Customer Service still #1 Priority!

Ran  across this article I wrote in August 1999 about a customer service experience I had while living in Frisco, TX  - the article was  actually published  in the local  paper - "The Frisco  Enterprise" as a guest columnist:

AHH Yes, Customer Service Still Does Exist
By: Julius F Zatopek, III
August 1999

 

With hunting season about to start, I was preparing for a dove-hunting trip.  My trusty Mossberg 500 Pump 12 gauge needed a tune up, so I decided to do it myself.  Not being a gunsmith, but a mechanically minded person, I figured I could break down the gun, clean it thoroughly, and put it all back together.  Everything went well, except the putting it back together part.  Once it was all done, the pump wasn't working.  This is a very important feature on my shotgun, since my percentage of hitting on the first shot isn’t very high.  Therefore, a pump shotgun functioning as a single shot would not work in my bag.  Embarrassed, I took my gun to "Gunmaster", 3131 Custer Rd, Plano, TX.  I had never visited the store before, so I was glad no one there knew me.  As soon as I walked in I was greeted by two friendly gentleman, both looking happy to be there.  I told one of the gentleman, who was obviously the gunsmith and I think the owner, what I had done.  I asked him if he could fix the pump action.  Without any hesitation, and with a bit of a grin, he took my gun and told me to wait.  Not having any idea how long it was going to take, or how much it would cost, he took my gun to the back.  So I began to browse through his store.  There's always something at a hunting store that I need, I just don’t know what it is until I start looking around.  As I was browsing, the other gentleman, an elderly man who looked as if he had the greatest job in the world, held a conversation with me.  About five minutes later, the gunsmith reentered from the back with my gun, working superbly.  He handed it back to me and said “thank you”.  I asked him, “How much?” and he said, “No charge.”  No charge, I thought, isn’t this 1999.  No one provides customer service for free, any more.  So I took my gun, thanked him again (wait, didn’t he thank me?), and left.

As I got in the car, where my wife and children had been patiently waiting, I must have had a blank look on my face, because my wife asked if I was okay.   I explained to her what had just happened, and how much it meant to me to get treated as a “customer”.  It reminded me of the times I spent working at my dad’s full service Texaco station, in the 70’s, when getting service was a personal thing.  My father owned his business in the small town of Victoria, TX, and knew it would only be successful if he provided better customer service than the other guys up the street.  At 7 years old, after school, I would go to the station and help my dad.  Not because I had to, but because I wanted to.  I saw how happy my dad looked when the customer pulled up and said “Filler Up”.  Of course, checking the oil, checking the tires, and washing the windows were mandatory, not optional.  My dad taught me to do all these things, quickly, so you would be finished washing the last window when the gas pump stopped.  This was customer service.  And as each customer pulled away, my dad always told the customer, “Thank you”.  Not thank you for spending your dollars, but thank you for allowing me to service you.  There is a distinct difference.  This was the same kind of thank you I felt at Gunmaster.  Eventually, the self-service stations prevailed, and my dad could no longer compete.  He shut his doors for the last time in 1980, another victim of the fast paced society that we know today.

More recently, my same trusty shotgun’s safety latch was malfunctioning.  Learning from my previous gun repair experience, I decided to take it straight to Gunmaster, rather than try to fix it myself.  First of all, the safety feature is the most important function on any firearm, and secondly, I felt obliged to let Gunmaster have my repeat business.  I was prepared to leave my gun, since Dove season was over and I wasn’t prepared to duck hunt, opening weekend.  Once again, the same two gentlemen were behind the counter, both greeting me as I walked in, even though they were both busy helping other customers.  And once again, my wife and children decided to wait for me in the car.  I think she waits in the car so I feel rushed whenever I’m inside these types of stores, knowing I’ll have to resist temptations to buy things I just know I need.  After I explained the problem with my gun, the gunsmith smiled and said, “Five Minutes, Five Bucks, including parts.”  I can’t explain the gratitude I felt, knowing I had found a business with a small town attitude for customer service.  I gladly waited.  I picked a few things I did need, and in less than five minutes the gunsmith returned from the back, carrying a perfectly functioning Mossberg 500.  I paid for my items, and service, and started walking towards the door.  And as though I was expecting it, but knowing it was just the nature of this stores’ business, I heard the sincere “Thank You.”

 

I tell this story, not to plug Gunmaster, or tell of a gunsmith in Plano with rates you can’t believe, but to inform all businesses of the importance of customer service.  With the increase rise in technology comes Mega stores and E-commerce, decreasing the need for personal customer service.  I admit I occasionally frequent the mega stores and entertain e-commerce, however, as I can write several stories explaining experiences I’ve had with just the opposite type of customer service.

 

I hope everyone remembers the little man, as Alan Jackson writes in his country hit.  These are the businesses that made America a prosperous country, and gave us the reason to say we are a land of opportunity.    The mega stores and e-commerce will be here, it’s inevitable and has now become necessary.  There are some advantages to both.  But whenever possible, I challenge everyone to find the time to go into a small business, maybe pay a few dollars more, and receive the sincere “Thank You.” 

 

Update: February 2014 - Since writing this article that was actually published in the Frisco Enterprise newspaper in 1999, I  am glad to see that Gunmaster is still in business in Plano, TX – check them out at http://planogun.com/ and like them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GunmasterInc