Posted on: Monday, November 8, 2004
LEADERSHIP CORNER
M. Dyer president diversified to address security concerns
Interviewed by Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Name: Rebecca L.M. Parker Age: 42 Title: President Organization: M. Dyer & Sons Inc. High school: East Bakersfield High School in Bakersfield, Calif. College: Bachelor of arts in accounting, University of California, Santa Barbara; additional course work at Hawai'i Pacific College Breakthrough job: Working for the now-defunct BioPower Corp. on the Big Island, where Parker learned skills in human resources, accounting and management. "It taught me how to juggle priorities and put out fires," she said. Little-known fact: Parker, her mom and her 14-year-old daughter are all Scorpios. "My father used to say, 'Don't get on their bad sides,' " she said.
Major challenge: The shortage of qualified drivers with commercial drivers licenses. "There's a significant islandwide shortage of these drivers," Parker said.
• • • Q. Why is there a shortage of drivers?
A. There's a few reasons. There's been an increase at the piers in the number of containers coming to Hawai'i. There's also been an increase in construction, which means a demand on trucking. All of the troop movements that we've seen in the last two years require more trucking. And when the visitor industry is doing well, you need supplies to be delivered to hotels. It's all a trickling-down effect.
Q. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, your company diversified operations by adding record storage and management, which is now a big part of your business. What other changes occurred after Sept. 11.
A. There were increases in security concerns that we had to address, as all businesses did ... What it means is that we have to be very careful in what we pack. It means more port delays as more shipments are inspected, specifically those coming from overseas. It means added costs. But if the supply chain is more secure, for all of us, it's both a time and financial burden that we as a company and we as Americans need to shoulder.
Q. How important is trust in this business?
A. The moving business is all about trust. This one story sticks in my head: I had just started working for M. Dyer & Sons and I was shocked and appalled that a client handed $8,000 in cash to one of our crews. I drove out there and picked up the deposit. That's not normal ... I asked him, "Why didn't you just write a check? Aren't you uncomfortable giving $8,000 in cash to someone you just met today?" And what he said stuck with me. The client's answer was, "$8,000 is nothing, I can replace that. I can't replace everything they're putting in that container." When he put it that way, I thought he was absolutely right. Something that's so sentimental you can't put a price tag on it, you can't replace that. So we're not just moving stuff. We're moving someone's precious memories. And it's really important it's done well.
Q. When founder Medford Dyer retired three years ago, he sold the company stock to the employees. How has being an employee-owned company affected business?
A. That means if we do well, the employees do well in their retirement plan, so it drives quality. They understand the value of a good work day and taking care of clients, making sure they're happy. You do notice (a change), but it's also a slow process. You have to make the employees understand that everything they do is important, that if there's a three-man crew on a truck, they have to run that truck as though it's their own independent business. And that takes a completely different philosophy than working for a large corporation for a paycheck. Has our quality gone up? Yes. Our customers feel much more pleased with our services. We survey our clients after every relocation, and I'm happy to say at least 95 percent of our clients rank our services as superior. That says a lot.
Q. What is your busiest season?
A. We're incredibly busy from April through August because most families like to move when their children are out of school.
Q. Have do-it-yourself moving companies, such as U-Haul, affected your business?
A. Midnight truckers and those other do-it-yourself movers have not impacted us because our operations are based on the type of clients that want a quality relocation. We're not your do-it-yourself moving company. But that doesn't mean we can't provide (the service of) just picking up the heavy things and you move the light ones yourself. Our clients request a door-to-door relocation. They want the full packing, full unpacking. They're a more discerning clientele ... Your small, local companies or U-Hauls are providing a needed service, but they really don't compete with us.
Q. Last month, M. Dyer & Sons Inc. received the FIDI-FAIM quality assurance award, which is essentially an accreditation for international movers. What does this mean for your company?
A. This accreditation validates us, that we are in the Top 10 not only nationally but internationally in terms of relocation companies. (The two-day audit) looked at our offices, our business ethics, our claims, the experience of our staff, our follow-up process. Because of that, it validated our feelings about our company. It was a complete third-party auditing our books and practices, looking at our claims, our insurance, our documents, interviewing our clients for their experiences. It was very comprehensive.
Q. What's the most rewarding part of your job?
A. Well, what creates a move? You either have a new job, someone just got married, you just had a new baby, you've had a death in your family, you got a divorce. Some major life event has caused a move to come about, usually. So, therefore, you're already under a lot of stress. Then you try to pick up everything you own and put it in a new place and readjust. So to me, what's most rewarding is being able to provide that service to a client and not have their stress levels go through the stratosphere ... That's what's rewarding to me.
