Extraordinary Customer Service

Determine what you do well, and do more of that!

It’s easy to focus on the negative, the problem, what’s broken, what must improve. It’s natural for us engineers, it’s typical of many leaders, and it’s common for most of us. More than easy, it’s necessary … unlike fine wine, problems don’t magically improve or get better sitting unattended and ignored.

But it’s important to truly understand what you do right, and better than others. Identify your special talents, the unique gifts of your peers, what differentiates you or your company. Celebrate greatness when you see it, and let folks know when they do something remarkable. More than making you a more pleasant and encouraging person to be around, this is a critical — and often overlooked — step in becoming extraordinary … determine what you do well, and do more of that.

In my last post (July 11, “I’m sorry, we’re bagless.”), I pointed out a host of customer service problems. I promise to be more positive here, and I will share a couple of stories that celebrate folks who are doing customer service right.

My son is in high school, and just started a summer job with ACE Hardware. In his onboarding, they teach an acronym — S-A-L-E-S — where, he enthusiastically informed me, the first S stands for start conversations, and the last S stands for strengthen relationship. I’m so happy for him because he is really enjoying his work; it also makes me happy because ACE Hardware does customer service right.

With over 5,000 stores, most independently owned and operated, ACE Hardware (acehardware.com) knows what they do better than most — they are local and loyal, small and personal, friendly and helpful. In a world of big box stores and online shopping, ACE Hardware stores are Celebrating 100 Years of Helpful and are doing just fine, and for good reason.

Pictured above is my hands-down favorite ACE Hardware store, anywhere. This store is in Medina, Texas, on Texas State Highway 16 near our ranch. It has been open for business for over 80 years, and is now owned by locals Andy and Patty Lautzenheiser. Open the old wooden front door, and you step inside a cramped, meticulously-cleaned and organized store, complete with squeaky wood floors, narrow aisles meant for humans (not fork lifts), and shelves filled floor to near-ceiling with anything you might want or need.

I have been shopping here for years, yet I only have a vague notion of where items are located. This is in stark contrast to my local Home Depot, where I can tell you not only general directions within the store, but the aisle and shelf where specific merchandise resides. Why? Because Home Depot is largely self serve now, and over the years I have had to find things myself. That self-service mentality now extends to having to check myself out, and bag up my own purchases.

At the Medina ACE Hardware, I can’t tell you where items are located because I have never set more than two feet inside the front door before someone (and usually more than one) warmly greets me and asks, “Can we help you find something?” And by help, they mean actively help — they engage, ask me what I’m working on and what I’m needing or looking for, and physically walk with me to that aisle and shelf location. They usually show me options and pick the items up for me, carrying them to the register up front where they will still check you out and bag up your items. If you have bought something heavy or bulky, you pull your truck around the side of the store and they will load it into your truck for you. There is the usual (for them) personal conversation at the register during checkout, which is always followed by a sincere, “Thank you for your business, and have a nice day!”

I love this store, and really appreciate the people who serve there. ACE Hardware knows what they do well, and what they do better than most. They have avoided trends and change for change’s sake, and doubled down on doing more of what makes them extraordinary. And, that’s made and kept them very successful.

Here is another example of extraordinary customer service. Years ago, we bought a thirty-foot long bumper-pull trailer, or recreational vehicle (RV). With the RV, we enjoyed weekend adventures to local state parks, and epic family summer vacations. Some of our favorite trips involved driving from Texas to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, with interesting stops along the way. Among the many rewards were views like this one from our campsite.

While these trips were spectacular, loading your family into one vehicle for several weeks and pulling a trailer for thousands of miles isn’t for everyone or for the faint of heart. Coming home from one such 4,000 mile road trip, and driving on a very remote stretch of two-lane highway in New Mexico on a Friday evening, we experienced a blowout of one of the trailer’s tires.

We were on U.S. Highway 285 heading south, having just crossed the Colorado – New Mexico state line. The RV was purchased new less than three years earlier, and the trailer tires had less than 10,000 miles on them, total. The trailer is also an “ultralite” model, and I was operating within the load and speed rating of the tires. Nonetheless, these tires deteriorated quickly, and having a blowout at highway speed is no fun.

After slowing and safely pulling the rig over onto the shoulder of the highway, I did an inspection. As the tire came apart, its shredded debris caused quite a bit of damage to the side of the trailer and the plumbing connections underneath. I obviously needed to change at least one tire, and then do some road-side repairs (involving duct tape and baling wire) to make the trailer road worthy. However, a second tire had an easy-to-see hole in the tread and exposed steel belt. I now needed two tires, and had only one spare.

Cell phone service was sketchy, but I had enough signal to do a Google search and found that Atencio Tires, some 10-15 miles away, advertised 24/7 emergency roadside assistance. Great! I called. No answer. I left a message at 5:45 pm that Friday evening, highlighting that I was stranded and needed immediate help. To date, no one has ever returned my call — that was six years ago. The company went out of business in 2020; and no, I am not surprised.

Next on the search was a company called Reed Tire (reedtire.net) in La Jara, Colorado, some 20-30 miles away. According to their published hours, they had closed at 5 pm, but I called anyway and to my great delight a gentleman named Brad answered instantly. I told him about my blowout, where I was, and that I was looking for two ST205 75R14 tires. Brad dispatched a colleague named Mitch, who was onsite in 20 minutes flat.

Mitch was a professional. After greeting us, and offering all in my family cold water bottles, he made the site as safe as he could, setting up cones and flares, and shielding our rig on the shoulder of the road by parking his own truck and trailer behind us. Mitch also quickly assessed that I had a bigger problem. Running his gloved hand around each of the tires, he quickly found wire poking out of tire three and four. Every tire required replacement. By this time, it was starting to get dark.

Reed Tire has been in business since 1985, and is owned by Jim and Darlene Reed. They also have a second location in Alamosa, Colorado. Jim grew up on a family farm, and applied that experience — learning how to repair any vehicle or problem — to quickly helping customers get back on the road. They promise fantastic service, great technicians, and work hard to ensure the best possible experience when you visit the shop, and provide 24/7 mobile tire service for life’s unexpected moments.

Brad and Mitch were in constant communication. They didn’t have four R14 tires in stock. They brainstormed, and scrounged, and found four R15 tires and rims, which the trailer could easily accommodate. Brad mounted new tires on new rims back at the shop, while Mitch waited roadside with us and prepared. Brad delivered the new gear in a second company vehicle, and together he and Mitch took off the old and installed the new. By this time, it was 9 pm, on a Friday night, and these two heroes were working on the shoulder of a highway with occasional traffic whizzing past them at 60 to 70 mph.

When the work was complete and the trailer was road worthy again, it was time to settle up. They decided to even trade my old R14 rims for their new R15 rims, no charge, plus $512 to cover four new tires, mounting the tires on rims, and roadside assistance on a Friday night performed by two personnel, which required two company trucks and trailers. The bill amounted to $90 per tire plus 1.5 hours of labor. Obviously, I expected to pay, and would have paid, much more.

I protested, strongly, feeling guilty. The two of them had clearly put in more than 6 hours of labor, together, outside of normal business hours, not including their drive home to come. I wanted and tried to pay more. But, they would have none of it. Earlier, I had mentioned that it was my wife’s birthday that day, and that we were obviously going to miss out on a dinner reservation in Santa Fe that night. They were more than empathetic, wished her a happy birthday, were clearly focused on service and getting my family safely back on the road. About all of it, Brad simply said, “this is what we do!”

I paid and thanked them, and days later wrote a glowing review online. Not surprisingly, the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Reed, wrote back and thanked me for thanking them and for choosing them to assist with our needs. They said, “Making sure your vehicle stays safe on the road is important to our team and we're happy to provide nothing short of helpful service. Should you ever need our assistance in the future, please know you can always count on us. Thank you!” Brilliant.

One of my favorite family vacation photos is this one, of everyone on the side of a New Mexico highway, reading, talking, and playing … making lemonade out of lemons. All of this was enabled by Reed Tire, and especially Brad and Mitch, who were working feverishly off camera, doing what they do, providing extraordinary customer service.

ACE Hardware and Reed Tire are committed to extraordinary customer service, and they know what they do well, and do better than most. If either were publicly traded, you would do well to invest in both … they’ll be around for as long as they stay true to their mission, and continue to do more of what they do so well.