Great Customer Service Still Exists!

A very happy customer!

A few months ago while vacationing with my family at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, we discovered that great customer service is still alive and well.

While there, we went to Downtown Disney and came upon a wonderful shop called RIDEMAKERZ. This is a “build your own” vehicle shop—every little boy’s dream. The entire time spent at the store was a positive experience. As father and son we had a blast choosing a body frame, wheels, and all the other accessories that went along with building our own remote controlled vehicle. The finished product looked amazing as it rolled off the “production line.”

Once home, the new vehicle was played with for a few days before it succumbed to a sudden and “untimely death.” I contacted the company and was assured of a prompt and speedy replacement of the vehicle. I sent the vehicle back to RIDEMAKERZ along with a letter of explanation.

Several weeks passed, and we still had not received a replacement much to the disappointment of my young son. I called the company and left a voicemail inquiring as to whether or not they had received the returned vehicle. Shortly thereafter, I received a phone call from a Mr. Larry Andreini, CEO of RIDEMAKERZ, stating that he had my letter in front of him and expressed concern that our situation had not been resolved sooner. He assured me that within 48 hours my son would have a new vehicle in his possession along with a little “something extra.” Sure enough, we did receive the new vehicle. Keeping to his word, Mr. Andreini had instructed his “pit crew” to include an extra body frame and accessories! The look on my son’s face was priceless!

This CEO recognized the importance of GREAT customer service and making that personal connection to go the extra mile! It made our experience with RIDEMAKERZ a positive and memorable one. For anyone wanting a “dream” vehicle, I highly recommend going online to www.ridemakerz.com, or better yet, pick one up in person at Downtown Disney World—your family will love you for it!

Do we really understand the impact of our words?

I had an experience today that reminded me that a simple little phrase can really have an impact on others.  I have been in a little funk over the last few months.  Yes, even “the coach” has to continually work at living an intentional life.  I let myself get away from the basic things that help me to live life to its fullest.  In short, I have been lazy and it came out in a big way today. 

I am fortunate to belong to a master mind group called The IDA (Ideas, Decisions and Actions). It consists of a great group of professionals from different areas of business; financial planning, HR, oil/gas and convenience stores, commercial real estate, just to name a few.  These are highly successful people that I respect and look up to.  I feel honored to be a part of the group.  We meet once a month on the second Wednesday at 10am.  It is a standing appointment and I have it on my schedule with the necessary reminders to make sure I am not late.  I was really looking forward to the meeting and interacting with this great group.  I found the new office where it was being held and felt proud that I was 5 minutes early.  The secretary opened the door to the conference room for me and proudly announced that we had a “late comer”.  That is when it hit me that instead of being 5 minutes early I was actually 55 minutes late!  I was able to enjoy the last 35 minutes of the session and gained some insights from that part of the discussion all the time regretting that I had missed the previous 55 minutes.  What a wake-up call!  We wrapped up the meeting by each of us making a commitment for the next session.  My commitment was to get back to the basics of living an intentional life.  It was not until this point that I let the group know I was late not because I was at some pressing appointment but because I was simply unfocused.

 As the session ended and everyone left, I was making my way out and enjoying small talk with a couple members of the group.  Just as I was leaving came the small and simple words that made such an impact on my day.  I know they were not planned out to do so, but they were said with a genuineness that would give it the needed impact.  My friend, Brett Sutherland, simply said, “There is a vibrancy not here when you are missing”.  When you are feeling down and wondering if you are actually making a difference in the world that kind of comment can really pick you up.  Brett surely did not know then how his kind words impacted me (until he reads this) but it was exactly what I needed to hear.

In life we can be givers and receivers.  We need to be able to be both.  Today I was the recipient of something I have taught for years.  Give someone a PAT on the back, and it worked!  You can impact another’s day by finding a strength in them and simply letting them know about it.  Who could use a PAT on the back in your life?  Go and do it!

Would you have turned around and went home?

As some of you know we were able to spend 11 days in Florida this past couple of weeks. The main destination of the trip was Disney World but we took advantage of being in the area to visit a long time friend and mentor. While spending a couple of days together with the Copeland’s, “Uncle Dan”, wanted to take the kids to a park called Silver Springs where they have alligators among a beautiful natural setting.

We checked the published operating hours of the park and confirmed it would be open until 5pm that day. An hour’s drive later we pulled into the park only to find an empty lot and an attendant at the gate. It was 12:30 and he informed us that due to an impending storm, the park would be closing at 2:00 pm that day. My wife and I glanced at one another, confirming the same thought. It would not be worth the $150 dollar entrance fee for us to go in for a mere 90 minutes. That is when “Uncle Dan” kicked into action to teach us a lesson. He would not hear of us driving all this way to just turn around. The attendant allowed us free parking and the tickets were bought (full-price). For the next hour and a half we had the time of our lives! The park was deserted giving the feel that it had been rented out especially for us. We had free reign of everything! We enjoyed front row access to all of the exhibits, walked right onto the glass bottom boat rides, and even received extended tours from the operators. We squeezed more into those 90 min than we ever would have if we had the whole day at a full park.

It is said that you have more regrets from things you DON’T do than from those that you do. That day “Uncle Dan” taught us that memories are only made from going forward and making them! Because of him, my family has memories to last a lifetime!

Do you let small obstacles hold you back or do you live your life to intentionally make memories?

Another life lesson from the saddle of a bike:

Last Saturday I had a great opportunity to face a fear.  Why it was a fear in the first place, I had no idea until about 25 minutes into a ride with some guys from my neighborhood.

I have always loved the solitary aspect of cycling.  It’s a chance to be alone with my thoughts, get some fresh air and listen to an audio book.  I had never really cycled on a group ride and I really didn’t care if I did.  I discovered why on Saturday.  It came to me as the three of us headed out from a neighbor’s house.  He mentioned that there were a couple of others invited and they had not shown up.  The rest of us made comments about how little we had been riding lately.  I guess we found it important to throw out these excuses so as to set low expectations.  No one wanted to look bad if they got left behind by the others. 

I had only experienced the phenomenon of drafting one other time in my cycling career.  That was on a 50 mile ride when I caught up with another solo rider.  I assumed I would simply pass him and keep going.  I discovered that as I passed he settled in behind my back wheel and rode right along with me.  Then he moved in front of me and I drafted behind him.  I could feel how much easier it was to ride but I also had to work to keep up.  This hurt my ego a bit as he was in his mid 60’s.  We spoke briefly and he shared that he was a regular rider and usually cycled with a group.

Saturday morning after we had leisurely rode a couple of miles, the organizer of our little adventure said, “When we turn this corner, let’s get in a line and pick up the pace.”  He explained that we should each take a turn “pulling” for about a minute or so each at the front of the line.  It was while we were taking turns that it hit me.  Why had I avoided a group ride and why each of us had thrown out our “excuses” to begin the day?

By working together in this fashion we were actually able to ride at a higher intensity for a longer period of time.  We were getting pushed as well as pulled by the others.  It felt like we could have gone on for hours.

How often do we avoid opportunities to grow and learn?  How often do we miss opportunities to get stronger and in better shape: physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially, socially, or mentally.

I am so glad I went on the ride last Saturday.  One more time it reminded me of the importance of climbing the A.L.P.S to success.  Establish the right Attitude, Be willing to Learn, Practice with a coach and be held accountable, this will lead to Succeed.

Head Wind or Tail Wind?

For some of you that know me, you have heard me talk about the yearly commitment I make to get on my bike. I shave my legs and I am proud to admit it. By doing this I have to ride my bike or else I am just some freak that shaves his legs. I know that most recreational cyclists don’t do this nor does it make me a great cyclist but on some psychological level it forces me out on my bike. The big problem this year is that it only worked for one ride. Then I let the weather get in the way. I guess I am a fair weathered, shaved legged cyclist.

Once we make a commitment to a way of life it seems that things happen to help us achieve it. I was going through an old box in my closet and found my “man tights”. This is what I call them so I sound more masculine in them. In my defense, I did buy them in the men’s section of a sporting goods store and I bought them so I could play flag football well into the fall cold.

The discovery of my man tights eliminated my cold weather excuse. I just finished my 18 mile ride in the cold wind of this strange May Utah weather we’ve been having. One of the reasons I love cycling is the solitude of being alone with my thoughts. Tonight’s ride had me pondering the topic of head winds and tail winds. The head winds I encountered forced me to work harder and actually aided me in accomplishing another reason that I ride, to burn calories and get in shape. I had to pedal hard just to keep up a decent speed. As I made my loop and came back south, I now had a tail wind. Riding at a good clip was almost effortless. I consciously had to get into a harder gear to get a work out and keep my heart rate up. I thought of my life over the past few years and how similar this was. I am currently working with a professional head wind. It is causing me to apply the extra effort to make sure I am continually improving. It causes me to wonder if it is all worth it and question if I can keep going. I know that once through this I will be much stronger and able to accomplish even greater things. I realized that over the past year and a half I had caught a professional tail wind and had assumed I could just coast. It was a false sense of speed. By coasting I didn’t push myself to grow and in turn did not accomplish all I should have. Eventually I couldn’t coast any longer and a change had to be made.

One of the qualities of successful people is the ability to recognize when they are not growing anymore and to seek out new opportunities for improvement. Some people recognize they aren’t growing but choose to do nothing about it. As with everything in nature, if we are not growing, we are dying! You can either change or be changed. The choice is yours!

Hello world!

Welcome to my first blog post!

Now I know how Steve Martin felt in the movie The Jerk when he opened the phone book for the first time and read his own name printed in it.  I will paraphrase a bit for those that might not be familiar with that movie.

Me: The new blog is up ! The new blog is up!

Some random person playing the other character: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing.

Me: Nothing? Are you kidding? larrychatterton’s blog! I’m somebody now! Millions of people look at this blog everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity – your name in print – that makes people. I’m in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.

I’m somebody!

Keep checking back as I will get in the habit of updating regularly with happenings and useful information!