A Few Quotes For Friday

Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. – Thomas Carlyle

True Prosperity is the result of well placed confidence in ourselves and our fellow man. – Benjamin Burt

Depend not on fortune, but on conduct. – Publilius Syrus

Behave toward everyone as if receiving a great guest. – Confucius

A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green.Francis Bacon

 The key is to be like a duck, smooth and unruffled on the surface but paddling furiously underneath. – unknown

Have a great Friday—-Louis

 

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Manager’s Meeting

We will be meeting again today to make final preparations for tomorrow’s manager meeting.  I hope that we are not only able to bring new ideas to the table but also are able to re-energize your drive to succeed in areas that are covered at every meeting.  Although I have only been with the Company for a year now (wow time has flown!), I always look forward to any Company functions that involve a group of us getting together.  Not only do I always take away something new and receive a re-charge to my motivation but I also love getting to see everyone and catch up on what has happened since I last saw you.  I guess you could say it’s like a family reunion without the drama and crazy relatives!

My part of the meeting will involve presenting the updated policy and procedure manuals.  I hope that these manuals will be a useful tool as we move towards a standardization of our procedures.  I want to say a special thank you to those who helped me make the final edits to the manuals – Bellena, Shauna, Kim, Michelle and Michele.  You ladies are awesome!!  Bellena, Michelle and Michele took a lot of time going though the manuals and making final corrections.   I would have never gotten everything done without their help.

Have a great day!

Rachel

 

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Who Stands Out?

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

 

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Don’t bunt…..Aim out of the ballpark!!

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

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An Afternoon with Duck Dynasty

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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

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Change

Below are a few quotes on change.  I believe one of the characteristics that sets successful people and organizations apart is the ability to accept and adapt to change.  I recently started a new book entitled Switch How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.  I look forward to sharing some of the highlights of this book over my next couple of blog post.

Have a great day–Louis

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself   -Leo Tolstoy

The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind. –  Friedrich Nietzsche

The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. – Albert Einstein

The Times They Are a-Changin – Bob Dylan

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Term of the Day

If you have worked in our company for long then you should know the emphasis our organization places on providing great customer service.  In our quarterly manager meetings we head up every agenda with the topic.  On our company blog we routinely stress the powerful benefits of superior customer service.  And, hopefully your managers and area managers drill the importance of customer service immediately after your hiring.

I was scanning through some business websites the other day and someone had posted the Wikipedia definition of customer service.  As soon as I read it I knew I had my blog post for today.

Taken from Wikipedia:

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. According to Turban et al. (2002), “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.”

The importance of customer service may vary by product or service, industry and customer. The perception of success of such interactions will be dependent on employees “who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest,” according to Micah Solomon. From the point of view of an overall sales process engineering effort, customer service plays an important role in an organization’s ability to generate income and revenue. From that perspective, customer service should be included as part of an overall approach to systematic improvement. A customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer has of the organization.

Just in case you missed it, I would reread the last sentence again.  Have a great week everybody! — Luke

“A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.”  Chinese Proverb

 

 

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Ben Franklin Says

One of my favorite business blogs is Business Insider.  It has breaking news, business news, some off the wall stuff that is interesting and, at times, some motivational tidbits.  The other day I came across a post that included several Benjamin Franklin quotes.  As you may know, Benjamin Franklin is the guy who invented lightening and he is the only dead president who really never was president.  All humor aside, Franklin was one of the most successful people I have studied and very few, if any, did more for our country than him.  I hope you enjoy some of the quotes I chose.  His wisdom is timeless.

“Plough deep while sluggards sleep and you shall have corn to sell and keep.”   

“Employee thy time well, if you meanest to gain leisure.”

“If you were a servant, would you not be ashamed that a good master should catch you idle?  Then if you are your own master, be ashamed to catch yourself idle.”

“At the working man’s house, hunger looks in but does not enter.”

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

“He that pursues two hares at once does not catch one and lets the other go.”

“A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.”

“To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.”

“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”

“If you are going through hell, keep going.”

“The noblest question in the world is ‘What good may I do in it?”

Have a great day.

Luke

 

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Baldwyn Money Matters

This past week I spent a day with Susan and Angela in Baldwyn.  It happened to be one of those really slow days as far as business goes….one of those days that an average employee could have just taken it easy.  Not Susan and Angela.  They had taken it up on themselves to go through every folder for each of their active customers in order to determine what documents needed to be updated.  They had made lists and as a customer came in they were politely asking them to bring in a certain document the next time they were in the store.  As a business, we exist because of our customers so maintaining accurate customer information is a cornerstone to maintaining a close and profitable relationship with them.  Not only were Susan and Angela going the extra mile by updating customer information but there were also no mistakes found in their audit.  As I have said in previous blogs…..Coincidence?  I think not.  Janna has also mentioned the fact that Susan helps out at the business we own next door when needed which further demonstrates her commitment.  I truly enjoyed my day with these two special ladies and I hope they know how much of an asset they are to our company.

Rachel

 

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Quarterly Meeting-Goals

I’m spending the morning preparing for our quarterly strategic planning meeting which will take place next Monday.  In this meeting our management team identifies problems, sets goals, and develops a timeline to accomplish these goals for the upcoming quarter.  We review our goals and the timeline at our biweekly staff meetings.  We have found having these goals in writing and knowing they will be reviewed at the staff meetings helps everyone stay on task to accomplish their goals.  I encourage you to take up this practice in your office.  Start small- pick one or two goals you would like to accomplish this quarter.  Map out a timeline with the dates by which you will accomplish your goals. Lastly, share these goals with your coworkers so they can help hold you accountable.  I think you will find this practice will aid you in accomplishing your goals.

Have a great Tuesday…Louis

All wise men share one trait in common: the ability to listen. -Frank Tyger

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