Jerry, Our Postman....We're Going To Miss You!

Today I heard some rather sad news that Jerry, our local postman at the post office is moving on to another job.

Now why should we care? Well, I'll tell you why.

When I started this business, I didn't know crap about how to ship. I'd fill a suitcase up with a bunch of boxes & drag them to work with me & ship them in the morning before I went in to work (man, I must've looked like a homeless person dragging that thing around!)

Anyway, I'd buy boxes, label them up & drag them in to work with me & mail them.

Then one day I took a day off from "the old day job" and happened to need to haul a bunch of boxes into my local post office in Clearfield up by the Freeport Center.

One of them was a box headed to Canada (I ship all over the world) and the guy behind the counter says, "So, do you ship to Canada much?" "Sure! All the time!" "Well, let me give you a tip.....if you don't put the word CANADA at the very bottom, they'll send it back. Canada is the worst at stuff like that".

Well, from that little tip sprung up a great friendship that has really paid off. Over the next few weeks I'd make it a point to go into the post office & try to get in this guy's line because every time I went he'd give me more pointers & tips on shipping.

Many of his "helpful tips" have saved my business literally THOUSANDS of dollars and have allowed me to ship things much quicker to people at a cheaper cost.

Here's a few tips I've learned along the way...
1) If you ship anything Priority Mail, the post office will give you the box
2) If you ship using Click & Ship or PayPal Shipping, it's cheaper & it'll give you a tracking number for free
3) If you ship lots of stuff (we have 44 boxes packed & ready for pickup tomorrow morning) there's this cool thing called Carrier Pickup. You basically get online and schedule a pickup and the postal carrier will come & pick up your packages for you...FOR FREE!!!
4) You can order priority mail postal supplies for free online at usps.com
5) If you can cram stuff into a flat-rate box, it'll save you a ton on shipping over shipping it normal priority (in fact, they say you can ship up to 70 lbs in a flat rate box for $10.00--I put 65 lbs in one once).
6) If you call your local post office they'll usually let you drop packages off after hours

...and a bunch more.

But, that's not why I'm writing about "Jerry"....

The reason I'm writing about him is because he's become one of my mentors for how to run a business & how to treat customers. I know the post office gets a bad rap for treating people crappy, but not Jerry.

Every time I've ever gone into the Post Office I've watched in amazement as he deals with people. There can be a line a mile long out the door and he'll take all the time necessary with every customer to make sure they get the best service in the world.

He treats you like you're the only one there; like that big ole line behind you doesn't bother him at all. He doesn't rush you and you feel special whenever you're there.

He knows several of the folks that frequent the post office by name and recognizes their kids and makes it a point to be cordial and friendly to everyone that comes in. He also makes it a point to always try to save people the most money he can & just treats them like a million bucks.

I like it! I really like it! In fact, if I have my choice, I try to get into "Jerry's line". My kids like him too....

While most people at the post office would probably groan about the number of packages someone ships, Jerry gets excited to see how many I can ship. He's always telling me, "you're getting close to hitting another record again...all you need is one more!"

He just has a gleam in his eye that shines and makes you want to visit with him. And, as always, he always has some sort of a helpful tip that'll somehow save you more money.

I've tried to incorporate that same philosophy into how I run my business. Treating every customer the same way with the utmost respect and politeness, like they're extra special. In fact, the phone can be ringing through with tons of other phone calls and I'll still take the time to talk to a customer on the phone about how their Biodiesel is going and I make it a point to try to remember peoples names too.

And you know what? It pays off! I repeatedly have my customers tell me over and over again that they'd rather do business with me because of how well I treat them over my competition.

So, Jerry, this ones for you! We're going to miss you dearly! Going to the post office just won't be the same without your smiling face and helpful attitude behind that counter.

-Graydon