Courier Magazine: Could you give me some background on your company?

Tammy Patterson: We started the company in 1984 out of a need to have quality professional couriers serving the banking and title industry. We started with a $500 investment, 160-square-foot office and two couriers. Since then, we’ve gone through several transitions and most recently have become one of the leading medical delivery courier specialists in this region.

CM: Could you fill me in on how your company has survived and thrived over the years along with its history?

TP: We were always fortunate to have a diverse set of customers, so if one industry was down, another was up. After 9/11, the need for courier services to deliver paper started to dwindle with the adoption of digital signatures, so we saw significant declines in our legal and title customer base. We had to transition to something that could sustain us for the next five to seven years. Traditionally, courier services avoided serving the medical industry because it required special equipment and training for the couriers, it was considered “one off” deliveries. We decided to lean into it very early and became one of the first major players serving the medical community in our area.

CM: Comment on the success of the company’s founding and how you developed the organization.

TP: The two founders were very different. Lena Flores focused on the mission, vision and direction of the company, and I (Tammy Patterson) was more focused on how to improve processes and leverage the best technology to service a customer. From the beginning, we stayed true to high quality and service to our clients and each used our strengths to grow and sustain the business. We both had been schoolteachers. Lena had a strong desire to develop people, and I had a strong desire to create and own something.

CM: What is it like to be a female CEO of a courier company?

TP: This being a male dominated industry, being women-owned certainly sets us apart and makes us unique, but often we can be overlooked by our peers. We have never leveraged the women-owned aspect to get additional business as we have relied on our ability to provide a high-quality service and to eliminate problems for clients as our main selling feature.

CM: How is serving Texas unique from serving other states?

TP: Texas is easier to do business in than many other states for a variety of reasons. First, Texas is more accepting of our operating model using independent contractors for our team of drivers. Second, we have a diverse group of industries here. Third, we are located in the center of the country with two major airlines based here in Dallas, and finally, Texas has four of the top 10 most populated cities in the country.

CM: How has the company grown since its start?

TP: We grew from $500 to $3.1 million last year through a variety of ways. Primarily, we have stayed true to providing a high-quality service to our clients, which earns us good word of mouth referrals. We also have been committed to do things differently and adopting the cutting-edge technology that gives our customers all the bells and whistles. We quickly respond to issues that arise and do what we say we are going to do with our clients.

CM: How did you know what alternative avenues to travel in the courier business? How did you diversify your business to stand out?

TP: We covered that a bit with our pursuit of the medical courier service. Historically, we would pick an industry and go after it. Typically, it would take six to 12 months to penetrate it, then we would focus on that one industry and keep growing it, learning the unique challenges and how to better serve the customer.

CM: What are some of the new ideas your company is taking to modernize its operation? Is new technology pushing business?

TP: Yes, technology is driving and pushing our business. Early on we decided to go on the “cloud” with our operating software -- 2004. This enabled us to be more flexible and nimble. We basically can access our data anywhere, anytime so long as we have a connection to the Internet. Also, this type of technology has allowed us easy interfaces with our client’s software. The cloud also has helped us be more flexible with our workforce, so employees working in the field or at home can stay connected with real time data. In addition, we have adopted the use of QR codes to serve as digital signatures with some clients, and we have implemented the latest scanning technology and use smartphones to give us more freedom and flexibility. For dispatch, we are more efficient using GPS and Google maps and can compete with UPS and FedEx in delivering real-time data to our customers. In the future, we see the use of more mobile technology and tablets as we look at the next big industry that emerges, which could be the retail to consumer delivery service.

CM: What is the one key to your company’s success?

TP: Having a clear vision and keeping it top of mind every day has been our best key to success. We have stayed true to our original goal of providing a high-quality, professional courier service, and I was fortunate to have a business partner that shared that same goal.

CM: Comment on customer service with your company. How important is it?

TP: It is everything. Service is our product. From the time we answer the phone, or receive the order through the Internet to when we send the invoice, it’s all about quality.

CM: Talk about the importance of your employees (different sectors included). How do they go above and beyond in your operation?

TP: The desire to serve comes from within, so that’s what we look for when we recruit new team members. Our team members have a keen ability to put themselves in the customers’ place when there are issues or concerns. Above all, they understand the critical nature of what we are delivering and put the patient or client first.

CM: Your company has so many services (critical parts, 24/7, etc.) – how did you go about adding all of them, and how do you manage them all?

TP: Technology helps us manage them all. We don’t want to go beyond three industries. It’s a good magic number and keeps us both focused and diversified without being too fragmented.

For more information on CitySprint check out: http://dfw.citysprint.com/