I had to pick up something for Charlie today which took me to a shop I’d never been before. As I pulled into the parking lot, the first thing I noticed were the signs:
Parking for ___________ customers only. That struck me. As I walked up to the entrance, I was greeted by no less than 5 pieces of white paper taped to the front door, each with some variation of No __________ Allowed. I hadn’t even gotten in the door and already I was put on guard. What kind of people would I find inside the building if they were plastering negative messages on the outside?
Now contrast that with an interaction I had a couple of weeks ago with the kind folks at Shred Ready. They make kayaking & snow sports helmets. I bought one used, and the protective trim was coming off the helmet. I called their customer service number to ask about buying a replacement part. The lady I talked to assured me that the boss man would get back to me. After a week of no contact, I sent an email. She answered within minutes. Turns out that they had a big outdoor show that week, and the boss man was uber-busy. She took charge of things, boxed up a replacement part and shipped it to me at no cost. She even sent me about 100 stickers for helmets, boats, truck windows, etc. Then to top it off, she followed up with an email to see if I got the goods, and mentioned that she’d clicked the link to my blog and enjoyed reading about my family.
How cool is that? What a difference customer service and presentation makes. Do you think that I had a positive experience with Shred Ready? Yes indeed, so much that I’m bragging on them to you. You should go buy a helmet from them, and tell them I sent you!
All this makes me want to take a look at how we do things at church. What messages are we sending to the people who walk in for the first time each week? Do we make them comfortable, treat them with kindness, and put our best foot forward?
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