A Word...Or Two...Or Three... by ds Stringer, CEO

Mean What You Say...Say What You Mean...

I have gotten my fill of situations that involve someone telling me "half truths," that is. people in every day life who are performing some sort of customer service and tell me one thing, but do another. From everything to "Be right back"... to the total cost of this item will only be..."

I'm just really tired of this type of "customer service." And of course. you may be wondering "what in the world" and "why is she at this point?"

Well, a couple of weeks ago, my power went out. I'm not going to say which company takes care of my power service. I don't reside in the North Hollywood area so please don't assume you know the power company of which I speak.

Okay, anyway, I lost power, so I called to find out what the problem was and an approximate time, if any, the power was expected to be back on.

Never a live person person to talk to, first of all. Always a recording. That point is significant.

So, I'm listening to yet, another recording that told me that they had no idea what the problem was, but they we working on it and power "should be back on" in about 8 hours, by 8AM, The recording asked if I wanted a phone call letting me know that the power was going to be turned on in 15 minutes...press"Y" for yes and "N" for no.

I am always asked this question and I always want the notification.

I pressed "Y."

Well, slightly inconvenient to be sure. But... this would cover most of the evening and I would be asleep anyway, so other than having to get ready for bed in the dark (thank goodness for flashlights) I would be sleeping through most of the power outage. I was cool with this, and hopefully I would have some notification that the power was going to be turned back on soon.

Thankfully, the power came on (I always keep the light to wake me up and let me know) much earlier than 8AM...but no notification phone call prior. In fact, the phone call did occur...a day and a half after I was supposed to receive the call!

By the way, my power goes out frequently and this scheduled "phone call..." ...always happens this way. I figure some day, it will actually happen correctly.

But so far, it never has.

Which is why I'm finally fed up, not just with this, but with all of this "telling me one thing and doing another."

So, this is a message to all of us in the service industry, from our servers in our restaurant industry to my position in the UCNH Chamber of Commerce. Mean what you say...say what you mean. When you say,"I'll be right back with your water and some bread," then come right back with the water and bread. If you've run out of bread and more is currently being baked, then let the customer know that because indeed, you're literally not coming "right back."

If a customer asks a question and you don't know the answer, then tell them that. Don't offer some sort of answer that's not true, just to sound knowledgeable. Go ahead and just say you don't know...and if you actually do intend to find out the answer, well then you can say that. But don't say you're going to find the answer when you won't and you think the customer will forget about it anyway so it won't matter.

Believe me, being one of those customers, we don't forget about it and do expect an answer...so it DOES matter.

This is all part of, not excellent customer service, but "customer service...period...and we should put the "Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say" mantra into practice every day.

On behalf of the UCNH Chamber of Commerce...

Honoring Small Business Owners!!

Here's your chance to recognize all of the businesses being honored through the "United Chambers of Commerce Small Business Breakfast!"

Please join us at the "Small Business Breakfast "on Friday, June 2nd at the Airtell Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys.

For more information, to purchase tickets, or even to sponsor, please call Florine at 818-772-4838

Here's.....Gelson's!!!!

Running out of ideas on what to do for Mom? Let Gelson's help...

For Mother's Day, treat her to a delicious meal, beautiful flowers, chocolate-dipped strawberries, a refreshing beverage and more from Gelson's. Let us do the work so you can relax and have quality time with the ones you love.Mother's Day pickups are May 13-14. Last day to order is May 12 at 10pm.

* All holiday meal orders will be refrigerated at the time of pick up and will require reheating. No substitutions available.

No Tricks...We Want To Mix!!

Won't be long now...less than two weeks away! And we know you'll LOVE this mixer!

Special guest speaker is Steve from True Summit Promotions (The expert on every kind of promotional item...literally from "soup to nuts"...lol!).

Raffle prizes courtesy of our friends at Staples Office Supply!

And don't forget mixing, mingling, new member intros...and more!!

No registration needed...all we need is you...there!!

We'll see you on the 24th, 6PM-8PM at Pit Fire Pizza. Check the flier for additional info. All other questions? Call us at 818-508-5155

And Speaking Of Pit Fire Pizza...

Don't forget...Pit Fire Pizza still has this wonderful "Pesto" special happening all spring long! Really unique, new dishes available right now! Go on...give them a try! You will not be disappointed!

Cut The Ribbon Of Opportunities Not Only To Celebrate...But To Accelerate!

We're ready to cut the ribbon...and all of you are invited! This a FREE event sponsored the the UCNH Chamber of Commerce...open to the entire community! We'll be there, along with government officials, VIPs and local community leaders...and we hope you'll be there too!

Check out the flier for where and when...and we'll see you in about a month, June 8th, 2023!!

Time For "Thankful" Thursday!

For this week's "Thankful Thursday," we thought it would be about time to thank all the new members we have welcomed to our Chamber family so far this year!

New York Life

Fastest Labs

Smile Exchange

Dr. Tania Farshi

Kaiser Permanenti

Welbe Health

Sweat EXT

The Midnight Mission

Kalaveras

Considering a pandemic recovery and a scary economy, these businesses have realized the importance of belonging to a Chamber of Commerce...networking, visibility, marketing among other things...and chose to invest in their community, and us!!

We appreciate your confidence in the UCNH Chamber and we look forward to working with you in the second half of 2023...

And...thanks to all of our renewing members! Your continued loyalty means everything to us.

For more info on our Chamber please call 818-508-5155

Today Is "Eat What You Want Day!!!"

'Nuff said..Eat what you want! You have all day to do it! The calendar gives you permission, only one day though...TODAY!!

A Week From This Sunday...

And This Sunday...

Before we go, we wanted to say Happy Mothers Day to all of the Moms out there. Not a one of us would be here without you, so we want to say a special "Thank You" to you on this

"Thankful Thursday" and wish you a wonderful day on Sunday, and every day!

So, until we see y'all next week...

That's All Folks!!