Those cows know customer service

Well, the church ladies’ day away was this past Saturday, and we had a big ol’ time. And one of the main reasons for that was the reception we received at the Fort Wayne Chick-fil-A.

Last week, I emailed Jeff Hoffman, the manager of the store, telling him I was bringing a group from church, one of whom had never tasted the goodness that is an original CFA sandwich. He emailed back, saying he would gladly welcome our group. He also forwarded my email to Andrea Detlefsen, the shop’s marketing director, who also emailed a lovely note, extending her welcome to us as well. She also asked me to ask for Sue upon arrival. I had no idea they’d welcome us quite like they did.

When we arrived, we saw a long table, set with place mats, plastic wear, and CFA mints; a stuffed CFA cow sat at each place. Sue greeted us and told us it would be her pleasure to offer us each a free dessert after our lunch.

Seriously, beyond my expectations! Sue and a young man (I believe his name was Sam – I’m kicking myself for not writing it down!) took great care of us. Refills were offered, sauces and straws were fetched, and at every turn we were told it was their pleasure to serve us. And then, Sue took our dessert orders, and she and Sam delivered them to our table.

Mr. Hoffman did give us some semi-encouraging news: Chick-fil-A is coming to Grand Rapids and Detroit. That’s the encouraging news. The semi-part is that the stores won’t be coming for another few years.

“But they are coming!” he assured us.

We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and our milkshakes – oh my word so good – and bid Sue farewell as we made our way to the shopping center. And as I interacted with other salespeople throughout the day I couldn’t help but compare them all to the workers at CFA. I certainly ran across several very helpful salespeople, but not one store had the consistently good service that CFA offered us. There is something very special about that organization.

Chick-fil-A at Jefferson Pointe, you truly outdid yourselves! Thanks for giving us a wonderful lunch and a great start to our day together. And CFA corporate, thanks for being an amazing example of what can happen when you put your values above the bottom line.