Jr. High Kids in the Northwest

I just got done meeting with as many jr. high pastors in the Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA area as I could in 2 days. I left my house at 2.45 in the am yesterday morning and I will return at about 10.30 in the am tomorrow morning (after flying the red-eye). It has been a crazy two days, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I have had the chance to meet about 10 different youth ministers all of which are directly involved with jr. high kids. Andy has been at his church two weeks. Grant's jr. high weekly service was yesterday afternoon. I heard him speak on forgiveness. Tony told me about how he dressed up like Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer a few weeks ago. Jon is serving in the same church he grew up in. Jonathon has one semester left of seminary. Matt is in a great church. Casey has a passion for ministry.

Highlights - Sitting in a coffee shop which is part of a hotel (where I stayed last night), both owned by a church. All profit from either go directly to the church to ministering to the community. Eating fresh Mahi Mahi on the Washington river bank. Going to the largest bookstore in my life. Hearing ways to improve Believe straight from the hearts of those attending. Praying with and for youth ministers.

No matter where I go or who I talk to a few things remain constant. Small Groups and their leaders are important. Jr. High kids just want to be loved. It is about relationships.

Always waiting at Chatters

You don’t recognize customer service unless it is amazing or if it is bad. This past week my wife and I went to eat at new local restaurant, Chatters, with some friends. Chatters is a new restaurant in my town of Webb City. It is a sit-down similar to Cheddar’s (don’t know if that is where they got the name or not) or Applebee’s. They have really, really good food. We have been in twice, and both times the food has been great. Not everywhere can you get a burger with an egg on it.

The problem is that both times I have left frustrated and not wanting to come back. Simply because of customer service. I feel as if I can critique a restaurant objectively because I worked in a few for 6 years (mainly as a server). Let me rant for just a second and then hear me out.

There are things that I don’t particularly like about Chatters (walls are beige and empty, counter/waiting area reminds me of Shoney’s) but I can get past little things, but to get past poor customer service is hard. It is the little things that add up. When we were seated, we waited for 4-5 minutes before our server showed up. Ordering was annoying. Our drinks were always empty. We waited 35 minutes from the time we ordered till we received our food. We also had to wait for a long time for our check, and then it took forever for her to get our check back to us. It seemed as if there was something we were always waiting on. You may think I am just complaining, but from the time we sat down till the time we left it was an hour and twenty minutes. But I truly believe the problem is that her training did not emphasize the importance of customer service.

Now let me bring it back. I am a very easy customer and I rarely complain. I know what a server goes through, because I have been there. Multiple times, I wanted to fill out a comment card for the reason of improving the organization. But, my wife stops me not realizing my intent. I know that with a little bit of work, this could be an amazing restaurant. Like I said before, the food is stinkin’ good. Let me spend one night observing the staff, the procedures, the organization and then let me lead a re-training seminar. I could improve the customer service of Chatters, in turn changing the bottom line. I don’t think people realize how much one affects the other. Please, let me help - I’ll do it for free.

This is not a post about a restaurant.

Amazing customer service can fix a horrible problem. Poor customer service can kill an amazing product quickly.

Come to Webb City, go to Chatters, try the Gorilla/Lion Burger and tell me what you think.