February 8, 2014
► A Seasonal Specialty Stores Report Card was received from an anonymous customer. They stated that their general shopping experience with us was Good. “Felt a little pressured to buy a certain product.” Sales help and operations were rated Good. “Water Lab – slower delivery and better explanation of chemical timing.” Communications and products were also rated Good. Pool School was rated average, In-store advice, and At home tutoring were rated Excellent. They would recommend us to a friend. What can we do to improve? “Pool school could be better tailored for pool type. Also – felt like I was being oversold on certain chemicals.” What do we do really well? “Good knowledge.”
► Advertising and weekly specials change Sunday, February 9: “Relax at Home”. Hot tub and game table promotions change. All other promotions continue from last week. This month’s color is purple.
► We had 36 One-of-These Awards last month; an amazing amount for January. Finalists were Mia, Jim (twice), Paul, and Joe. Owner’s Choice was Jim, Drawing winner was Mia. Congratulations to all.
► Thank you all for a wonderful job last month. You cleared the floors for the floor stripping and waxing very quickly, handled the office move efficiently, and got everything back and out in the store very fast. Excellent job.
► From Anne-Marie: I have sent a letter out to Seasonal Reward$ members who have unsubscribed from getting emails from us. These people will not get our emails, and therefore have been converted to Seasonal Sense members for the rewards that will be paid in January 2015. Everyone who was paid in January 2014 received their Seasonal Reward$ amounts. If they change their minds and want to be put back on our Seasonal Reward$, I have requested them to email me. I need something in writing in order to do this. I have also added to their customer record in RetailPro under “notes” that they have unsubscribed and the date they unsubscribed. From now on, we will send this notice whenever people unsubscribe.
► We are a Fully Accredited Business with the Better Business Bureau; with an A+ rating. We are adding the BBB logo and our rating to much of our literature and to the front page of our website. Want to sell more? Tell people about it.
► We have added a new page to the website in the History/Philosophy section, called “In The News”. It has links to the two recent magazine articles about us. If I can remember other articles about us, and we can easily find them, we will add these, too.
► From the Reader’s Digest:
A hermit leaves the solitude of his rural home and ventures into town for the first time in his life to try to get a loan. Inside the bank, he tells the manager, “I want to borrow $10,000 to build a bathroom in my house.” “I don’t believe I know you,” says the manager. “Where have you done your business before?” The hermit replies, “Out back in the woods.”