at the turn of the century, I was working as a manager of an atlanta computer store when a nice lady came in to buy a sound card.
the card only cost about twenty bucks and she stopped by my counter to ask about installing it. the owner of the store thought her small purchase was not worth the extra time I was giving her, and he threw her out of the store!
I was mortified! I got her phone number and said I would call after my shift. I apologized for how she was treated, and offered to go to her home and install it for her.
she accepted. she was curious and I explained every step and why. as I was leaving she offered to pay me, but I refused. I said, ‘I was just trying to make up for her bad treatment in our store.’
Almost like Harry Chapin’s song, ‘Taxi’, as I was hurrying away, she stuffed a fifty dollar bill in my shirt pocket. as I was driving away, she asked if she could recommend me to her friends.
Reminiscent of the fateful scene in ‘Back to the Future’, that changes everything, I said, ‘okay!’ she told someone, and they told someone and a hundred and fifty someones later, I had built quite a following. The funny part is, I seem to almost always solve the problems, giving me a near 100% satisfaction rating.
me, if I was in the Peanuts movie.
I am always willing to explain, or teach, if the customer wants that. and I want to fix everything, not just what was noticed. that got me into trouble at IBM where I was instructed to only fix the issue I was called to do.
this way, they can charge more for another visit when the next thing becomes obvious. the lucent customers loved me, and even IBM, I guess, as they made me ‘team lead’ on the next big project.
I will always advise you with the best options, often ones that were not so apparent at the beginning, of our visit. as my goal is to help you over your tech crisis, and make sure you are happy with your decision to call me.
