The full text of the email:
Good morning,
Mary Jean wanted me to share the following sentiment with each of you this morning.
We are so proud of all of you! This award is indicative of the tremendous professionalism that is displayed by each and every one of you, every single day. This award is your award.
It is a statement to all companies in San Diego that putting the customer first, doing the best we can for the customer, always doing so with the highest ethics and integrity is the right way and the best way to do business. What is so enjoyable is to read your reviews, hear what customers are saying about you and realize that because of all of you and your commitment to “WOW” ing the customer…we truly are the best of the best.
I had a lot of fun this morning going truck to truck, department to department, congratulating all of you on your accomplishments. In doing so and talking with you I realized that some of you did not really understand the significance of this award and what it takes to win it. This is not a best in San Diego type award that is determined by the number of people who vote. This is an award that is based on concrete facts.
Let me explain just a bit more so that you can truly understand the value of what you have accomplished.
Here are areas that are examined:
- client service – we are asked to give names of customers that they can contact and verify what we are saying is true. This also includes customers where things didn’t go as planned. The judges want to see how we responded and what the final outcome was. As all of you know we go over and above any other company in the way we take care of our customers.
- Marketing – Do we use ethical marketing practices? In other words, do we say and do what is advertised. We are not a “bait and switch” company.
- Do we give back to the communities we serve? Thanks to Mary Jean we are so active in many charitable events. We participate in parades, concerts in the park etc. Many of you attend these events and some of you have even manned the booth.
- The internal ethics of our company – How do we treat our employees? Did you know that we are 1 in 5 companies out of hundreds of companies that our insurer handles that gives full medical benefits to their employees after just 30 days? The 30 day time frame is very rare…of the 4 other companies that do it, most are at 60 or 90 days.
Here is how the BBB says it; (Thanks to Scott Bullock for sharing it with me)
“The BBB seeks to create a community of trustworthy businesses, setting standards for marketplace trust, encouraging and supporting best practices, celebrating marketplace role models and denouncing substandard marketplace behavior.
The Better Business Bureau has established an annual awards program to promote and celebrate public recognition of for-profit businesses that are positive examples who maintain a solid commitment to conducting their business practices in an ethical fashion.”
When you go home tonight and look in the mirror…keep this thought in mind…you are looking at a winner!!!
Thank you again for all you do.
– Dick