Tag Archives: service

Day 205: Kim and Luis

Anthony, Kim, Reed at Anthony's 2nd Annual Celebration. We missed getting a photo with Luis - he was too busy working!

Anthony, Kim and Reed at Anthony’s 2nd Annual Celebration. We missed getting a photo with Luis – he was too busy working!

We held the second annual Anthony celebration last Monday night at one of Anthony’s favorite places: Rumors. It’s right across the street from where he cheerfully greets his customers every morning. The staff there always treats us like gold and Monday night was no exception. I love these guys.

Day 205-2

 

Kim & Luis,

People go out to bars and restaurants for many reasons – the food, the atmosphere, the service. Walking in to Rumors is like walking in to Cheers. You remember your customers, treat people right and you care. You made Anthony’s two-year celebration a very special evening for him and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate it.

Thank you,
Reed

Day 150: Rev. Charles

Rev. Randolph C. Charles at The Church of the Epiphany. Photo: epiphanydc.org

Rev. Randolph C. Charles at The Church of the Epiphany. Photo: epiphanydc.org

Street Sense, an organization that I’ve supported for many years, has been housed at The Church of the Epiphany on G Street in downtown Washington for as long as I can remember. The staff is extraordinarily welcoming and kind to the staff and the many men and women who sell the Street Sense newspaper.

I learned yesterday that Rev. Charles, who has skillfully led the church for many years, is retiring. I’ve only met him briefly, but his kindness and compassion toward the organization has touched the hearts of so many and I thought I would send him a note to thank him and wish him well.

Day 150

 

Dear Rev. Charles,

Yesterday I learned that you were retiring from your position as pastor at Church of the Epiphany. I’ve been on the Board of Directors of Street Sense for 3 years and appreciate very much everything that the church and you personally have done for the organization. Your warm, welcoming spirit has touched the hearts of many of the men and women experiencing homelessness that are involved with Street Sense. As a pastor, you recognize the importance of community, fellowship and establishing a home – the Church of the Epiphany has been a home to all of us who visit. Street Sense would not be able to do the work that it does and help so many people find their way home without the leadership and friendship you have provided to so many. Thank you! On behalf of Brian Carome, our staff, vendors, volunteers and fellow Board members, I thank you and wish you well in all of your future endeavors. May our paths continue to cross.

With great appreciation,
Reed Sandridge
Street Sense Board Member

 

Day 31: Dan Bane, Trader Joe’s

The staff at Trader Joe’s is so cheerful and friendly a trip to TJ’s is like free therapy! Well, not free if you buy some of their delicious food. Every business could learn something from how they engage their customers.

Trader Joes

Dear Mr. Bane,

I wanted to send you a letter to tell you that I think Trader Joe’s creates one of the most enjoyable employee-customer experiences of any large-scale retailer. I frequent my local TJ’s – 1101 25th Street in Northwest Washington, DC – often and everyone there is exceptionally pleasant. And while I know your stores are known for this, my local TJ’s does an outstanding job and I wanted you to know.

Crew members are delighted to help find items or make a product suggestion. I once bought the Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches because an employee told me that they saved her marriage – three times! She might need a little time off by the way. I’m not married, but if I were I would add them to my regular shopping list to keep the relationship strong!

 Keep up the good work. If you ever come to DC – stop in my neighborhood TJ’s and congratulate your team here.

Best regards,
Reed Sandridge

 

Day 24: Tom

Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves. ~ Steve Jobs

I tried to stealthily snap this photo of Chris hard at work.

I tried to stealthily snap this photo of Chris hard at work.

Customer experience has probably never been as important as it is now. With online marketplaces commoditizing the vast majority of products and services, it’s the customer’s experience – whether face to face or online – that dictates whether they will publicly praise or shame you.

I had some items to ship on Friday and headed to FedEx. They were awkwardly shaped, so I needed to get them boxed up. I’m terrible at these kind of tasks, thankfully Chris, the FedEx team member that helped me, was awesome. It was refreshing to see a young person take his job, and more importantly his responsibility, seriously. I decided to drop his boss a note.

It’s funny – I called back hours later to get the name of the manager and Chris answered – he’d been there all day at that point and still sounded as polite and professional as he did at 9am. I didn’t tell him I was writing this letter to his boss…I just asked for the manager’s name.

Day 24 Tom-2

Tom,

Just a note to tell you how impressed I was with a member of your team. I stopped in on Friday with two large items that needed boxed up and shipped and a young man named Day 24 TomChris did a fantastic job – from making sure that I got the right kind of boxes to guiding me through my shipment options. He took care of everything. His badge said that he was a trainee – I’m sure he’ll be moving up in no time. Please let him know that his professionalism and attention to customer service made an impression on me.

Keep up the good work,
Reed Sandridge

Day 3: Michael Amez, Whole Foods

All too often people go out of our way to make our experience at a store or restaurant and we don’t take a moment to thank them. Yet when they do something to piss us off, we are quick to kill them on social media and tell everyone we know how terrible they are.

I was reflecting on the holidays this morning and remembered a nice man who helped my sister-in-law out over Thanksgiving. He certainly didn’t Continue reading