As president and CEO of the Connecticut Better Business Bureau, Paulette Hotton heads the organization charged with uncovering scams and bad business practices as well as helping businesses learn to succeed. It’s the ultimate customer service job, for which Hotton started training as a teenager working at a malt shop in North Branford called The Milky Way.
“You really wanted to treat people the way you wanted to be treated,” she recalled. “I liked it … because I always found it fun, all the customers that would come up and the challenge of, ‘can I make them happy.’ And I’m still making people happy.”
Those early lessons transferred over to her next job at Howard Johnson’s, where she worked all through college. With a major in communications, she became interested in a public relations career.
But instead of corporate PR, Hotton graduated and got a job working for the retail division of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce. She also doubled as a lobbyist for the chamber.
New Opportunities
Three years at the chamber was fun, Hotton recalled — and as it turned out, a perfect segue into her future career with the Better Business Bureau. Hotton got turned on to the BBB through its affiliation with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce. And when she left, she became the area BBB’s executive director.
Immediately, Hotton hired a team of membership representatives. That grew the BBB’s membership from 240 to 800 in one year.
“I don’t think [the BBB] realized the opportunities they had,” Hotton said.
In 1991, the BBB in Hartford was having difficulties, so it merged with Hotton’s BBB in New Haven. That extended the organization’s coverage from New Haven to New London to Hartford. Then, the western Connecticut BBB decided to merge as well, creating a BBB that covered the entire state.
Hotton has also helped grow the BBB on a national scale. She chaired the committee charged with the creation of BBB Web sites nationwide. Now, the BBB Web site has become a key gateway to the organization for both consumers and businesses, Hotton said. Ninety-two percent of all contact between the public and the Connecticut BBB is initiated through the Web site. And 70 percent of all complaints are handled through the Web as well.
The site offers scam alerts and tips on running a business. And consumers can get quotes from BBB-accredited businesses, access reports on companies and get advice on big-item purchases, like cars and computers.
For Hotton, it’s been only one aspect of a BBB career that has spanned 30 years. And it’s still about customer service, she said. It’s nice to help people with questions get the answers they need. It’s nice to help make a difference.
