52 Customer Stories

#45 Out-of-towners make customer connection

HOUSTON – In late October, three members of the WM Public Affairs team were in Houston on business
when they made a positive connection with a customer.

It began when Kathy Trent, senior manager of Public Affairs, struck up a conversation with a gentleman in
a hotel lobby. As they were talking, Trent found out he was a residential customer from Allentown, Ohio, which
isn’t far from where she works. According to him, “WM always has clean trucks, fair pricing and great service." 

Hearing this, two of Trent’s colleagues joined them: Director Lisa Kardell and Vice President Sue Briggum.
Together, they chatted some more and found out that this customer was also the chief financial officer for a
natural gas company in Calgary, Alberta.

Right away, Kardell handed the gentleman a Community Connection card, which she had ready in her purse.
The CFO for the company was then joined by his CEO. From there, all five continued their conversation about
their respective businesses and how they might work with each other. The conversation was so positive, in
fact, that another Public Affairs employee, Senior Manager Lisa Disbrow, took a picture of the group and then
posted it to Twitter.

From making a connection with an existing customer to creating the possibility of expanding services to sharing
the interaction through social media — this story has it all.

Photo: (L-R) Kathy Trent, Lisa Kardell and Sue Briggum pose with the CFO (holding card) and CEO of a natural
gas company