April 22, 2017
► Customer Feedback: Customer Karen W. from Bedford, NH rated her general shopping experience as Excellent. “Great customer service and nice layout to store. Cleanliness and children’s play area made shopping less stressful with kids.” Did any of our team members do an unusually good job? “Yes, Allison J. went above and beyond finding additional chaises that I bought last year, and are now not stocked. Then she contacted Telescope directly to get replacement parts as there was damage to the product.” Sales help, operations people, communication, and product performance were all rated Excellent. She would recommend us to a friend. What can we do to improve? “Nothing.” What do we do really well? “Customer service and knowledge of products.”
► The final week of the April Pre-Seasonal Sale is upon us. Sale ends on SUNDAY April 30, not Saturday. Why? Because it is an APRIL Sale.
► Pat’s actual 20th Anniversary is Wednesday the 26th, though he will be away bowling that day. Pat was a high school kid when he started here. Now, my little man is all grown up!
► Happy One-Year Anniversary to Eric, on Thursday the 27th. Thank you. Let’s see if you can stay longer than Pat!
► Events during the next couple of weeks:
April 22: Ryan, Amber, Ally, Jack, Morgan, and Eric have their one-year Anniversary: Have some anniversary cake in the coffee shop while supplies last.
April 26: Pool School 202 ~ Easy Pool Opening, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM.
April 29: Patrick has his twentieth Anniversary: Have some anniversary cake in the coffee shop while supplies last.
April 30: April Pre-Seasonal Pool Supply Sale ends at 5:00 PM. Hurry, don’t miss out.
May 1: Extended store hours start: Mon – Fri 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM, Sat 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Sun 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
May 3: Pool School 101 ~ Introduction to Pool Maintenance, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
May 6: Amber’s Birthday: FREE birthday cake in the coffee shop while supplies last.
► I am told that we have a lot of people requesting chlorine tablets without stabilizer. We have avoided them for at least 30 years because they became unpopular, and once in a while, the wrong person buys them, and there is a fire or explosion. So the next time someone wants them, can you find out what kind? What size? How they want to use them? Or just get a phone number or email and I’ll ask. Are they already using them? Why? While almost no one carries them, there are a few kinds: Sustain, HtH, Poolife™ NST. Some tablets are the size of mini tabs. Some look like hockey pucks, some like footballs. Some dissolve quickly, some dissolve slowly. Price per pound can be from $4.00 to $8.00 pound. Notice that they are all more expensive than trichlor, but you have to use way more pounds to do the same thing – unless you add stabilizer separately. So if the customer looks at the price, they make no sense to use. Will I carry them? Yes, if people want to buy them. But not if they are just idly curious about them, but do not even know how much they are.
► Humor in Uniform by Reader’s Digest:
I was assigned to a military intelligence unit as a temporary assistant. One day, a memo came around with instructions for all officers to read and initial. So I read and initialed. Days later, it came back with a note addressed to me: “You are not permanently assigned to this unit and are thus not an authorized signee. Please erase your initials and initial your erasure.”