Part two is here! This month for the DiscountFilters.com employee interview, we sat down with the director of sales and customer support, Reed Barich.
Quick Facts about Reed Barich
Official Title: Director of Sales and Customer Support
Describe your role/daily activities in 1-2 sentences: I support our customer service team and do everything I can to make sure our customers have a positive experience when they interact with our company.
How long have you been with the company?: 12 years this October
What’s your favorite animal?: My Australian Shepherd dog, ZuZu
1. What is the most common customer service question you receive?
I want to make sure I’ve selected the correct filter for my fridge/furnace – can you help me?
2. What is your biggest piece of advice for people shopping on DiscountFilters.com?
Don’t believe in all the “hype”. In other words, filters are fairly simple products – and for the most part are all manufactured in the same fashion. There’s no reason to pay more for something just to get fancy packaging or branding. We feel we can offer tremendous value to our customers – especially with the products we make. In the world of e-commerce, there’s a unique opportunity for the consumer/end-user to purchase directly from the manufacturer.
3. What is your favorite thing about working for DiscountFilters?
2 things. Every day is different – I never know what new challenge might pop up. That’s pretty exciting to me; I’m never bored! And also, I really, really like the people I work with!
4. Did you ever think DiscountFilters would be as big as it is today? What do you think the future of filters will hold?
I really never imagined that we would grow so much. I was employee #6 back in 2005, and we were working out of a 10,000 square foot space.
I think the future looks bright for us, and for filters in general. As long as we treat our customers right the first time, they’ll come back the second time, and third time, etc. That’s the great thing about being in the filter business – one has to keep buying replacements.
5. What is your favorite story from the early days of the company?
There are so many crazy stories. We do like to have fun every so often. Since the beginning, we’ve always enjoyed playing pranks on people who are on vacation. More specifically, we like to make sure that the vacationing employee gets a big surprise on their first day back.
Back in the early days – a certain, unnamed, company delivered an entire pallet of star-shaped, fluorescent-colored post-it notes to our dock. We have no idea why (we didn’t order them). So imagine a large office with every square inch of ceiling, floor, desk, etc. completely covered in fluorescent stars.
[Good news! You don’t have to imagine. We went to the archives and found proof!]
I am looking for water filters for my Kenmore frig and just ran across your web site. Great to see your filters are actually made in the USA. Everything else I have found is made in China. I have been using Whirlpool filters however they have gotten so expensive and now I read that their new EveryDrop filters don’t fit my older frig very well. I have also read about some of the Chinese compatibles breaking and flooding a house. I would like to buy US made from you if you can assure me yours are as good as the “old” style Whirlpool filter and that they won’t break and flood my house. Look forward to your reply.