Prologis recently turned what could have been a major disruption into an opportunity to show customers how much the company cares about them.

The Prologis JFK property management team began communicating with customers about the upcoming parking lot renovation one month prior to the work’s start date. The team sent communications on a weekly basis, set up meetings with customers, and answered questions via email, telephone and in the field to prepare customers for the parking lot renovation.

According to Tamara Viechweg, Prologis property manager at JFK Logistics Center, “We communicated the heck out of this. It was intense. However, to best serve our customers, we keep them apprised of what is going on.” Viechweg and team worked weekends, posting signs in parking lots and on shuttles. They also rode the shuttles themselves to show solidarity with customers during the process. “We were going through it too,” said Viechweg. “We weren’t just sitting in our offices saying, ‘Do this.’”

Prologis rented another parking lot during the renovation for the 940 employees of our 30 customers at the JFK Logistics Center. Complimentary shuttle busses ferried employees back and forth from this lot, which was about a half mile away. To ease the inconvenience of riding a shuttle from the offsite parking lot, the JFK Logistics Center team pulled out what Viechweg called “their secret weapons.”   

First, everyone using the complimentary shuttle service was given $5 Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards. “Everyone instantly began to feel a bit better about the renovation,” laughed Viechweg. On the Friday the renovation started, Prologis provided customers with lunch. Viechweg also organized weekly raffles, and shuttle-riding customers received free raffle tickets for a contest in which the winners received a complimentary car wash and discounts on gas at the nearby Sunoco station. In spite of the perks, when the parking lots were completed for all four buildings, customers were overjoyed to resume onsite parking.

For the Prologis team, however, the bigger challenge lay ahead as they transitioned to the truck court renovation during peak season for freight forwarders, which comprise most of the customers at the JFK Logistics Center. The truck court, which is the only entrance and exit from the facility, needed to remain operational during the renovation. Working weekends, the team updated the lot in less than a month, including weather days.

John Aviles, VP, Regional Property Improvement, commended the team on the effort: “This project involved tunneling under buildings, replacing over 2,000 feet of the storm drains and sanitary sewer lines, as well as the pavement for four operating buildings. A huge logistics undertaking that demonstrates the extraordinary relationship between our customers, contractor partners and our local team.”

Read more about Prologis’ industry-leading operations team.