In business, I value relationships over products or services. That’s not to say that I don’t expect top-notch quality in the goods for which I’m paying, but customer service and a personal relationship with a real person always comes first. I had always been taught to value relationships over products (to an acceptable degree), but never really understood the logic behind it until ten years ago.

At this point in my life, I hadn’t decided to take the plunge and try to become an author yet. I was still a commercial loan officer at a local bank. That job mandated many things, one of which was to always come to work in a suit and tie. And this bank wanted the classic professional look: Solid white dress shirt, conservative tie, and tailored suit. I once tried getting away with a hot pink dress shirt. I thought it looked great. Management called me into their office and told me it was a nice shirt and I should feel free to wear it any Saturday or Sunday of my choosing. Translation: Don’t let us see you in this shirt during normal weekly business hours again!

For those of you who know me, you know that my wife, Angie, travels a lot for her work. When this happens, our home takes on a whole new dynamic (and not necessarily a better one). The kids and I eat a steady diet of delivery pizza and Chinese take-out. In fact, one time we ordered pizza from the same place so many nights in a row, the delivery guy would drop off our order and say, “See you tomorrow!” Sad but true story! In addition to our eating habits, our chores get altered as well. And by altered, I mean we don’t do any. By the end of the week, our home looks less like a middle-class family’s abode and more like the fraternity house I lived in during college.

During one of these weeks, when I hadn’t stayed on top of chores, cleaning, or laundry, I ran into a problem. It was early one morning. I had already gotten the kids up, fed them leftover Kung Pao Chicken for breakfast, and put them on the bus for school. Now it was time for me to get ready for work. I picked up my first dress shirt off of the floor (that’s where guys keep their clothes when there’s not a woman around to correct them). It had a marinara stain on it from a meatball sub I ate earlier in the week. The next shirt I grabbed had a missing button I had been meaning to sew back on to it. The next shirt was a purple one which management would frown upon. And the rest of my shirts were at the dry cleaners. Panic started to sink in. I didn’t have any shirts to wear to work. If Angie had been home, she would have made sure this sort of thing didn’t happen. So really, it was kind of her fault. But this was no time to place blame. I had to come up with a solution…and fast!

I decided I would head out to a local men’s clothing store and simply buy a new shirt before work started. So I threw on my suit while just wearing a T-shirt underneath. I felt a little like Sonny Crockett, which was pretty cool. (For any millennials reading this blog, Google Miami Vice). I sped to the store and when I got there, I felt like Clark Griswold coming face to face with Marty Moose at Wally World (again…for millennials, Google Vacation). The sign on the front door read CLOSED. I wasn’t sure what to do. This was my last and only option. As I raised the phone to my ear to ‘call in sick to work’, the manager of the clothing store, Scott Causby, unlocked and opened the door.

“Hey pal!” he said. “I saw you waiting out here. We don’t open for another thirty minutes, but come on in. What can we do for you?” Talk about great customer service! He opened up his store just for me. I couldn’t help but feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. (Millennials: I hope you still have Google pulled up). I explained my dilemma to Scott and he wasted no time in finding a white dress shirt in my size and sold it to me. But that wasn’t the end of his outstanding customer service. He noticed that once I put on the shirt, having been folded and on the shelf for so long, it had definite creases in it. He asked for the shirt back and I obliged. He then took it to some magical machine they had in the back of the store that miraculously made all the creases and wrinkles disappear!

Scott brought back the shirt and it looked like it had just been pressed and dry-cleaned with heavy starch. I put it back on, bought a new tie too, just as a way to say “Thank You” and headed off to work, where they were none the wiser! I have never forgotten Scott’s exemplary service that day and have shared this story with others over the years. Scott has since moved on to another men’s clothing store called McKee’s. And guess what? I now shop there. Yes, they have some of the finest clothes in town. And yes, they sell their products at affordable prices. But the main reason I’m a regular there is because of Scott. He treated me like royalty when he didn’t have to. He knew I wasn’t one of his regular customers that dropped thousands of dollars per month with him, but he still made me feel just as important as one of them.

Scott is the epitome of what customer service should be. In fact, I study him and pick up something new from his work ethic every time I’m in his store. Customer service seems to be a lost art these days, but not for Scott. If you’re local and haven’t stopped in McKee’s yet, do yourself a favor and pay him a visit. I promise you won’t be sorry!

McKee’s
Scott Causby
103 W. Piccadilly St.
Winchester, VA 22601
540-662-2195