The value of a tray of accoutrements…

In the past week, I have experienced customer service on all levels. It impacted me enough to come here and share what is “spilling over” both inside and outside of me.

I’m not one to focus on the “poor examples”. I choose to direct my energies towards the “Prize”….

I was a Realtor for 19 years. I experienced “personalities” on every level. When it came down to “pulling the trigger” on what very well might be the largest purchase of one’s life, there is no hiding. My hubby would say that I was more of a counselor than a Realtor. True story!

Some of my favortite times were, when I met new clients at the office over coffee and/or food if it was over the dinner hour. Relationship building. The BEST! Taking the time to listen to someone helps them feel valued and then going the extra mile and including a drink/food is beyond transactional. It’s Biblical. Two extraordinary examples of this are when Jesus multiplied 2 loaves and 5 fish and fed 5000 people. The other is the Last Supper. Thinking about this solidified, to me, the importance of breaking bread together often.

Whether or not one has the “hospitality gift”…it’s simple to offer a drink to a stranger. An act such as this promotes a stranger to a friend. Jesus gave up His life for me with a Love like no other. How much does a bottle of water cost? As I am writing this, it reminds me of the homeless or maybe not homeless…you know, the people with the signs in the middle of the intersection asking for money. Again, I am processing as I write this blog. How hard would it be to carry a cooler with bottles of water or extra drinks? I’m not afraid to say that I contemplate way too much …worried if the person holding the sign is legit or not. What would Jesus do?

I’m 51 and not getting any younger. In light of this, I want to make more minutes count.

Today, I went to get an inspection on my car. For whatever reason, I decided to have it inspected by a local privider that I had patronized years ago. I remembered that they had excellent customer service and decided to revisit. I arrived at Christian Brothers Automotive in Lititz and they were packed. No parking spaces left except for two handicapped ones. My first response was annoyance…trying to figure out my parking situation. My second response was, I wonder if they have all these cars to work on today and how in the world will they ever get them all serviced?

I had not had my daily AM coffee yet. For some that wouldn’t matter. For me, it is almost an emergency. Not for the caffeine but for the rich flavor which “fires all my cylinders” at one time. I probaby am the poster child for “coffee snob”…the “sixth love language” they neglected to put in the book of Love Languages by Gary Chapman…by the way, if you haven’t read it, read it! It is an incredible book and helps with understanding how people feel loved.

As I scoped out the waiting room, I made note immediatly that the Keurig that at one time was available had been replaced with chips, water and juice. HOW COULD THEY? NO COFFEE??? As I handed them my keys, I took note of a shuttle car picking people up and transporting them to and from the garage. I asked if I could grab a ride to get coffee. He said I was welcome to take advantage of the shuttle but he was willing to brew me a cup. To keep things simple, I agreed to take him up on his offer to brew some. I figured it would most likely be a “crappy” cup of coffee so I braced myself for the worst. Still, I was so thankful for the offer. Little did I know…

Extraordinary.

That word deserves to have its own paragraph. Something like no other…when “competition” cannot compete. THIS is what I experieced. Below is my “photo story”. Of course, I took this to social media and happily recommended their services. If this wasn’t a BLOG, I would go on and on and write a short story of what extraoridnary customer service looks like. Love like no other. Breaking bread. A small sacrifice and extraordinary act to convey love and value to the customer.

It’s no wonder I couldn’t find a parking space.