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The Lost Art of Customer Service

Hey folks,

As you know I just returned from Tallahassee. I do not know if this is a discussional (?) topic or not, I’ll get back to the news analysis and discussion soon, but I felt I had to share. For those of you who may own small businesses or those who want to get ahead, trust me on this one..

I’ve been a Mobile man for years. I ‘m very much against the BOCs oil practices, as we been discussing, however, I love the mini-mart part of business. I’ve been in quite a lot of them from Newport Road Island to Florida. Now I’ve tried others. Hess, 7-11, etc. But I always went back to Mobile "on the runs". Got to have my 3 pots of coffee a day you know.

It was the coffee, the wide range of products they offer, but most of all, it was and is because of customer service.

In Tallahassee, much to my disheartenment, I found there to be one Mobile. Not really much to offer. But wait,,,around the corner,,I found A mini-mart I never heard of,, Gate. I will be returning to Gate EVERY TIME I go to Tallahassee.

Look, it really is this simple folks, customer service. I pulled up to the pump. I was greeted warmly. I walked in the store, I was verbally embraced with warmth and even a little humor. I Looked around inside and found the vast array of products and services. GOOD coffee. The first day I was there I dropped about fifty dollars inside and forty dollars at the pumps. They even sold hard boiled eggs at the registers. Yes you heard correctly. Hard boiled eggs. .29 cents each. I had three. I know how it may sound, but it was really good.

There was a line of people coming and going. I commented how busy they were and the attendant that just instantly made me feel welcome, told me oh, this is actually slow. If that was slow I would hate to see it busy. Why??? Why are they so busy? CUSTOMER SERVICE. I do not believe I saw anything like a management symbol. Just someone who LIKES dealing with people. Someone who KNOWS what they are doing,. Likes what they are doing. Is just simply, a natural..Or has been in the business for a while. You really cannot teach the service she gave me. She knew how to read me. Knew how far she could go with the joking. It was NOT honey and baby. It was TRUE caring and service.

I made it a point a while ago, to NOT go somewhere twice if I have a bad experience. Drives my wife nuts sometimes. But If you provide me with good customer service, you have a loyal customer. From Hotels, restaurants, shopping establishments, whatever. Good customer service is what keeps me coming back. Great customer service will get me talking about you.

If you are ever in the Tallahassee area, or if you live anywhere near a Gate, I strongly encourage you to check them out. Gate has a customer in my for life...maybe even more so then Mobile.
Peter

We are what makes the world go around