Treat Every Customer with Respect, Dignity, And Kindness.

My wife, two very young children, and I started our dream business in the early 1980’s in a small suburban town in Connecticut. We imagined, started, and ran an upscale modern convenience store. From the start we were careful to treat each customer with the respect, dignity, and kindness they deserved regardless of how they looked or how much we thought they might have been worth. We thanked them for their business and asked them to return. We did get some strange looks since it was “just a convenience store”. Success followed us, however.

One middle age woman became a frequent shopper for coffee and lunches to bring to a crew. She was often muddy with dirty boots and old work clothes. We came to enjoy her visits and never assumed who or what she did for a living. About nine months to a year later she invited us to her almost most completed million-dollar home on a nearby hilltop home project. She was the general contractor for her own home and knew what she was doing. The home was magnificent. We recognized most all the workers who had become our customers as well. Her patronage of our business as well as the other contractors and additional homes being built probably realized our small business more than $100,00.

We also had an often-homeless man who at times had problems with body odor. We treated him with the same respect. We also enjoyed some company presidents of national firms as our customers. We treated all of them with that same respect and dignity. That is the way it is supposed to be. Race, religion, guesstimates on how much someone is worth, are never reasons to treat people poorly.

I have been and antiques dealer now for many years and still follow that same rule. There are no stupid questions or customers that should be treated poorly. I am no saint. Just trying to make sense of life and living it to the best of my ability one day at a time.

Dave

Whitewateraniques.com