences with you over the past year.

During my training, I was fortunate to attend an orientation at our Indianapolis Home Office. This weeklong visit was like “Boot Camp” for FinishMaster, or as I like to say, “I was FinishMasterized.” I met with each of the departments: the Leadership Team, Human Resources and Benefits, Accounts Payable and Receivables, IT and Help Desk, Customer Support Services, Field Support Services, Accounting, Marketing, Business Analytics, Customer Investments, Contracts, and Supply Chain. Each of these departments plays a role in our daily business activities, and they work as a team to support customer service, the company’s growth, and FinishMaster initiatives.

This team approach is FinishMaster’s secret to being recognized by customers as key factors in their success.

FinishMaster places a high value on team member development. With our Sales team specifically, all are encouraged to build a career training path, including product training and business solutions from our key vendor partners. In addition, Sales team members attend Master 7 sales training to learn the critical steps in earning new business and building long-term relationships with their customers. Team members focus on Standard Operating Procedures to ensure product performance and efficiencies to help our customers maximize profitability. Our Operations team members have a UPK learning center focused on branch operations and efficiencies to ensure customer service excellence.

Most evident within all of our teams, whether in the field or in our Home Office, is the encouragement to pursue growth and learning throughout your career. Being challenged to take bold and creative actions and pursue new opportunities is a refreshing element in my career.

During our Winter Leadership Meeting in January 2016, I had a conversion with Herb Butler, Vice President, National Sales, and told him how impressed I am with the way FinishMaster lives its Core Values daily. Many companies talk about core values, but FinishMaster uses them as a way to conduct business.         

Part of living our values is a having a willingness to embrace change. FinishMaster has a Strategic Planning Committee constantly reviewing industry trends and determining how best to position us for today and the future. The Leadership Team consistently uses our extensive reporting capabilities and market intel to form initiatives, offers, and training, allowing FinishMaster to gain market share while reducing expenses and maintaining exceptional customer service. This commitment to exceptional service is an unwavering constant in our industry of change.

Remember when you started reading this blog and I told you I wanted to share my first 365 days with you? Well, looking back, joining FinishMaster has been one of the best decisions of my life! I know I am part of a family, which just happens to sell automotive and industrial paint for their day job.  If my story sounds like a sales pitch for the company, it’s because I am excited about the opportunities I have had over the past year and look forward to many more years of contributing to a great company.

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.