Gierke Post 3

Another mentor meeting with my father. I sought to obtain the secrets to owning a business for 20 years. He is a very humble man when it comes to his own personal successes, so it was difficult for me to decipher when he was just being humble or if something was truly not a big deal in regards to his company. He did, however, emphasize customer service as a priority for any business to thrive.

He had his own fishing rod company for about 11 years before he sold it last year. While my father had this business he handled all of the customer service relations by himself. He offered a warranty on all of the rods that he sold. There would be times that customers would abuse his generous policy and that was frustrating for him to deal with because the policy was for when the rods would break while they were fishing, not if they slammed the tip in a car door and it broke. It is clear to tell the difference between the two when looking at a broken rod.

He told me that he wanted to maintain good customer relations since it was a small company and the warranty was something that attracted customers, but he also noted that it was an extra cost to the company to replace the rod that had been broken (most times broken by the fault of the customer).  This was a tough balance for him to navigate, and more often than not he would extend grace to the customer and follow through with the warranty. Most times the customers appreciated it and even passed good words on to their friends about the rods and the company.

So the lesson I learned from this meeting was about the importance of customer service even though it can be challenging when customers are not responsible.

My dad with a big Musky on the St. Croix River