Good service at a reasonable price, and quality products. When it comes to the bottom line – both literally and figuratively – isn’t that what most companies are looking for? Halsey & Griffith has been providing both for nearly a century."We’re a family-owned business," said James Siemon, who, along with his brother Robert, runs Halsey & Griffith. "We’ve been in business since 1921 serving Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade Counties. We sell office, break room, janitorial, and medical supplies and equipment. We also have office and conference room furniture, including cubicles and space plan design. We are a Ricoh Dealer with copiers and scanners, including Lexmark printers. We have everything you need for your doctor’s office, lawyer’s office or home office."
One area that would be of particular interest to lawyers, doctors, health clinics and other types of health care facilities is document storage. "This is helpful for doctors," Siemon said, "because everything is computerized and doctors must have the means to store all of their records where it is easy to retrieve them."
Privacy is not a problem, because Siemon said everything is password-protected. "We put software programs in place where, all they have to do is scan the information into the system and the records are there for them to pull up when needed. When I visit my doctor, he sits there and taps on his laptop, storing data digitally. Document storage is something that everyone can use."In talking about how Halsey & Griffith can help customers, Siemon placed a particular emphasis on service. He admitted that a few other companies might have lower prices, but added, "We believe very much in service, and we feel we give our customers the best service possible at a reasonable price. There are customers who do nothing but look at price and others who would rather have the service and pay a little extra to have what they need on hand. There’s not much difference in price between the national stores and the locally owned stores any more, except the locally owned businesses give back to the community and keep local people employed in the community."
He pointed out some examples: "We have three ladies in customer service who answer the phones, and they probably have 60 years of service and knowledge in this industry between them. So if you call and say, ‘I want to place an order,’ they will take your order and suggest to you how you can save money by using the Halsey & Griffith BSN and Genuine Joe lines. We always try to point the customer in the right direction to get the best product for the least amount of money."In another example, Siemon said that in a four-person office, each person might have his or her own printer. But Halsey & Griffith can suggest installing a central printer where everything is printed to one printer, which helps to reduce the cost per page. He went on to say, "For office supplies, we would point you toward the best price, and often it is a generic brand. In places like Office Depot or Staples, many products are generic brands, but most are made by the same companies that have the name brands. There’s really no difference in them. This is the way we can help customers get the best price."
Halsey & Griffith is also willing to go the extra mile. Siemon spoke about customers who have Halsey & Griffith do their ordering for them. "People think that ordering over the Internet doesn’t cost anything, but it costs a tremendous amount – because of the time that is involved. The time spent ordering on-line is time away from business. Customers understand that ‘It’s not worth their time to do this and would rather pay us to do it.’ We try to reduce that time to a minimum amount for them.
"Saving money is not always buying the cheapest thing possible; it’s time that costs businesses the most. If we can save you a minute, that means you can be more productive for that minute, which can increase your business. So that’s some of the ways we try to make a difference for customers."
