Aaron Huizenga advises to ‘revel in the small stuff’

I recently had the opportunity to talk with a customer – unforced and unrehearsed.

As leaders, we don’t often get to talk with the people we actually serve, and I relish the opportunity every time it happens.

In full disclosure, I was at the barbershop getting all 12 of my hairs cut.

There was a nice elderly gentleman who stopped me on my way out the door and said, “Are you the Lakes Gas guy?” Obvious by my truck in the parking lot with the keys in my hand and the company name on the side, to this individual, I was an instant subject matter expert in propane.

We talked for a few minutes, and he told me a story about how he lives near one of our offices and gets his RV cylinders filled regularly. My natural reaction was to thank him for his business, but there was something else he was looking for in this conversation. He went on to tell me about how, out of convenience, he had his cylinders filled by some other retailer and was concerned about his safety. We went back into the barbershop, and I sat next to him and asked why. He told me about how his cylinders were overfilled, and he didn’t want to hook them to his RV furnace. I asked questions; he answered, and our barber patiently waited for him to take his seat.

We all know that stuff happens, and I didn’t want to be an alarmist, but we talked about his concerns.
This interaction went on for at least 10 minutes, which was small in the grand scheme of life, but for this individual, it was critical for his piece of mind. At the end of a conversation on safety, cylinders, gas and his knowledge of propane, we exchanged a genuine handshake, and he said thank you.

Not the “Thanks for holding the door” but a look in the eye, an “I appreciate your time” kind of thank you.

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Aaron Huizenga is East Division manager for Lakes Gas in Wisconsin. Reach him at ahuizenga@lakesgas.com.