Latest Postings

GIVE THE GIFT OF SAFETY ( Terry Barth, FSO-PA )
Getting ready for the Holidays – LINKS ( Jerry Blumengarten )
CHRISTMAS "GARDEN" CRAFT DEMONSTRATIONS AT TRBG ( June Marsden )
December, Christmas & New Year's Events ( Brenda French )
Outing On The Green Raises Lots Of Green ( Dorothy Kamm, Yates & Associates )

share a story | more postings »

YourHub.com \\ St Lucie West \\ Stories \\ Outdoor Sports, Activities \\ Boating

The little boat dealer that could...

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

Contributed by: Jim Sabia on 10/13/2008

My story is about something that's near and dear to my heart. It's about my business and how it (over 21 years) taught me about relationships. I startedmy businessat the ripe old age of 22. Now I'm 43 and things in my past that made me who I am today are coming into focus. This one I would like to share with you... I was raised in a small family business. My mother, father, and me worked lots of hours and we were close as a result.I learned at an early age "the customer is king". My father always made sure his customers were treated with kindness and respect. As a child I observed and absorbed this philosophy in action. Being very young, the part I couldn't understand was the relationships my father had with his customers. Not just as retailer to customer but human to human. My father knew all of his customers and they knew him on many levels. When business was good, so were the relationships they shared, when busines was bad it was the relationships, more so than the money that made it worthwhile to continue. When things were very bad, it was the relationships between the people, my family and our customers that saved us. Imagine your life savings in a business, owing suppliers thousands of dollars and your store burning to the ground. This really happened when I was 11 years old and it was devistating to my parents. The amazing part of the story was how so many people came and helped my parents rebuild and would not accept any payment. It was the customers, the people that my parents served, respected and earned a living from, that saved us. They continued to buy from us even though we no longer had a store, we sold out of a garage. An amazing story of people helping people. An amazing lesson that I learned at a very young age. A lesson successful small businesses everywhere already know. Great customer service is slipping everywhere today. In tough times, now more that ever, in my business, we believe in and treasure our relationships. Great relationships are the reason we are the leaders in our field. Selling and Servicing Boats on the Treasure and Space Coasts.

Jim Sabia, Owner
Top Notch Marine
www.topnotchmarine.com

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story