“We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

– Will Durant

Striving for excellence is ingrained in Gwen Vanover’s DNA.  Her profound sense of pride in what she does, coupled with her deep and true concern for RVers and her intense desire to be an amazing example of a strong work ethic for her daughters is what drives Gwen to excel every day.

Gwen has been an invaluable member of the Coach-Net family for 3 ½ years as an RV roadside assistance dispatch agent, working specifically with Spartan RV Chassis, handling their warranty mobile service.  She sets up services RVers need and is the seamless liaison between the service providers, Spartan and Coach-Net’s mutual customers and the Spartan customer service team.  With Coach-Net’s mission of “Creating a carefree RV experience so everyone can focus on making memories with their friends and families”, always top of mind, Gwen continues to exceed expectations from all who have the pleasure of speaking with her.

“I have RV owners who depend on me to get them back on the road every single day,” says Gwen. “They deserve nothing less than my very best.”

When people buy RVs, they are seeking relaxation, fun, adventure, connecting with nature and making memories that will last a lifetime.  But, unfortunately, the unexpected and not-so-fun stuff does happen. Imagine cruising along the open road, quietly anticipating stepping out of your RV door, on a cool, crisp morning, to sip on a hot cup of coffee while enjoying the golden rays of sunlight peeking over the mountaintops. Your tranquil daydream is suddenly interrupted by the dreaded DEF fault codes followed by the stop engine light and alarm. You are now broken down on the side of the road and that pretty picture you were just painting is starting to fade.  It’s time to go into problem-solving mode. Instead of panicking, you breathe a sigh of relief when you realize you get to talk to Gwen and Gwen will fix everything.  

This is the type of situation Gwen deals with every single day.  Someone is on the side of the road, scared, stressed and frustrated.  She helps with the small questions that might just help make someone’s day better all the way through to true life or death emergencies, sometimes helping people on their worst day.  Gwen takes this role very seriously and is always striving to do her best for the sake of others.

“It’s really hard to count the number of times Gwen has gone above and beyond because she provides the same level of excellent service each time we ask her for support,” says Scott Wixson, Spartan Customer Service Manager. “Her taking the initiative to communicate with customers directly, constantly closing with loop with our mutual customers really stands out. This often results in phone calls from customers directly to her cell phone at all hours of the night.  As much as we ask her to direct these calls to Spartan, she only wants to help resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Gwen’s constant communication with the customer along with her empathy, sense of urgency and ability to put herself in the shoes of the customer is what defines excellent customer service.  Gwen mentioned, “The most important thing is keeping the customer in the loop.  I like to keep the owners updated on everything, remembering that most of the time they are stranded.  Keeping them updated helps ease some of the pressure and frustration, even if it is bad news.”

RV owners truly appreciate this level of service.  When customer service is this exceptional, word travels fast in the RV community and Gwen’s name in known throughout the Spartan and Entegra family of owners.  From RV forums to multiple RV owner facebook groups, Gwen and her commitment to excellence is mentioned on several occasions by Spartan and Coach-Net customers. Some of the kind words we have received about Gwen directly from customers include the comments:

“She treated us like a VIPs”

“Gwen made me a believer in Coach-Net”

“She was verrrrrrrrrry nice and at least twice as helpful as she was nice”

“She was with me every step of the way. I was not alone.”

“Gwen was “on it”, tracking the part and communicating with me the whole time.”

“I truly know when organizations have folks on their team that “get it” in providing quality, professional customer service and Gwen “gets it”!” 

Gwen even keeps in touch with customers after their service event and, often times, they will send her pictures of their adventures.

Gwen’s unparalleled ability to build relationships does not stop with Spartan and our mutual customers, it extends to the independent service providers as well.  “Another thing that stands out about Gwen is her network and the amount of relationships she has built with service providers across the county,” says Wixson. “No matter where our customers are located when in need of assistance, she has a rolodex of contacts memorized and knows exactly who to call for the quickest possible service to take care of the customer.”  Gwen is definitely well known and respected by our service providers to such an extent that a customer who was having an issue with their coach stopped at a local bar in the town where he was staying at the time. He struck up a conversation with a gentleman at the bar who happened to be one of our service providers. Upon him finding out that the customer had a Spartan coach, he told him that he absolutely had to get in touch with Gwen and gave the customer her cell phone number. The customer did in fact reach out to Gwen, and she did in fact help get his coach taken care of.

Further emphasizing Gwen’s incomparable customer service skills, Lacey Pintado, Coach-Net’s RV Technical Service Director, expressed, “Employees like Gwen don’t come across very often. Her commitment to excellence and attention to details are second to none. She has a deep understanding of the technical operation of these giant coaches, but what is even more special is her ability to build relationships with customers, clients, and service providers. Even when delivering bad news to customers, she is able to put them at ease when she assures them she will be in contact with them until the service is complete (and she is!).”

As a part of Coach-Net’s Culture, employees are held accountable to uphold our 7 core values of honesty, humility, integrity, family, excellence, courage and servant’s heart.  Coach-Net even holds monthly RV (Our Values) Awards where coworkers can nominate each other for exemplifying these core values.  Gwen embodies these values every day and it does not go unnoticed.  To date, she has received 13 RV Awards and sets an amazing example to her team and every employee at Coach-Net.

Thank you, Gwen, for your unwavering dedication to excellence and your servant’s heart for our customers and partners.  Thank you for being our customers’ connection to carefree RVing.  You are truly one of a kind.

---

Richard M. ~ “Even though we were in an area of very few providers, Coach-Net kept us informed on what was happening and when to expect help. As we have in the past, we will continue to sing your praises anytime we have the opportunity online or around the campfire.”