We are all about doing the right thing - and making our customers into what we call Raving Fans of our business every time they do business with us, no matter what it takes.We will never forget that day in 1996 when Mr. Hershewe called, he was very frustrated and upset, not at all with us, but with the predicament he was in. Our nursery salespeople had spent a good deal of time with Mr. Hershewe prior to his purchase. At that time, he openly raved at how wonderful Joanne, one of our salespeople, was in helping him with his project. He was a new customer who had just moved to the area and needed some help. He loved our advice and professional service and hired us to plant 12 large trees in his backyard. Unknowingly however, he had mistakenly directed us to plant all of these trees on his neighbor’s property. It seems the land survey company had “messed up”; the builder told him.
Coincidently, Jay, one of our designer salesmen at the time, took the distressed phone call. Jay had recently proposed a new backyard landscape plan and had also earned raving reviews from Mr. Hershewe. When Jay took the call, it was apparent that Mr. Hershewe was at a loss, and rather disgusted with himself for having made the mistake. Mr. Hershewe was expecting to pay for the cost of moving the trees. Instead of saying sorry and telling him we would have to come out and give him a new estimate to move the trees over to his property, Jay took the time to personally comfort Mr. Hershewe with absolute unrestrained understanding and sincerity. He told Mr. Hershewe not to worry about it, it was obviously an honest mistake, that it would be no problem at all for us to move the trees over to his property, and that there would definitely be no extra charge for the additional work. He explained that this “was an honest mistake, that Rutgers would be happy to correct.”
Some might say that we should have charged him, it was not our fault. We say, “Who cares whose fault it is”. The fact is, an honest mistake was made unknowingly, and the right thing to do was to correct it, even if it costs us to do it. The kind of rapport and good will we earn when we do the right thing like this can’t be measured in dollars. We have something much more valuable, a customer for life. That’s what Rutgers is all about! Not just a sale, but doing the right thing. Who do you think he remembers to this day? Even his friends and family are telling our story.
Incidentally, one week later Mr. Hershewe signed a large contract for us to install his entire backyard landscape. We were one of four professionals who bid on the job, and we were not the cheapest. We know exactly why he chose us. It should be noted that Jay put no strings attached, obligation, or guilt toward Mr. Hershewe for making this additional purchase. He was completely objective. We would have done this for any customer. That is why we are who we are.
The point is we believe in doing the right thing, and in the Golden Rule, we do unto others as we would have done to us. The irony is, we will always prevail, and that it not only makes us feel good, but it translates into greater successes for us every time we do it.
