Newsletter: Farrier Industry Report | March 2010

What is Customer Service?
By Rick Segel

Great customer service is like pornography. It’s hard to define but you know it when you see it. During my workshops I ask: “What would aggravate you to the point that you would never return to a business?” People from the audience shout things such as:

• The store is dirty.
• They don’t have what I want.
• The sales people are pushy.
• People are rude.
• They aren’t open when I want to shop.
• And the one response I always get is bad customer service.

My reply to the person who said bad customer service is, “What do you mean by good customer service?”

I rarely get the same answer. Some people say friendly people, or that the store is clean, or that they always find what they’re looking for.

The purpose of the question is to make the audience realize there are issues far more important than just price because it generally takes 8 or 12 responses before someone says the prices were too high. It also demonstrates that customer service represents different things to different people.

Using the concept of knowing it when you see it, let me describe a customer service experience I had a few weeks ago.

I was speaking in Key Biscayne, Fla., at the magnificent Ritz Carlton Hotel. The meeting planner was embarrassed because he forgot to book a room for me and the Ritz was sold out. As compensation he gave me a stipend to stay at another hotel. I had driven to Key Biscayne from the Orlando area, which is a four-hour ride. The speech was at night, so I thought I would drive as far as I could, then find a hotel on the way back.

The only problem was that I had packed my suit and shirt in my suitcase and, it was wrinkled. That always happens, but this time I didn’t have a room to press it. I was aware of the legendary service at The Ritz, so I thought I would put it to the test. I parked my car with the valet and a greeter welcomed me to the hotel.

I explained my predicament to the young woman and asked for a room to press my suit. She took it to the concierge, who immediately told me to have a seat in the lobby, drink a glass of lemonade, and relax. Fifteen minutes later, he returned with my suit, which was pressed and covered with a plastic bag as if it had just come from the dry cleaners. When I put my hand in my pocket to pay, the concierge said there was no charge. He then asked the greeter to escort me to the spa where I freshened up and changed clothes. The manager of the spa called me by name, gave me a locker, the use of the shower facilities and a place to shave. I again inquired about the cost and there was none.

Wow, that's smart business because the Ritz created more word-of-mouth advertising with those few gestures than all the newspaper ads in the world could buy.

What is the lesson? It’s about ownership of the problem. The Ritz has trained its employees to own the problem and to professionally and personally deliver the problem to someone who can solve it. Then, the first employee follows up to make sure the problem is taken care of.

If you treat patrons like the Ritz treated me, your customer service will be your biggest differentiator.

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Letter from the President

Another successful FIA MarketPlace is behind us and we would like to give a big thank you and tip of the hat to the MarketPlace Committee chaired by Emily Bull, our management firm ARG, and our account executive Jean Weiss. A number of new ideas were implemented in Portland and plans are being made to make Lexington, in conjunction with the 40th AFA Convention, the best ever.

Other thank you’s go to exiting FIA board members Frank Dugan and Russ Whyde. Thanks, gentlemen, for your unselfish service to the FIA. We also need to pay a word of gratitude to Amy McLane, who is stepping down as chair of the Business Conference Committee. Amy has served in this capacity for many years and helped create many innovative conferences. Thanks, Amy!

The FIA can only be as strong as its membership involvement. I’ll be honest — we need your involvement. We need more folks to step up and be an active participant in the FIA to help us reach our full potential. We are looking for volunteers to serve on the various committees: MarketPlace, Business Conference, Marketing, Membership/Member Benefits, Bylaws, and the newly formed Regional Events Feasibility. If you’d like to be more involved, contact me at (575) 673-2489 or any of the committee chairs.

MarketPlace
Emily Bull
(803) 685-5101 or emily@monettafarrier.com

Business Conference
Michelle Nicolaides
(951) 296-0046 or empirefarrier@earthlink.net

Marketing
Tab Pigg
(817) 475-8198 or tabpigg@earthlink.net

Membership/Member Benefits
Alice Musser
 262-782-4480 ext. 413 or mussera@lesspub.com

Bylaws
Dave Erb
(410) 391-6600 or vrp@victoryracingplate.com

Regional Events Feasibility
Bob Schantz
(636) 463-7211 or bob@spanishlake.com

If you have wanted to be more involved with the FIA, now is the time. We want and need your participation.

C’mon spring,

Bob Bachen
President, FI

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MarketPlace Report

What a wonderful time we had in Portland! The MarketPlace was almost sold out, with 87 booths sold to 59 companies. The attendance exceeded our expectations and we have received nothing but positive feedback.

Raffle
This year the FIA hosted raffles during each MarketPlace session. All AFA registrants received four color-coded raffle tickets — one for each MarketPlace session. At every session, participants came by the FIA booth located in the center of the MarketPlace and dropped in their raffle ticket. Winners had to be present to win. The raffle was designed to draw people into the MarketPlace and keep them there longer. Overall, it was a big success, but we could not have done it without our great raffle sponsors. They were:

American Farriers Journal
Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center
Farrier Product Distribution, Inc.
G.E. Forge and Tool
Happy Hoofwear
iHorseshoe
Monetta Farrier Specialties
Jim Keith Tools
N.C. Tool Company, Inc.
Rusty Brown Collectable Art
Stockhoff's Horseshoes and Supplies
Thoro'Bred, Inc.
Vettec, Inc.
VICTORY

Big Raffle Winners:
One-year membership to the AFA
Steve Krause, New York

Gift Certificate Baskets (more than $700 in vendor gift certificates in each basket)
Chip Cook, Virginia
Brice Baggerly, Washington

2011 Convention Registration
Brian Christensen, Oregon

Additional Winners:
GE Forge & Tool and Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center Gift Certificates
Ryan McGreevy, Oregon

GE Forge & Tool Gift Certificate
Gordon Haight, Oregon

Many of the attendees could not believe the exhibitors and members of the FIA were donating all these items. Wow, talk about our advertising dollars at work. Thank you to everyone who helped to support this awesome event.

Food and Beverage Sponsors
Several FIA members generously sponsored some of our food and beverage items. American Farriers Journal hosted coffee, water, juice, danishes, and fruit during exhibitor move-in on Wednesday. During the Thursday night reception, Empire Farrier Supply and Vettec, Inc. co-sponsored a pretzel cart, The Shoein’ Shop sponsored a popcorn cart, and Premier Equine Health Products gave $1 off coupons toward concessions and drinks at the bar.

SAVE THE DATE for Lexington
FIA is looking ahead to next year’s 40th AFA Convention in Lexington, Ky., Feb. 22 – 26. We hope to make this the best MarketPlace to date. As always, we welcome input from FIA members to help us plan future MarketPlaces. Please e-mail info@farrierindustry.org or call (601) 924-3495 with your ideas and suggestions.

Membership Counts
As a benefit of membership, FIA members get first choice on booth space in Lexington. Exhibitor packets will go out in late August or early September.

Let’s all get excited about the 40th annual in Lexington!

Sincerely,
Emily Bull
Committee Chairperson, FIA

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From the Treasurer

Greetings,

Thank you for being a part of the FIA. Your involvement is what makes this a successful organization. Positive things have been happening this past year. Our management company, Affinity Resource Group, has worked tirelessly to create a solid bookkeeping infrastructure for us. The results have been fantastic. We now have the ability to go forward with accurate accounting and data to track the future and past financial performance of the FIA.

The AFA convention/Marketplace was a great success. Thank you to all who participated and exhibited in Portland. Between careful expense management, sponsorships, and exhibitor turnout, the income increased dramatically from our projections, creating a profit that will increase our positive numbers for 2010 by nearly 50 percent.

We expect this trend to continue in 2011. I consider the upturn in financial events a very good sign for our organization and industry. I appreciate the opportunity to represent the FIA.

Sincerely,
Michelle Nicolaides

Welcome, Ya’ll

The following businesses are new or returning members. Thanks for your support.

Alvin Farrier Supply North
Tom and Janice Stiefel
16915 FM 2920-Unit B
Tomball, TX  77377
Phone: (281) 290-9550
Fax: (281) 561-1063
alvinfs@r2rconnect.net
www.alvinfarriersupply.com

Five Star Forge
Jennifer Hite
11030 Richardson Road, B-21
Ashland, VA   23005
Phone: (804) 559-6118
Fax: (804) 368-8767
fivestarforge@comcast.net

Five Star Horseshoeing School
Staci Franklin
807 NE Johnson Road
Minco, OK  73059
Phone: (405) 352-5920
dusty@fivestarhorseshoeingschool.com
www.futurefarrier.com
 
Jordahl's Blacksmith Shop and Farrier Supply
Joe Jordahl
6405 Table Roack Road
Central Point, OR  97502
Phone: (541) 826-5282
jordahl@cyberpc.com

McKee's Farrier Supply
Carol Neely
25575 NE North Valley Road
Newberg, OR  97132
Phone: (503) 538-5998
mckeesfarrier@aol.com

MNC, Ltd
Peter Willinson
Unit 8, Lower Rectory Farm
Orchard Mill Lane, Great Brickhill
Milton Keynes, Bucks MK179AF
ENGLAND
Phone: 01908366855
Fax: 01908640688
richard@mnc.ltd.uk
www.horseshoes.co.uk
  
Paynet Systems
Jana Chevalier
5955 Shiloh Road, #100
Apharetta, GA  30005
Phone: (800) 809-1989
Fax: (888) 282-9553
info@paynetsystems.com
www.paynetsystems.com

R. Steele d/b/a Horseshoes Unlimited
Ray Steele
521 Main Road
Gill, MA  01354
Phone: (413) 863-2443
Fax: (413) 863-3671
redsteele@hotmail.com
www.bestbuyhorseshoes.com

R.A.T.E. Company
Michael Schall
2100 Reach Road
Williamsport, PA  17701
Phone: (570) 329-3780
Fax: (570) 329-3779
mike@keystoneleather.com

Sierra Saddlery and Mercantile
Sandy Ballou
10125 Ophir Road, Ste. D  
Newcastle, CA 95658 USA
Phone: (530) 823-5594
Fax: (530) 889-1231  

Shanghai March Import and Export Company Ltd
Yu Yongzeng
14B No. 1 Huang Xing Road
Zhongtong Building
Shanghai 200090
CHINA
Phone: 86-21-65398871
Fax: 86-21-65398872
yyyongz@sh163.net
www.shanghai-march.com

Stratus Insurance
Chris Van Leeuwen
947 S. 500 E., Suite 301
American Fork, UT  84003
Phone: (801) 763-1375
Fax: (801) 763-1374
chrisvl@statusins.com
www.stratusins.com

USHU Farrier Supply
Laurie Tonita
Box 53, RR #5
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 3J8
Canada
Phone: (306) 229-9872
Fax: (306) 242-2678
ltonita@sasktel.net
www.ushu.ca

Vetericyn, Inc.
Amika Sodhi
3546 N Riverside Ave
Rialto, CA  92377
Phone: (866) 318-3116
amikas@vetericyn.com
www.vetericyn.com

Well-Horse
Tim Demma
989 Wigeon Way
Arroyo Grande, CA  93420
Phone: (419) 295-0474
Fax: (804) 489-8717
sdemma@earthlink.net
www.well-horse.com

Facebook Update

If your business has recently jumped on the Facebook bandwagon, you’ll soon receive "Your Weekly Facebook Page Update" via e-mail. Open it; it’s completely legit and contains valuable information you should put to good use. 

Check your Facebook analytics regularly, at least once a week. Then use the analytics on your Facebook Fan Insights Page to assess the results of your Fan Page efforts and work on accelerating growth in all three categories:

    * Number of fans
    * Number of wall posts
    * Number of visits

The FIA also is on Facebook, and we’re up to 331 fans. Look us up to enjoy the latest photos from the 2110 MarketPlace and AFA Convention.

Give It a Shot

If your sales need a pick-me-up, go to the good ol’ coupon. A simple coupon in the local paper, a direct mail piece or a discount offered on your Web site can help keep your current customers coming back and entice new ones. A study by the Manufacturer's Coupon Control Center found that 75 percent of customers who believe themselves loyal to a particular brand would consider switching to a competitor if they received a coupon for it.

In Case You Forgot

As a member benefit, you are allowed to promote your products and services on our Web site. This is your chance to make sales around the world, and it’s free advertising.

Laugh Lines

Joseph was called to testify at the Internal Revenue Service, so he asked his accountant for advice on how to dress for the occasion.

"Wear shabby clothes so that they think you are a pauper," his accountant told him.

Joseph decided to ask his lawyer as well. "Wear your best clothing so they know you aren't intimidated,” he said.

Completely confused, Joseph went to his priest and asked for advice.

"Let me tell you a story," the priest said. "A woman, about to be married, asked her mother what to wear on her wedding night. A heavy, long flannel nightgown that covered her to her neck, the mother suggested.

Not satisfied, the girl posed the same question to her best friend, who told her to wear a sexy negligee with a V neck down to her navel.

Joseph was confused. "What does any of that have to do with my problem with the IRS?"

"Simple," said the priest. "It doesn't matter what you wear; you're still going to get screwed."