Not so Lickity Split But Still Lickity
As I stare out my window today and watch as the rain washes away last night’s spilled ice cream treats outside the local Dairy Queen, I’m assured that no matter how serious some issues in life seem to be, the reality is few are ever a matter of life and death. Such was the case at the ol’ “DQ” yesterday. After a fine game of disc golf with the family, we decided to top off a splendid day with a cool treat. So we ventured down the road to Dairy Queen and ordered a very standard cherry slushy, a chocolate covered strawberry shake, and a small vanilla cone (for our dog Lily!). My wife ordered actually. I was outside hanging out with Lily. I didn’t think folks would want to mix dog hair with their sweet treat.
After about 10 minutes of contemplating CFgear’s next moves, my wife came out to announce that there was “utter” (if you think really hard you’ll get the pun) chaos going on behind the scenes inside. The ice cream machine was on the fritz. The information on the order screen that the workers were trying to fill orders from was in disarray. And worse yet, the person behind the till just kept taking in more orders. So the “Pick Up” line was growing exponentially! Well, my wife went back inside for about another 10 minutes until I just had to go investigate the scene myself.
Upon walking inside, I could see the disgust on everyone’s faces. They were growing hungrier by the millisecond. Surrounded by enticing pictures and the intoxicating smell of “sugar loaded” concoctions!! But all anyone could do was observe the painful confusion behind the counter.
The workers kept staring up at the computer screen trying to decode the darn thing. It was hopeless! Until one of the very mindful employees FINALLY wised up and thought “why don’t we just ask these hungry customers what they ordered?” Hmmmm. Now that’s a novel idea, eh?! Seems like a VERY common sense thing to do but in this age of computers and digital information, we sometimes miss the mark on connecting with customers.
Well, as you could guess, no one died during the miniature DQ crisis. In fact, thanks to the power of human connection, everyone eventually left with a “yummy yummy in my tummy” sensation.
I like to think while CFgear is heavily vested in the world of technology, our ability to provide branded flash drives to folks across the world is driven 99.9% by our genuine interest in a human connection…a sincere interest in you as a person…and you as a person that just so happens to be hungry for a “ put my company logo on a flash drive” treat.
Sure, computers can help enhance the relationship process. They help us engineer some delightfully powerful preloaded flash drives. Computers even help us compile your information when the time comes to place an order for bulk flash drives. But in the end, I am confident our clients have connected with us as people first and foremost. People that are passionate about every last detail when it comes to anything having to do with a flash drive. We embrace questions from our clients at all levels. From the “How does a flash drive work” question all the way to “How can we engineer preloaded flash drives” question. We listen and learn from you the customer ALL the time. And we use technology to enhance that relationship vs. rely on technology to drive the relationship.