This is the last in a three-part series telling the Secondwind story through the years. Contributors to the series are Founder, Crispin Fletcher, Vice-President Jan Beauvais, and President Christine Fletcher. Look for Secondwind25: Origins and Secondwind25: Evolution.
Secondwind25: Progress
by Christine Fletcher, President
In preparation for a 25th Anniversary Celebration with our employees, I found myself going through boxes of old pictures and a notebook full of thank you notes from our first customers. These hand written notes, with dates back to 1990, offer messages like “thank you for being patient with me,” “your professionalism was appreciated,” or “your employees are always so pleasant.”
The walk down memory lane was full of memories (some bittersweet), including human connections, surviving several economic downturns, along with the excitement of new products and new customers. It brought me through a tumult of emotions and ended up in a feeling of great pride and satisfaction about what we’ve accomplished.
A big anniversary like this one affords us the opportunity to reflect on where we’ve come from, where we’re going, and why. I’ve always wanted to help people improve their lives, making the world a better place at the same time. It’s a value we all share here at Secondwind. My heart has always been, and remains to this day, with each and every one of our customers. And, as we embrace this new age of digital connection and consumerism, it’s even more important to me that we stay personally connected with you, our customer.
People shop for information online and the amount of information available is both amazing and overwhelming. People buy online and often end up frustrated by the lack of support and are often disappointed in the end result. Especially when it comes to customer service and long-term customer relationships. Waiting on hold forever, dealing with email exchanges or lack of response and not knowing where to turn is all too common in my humble opinion.
Our desire is to continue to excel in personalized service for our customers: a timely response, a friendly voice, and a house-call presence whenever it is necessary. Our vision for the future is to hold on to our roots, to be a company that remembers that your daughter must be college age now or that you got a new puppy last spring, and how is she doing? To be the company that knows what your last water test showed and the company that calls you to tell you it is time for your drinking water system to be serviced.
Not only do we want to provide you with stress-free water, we want to be the company that brings some pleasure to your life by being easy to work with, responsive, and there for you when you need us. This has always been our mission but it means more as we continue in this digital age. Thank you for helping us shape and be part of this vision. Our success is built on 25 years of customer loyalty and referral, and it’s not something we ever take for granted.
