Austin Souto, the assistant director of outdoor recreation at Clemson University, has been able to easily streamline buying equipment for a new facility on campus through the university’s partnership with College Outside. Below, read what he has to say about the level of customer service they provide:
Campus Rec: How long have you been a College Outside customer?
Austin Souto: We have been a customer for just under three years.
CR: How were you introduced to College Outside, and why did you decide to work with them?
AS: College Outside reached out to me through my email to introduce their company. They were friendly, professional and easy to work with, so it was easy to jump on board.
CR: What are the benefits to your rec center as a result of this partnership?
AS: We have been able to streamline a lot of our equipment ordering process by going through College Outside as a single vendor, rather than having to order from individual companies. In particular, they have been a major resource partner for us as we are opening a new facility and buying lots of new equipment for it.
CR: What are the benefits to your members as a result of this partnership?
AS: Our members love the access to discounts on outdoor gear they receive through College Outside.
CR: Have you been pleasantly surprised by working with College Outside in any way?
AS: Something that was a pleasant surprise was College Outside’s willingness to work on acquiring new brands we were interested in purchasing from if they did not already carry them. Rather than just saying, “Sorry, we don’t carry that brand,” they would say, “We will reach out to that company on your behalf and see if we can set something up.”
CR: What else can you tell other rec center professionals about the benefits of working with College Outside?
AS: As a recreation professional, past experience might indicate that ordering equipment from a vendor is simply a transactional experience, but with College Outside it can be more. They truly go above and beyond to be more than just a quality vendor. They contribute to environmental causes, sponsor student outdoor conferences, sponsor local campus outdoor events, work with student clubs, and just generally find ways to support the global mission we are all invested in – getting people outside.
For more information, visit collegeoutside.com.
