I’m an old, crusty dog, writing about business and doing dog-and-pony presentations for better than 35 years.  So, I’m hard to surprise and even harder to delight!  Still, that’s what happened this week.

As you may recall, in the name of shameless self-promotion, I sent out a notice a few days ago announcing that my biz blog, The Freestyle Entrepreneur, had been named one of the best blogs for entrepreneurs.  That tickled me.

But what really got me giggling was a card I received a few days later from Dean Lund, my insurance agent with American Family.  The card, with a hand-written note and a copy of my email announcement, caught me totally by surprise, especially since of the hundreds (thousands? Millions?) of people who were sent the notice, Dean was the only one to send a congrats note.    (And, no, no, no, this is not criticism of anyone; we’re all busy.)

This does explain why Dean is my insurance agent and has been for about 15 years.  Now, I could probably find insurance cheaper, and I get offers in the mail all the time.  But Dean has always been there for me, even now that I live more than 150 miles from his office and haven’t actually seen him face to face in at least 10 years.  I need service or have a question? He or one of his staff makes sure it is taken care of 100 % of the time.    

My point:  Nothing that Dean does is all that mystical or extraordinary.  He just always walks the walk when it comes to top-of-the-line service.  Most of all, he is aware of his clients and knows how rare it is for people to receive an attaboy (or attagirl).  We are all pretty much starved for appreciation; yes, even an old dog like me.  (Scratch me behind the ear and say, “Good fella,” and I’ll wag my tail for hours!)

The bottom line:  The five minutes Dean Lund took to send me that card not only made me giggle and earned my appreciation, but it also earned my business for a long time to come.

So, work hard, make money, have fun, and find a way to make your customers giggle.  — JRI   

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The Freestyle Entrepreneur — winner of the 2010 Top 35 Entrepreneur Blog awards from OnLine MBA.

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