Happy Boss’s Day

Happy Boss’s Day to all the wonderful bosses MEI has! Thank you for all you do!

“A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could.”

Charles  Erwin Wilson

“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Let your bosses know they are appreciated not only today, but everyday!

Have a great “hump” day!

Meredith

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The girls at the Fulton office are proudly wearing their Montgomery Enterprises “Hootin’ for a Cure”  T-shirts in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.  You all probably know someone who has been affected by breast cancer, whether it is a family member, friend or a member of your community.  My mother is a breast cancer survivor of almost seven years.  However, my aunt lost her battle with this horrible disease at the very young age of 46.  Although great strides have been made in recent years in the treatment of breast cancer, early detection is still the best chance we have in winning this fight. 

Under the Healthy You! benefit of the Montgomery Enterprises, Inc. Health insurance plan, women age 35 and older are eligible to receive a mammogram once per calendar year covered at 100%.  The mammogram must be performed by a network provider as part of an annual wellness screening to be eligible for coverage.  Please feel free to contact me for more information on this benefit or for assistance with finding a network provider in your area. 

 ~ Kandi

“People should be afraid of the cancer, not the mammogram.”  Nancy Reagan

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Manager’s Luncheon

025We had a great luncheon yesterday for the managers who hit their September goal. Pictured above are (back row, L to R) Joyce Williams- Saltillo, Felicia Gilleylen-Okolona, Bellena Criddle-Amory MM; Lakisha Rogers-Camden, Michelle Williams-Hamilton, Heather Brewington-Coldwater, Christie Nuckols-Fayette (fron row, L to R) Renay Tate-Aberdeen, Janet Phillips-Aliceville, Lynn Murphree-Amory CTE, Dena Ellis-Horn Lake, Gladys Hutchison-Kosciusko, Charlon Harrison-Vernon

Have a great Thursday!

Louis

 

 

 

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What’s in a Name?

My answer to the title of this post would be “a whole heckuva lot”.  That is why we stress the importance of calling customers by their names when greeting them.  In my opinion, it is a sign of respect to call someone by their name.  Your name is the most important word in the universe to you and is music to your ears.  Same thing goes for your customers.

This past weekend I attended the National Association of Check Cashers convention in Marco Island, Florida, and used Delta Airlines to get there.  I had a total of four flights in all; two to get to Fort Myers and two flights back in to Memphis. During the pre-boarding and boarding process for my first three flights each and every Delta Airline employee called me by name.  Now, I’m not really famous but my name is on the front of the ticket each employee handled and, even though they didn’t know me personally, I was still just as excited each time they called me by name.  I was highly impressed with Delta and thought to myself that they sure were doing a great job with customer service.  Not only were they calling me by name but all the employees I encountered seemed happy and upbeat. . . until my final flight.

On the last flight the customer service wasn’t bad.  It was just normal.  As I boarded the plane taking me from Atlanta to Memphis the Delta agent scanned my ticket just like all the other flights.  But, she never made eye contact and to my dismay she didn’t call me by name.  My balloon had just been popped.

As I mentioned, I was really excited with the service I was getting from the Delta employees up until that last flight.  And once again, the service wasn’t that bad on the last flight but it just wasn’t what I had come to expect after three flights and three outstanding Delta experiences within the past few days.  (Please reread the prior two sentences because that is my whole point)

Outstanding customer service MUST be provided on a daily basis.  The key term being “daily basis” because it is not the three visits in a row with great service your customers go to work the next morning talking about to their co-workers.  It’s the fourth visit when, for whatever reason, your customer feels slighted by the lack of attention and respect he receives in your office that gets talked about at work the next day.

As Meredith mentioned a few days ago on this blog, this is “National Customer Service Week”.  Let’s make that a daily holiday in our locations! — Luke

“Even your most loyal customers always have a choice about where to take their business.”   Marilyn Suttle

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Monday Morning Motivation

Nothing of any importance has ever been accomplished by a pessimist.  Jack Welch

The biggest risk is not taking any risk.  Mark Zuckerberg

Don’t set your goals too low. If you don’t need much, you won’t become much.  Jim Rohn

Always remember, your focus determines your reality.  George Lucas

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.  Eleanor Roosevelt

There is no substitute for hard work.  Thomas Edison

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.  Winston Churchill 

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. Abraham Lincoln

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.  Vince Lombardi

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you.  Never excuse yourself. Henry Ward Beecher

and a personal favorite……The ones who say “you can’t” and “you won’t” are probably the ones that are scared that you will.  Unknown

Happy Monday Everyone!!

Rachel

 

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Customer Service Week

Next week, October 8th-11th, is National Customer Service Week. At MEI we pride ourselves on giving excellent customer service and making our customers number one. Next week is the perfect time to step up our service and really show our customers how much they mean to us. Here are some quotes to motivate you to go above and beyond for our customers.

“Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job.”   Anonymous

“Unless you have 100% customer satisfaction…you must improve.”    Horst Schulz

“You are serving a customer, not a life sentence. Learn how to enjoy your work.”    Laurie McIntosh

The difference between “try” and “triumph” is just a little “UMPH”!    Marvin Phillips

 

Have a great Friday!

 

Meredith

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A Good Cause

lebfoodSeveral of you have a few dollars drafted from your pay each month to go towards our company matching charitable account.  The main cause of this account is to support and carry out our role as a Floor Sponsor of the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Adopt-a-Floor program.  Many of you have made the trip to Memphis to participate in one of the various events we have hosted at the hospital over the last few years and several of you have talked of how rewarding the experience is.  Our next Le Bonheur event will be Saturday October 5.

Pictured is just a sample of the things we provide as part of care packages for the families staying with loved ones at Le Bonheur.  Although the individual meals that families receive may not cost much money or seem lavish by any stretch of the means the convenience factor means a great deal.  On top of that, while going through what is probably one of the toughest times in their lives it is reassuring for these families to know that, out there somewhere, there are people who they don’t know that care for them and what they are going through.

Thanks to all of you who participate in one way or another with the charitable causes we assist with. — Luke

 

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”  George Bernard Shaw

 

 

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SMART Goals

Setting goals in both professional and personal areas of life is extremely important. Both short-term and long-term goals are great ways to make sure we are always reaching our full potential. I learned about the SMART acronym for setting goals a few years ago and from that day forward I always ask myself is that a SMART goal? Whenever you want to set a goal in your life whether it be personal, professional, short-term, or long-term, ask yourself is it SMART.

S – Is it Specific?

M – Is it Measurable?

A – Is it Attainable?

R – Is it Realistic?

T- Does it have a Time frame?

If you can answer “yes” to these questions then you have a goal that you are sure to meet.

What keeps me going is goals.  – Muhammad Ali

A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.   – Larry Bird

Have a great Thursday!

Meredith

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Employee Appreciation

We’ve all heard the old saying “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes.” Another interpretation describes it this way: “Don’t criticize another person’s work until you’ve tried to do it yourself; don’t judge another person’s life until you’ve been forced to live it.”

Pretty sound advice for anyone — especially managers…..and an auditor.

A few weeks ago, I worked for two days with Bellena in Amory.  It was extremely busy and almost chaotic at times.  We worked longs hours (her even longer than me) and needless to say, we were both exhausted at the end of each day.  Not only did I enjoy working with her as we have known each other since we were kids but I also left more appreciative of the hard work that each of you do on a daily basis.

For this blog, I just wanted to let all of you know the things you do for the company do not go unnoticed.  All of you are a necessary piece to the puzzle.  I appreciate your dedication and I know others do too.  Oh, and Bellena, it looks like you will be stuck with me for next month too!
Rachel
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Finish Strong

This week marks the last week of the third quarter.  For many of you the next four days will determine if you meet the goals you have set to reach by the end of the quarter.

Good luck to everyone this week.

With every ending comes a new beginning, and Monday will start our last and busiest quarter of the year. This will be a great opportunity to take advantage of this busy time and to really focus on customer service. It is a stressful time of year for everyone so it is especially important to go above and beyond what our customers expect of us.

Good service is good business.
Siebel Ad

If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.
Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com

Louis

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