Spring is in full swing the baseball fields are full and boats are out on the water.
The coast is gearing up for what looks to be an awesome season. It's a that time of year where we all open up our windows and let that perfect weather blow in. Lawn mowers are buzzing in every neighborhood and it's time to spruce up inside and around more outside.
 
My favorite go to home improvement store is the Big Orange Home Depot off I-10 at Cedar Lake.  Just last weekend I had stopped in petrified with a laundry list. Lucky for me I ran into Allan in the garden center, he was able to find the perfect roses, tomatoes, and even talked to my 79 year old dad via cell phone and piled several types of feed and soil on a cart. It was like having a personal shopper.

 I leave my own county and pass up other home improvement stores I always go to the big orange off Cedar Lake because in this economy I prefer to spend my money where I get a good deal and more importantly good customer service. If you are Military, don't forget to show your ID for a discount because Home Depot honors the military too.

So today when we were out and got the call that we needed to pick up electrical things and some paint we of course headed over to the D'Iberville Home Depot. We ran into Dick with a friendly smile bringing in a cart from outside with a welcoming hello! Headed to the back and met Josh and he helped us over to electrical and then pointed us to the paint department where Scott started mixing our paint order.
All of the sudden from no where this little fire ball in an orange apron came flying through the paint department and grabbed a phone with purpose and determination she dove into the call helping and convincing the customer she would take care of all concerns. In the middle of the call another man shows up, no apron. He has a framed award in his hand, the fireball is still on the phone, assuring the customer time and time again.

Finally he tells Scott I am here to present Kim ( that's the fireball on the phone) with an award for excellence) Kim smiles and nods and continues on the phone with her customer. She does NOT cut her customer off. She does NOT get distracted from her mission to please her customer. The men stand and wait. She finishes her mission. All the customers around the paint counter burst into applause for Kim. Because by now we all know her name, and by now we all know why she is receiving this award. Except no one has a camera. It's not a big deal. It's not at a meeting, it's not over an intercom, in fact no other employees were around to see it. But we were, the customers.  So I grabbed my camera.
I took a picture. Then I informed them that I happened to be a writer. A freelance writer and contributer to a few online new groups and would be happy to submit this article. Because when it comes to customer service. Kim, Allan, Josh. They are what make going to Home Depot worth leaving my county and passing those other stores totally worth it. So congratulations Kim, and way to go Home Depot! Keep these people on your team and keep them happy!