Mr Gutter USA: Stripes On My Gutters

Mr Gutter USA: Stripes On My Gutters:  Its late you go to bed you wake up grab a cup of coffee go walk out side think of things you are about to do for the day and look up to se...

The Fruit Man

Fruit to the Customer,

There once was a man that was in sales, he could sell anything from a rubber hose to a rock on the side of the road, this man I met said he was in sales for over 35 years and has told me lots of stories of selling and how selling has changed from his days of selling in his time.

He once told me how he used to go out to Crow Mountain Orchard in Jackson County, and load up his truck with fruits and vegetables and hit the road.  He said he would be gone the whole week delivering fruit and vegetables to his customers, as to say thanks for the business.  As he presented them with a basket of fruit, he would sit around and shoot the bull with them, talk about things other than work and the products he sold. As he was telling me the story, he said it was all about them not anything else.

As he continued telling me the story, you could see his eyes light up with enjoyment; I could see a gleam in his eye, and a cheer in his voice as if to say he missed those days of selling.

I listened as he continued on with his story, as he reached down to take another swig of his Mountain Dew and telling me the story.

He said, as I continued to the next customer and pulling up, going into his office and saying hello, he would often show up unexpectedly as he walked in giving them another basket of fruit and veggies, sit down and talk for hours and leave.

He said to me "Son that's just the way we did business back then, we met in person and had a relationship with our customers, it was all about them because without them we had no business to begin with." He told me you should always be in touch with what your customer needs and how you can be there to help them with their problems, and find a solution with your services and often times just being a friend.

We continued to drive down the road in his red Chevy Truck, with sport step sides on the bed along with a  single cab. He often has this habit of drinking his Mountain Dew and open up some chew, stick it in his mouth and use the bottle to dispose of the waste.

As we continued to talk, he started again by saying in this day and time we use computers and text messaging and send an email, we do not talk to each other any more face to face. The Digital world he would say. All this is OK, but every once in a while we need to have real human connection with each other and our customers, take them to lunch, give them a phone call or just stop in and say hello.

This is a grim reminder to me, we really need to start taking more time and spending some face to face conversation with each other. I know its easy to just send an email but with this little lesson I have learned from my Father in Law Jerry it is always better to mix it up. This man Jerry is not anti-internet or anti-computer person, he's always blogging all the time, and writing books whenever time allows.

He still loves fruits and vegetables, and whenever you are around he is always giving vegetables and fruits away even to this day, yes a man of dedication.

Well here's to you Jerry.

God Bless