It was a day like any other day. We were open for business, and it was a busy day bustling with customers coming in for daycare, boarding, and training. Our regular customers (hardly regular) were following their weekly routines and going through the motions of small talk with us as they do most weekdays. Suddenly, one of our best clients came in and was clearly upset and in a hurry. Valerie was sobbing. She was so upset that she couldn’t even talk to tell us what was wrong, but my receptionist Jay, the Director of First Impressions, knew that whatever it was, it was really bad.

What he didn’t know was that Valerie’s partner had just had a major stroke. She didn’t know if she would survive. She didn’t know if she would ever get to talk to her again. She didn’t know if her partner would ever be the same. How do you explain that to someone that you only know on a casual basis? She didn’t know how long she would need to keep her dog with us. She couldn’t even begin to think if she needed grooming on pickup or what time she would call. She was in survival mode, and Jay knew it without her ever saying a word.

Like a true hero, Jay took one look at her and said, “GO. We’ve got it. We’ll take care of her – GO!” He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew she needed us, and he knew she couldn’t explain. Most of all, he knew that in this case, the details didn’t matter. She would be back, and she would take care of everything. She needed someone to help her NOW, she needed someone who could appreciate that she didn’t have a second to spare, and she needed to focus on her family.

Fast forward one week later, and this customer of two years would now be a customer for life. Valerie’s partner has made a full recovery, and now in her fifth year as a customer, she will continue to praise and give credit to our facility, to Jay, and the split decision he made in her time of crisis. She has recently moved away but still drives well over an hour to board her dogs. It is times like these, when your employees use their critical thinking skills in a crisis, that take companies from good to great and skyrocket them to long-term success.

You can see Valerie’s video on Dogboys.com. Courtney Emken is the co-owner of DogBoy’s Dog Ranch in Pflugerville, Texas. She spends her free time with her family, helps people with their health and fitness, does consulting for social media and pet care facility operations, and speaks nationally on a variety of topics relating to business. She has two blogs at dogboys.com and fitclubaustin.com. She can be reached by email at [email protected].

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