Service through experience

Drug Store News, April 5, 1993

The NCRS customer service staff is ready to meet your needs. its experienced representatives, averaging eight years of service with NCRS, know who to call to get to the bottom of payment denial problems. The customer reps know your account and take the extra steps necessary to resolve issues for their retail clients. We can't promise 100% success, but we guarantee 100%-plus effort.

NCRS executives represent years of experience in all facets of the drug and grocery industry: Along with founder Leo Paul Koulos, the team includes Walter Kreuter, a three-decade veteran of service-oriented Bergen Brunswig who works on National Account Sales; Harvey Slate, who brings years of manufacturer experience in the food industry as Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Ann Bertiglia who serves as Vice President of Administration and MIS and Nick Misthos, Sr. Vice President of Retailer Services.

Each member of the executive group is authorized to make a decision. No bureaucratic layers. No committee delays. Usually you'll get a same-day response, or in more complex cases a 24 to 48 hour response. With offices and agents in San Francisco, metro New York, the Midwest, Texas, Southern California and Hawaii, plus their own processing plants, NCRS is primed to respond.

"Volume driven price wars are not our style," says Koulos. "Well managed growth, partnering with selective clients and working hard to improve the retailer's coupon profile is the NCRS way of doing business."

At times NCRS has carried the manufacturers' receivables an extra period of time while working through a snag for one of their retailers. NCRS's attention to detail comes out of their pocket, but it's the cost of doing a service business right.

When a price raise is the issue, they meet with retailers individually. Your budget is their concern; they are partners in your success.

They Said No, We Said Yes

When one major drug chain had problems obtaining store accountability and became inundated with paper clutter, they asked their clearing house for help. No, said the clearing house, it's too complicated. Yes, said NCRS, we're flexible.

The result was the elimination of coupon clutter, reassignment of staff personnel and most importantly an increase in coupon cash flow by more than a week.

This was another custom program that provided a retailer with substantial benefits. For NCRS it was another opportunity to develop a solution to meet the retailer's needs and to demonstrate flexibility.