This morning I stopped in at the Safeway bakery in Shawnessy, not too far from my home. I wanted to pick up a few decadent treats for the Staff of a non-profit charity I am involved with to thank them for a fantastic year.  Providence has the kind of dedicated staff most board of directors only dreams about, dedicated people who are not just there for the pay check, but are there for the children, it shows in everything they do.

When I queried the bakery at our local Safeway, they said they did not really have a code for putting trays of goodies together for 40 people, and that they were not able to really help in the way I expected.  These girls were busy getting ready for their very busy workday and were both immersed in those morning duties.  I said thanks and proceeded to walk out of the store, but one of the gals would not let me go, she could see I was in a hurry and wanted to solve my problem for me!

Thus we came up with a plan whereby I would purchase the goodies I wanted separately taking them to the front tills.  Then, I could bring them back to the bakery section and those two girls would arrange the trays for me.  They went to the deli section of the store and secured some trays, added some nice touches, put some pretty paper cups on some of the goodies, gave me a couple of gorgeous trays and I only had a 10 minute wait because they dropped what they were doing and leapt in!

It would have taken me quite a bit of time to find another business, open at 8am who would be able to put something like that together in a hurry.  I made the assumption I could obtain treats “my way” and when the store processes did not automatically accommodate that kind of request, these two women simply found a way to provide “my solution” in a way I had not expected and fit my time-line and schedule.

For those of you who work for an organization that SAYS you offer customer service, do you also have gems who work for you that care so much about a customer they will go out of their way to follow them toward the doors to help them find a solution?  Will they drop what they are doing and make someone’s day by giving them what they need even if the “process” does not support an unusual request?  Does your staff cook-up solutions for the customer?

Shawnessy Safeway Bakery does, stop in if you live in Calgary and say hello, and tell them you heard somewhere that they’re awesome!

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Providence is a health, education and therapy centre for preschool children with disabilities.  This particular organization has grown in numbers since my first involvement, from a single location serving approximately 175 preschool children and their families to an organization that provides education and specialized services to over 700 children in the Calgary area with 5 schools and another being built in the south.  It is a place where children are provided with exceptional early intervention, treatment, therapy and a whole lot of tender loving care.

Patti is a strategic advisor in Leadership, Customer Service and Small business. You can book her to speak at her Speakers Page.

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