WATSONVILLE – From the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 to the Great Recession, Mary Machado has weathered a heap of unforeseen business challenges at Graniterock.
But nothing has changed the way this inside sales representative goes about her workday like the coronavirus pandemic.
The longtime inside sales representative for Graniterock’s building materials team says business has been robust since the highly contagious virus turned the world on its head in March, and yet remains unsettling in ways she never saw coming.
“It’s just an ugly feeling,” said Mary Machado, who has worked at the Beach Street location in Watsonville since 1996. “I always talk to my customers and ask how their family is doing. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking.”
Mary’s inside sales colleagues at Graniterock stores in Santa Cruz, Seaside, Salinas and Redwood City echo her sentiment on how much has changed in the past six months and that concern for their own safety and customers stays top of mind.
Large signs papering the glass doors explain what’s expected inside the store and how Graniterock is protecting people from the coronavirus.
Based on Centers for Disease Control guidelines, everyone is asked to wear face covers and stand at least six feet apart.
Don’t come in if you have a fever or are experiencing other commonly known signs of Covid-19.
If someone enters without a face cover, they are politely asked to put one on, and handed a new mask wrapped in cellophane.
“We don’t hesitate to say something,” Mary said. “Most of the time, people are very cooperative.”
Customers are encouraged to use a squirt of hand sanitizer from bottles sitting on the counters.
It’s all part of the new normal for how retail businesses have pivoted operations to enhance safety during the pandemic.
Graniterock is no different, especially for the locations that see a significant amount of foot traffic with homeowners and contractors coming and going throughout the day for building materials and tools.
For example, the credit card machine in Santa Cruz barely takes a signature anymore because it’s been sprayed so many times with disinfectant.
“I spray it down after every single transaction,” said Bernadette Baldwin-Gates, a member of the building materials team since 2005. “We are exposed to so many people. I don’t know where they’ve all been.”
Mary, who joined Graniterock in 1985 as a purchasing clerk at the A.R. Wilson Quarry and moved to building materials in 1995, is grateful for how the company has supported her team and customers through the pandemic.
As a longtime Watsonville resident and Graniterock employee, Mary is known and trusted in contractor circles.
There’s a saying among Santa Cruz County builders who are on the hunt for particular tools and materials.
“Go talk to Mary.”
If Mary doesn’t have what they’re looking for in stock, she’ll do her research and order the item.
She makes sure to get extras so it’s available for other contractors.
”Mary and Bernie are dedicated to serving the customers,” said manager Mike Martin. “They both go the extra mile with every customer, whatever it takes. They’re really self-led.”
The inside sales representatives are there to guide and advise customers when they’re sorting through natural stone and other materials they want to use on their homes and yards, though always careful not to tell people what to do.
That’s one of Mary’s cardinal customer service rules: Never pick the color or product, just coach the client through the process.
“We’re here because our customers walk through the door,” she said. “The challenge is to get the customers what they want, and we do that. It’s one of Graniterock’s core values.”
In addition to her own Graniterock career, Mary has been instrumental in shaping Bernadette’s success in building materials.
Not only did Mary encourage Bernadette, her daughter’s good friend, to apply back in 1995, over the years she has served as one of Bernatee’s mentors, as well.
Mary has led the way for Bernadette to learn the products and become a Company leader in purchasing, which she manages for the Santa Cruz location in addition to assisting customers in the store.
Bernadette, mother of three boys, left her job in wholesale beauty supplies to join the construction industry.
While that sounds like an abrupt change, the inside sales representative and purchaser says she enjoys construction more than beauty.
“I really love working in the construction industry,” the Watsonville resident said. “There’s been so much opportunity to grow here. There’s always something to learn.”
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