"Ketchup"

I put some thought into simplicity and service this evening.  When I did I remembered a quick note I heard from a Sales Manager a short while ago.

He walked into a shop and started a conversation like most Salesmen do.  Talking a lot about what he could do for him, attempting to understand his business and sell more at the same time.  There was a point where he asked him “Why don’t you order from us?  We have the same product and we are very competitive in our price”.The customer said “Ketchup”.  Confused, the Sales Manger wanted to learn more.

“Catch up?”

The customer motioned for him to wait with his index finger.  Like he was telling him to be quiet.  He picked up the phone then hit a speed dial button.

“Hey, Tim.  It’s Larry.  I just sat down to eat my lunch then found that I’m out of ketchup.”

A very odd phone call the Sales Manager thought.

“Okay, thank you, Tim” he said, then hung up the phone.

“In twenty minutes I’ll have a bottle of ketchup here.  I’ll pay two times the price of the ketchup.  I’m glad too, I don’t have to get it myself.  Somebody will bring the ketchup to me.”

Larry, the owner of an auto repair shop, called his local parts supplier and ordered ketchup instead of brake pads.

“It doesn’t matter what I need, I know I can count on them to get me anything I want.  I don’t care what I pay, just get it for me.” Larry said.  “That is why I order my supplies from them, not you”

A great story about service.  It’s the little things that matter.  People want to give us money, somehow we make it difficult, when someone else makes it very, very easy.

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