Somer gives a weather broadcast and a little snippet of an insiders look into Southgate Coins.
Erratic as the Weather
By Somer Athari
Another day here on South Virginia Street in Reno where Southgate Coins is located, and I am experiencing slight disappointment as I type because I must tell you that it is snowing... again! (Nasty!)
You know, if Southgate Coins was as erratic as the Reno weather, this company wouldn't be able to provide such great coins, information, customer service, smiles, and of course, enjoy great customers like yourselves. The weather isn’t the only thing that puts a monkey wrench in this well-oiled machine, there are so many other nuisances that plague our daily business here at Southgate; and in keeping with my usual behind-the-scenes approach, I will share a glimpse of a few for you.
There are many different aspects to this business that put our striving for perfection at risk. Whether it be the U.S. Postal Service, a customer with a cloudy or sour disposition, unreliable employees (rare, but they do exist, like snow in May), telemarketers, eBay experiences (see previous Snippets Articles), and last but most definitely not least technological mishaps.
First off, we always make sure that we have some way of knowing where everything is at all times, especially packages that leave our hands and become the responsibility of the Post Office! We have pages and pages of spreadsheets with tracking numbers. Which to outsiders, probably look much like some kind of secret "coin code" language. But in actuality it's just making sure that our customers get exactly what they asked for, when they asked for it.
Something that happens even rarer than the U.S. Post Office losing a package is an ill-tempered customer at Southgate Coins (but I think this may all depend on your personal experiences with your local Post Office). In the coin industry, which as you know is unlike any other business, the customer is not always right. We have no problem with any sort of constructive criticism, but when a customer develops the "chronic complainer disease"...that may require psychological assistance. I mean they stand out like a sore thumb since the overwhelming majority of our customers have nothing but praise for our operation. Us girls at Southgate Coins are not PHD's in any form of the word, but just as we prescribe advice to prevent any person from cleaning their coins into a sickly condition, it goes without saying that an "attitude stricken" customer every now and again requires evaluation so as not to slow our productivity down. After 24 years in business, Rusty and Marie have learned how to diagnose these symptoms and have taught us how to administer first aid. (If you know what I mean.)
This next point will be brief due to the very very rare instances of its occurrence... unreliable employees. Enough said, anyone of you who has ever been in the work force or had employees under you, know the irritation of a lackadaisical employee.
Speaking of irritations, on to telemarketers. Telemarketers, unfortunately, are as frequent as a local weather broadcaster saying "It will be a beautiful, sunny day, not a cloud in the sky" and then it rains (I know it happens in places other than Reno!). More than anything, they are just a waste of our breath and perfectly polite greetings us girls give to all phone callers. (See archived article regarding phone etiquette for more information on this.)
Technological mishaps take place fairly often now-a-days in this high speed, computer driven world we live in. A computer freezing right when you were in the middle of an important document and didn't have a chance to save it first, or a power-surge/brown-out making everything in the store re-start. How about a revolving display case that has a mind of its own; when static electricity caused by simply walking past it starts it on a Ferris Wheel of Fury. Then there's a Web site’s server going down, or even worse (knock on wood) our Web site going down, creating a hurricane of problems.
Things can, and do go wrong, even if our company, and of course us girls, may have nothing to do with it. The famous bumper sticker in the seventies says it best as, "things happen" (minus the colloquial language, please). So next time the local weather broadcaster says, "It looks like it's gunna be another beautiful day in ______," remember that all of us at Southgate Coins will make that happen for each and every one of you, with a smile and a truly happy greeting, even if it does rain...or snow where you come from. I can give you my promise as a 21-year-old reliable correspondent. And in case some unforeseen event tries to rain on our parade, we'll see if we can come up with a prescription to turn lemons into refreshing lemonade.
Your sunny disposition coin news broadcaster,
Somer