Last week I walked into my credit union, Community Financial, in Canton, MI. As I waited in line, I noticed one of the tellers was new. Whenever there is a new teller it makes me aware that there will be a short period of time for them to get to know me. Once this young lady got my account number, she wasted no time using my name.

On my next visit, the same thing happened. On my third visit she called me by name as I walked up to the window. She did not even need to look at my account number. This kind of treatment made me feel important and respected and is one of the reasons I have been a member of this credit union since 1983.

Do you know the names of most of your customers? Read More »

There is a man from my hometown by the name of Joe Slaga, owner of PJ’s, a baseball card shop. When customers enter his store, he makes them feel comfortable by his easy manner. He is a good people person. He realizes that people don’t want to be badgered into buying anything.

By joking and exchanging stories with them about their favorite sports celebrity, he devel­ops a friendly relationship with all the adults and children who come into the store. He has made it a favorite stopping place for many children to bring their parents to browse and buy. Read More »

The other day I had a really nice email from a customer who wanted to thank me for the products they had bought.

As I started reading the email, I thought, “hey, that’s kind of nice” but then, when they ended their email with the words, “I just love your stuff!”, I thought, “Wow, that’s amazing!”

That was when I knew that this person was a bit more than a customer and even a bit more than a regular. They were a Fan! Read More »

A few weeks ago I attended a business meeting on a Tuesday night at a fairly large restaurant by the name of Doc’s Sports Retreat in Livonia MI. As I pulled into the restaurant parking lot, I was flabbergasted.

During this Michigan recession, the parking lot was almost completely full. Once inside, I could see the place was near capacity.  As the evening progressed the restaurant became totally packed. This is a Tuesday night mind you!

On the way out I asked the head waitress if there was  something special going on that evening. She said “oh no, this is the way it usually is, seven days a week.” Read More »

Drakeshire Dental Center in Farmington, Michigan is doing something unique. It is making a concerted effort to market its dental services to the Japanese population.

One of the three partners, Karson Carpenter, DDS, explained that once they identified the fact that there was a strong Japanese concentra­tion located within a ten mile radius of their office, they knew they had a unique opportunity. Read More »

Two customers order breakfast at a nationally known restaurant. The waitress takes their order, thanks them and walks away. A few minutes later, she returns with the two breakfast orders. One of the two customers notices that he didn’t get the honey he ordered for his muffins.

The waitress comes by a few minutes later, obviously very busy, and checks to see if everything is ok. The customer mentions to her that he didn’t get the honey that he ordered. She acknowledges him and promises to get it. Several more minutes go by and nothing happens. Read More »

The Canton Public Library in Canton, Michigan has an outstanding reputation for service. It is ranked as one of the top libraries in the state for the type of services it provides as well as its high number of patrons.

This library has everything from a receptionist who greets each person to a large reading room with a fireplace. What also adds to the atmosphere Read More »