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As our United States of America has within the last two years also been dealt a number of blows by powerful hurricanes, I thought about how Cox Industries served the storm damaged areas of Florida and the Gulf Coast. Like hundreds of company's around the country, Cox Industries produced a number of unsung heroes including production, sales and administrative personnel that worked around the clock to make sure we were able to supply the utility poles necessary to reenergize these devastated regions. However, nowhere were these unsung heroes more evident than in our fleet of Cox drivers and contract drivers that endured the same conditions to assist the restoration efforts by delivering and relocating products throughout the regions. How fitting, we just last weekend celebrated National Truck Driver Appreciation Week with our family of drivers. Our Cox family truly embraced the higher standard expected of them.

When you hear the term "higher standard," what images or expectations come to mind? Cox has always sought to stand out in our industry as a provider of products that exceed the normal standards. However, we recognize service as the very essence of our success over our 55 years in the business. In today's world, service seems to have fallen by the wayside as if we as consumers are being "trained" to settle for less for the same price. At Cox, we strive to provide excellent service to our suppliers, vendors, personnel and communities. Earlier this year, we formed the Cox Customer Service Team from a cross representative group of our eleven facilities. Just a few weeks ago, they produced their first draft of "Legendary Customer Service." We welcome your feedback both good and bad as we roll out new programs. As readers of this newsletter, I hope you too can envision a time when all of your vendors and customers are truly working to achieve a higher standard.

Finally, what can we do about encouraging our society to adopt "higher standards?" I believe the answer is simple - we should expect higher standards. We should not hope for them, wish for them or wait for them. We should demand higher standards. Are you challenging Cox to provide a higher standard of service? If so, where are we meeting your expectations and where could we improve? Are you challenging all of your vendors to provide a higher standard of service? If so, who is answering the call? We hope you are expecting and demanding higher standards. Enact a plan to encourage a higher standard. Embrace, Envision and Enact.


Best,
Mikee