Our little mountain town is growing. With this growth comes lots of changes…one of the most obvious being the bigger businesses and chain stores that have come to town.
The down side of this is, it has pushed many of the little guys right out of business . Some got lucky… They saw it coming and sold out to the big guys and made a nice profit. Some weren’t quite as lucky and held on for as long as they could until they finally threw in the towel. Some are still hanging in there!
One of the most obvious changes has been in customer service. In the old days, the little guys built up a relationship with their customers and took care of them well. They wanted satisfied customers because they knew word of mouth was their best advertisement.
This is where bigger is not always better. Recently, a car dealership bought out a family owned business that had been in our area for decades. New guys came in and changed everything hoping to sell more cars than the former owner. They may have fancier ads and proven sales techniques but they don’t have the one thing that mountain folks expect..good old fashioned manners.
And one thing about people in small towns…They don’t make a scene in public when they’re not treated right…They just don’t come back and do business with you anymore!
