As fall is right around the corner here in the lowcountry several friends of mine are already making plans for some winter fishing trips down south. Some will run their boats down, others will trailer, and still others will books trips with guides. Talking with these lowcountry “snowbirds” heading to Florida, Mexico, Bahamas etc. I am reminded of an experience that I had about 2-years ago with a guide in Keys. I pulled this article out of the archives and thought you may want to read it before booking a trip. Remember to have realistic expectations and share them with your guide, convey your experience level and interest, and check references prior to stepping foot on their boat!
For your reading pleasure from 2-years ago:
With my “real” job, I work in an extremely competitive market. Over the years I have come to realize there is little to no difference between the product I represent and those my competitors carry. The only difference is our people! Therefore; I stress customer service to both my customers and to my employees to ensure that we stay ahead of the competition. Since customer service is such a valuable aspect of my business I am always evaluating my experiences as a customer to learn from others on effective and ineffective manners to properly handle customer service. In my opinion the single most import aspect of customer service is actually listening to the customer.
Most recently I had a bad experience in customer service and believe it or not it was not in a restaurant, nor a large scale department store, but it was on the water. The week after Christmas my fiancé and I went to Islamorada with her family for some rest and relaxation. We had an inshore charter booked for Monday, an offshore charter booked for Tuesday, and Wednesday we planned on going to Key West to eat, shop, and sight see. We flew in on Sunday afternoon and upon arriving in south Florida we realized the weather was not too sporty. With winds blowing out of the north east at 20 to 30 knots and a small craft