As 2008 winds down over the next 3 weeks students are taking finals, teachers are making plans for the holidays, businesses are crunching the numbers, and the churches are preparing for their Christmas plays.  During the last few weeks of December Surge Promotions will be taking a long, hard look at 2008 and making some predictions, changes and goals for 2009. 

However, our most important goal for 2009 is to have a face-lift of the customer service here at Surge.  We are working on what we are calling “The Surge Customer Experience”.  Our goal is to change the customers expectations in our industry.  If you have ever ordered t-shirts, ink pens, mugs, caps, polos or any of our 800,000 promotional products that we offer - you know what it’s like.  Some companies seem to care about their customers, and some don’t.  Some companies make you stand at a counter and tell them what you want your t-shirts to say.  You cross your fingers for 3 weeks only to pick up your t-shirts with misspelled words.  Or maybe a company tells you that there is a $200 minimum order, but you only want 100 stadium cups.  Oh, and by the way – how dare you want to see a sample of it before you buy!!

These may sound like crazy scenarios, but these are the obstacles our customers have faced for decades.  And the crazy part about it is – a lot of those same customers have come to expect that!  They go in with a mindset that it’s a crapshoot of whether they get what they wanted.  They see a picture of a baseball cap and hope the picture in the catalog is accurate, but they won’t know if they match those baseball pants until after they’re embroidered.  Will that lanyard clip work with our namebadges?  Oh what the heck, let’s roll the dice and here’s my check for $750.  You have a $12.00 fee for a faxed proof?  I can’t afford that, so I’m willing to risk that my 1,000 ink pens might have copy that fills in and isn’t legible. 

These are the exact expectations that are plaguing our industry.  In 2009 our ultimate goal is to change the rules!  When we answer the phone, return an email or you walk into our office, we want the Surge Customer Experience to be everywhere.   It will be the conference table we sit at together!  It’s the free drinks you receive during your visit.  It’s our free sample policy to qualified clients and prospects.  It’s our 100% guarantee of accuracy and customer satisfaction.  It’s our free artwork approval prior to production.  It’s the comfort of knowing that all of our employees have one priority – and that’s earning your business every single day.

That is where we are going in 2009.  It will be a much greater ride if you’ll join us!