In the words of Michael Jordan upon his return to the NBA after his foray into baseball, “I’m back!” Maybe you didn’t notice, but I haven’t written a column for Augusta Business Daily (ABD) since the last Wednesday in August. I took the month of September off to help provide space for the sponsors of that month’s ABD Connections and Careers event. Then, my return was further delayed by the impact (both literally and figuratively) of Hurricane Helene.
My wife and I have been refugees/vagabonds for the past couple of weeks. We were blessed to be out of town during the storm. We left Augusta for the Atlanta airport on Thursday, September 26, the day before the storm flew to Chicago, and then drove to South Bend, Indiana for the Notre Dame-Louisville college football game to be played that Saturday. On Friday night, when we weren’t fully aware of the severity of the storm and the damage it inflicted on the CSRA, one of my neighbors (blessed to have David and other nice and caring people living near us) called to let me know we had several trees down on our property which also damaged our house. He followed up by sending some pictures that included a small hole in our roof where a fallen tree caused our power lines to be ripped from the structure and our outdoor deck to be demolished. With not much to be able to do at that point and fortunately, dry weather in the ensuing days, we flew back to Atlanta on Sunday evening, stayed there overnight, and returned to our home to assess the damage on Monday. We found that in addition to the roof and deck damage, the exterior roof to our basement sunroom in the rear of the house had also been destroyed by a falling tree, partially exposing some of our finished basement areas to the elements.
After spending most of Monday arranging to have the exposed parts of our house tarped, engaging a tree service to cut up our fallen trees, and working with our insurer to begin the process of scheduling adjusters for both our house and my vehicle which was also damaged by fallen trees. Fortunately, the people we worked with on all these issues were extremely helpful, courteous, and considerate (more on this below) and we returned to Atlanta (the closest we could find a hotel) for a week, as we did not expect to be connected to electricity for at least that long. Since I had to teach last Monday (October 7), we checked out of our Atlanta hotel, but found out we were still going to be without electricity for at least a couple of days. So, we checked into a hotel in Athens, so I could be closer to Augusta to come to teach my Monday and Wednesday evening classes. Fortunately, the electricity in our neighborhood came back on that Monday at 6 pm. The bad news was that because the power line to our house came down, we needed to arrange with Georgia Power to have someone connect the line back to our house. Georgia Power identified a great contractor who did the work this past Friday and Saturday and electricity went back on at our house this past Sunday morning. Since Wednesday evening, we have been fortunate to be able to stay with friends in Appling, making it much easier to deal with the electrical contractor and adjustor and, needless to say, avoid the additional cost of a hotel room!
As we experienced the trials and tribulations of the aftermath of the storm, we learned some very important lessons about how to treat others, both for businesses and customers alike. A friend of mine from California with whom I text regularly texted me: “You have a good, positive attitude, Rick…Good on you!” My response back to him was, “It’s a combination of faith, realism, and patience…and a dash of denial.” The last part was my attempt at humor, but the other three attributes have been key in this ordeal.
First, in addition to leaning on my faith in situations like this, I believe in having faith in my fellow citizens. If you treat them kindly and with consideration, they will treat you similarly, even in stressful situations such as this; and I have found this for the most part to be true. Second, be realistic. Others can only do so much. Realize you are not the only person they are attempting to serve. Be empathetic to the workload they are trying to accomplish under less-than-ideal conditions. This will allow you to be more patient as well. This cuts both ways; both for the business/service provider and the customer. If you appreciate each other’s situation and act with courtesy instead of selfishness and being demanding, you will each do better. I know that I remember all those people who treated me well and they have earned a customer for life and someone who will provide them excessive word-of-mouth advertising.
This does not hold just stressful, traumatic situations, but everyday business. So, as a business/service provider, be courteous and considerate; it will bring you more business that will remain loyal. As a customer, do the same, and see how even better you will be treated whether you need it or not.
I know I will probably leave somebody out, but I will risk it to recognize some of the great people who treated me so well over the past couple of weeks: Aaron and Dustin of USAA (and my adjuster, Richard), Andrew of Pelfrey Company Tree Service, Southpaw Roofing, Rodney and Drake of Executive Exteriors, Daniel of Current Electric, Jeremy of Atlanta Gas Light, all of my friends at Georgia Power (e.g., Matt Forshee) and the linemen from WestPenn Power who took care of our neighborhood, and all of the hotel, restaurant, and service workers who have kept everyone going. Great job y’all of demonstrating how business is optimized when courtesy, kindness, and consideration are part of the equation, and it will pay off for you much more than you realize!
