December 7, 2013

►    Customer Feedback:  Mr. & Mrs. William P. from W. Townsend, MA, stated that their general shopping experience with us was Excellent.  “Outstanding customer service and product knowledge.”  Did any of our team members do an unusually good job?  “Ann”  Sales help, operations, communication and products were all rated Excellent.  “Know products.”  “Polite and knowledgeable.”  What can we do to improve?  “Rewards and coupons.”  What do we do really well?  “Customer service and product variety.”

►    New advertising, weekly specials, and promotions continue from last week:  “Family Fun Sale”

►    There were 29 One-of-These Awards for November; nine for customer service.  Finalists were Paul, Victor, Joe Cor., Tod, and Mia.  Owner’s Choice was Paul.  Drawing winner was Tod.

►    Happy Birthday Sunday the eighth, to Kristine.

►    Victor is taking the winter off, and we expect him back for a few months, in the summer.

►    After Victor left, I offered the position of Assistant Manager to Mia.  I am grateful that she accepted.

►    The 2014 Pool Schools are scheduled, on the web, and the literature is in the stores to display.  Change the envelopes and change the A.G. folders.

►    From Anne-Marie: It is that time of year again – everyone should review the safety videos/DVDs. There is a sheet to sign on the bulletin board.  Also, the safety committee wanted me to remind everyone to please exercise caution moving about the warehouse. It is very busy this time of year with numerous trucks dropping off huge shipments of winter chemicals and covers.  Also, there will be a period of time where furniture from the office (during the carpet install) will be stored in the warehouse.

►    From Seth:

–        I had previously asked employees to hold off on buying the Red Sox World Champion merchandise.  Now that Black Friday weekend is over, feel free to go ahead and buy whatever you like.

–        When making billiard packages please restock the floor with any items that we are low on.  Grab items from the warehouse when possible.  Thanks!

–        Please remember to test the store hot tub(s) on a daily basis.  Now that we don’t have the “kids” working, the responsibility falls equally across all of those working in the store on a given day.

►    Saturday, I found out that Jim was warning people who picked up the Legacy foosball that the directions were wrong.  So I had him write new directions and tape them to the box.  Then I faxed them to Cris Gould at Legacy with a suggestion that he change the directions.

Monday, Cris left me a voicemail that I just needed an assembly lesson, and I should call him and he would explain it to me.  Then Tuesday, he sent me the following email.  It is actually very honest that they should voluntarily give us a discount,  I had already taken $30 off the retail price because of the required assembly time on Sunday.

“It has been brought to our attention that our new Classic Foosball tables are more difficult to assemble than expected. Our intention with this product was to offer an inexpensive , easy to ship item to compete with other KD Foosball tables on the market. 

          Our company has  always tried to maintain a high priority on ease of assembly and installation for all our products. So we apologize for the hardship and inconvenience the assembly of this product has caused.                 

Effective Immediately:

      1. Customers that have already purchased the KD version of our Classic Foosball Table will be given a $30.00 Credit for each table to help defray their cost to assemble.

     2. Any future purchase of KD Classic Foosballs Tables from our stock will include a $30 price reduction from the wholesale price.   

    3. All future production for this item will include a factory assembled cabinet. The new wholesale price will increase $30 from the current wholesale.

          We hope this important change to our Classic Foosball Tables will show our continued commitment to making our  products be the best value in the industry and truly ‘Exceed your Expectations’.”        

                                                                                          Cris Gould, VP Sales and Marketing, Legacy Billiards       

►    From the Hippo:

Perspective:  First-word products:  The DogTread Treadmill is a modification of the familiar exercise machine in homes and health clubs, with special features for dog safety – a helpful invention in a nation in which over half of all pet dogs are too fat.  (A somewhat higher percentage of cats is overweight, but it is unlikely that marketing a cat treadmill has ever been considered.)  The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention points out that pets can develop type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis, and that the problem stems from insufficient exercise and overindulgent owners.  (The DogTread Treadmills sell for $499 to $899.)

►    It Could Be Worse:

My boss’s assistant, an efficient middle-aged woman, spent much of the morning transcribing a letter he had dictated, when

she suddenly let go with a string of expletives; words I’d never realized were in her vocabulary.  “Is everything all right?”

I asked.  Steaming, she rewound her digital dictation device a few seconds and let me listen to what she had heard:  my boss

saying, “No, no, forget all of that.  [Pause] ‘Dear sir…’”.                                           Johnny Walker, Kempton, PA.