Institute for Advertising Novelties Launches Fresh Customer Service Strategy

The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), the largest trade information centre for the promotional products industry, has announced the appointment of Deb Crine as Vice President of Customer Service. The announcement was made on December 17, 2003, in Trevose, PA.

Deb Crine brings extensive experience in customer service to her new role. Prior to joining ASI, she managed and trained her distribution team at Primedia, where she was responsible for measuring performance and negotiating contract terms. Before Primedia, she built a customer-service help desk and managed the internet Web site at Intertec Publishing.

Crine's career began at Dow Jones, where she started as a customer-service representative and was quickly promoted to director of customer support for clients in 40 countries with products in 12 languages.

At Primedia, Crine previously held a corporate-service position in New York City, overseeing desktop customer service for 7,000 employees in over 200 locations. Senior Vice President Vince Bucolo was impressed with Crine's overall knowledge and her caring nature.

Bucolo believes Crine's ideas align with ASI's desire to deliver exceptional customer service. He was looking for someone with experience in creating an organization from the ground up, which Crine has.

ASI offers a variety of resources to its members, including catalogs, informational directories, newsletters, magazines, Web sites, and databases, as well as interactive business, marketing, and selling tools. The aim is to create an organization every supplier and distributor will want to emulate.

Crine's immediate focus will be on integrating customer service activities and answering client questions on the spot. She understands the business aspect of customer service as well as the common-sense side.

ASI employs a staff of 500, and Crine's new role is a newly-created position focused on achieving a world-class customer service organization. The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) has a membership of 20,000 Distributors and Suppliers.

Crine's appointment comes at a time when exceptional customer service is more important than ever. With her extensive experience and dedication to customer service, Deb Crine is poised to make a significant impact at ASI.