Team Spotlight with Lavida Williams

Sarreid is unique among the majority of corporations today in that our executive team members have been with the company in excess of twenty years each. Their combined experience and expertise in all things Sarreid are simply invaluable to our success. Lavida Williams, Customer Service Manager and Purchasing Agent is no exception.

Lavida joined the Sarreid team almost 30 years ago in January, 1993. She jumped right in and started answering phone calls and preparing orders to be shipped, which was a very manual process back then. “When we received containers we each had a tray with orders. We had a list of items that came in and we would go through our orders to see if we had anything to ship and we all shared 2 computers,” explains Lavida. Fast forward thirty years and each customer service rep has 2 computer monitors on their desks. “Our inventory system allows us to handle everything from entering orders, getting credit approvals and taking payments for orders, in addition to having real time information to give customers.”

Our customers are the most important part of our business and Lavida Williams knows this better than anyone. As the customer service manager she has handled it all… even a pandemic that has caused major supply chain challenges! She is a master at tracking down shipments and handling issues that inevitably arise, because Lavida knows that these aren’t just “sales,” they are customer relationships. She gets to Sarreid early every day and immediately gets to work on entering orders and getting shipments out of the warehouse as quickly as possible. After that, she puts on her purchasing hat. She is responsible for placing purchase orders and fighting for the best possible freight rates out there. From there she schedules and receives containers into our Wilson, NC warehouse.

Outside of Sarreid, Lavida’s focus is spending time with her husband, Terry, and daughter, Bri. A fun fact… Lavida named her daughter after one of our old vendors, Ron Briere! When asked what keeps her motivated after all of these years her answer is simple, ” I love my job and the people I work with. We are family.”

Lavida and daughter, Bri