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We sell dreams, we sell hope, we sell results…. people are not just buying our products, they are buying the results of our products.  Are you cashing a check or offering a convienence?  Are you doing a cash advance or solving solution to a problem?  Are you issuing a title loan or a means for a family vacation?  Our employees are our brand advocates because you are involved emotionally in delivering our services to the customer.  Our customers are also selling our brand, either postively or negativly.  They are not waiting for our ad, they are hearing about us constantly.  Word of mouth happens quickly, by the minute.

Shane

Tickets are on sale now for the Duck Dynasty Event.  If you were not one of the lucky winners and want to attend, you can purchase them at www.showclix.com.

Thats a fact, Jack!

Tracie

Congratulations Kophen! He is the son of Susan Sudduth, who works in our Vernon office.  Kophen is the baby of her two children!

Kim

If you have attended any of our Managers’ Meetings in the past you should know how important the topic of customer service is to our company.  As always, in the meeting scheduled for May 22, we plan on discussing and exploring how we can better serve our customers.  In preparation for the upcoming meeting we have an assignment for all managers.  The good news for the managers is that we strongly encourage you to share the responsibility of this assignment with assistant managers and CSR’s so that your whole office can collaborate on this effort.

For the meeting, we ask that each office manager discuss with their employees what businesses they frequent that has truly outstanding customer service.  After everyone in each office has weighed in on who they think are top notch customer oriented businesses the manager needs to decide which business will be submitted as their particular office’s favorite.

During the customer service segment of our meeting we will briefly discuss the businesses that were turned in by the offices and the traits they all seem to share.  As part of the assignment the office managers need to come to the meeting prepared to point out what makes the business their office submitted stand out among its competitors.

Please submit your office’s selection to JonJon at jonjons@meincorp.com no later than noon this coming Friday, May 17.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting next week! — Luke

“Your customers are responsible for your company’s reason for existing.”  Marilynn Suttle

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Amanda in Fulton had written a quote on her dry erase board in their office that said…”Don’t bunt….Aim out of the ballpark.”  Having been a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan all of my life, I particularly loved that the quote related to baseball.  I can think of several instances in a tight game in which one of our best players was coming up to bat and a decision had to be made by both teams.  Should our manager let the player go for the big hit or should he play it safe and have the player bunt in order to advance the runners?  Should the opposing team intentionally walk the batter, change pitchers or just hope for the pitcher to deliver his best pitches?  In life as in baseball, we don’t always know the right choice to make in these situations.  However, with customer service and in our daily work, I believe it is always the best choice to aim out of the ballpark.  The ladies at the Fulton office have done just that over the past few months.  I have seen Amanda and Alise go out of their way to help customers on many occasions.  I have also seen firsthand how committed both of them are to doing the best job possible on a daily basis.  I also look forward to working with Nicole and seeing how far all of them can aim out of the ballpark!

Rachel

Below is a YouTube link to the video announcing the winners of the tickets to see Willie & Korie Robinson and their children. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who participated in the drawing.

“I am the MacGyver of cooking. If you bring me a piece of bread, cabbage, coconut, mustard greens, pigs feet, pine cones…and a woodpecker, I’ll make you a good chicken pot pie.” - Si 

“Hey, you told me to bring stuff. Stuff is a very broad term.” – Si 

Who doesn’t love Si!

Kim

http://youtu.be/4cJ3F7hAqno

We are in full swing of CAD’s.  I wanted to give a few helpful reminders.

*Make sure you finish your paperwork the afternoon before your day.

*Talk it up!!!

*Stay outside as much as possible.

*Take lots of pictures.

*Most important, this is the Customer’s Day so have fun and make them feel special!!!

“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.”

-Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart

Have a great Thursday!

Tracie

Tracy Floyd’s daughter, Bell, won Young Miss Lee County and has advanced to the state pageant in Vicksburg. Congratulations! Let us know how she does at state.  Below is a picture Tracy wanted to share of Bell.

Janna

The best marketing practices revolve around customer retention.  Do you understand the Lifetime Value of your customers?  Treat them like your partners, not like a
transaction.  Acquiring new customers costs 6-7 times more than retaining customers.  Why would you want to lose 50% of your customers over 5 years.  Reduce customer loss rates by keeping track of repeat purchases for starters.  What percent of your sales are to existing customers?  Then develop plans to satisfy them and get them to return. Every customer needs to be a marketing partner… that is the ultimate winning strategy.  Cut down on email blasts, go to targeted messages based on past purchases.  Try sending an individualized email or Facebook message to customers who haven’t been in lately.

Hope these few ideas will help you reach your goals.

Shane

It is great when we have a chance to do something good for charity and to also do a little something special for our employees.  Just recently an opportunity has arisen to do just that here at MEI.

A local charity in Fulton, April’s Angels, is raising money for a new school playground that will be handicapped accessible so that all the school kids will get to enjoy it.  It is an expensive investment so the group is hard at work raising money which is where the exciting part comes in for some lucky employees.

Reality TV star and Duck Commander CEO, Willie Robertson, will be visiting Fulton, MS with his wife Korie and their children on the afternoon of June 30 to put on a faith based program tailored to “kids of all ages”.  Our company is helping sponsor the event and is also purchasing twenty of the best tickets available to give away to ten employees who will have their name pulled in a drawing to take place this coming Friday morning May 10.  The drawing will take place at the Fulton office and it will be recorded and posted to the blog at 9:00 am so be watching to see if you win.

Here is what you need to do if you want a chance to win two tickets.  Please let your store supervisor know you are interested no later than 11:00 Thursday morning.  Money Matters offices please let your area managers know, Kwik Sak please let Jana know, the shop guys can let Zack know and so on.  Since this is something special for employees we ask that you only enter if you or your immediate family (kids, grand kids etc.) will use the tickets. 

Good luck to all who choose to enter the drawing! — Luke

“That’s a fact, Jack!”  Si Robertson