As co-owner of The Master’s Flowers, with Glenda, my wife, I am a firm believer in “Customer service”. That’s why when I talk about “Customer Service!”; I always add the exclamation point. I learned about “Customer Service!” when I was going to college in San Jose, California. I worked part time for an amusement park. The park had a western theme and it was fun working there because we got to dress up like cowboys, had gunfights in the streets and a lot of cool rides. Really great for a city kid! (I especially liked the fact that most of the employees were all college students, especially some cute girls!). What impressed me most about the park was their attention to detail. We had to literally sweep the streets (with brooms) in the morning and clean & polish everything. Even the bathrooms were cleaned and sanitized until they sparkled. You couldn’t just put a roll of toilet paper on the spindle. You had to put it on so that the paper came off the top of the roll toward you! I know a lot of the things they were doing were copied from Disneyland, but they were competing for people in the San Francisco Bay Area’s business, to keep them from going to Southern California. Their philosophy about “Customer Service!” stuck with me when I went to work for 3M Company as a Copier Service Technician. My attitude with customers enabled me to advance quickly within the company. They moved me to Las Vegas to a branch that was 6 months behind on their work. In 6 months we had caught up the work and got things running so smoothly that 3M began to say that we were overstaffed! I eventually left 3M and got into the printing industry where I was able to double the size of the company I was working for in about 5 years. “Customer Service!” is in my lifeblood. I have brought that emphasis with me to The Master’s Flowers. As many of you already know from our mission statement and those that know us and have used our service, the name of our flower shop was extremely important to Glenda and me. We believe that we are really working for “The Master” and as a result, our Tulsa flower shop is really His! Because of this we have an even greater responsibility to provide the service that reflects His attitude about service. We are always looking for ways to improve our customer service at “The Master’s Flowers”, and see that we “measure up” to the standard. Years ago in the 80’s I read a book called “Thriving on Chaos” by Tom Peters. This book really helped me to clarify a lot of things about “Customer Service!” Tom talks about going beyond just ordinary customer service to providing Superior Customer Service. And he gave many examples of companies that goes beyond just refunding someone’s money if what they bought was broken, or the wrong size, color etc., but did every thing in their power to make sure that the customer leaves the store so satisfied that they took care of the problem, that they tell every one what they did. I saw the results of that when I began to implement that at the print shop. I had a customer that was very picky about his printing. If the color wasn’t quite right or the type wasn’t clear. He would complain. It seemed like he would find something wrong with every thing that we printed for him. He became a challenge to me. He caused us to tighten up every procedure in our shop. I had a goal. I had to please him. I figured that if I could please him. I could please most all of our other customers. It worked! I was able to take care of him so much that when I left that print shop and moved to another, He followed me. He knew that I would take care of him. I see mistakes and unsatisfied customers not as bad things, but as opportunities to make fans out of customers. Then they tell others about you. That’s how you grow your business. The old adage that “the customer is always right” is true, if (and that is a big “if”), you are wanting to gain fans for your business, not just customers. Fans that stick with you for life, that no matter if a new store opens down the street and advertises seemingly the same things that you offer at half the price. I want to tell you about our recent experience with “Superior Customer Service!” Glenda and I try and take a few days off during the 4th of July holiday for a little R&R. For over 10 years we had planned to stay at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson. We didn’t want to see the shows, we just wanted a few days with out an agenda, to hang out at the pool and enjoy our time together. We made reservations and found that they were having a special stay 2 nights and get 1 free! How great was that! When we got there, all excited about being there and ready to enjoy our stay, we opened the window and looked out on the top of the convention center roof! We almost cried! I went down stairs to complain about our room and that this was a 10 year dream, we were not happy and wanted our money back. We were not going to pay that kind of money to look at a roof for 3 days! The girl at the desk said that she was sorry but they have 3 day advance cancellation notice and she couldn’t refund our money! I was with out words. Then she said that the free night special that we signed up for didn’t include a room with a view. Now I’m getting very agitated. I told her that the advertising didn’t say that. That was false advertising, Etc. Well, before I could get really worked up, she said that she would move us to another room. What’s more she would move us over to the other side of the hotel to the lake side! We moved and the room was a much larger room that was worth 50% more and they gave us the same 3 days for the same amount of money we were going to pay! Another impressive thing was that the girl was empowered to make the decision on her own with out having to get it approved by her supervisor. That is the level of customer service that will knock the socks of your customers and your competition. We do everything in our power to go the extra mile for our customers. We had a customer that called a few days ago around 7:30 in the evening. (Our store phone rings to my cell phone when we are not in the store.) They wanted to send a flower arrangement to a funeral in another town. The only problem was that they didn’t have much money and when we quoted them the minimum prices that were needed to send an order over the “wire”; they gulped and said “that was too much!” I told them that if they could call a flower shop in that town they might be able to do something in their budget. I told them that I would call them the next morning. I came into the store and found a florist in that town, then called the customer and gave them the shops phone number. They were very grateful. I know that we gained a friend who I believe will eventually become a fan. There are many other examples that I could give, but I don’t want to brag. I hope that you never have to call us about a problem but be assured that if you do we will do everything in our power to make sure that you are satisfied with your purchase.
Terry Mason
The Master’s Flowers
918-392-1736
July 18, 2009
