Employee Spotlight! Kristal Gordon
The next time you're at Abt browsing the appliances, you may run into July's Employee Spotlight, Kristal Gordon. Kristal has worked here at Abt for nine years, and spends her days helping customers choose their new refrigerators, ranges, laundry appliances and more—if it's an appliance and you need help, go to Kristal. With almost a decade of appliance knowledge under her belt, she's helped find emergency refrigerators for homes in need, worked to design entire kitchens alongside customers, and done everything in between ... and she loves what she does. "I love everything about my job. I love meeting new customers, getting to know them and learning new things about appliances."
Her Start at Abt: Learning All About Appliances
This month's Employee Spotlight began her career at Abt in 2017, with what could have been a simple trip to buy a TV. She had a connection with one of our managers, and he had the perfect position for her in appliance sales. Not everyone arrives at Abt with years of experience in appliances, but Kristal did know sales. She was immediately immersed in the Abt culture and surrounded by coworkers who knew everything about home appliances. After rigorous training, she was ready to hit the ground running. "There's the initial week of training, and then every brand that we sell, we have a representative that trains us and keeps us up to date on the latest appliances and new features." If you ever wondered how Abt's specialists keep all of the knowledge in their heads, that's just a peek into the training process that Kristal and the other appliance sales specialists go through.
What Does a Typical Day Look Like?
Next, we asked our Employee Spotlight what a typical day looks like for her, in a store with a massive appliance collection. "Every day is a busy one. On a typical day, customers may be walking around and browsing and asking questions, or maybe I'll have an appointment with a client." Kristal may work with customers on the sales floor or in the Inspiration Studio on the second floor of the Atrium; whether clients are looking for a single appliance replacement or dreaming of a completely new pro-level kitchen, she's ready with the knowledge they need.
And whether she's meeting someone for the first time or coming back to a customer she's known for decades, Kristal loves her job. "I love meeting different customers and helping them. Finding out what they might need or want ... it's fun to build a dream kitchen with a customer. They may not know what they need, but we can assist them and help them discover what they want, and they'll be happy."
One of Kristal's favorite things? Seeing a return customer that she's worked with before, or having them refer her to a family member or friend. "You can create a customer for life when you help them through a design process, and they may come back when they get a new home, a rental, or even refer me to a family member. There's no better feeling than someone referring people to me."
Her Favorite Moments: A Trip to Napa
One of our top questions to ask our Employee Spotlights is about their favorite memories at Abt, and Kristal has a good one. She had a lot of fun on a trip to Napa with other sales team members, and the team went to wine country to train with SKS and the luxury brand's wine preservation technology. "We went to Napa to learn more about SKS, a brand that we started carrying recently. We were there for just a few days, but we went on a Napa tour and were educated on the wineries. It was an amazing trip. We did a lot of training during the daytime. It was an amazing group of people and an incredible experience."
For anyone who's interested in learning more about SKS and their impressive tech, check out our recent post on SKS refrigerators.
Why Choose Abt? Kristal's Answer
As an appliance salesperson, Kristal is in a unique position. She's not out on the road all day like those in our delivery department, doesn't spend most of her time in the warehouse and isn't on the phone or behind a computer screen—she spends her day helping customers, which is what every employee at Abt works to do. But she does it directly, working face-to-face with people who need her help. So we asked her a final question: If you were to answer the question "Why come to Abt for what you need?" what would your answer be? She had a great response. "This is not your typical retail store. It's a completely new experience. When you walk in, it feels like everything you could ever want is in one place. You're not in a box. It feels open. And there are so many perks. We're pet-friendly, kid-friendly, weekends are fun with free cookies, and in the summer, we have a lemonade stand. It's just different."
"Then there's the expertise. If you go to a big box store and ask someone for help, they may not know anything. Here, you could go up to anyone and they'll have the answer. You come into Abt and if we don't have the answer, we'll find somebody in the building who does. Everyone is knowledgeable." This is Abt's 90th year of business, and with employees who are celebrating 40+ years of working here, we'd have to agree. Kristal is a key part of the team that makes people feel welcome from the moment they walk in the door to the second they find their new appliance(s), and we could never have made it to this point without all of our incredible salespeople. That's just one of the reasons why we're celebrating Kristal this month. If you come into Abt and run into Kristal, know that she's one of our best, and that she's ready to help you find just what you're looking for.
