by Jim Hinshaw
Just had a great experience, I bought myself a Remarkable tablet. I am not a rep for them, no money is involved in telling you about this. What is involved is how customer friendly they made the whole process. Starts with the website, easy to navigate (OK, some would say of course it is easy, they only have 3 products to sell), pick out the tablet, cover and pen you want from a few choices. Pricing is upfront, even have terms if that makes sense to you. Delivery was set for 2 or 3 days away, shipping is included. They even have an option to purchase one that is refurbished, with a full warranty. A few dollars less, I decided not to go that route.
Lots of tutorials showing you how to use the new tablet, it is pretty versatile. Can change the width of the pen strokes, how your writing looks on the page (yes, it is remarkable how much the tablet feels like real paper), all sorts of customization is available. Battery life is excellent, got mine last week, still at 88% charge. But that is not what I want to share today.
What really stuck out as the high point of this purchase? The packaging. They have taken clues from Apple and many others, those first impressions are critical in forming a positive impression from the start, which may actually lead to a positive experience in ownership. My tablet was packed in multiple boxes for the tablet, the pen and the cable. Each one was well done, with small tabs to open the packaging, everything was nestled inside a form fitting impression inside the box. I typically don’t keep boxes, these I kept, along with my Apple iPods box, which was just as amazing.
This all got me to thinking how important those first few minutes with your new product is, and can that importance be transferred to the first few days or weeks in the life of a new hire, a new employee? While the analogy is solid, I would share that in most cases we are not doing as much as we could to share our love with that new member of our business family. There are some companies who have set the bar high in this category, letting the employees know they are valued and appreciated if they are new or have been with them for a decade. Chris Hunter, founder of the Super Tech concept in the Oklahoma companies that he grew to 4 cities across that state, did some creative things. He would send flowers to the significant others that were keeping the family strong without the technician being involved for most of the summer. To let them know the company appreciated them for understanding that their family member had to work long hours, sometimes 7 days a week in the hot summer. He also shared positive messages on FB and social media about the team, sometimes catching them helping change a tire for a person on the road while going from call to call.
I recently visited Rogers Heating and Cooling in South Boston, Virginia. They are off the beaten path, south of Richmond, VA, near the North Carolina border. South Boston is a small town, population was at 7676 in 2020, 1% decline over the previous numbers. Median household income was at $40,087, down 5%, median property value was t $128,300, which was down 3%. No big industrial employers there, but there are lots of data centers in Virginia. My point is it is not a Chicago or Atlanta with big sports teams and lots of shopping and arts centers to bring in new talent. So, they have to be on thier game to attract new employees and grow your business. Alyssa and Joey Rogers are on their game. When a new employee signs on, they have a “signing day” celebration. Everyone in the office gathers around the new employee, a posterboard sign is filled with the company mottos and mission statement, and the new employee signs their name, gets a company shirt, videos are done, it is a big deal. They honor employees on birthdays, engagements, anniversaries of employment or other anniversaries, and a lot more. They have Spirit Day or week. Recently office staff dressed up each day of the week to celebrate the team (tech day) then decades day, followed by pajama day, it goes on. Another example of how they welcome new members and show appreciation for the employees.
Alyssa and Joey may go to extreme lengths to impress new employees and honor existing, but when you realize they are running a $5 million dollar company (2022 revenue) and are targeting $10 million in 2023, it makes sense. They have to bring in talent from all around the state, and out of state, their website shows they are hiring in every department right now. They have a sales team that is awesome, led by Jason Lloyd, who helped people buy more than $2,000,000 personally last year, multiple of that this year. In a small town where the median household income is just over $40 k. His average sale is around $15,000. Where the median value of a home is $128,000. Lots of double wide and modulars.
Oh, and I should mention that the time I visited was a Premier Tour, with about 12 other members from all across the nation. Alyssa did something unique; she had a videographer that captured every moment, it was an amazing trip.
We are paying attention to this concept of a great onboarding process ourselves. Amber Bogardus is our Programs Manager, she has just received a onboarding software package for new members. It will enable the team to be sure we have a consistent and complete process in place for all levels of membership. We have now 5 levels of membership, will be 6 in another month, and the Premier membership which can be connected to any level.
Thanks for being engaged, hope this summer allows you to reach more new levels of efficiency and profitability than ever before.
