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BEHIND THE SCENES AT LEHMAN'S

From My Desk: We Give More Than Expected

Lehman's
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The last but probably my favorite How We Behave statements that I would like to write about is that “we give more than expected.” The origins of where this statement came from is very meaningful to me as it really comes from Grandpa Howard. He was well known in the community and in our business for his generosity with his time and talents. I still remember it like yesterday; going to his calling hours and one of his friends stopped me and said, “I know your grandpa is known for being generous with his money, but he is even more generous with his time. Your grandpa, no matter how busy he was would always make time for me and help in whatever situation I needed guidance on.” That has really stuck with me for all these years. That same commitment to how we treat others is a staple of our organization. Grandpa strived to put people over business and that’s really what this statement is all about. Some definitions would actually say the meaning of Generosity is giving more than expected…and that’s why I love it so much. Our goal at Lehman’s is to “give more than expected” by providing or delivering more than what is required from our customers. We want to exceed our standards by giving exceptional service to our customers. Sometimes we think in order to do this we need to do something extraordinary, but it’s the small things that make the difference, like caring about the customer more than ourselves…we strive to teach this in our business. We recently received this comment from a customer: "Mary, it was such a pleasure doing business with you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the excellent customer service you provided. In today’s world it is very rare that you have a great experience. Thank you!" You see, we didn’t do anything extraordinary but definitely exceeded the customers’ expectations, and I could say we made time to solve that customers problems, just like Grandpa did. It’s not overly complicated but for some reason it can be a challenge.

Another way that we want to “give more than expected” is with each other. The way we serve each other in our business has a direct correlation with how we serve our customers. In a recent communication, I received this from a team member: "I just want to say THANK YOU to Barb who helped me to get an order of 45 Director Chairs shipped from California in time to ship to my customer in Wisconsin for the State Fair. My customer embroiders them and has ordered from us before. She wanted me to be sure to say THANK YOU to all involved." If we can’t give more to our teammates, how can we give more to our customer? It’s the spirit of generosity that we really strive to show each other. At Lehman’s, it’s all about the Team and emphasizing our Team over ourselves and putting others in front of ourselves.

We know that we aren’t perfect in how we “give more than expected,” but just like our everyday life, we always strive to get better and improve. I want to thank the Lehman’s Team for their dedication to our customers and “giving more than expected” to each other and our customers. I’d like to leave you with a couple questions: How can we make time for the people that really matter and how can we be generous with our time and talent? Zach Coblentz 330-620-9589 zcoblentz@hrm-enterprises.com “I love to hear from customers – “Give me a call, send me a text or shoot me an email about your experiences with one of our family of businesses.”

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