Gahanna's Girls Night Out

Mill Street in Olde Gahanna on Thursday, May 7th was the location of the 2nd Annual Girls Night Out presented by Portraits by Knight.

While the weatherman had predicted rain, partly-sunny skies prevailed and Mother Nature provided a lovely backdrop for this pre-Mother's Day event.

Among the food donated by area restaurants was a platter of fruits, cheeses & meats from Mezzo Italian Kitchen and desserts from Ganache Dessert Kitchen. Participating vendors such as Tastefully Simple - Angie Hendershot also provided munchies.

Two massage therapists contributed chair massages to invigorate the busy shoppers; Nick from Sound Touch was stationed at Portraits by Knight and Holly from Center for Therapeutic Massage worked her magic in the window at Honey Grove Botanicals.

I also had a chance to pop over to Zodiac to pick up a Cosmic Cake Cupcake but didn't have enough time to take in a reading. Afterwards a group of us took over a pit-group on the patio at Mezzo's and grabbed a bite to eat. A good time was had by all!

I can't wait for the next Girls Night Out! ( or should I say Knight Out). Kudos to Sara for organizing such a neat event!

Portraits by Knight is where the conga line of participants started at 3:30 p.m.; 30 minutes before opening time. Sara Knight had put together 50 cool canvas totes jam-packed with goodies from over 20 participating businesses.

Within half an hour, the goodie bags were all snatched up!

Sara Knight and her trusty assistant, Adrienne making everyone feel welcome!

A few of the many participating vendors.

Unusual Window Display in Honey Grove Botanicals: A relaxing chair massage being given by Holly amongst the intoxicating aromatherapy fragrances.

Customer Retention - When Things Go Terribly Wrong

Even the best of companies can have a service failure. How these issues are resolved are key to customer retention. To paraphrase a line from Lilo & Stitch, "we are the ones you call when things go terribly wrong".

We are all human and therefore it is safe to assume we all make mistakes. What the recipient of a service failure needs most is validation of their concerns and correction of the error. Upon resolution of the issue, our Service Recovery Clients will call us to send a gift to their customer that includes a nice note. This reinforces the value of their relationship. The best part of our program, it doesn't cost a dime if you don't have any service gaps.

There is an excellent article from GreatBook that discusses Service Recovery Practices. Spot-on advice!

By the way, we are also the ones to call when things go exceedingly well!

"Make New Friends But Keep The Old"

"One is silver and the other is gold......" is the start of an old Girl Scout song whose author is unknown.

This principle holds true with your customers. Statistics vary by industry and method of calculation. The general rule of thumb is that it costs 5x as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an old one. In a recent business luncheon we were told that our current customers have the capacity to provide 30% MORE business than they currently are.

I just received this email from a repeat customer the other day:
"...Thanks a lot for again coming up with a fabulous basket. .... I look forward to more wonderful baskets in the future." Carol K. from Barrie, Ontario.

This is Pure Gold in our world!

New Customers Wanted - Current Ones Do Not Apply

Just the other day, I received a coupon in the mail for a discount at a business I have not been to in over a year. I have also seen similar coupons in mass mailers from this company and one of its competitors.

You must be a new customer or have not been a client for over a year to be able to redeem this 20% off discount.

Funny thing is that once you become a customer, there are no deals. What do you think this trains the consumer to do?

Caption This

Peanut Butter Recall - When In Doubt, Check It Out or Throw It Out.

Over 2,000 products are on the FDA List of potentially contaminated items with the Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria. If you are unsure about any food products that contain peanuts or peanut butter, you should check with the FDA Website before consuming.

Taken from the FDA Website -
Update on FDA's Investigation:

A joint investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of the ongoing outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella Typhimurium, identified peanut butter and peanut paste made at a peanut-processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, as sources of the outbreak. The plant is owned and operated by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). In response to the outbreak and accompanying investigation showing violations of FDA requirements, PCA has recalled a number of ingredients from the market.

This is an ingredient-driven outbreak; that is, potentially contaminated ingredients affected many different products that were distributed through various channels and consumed in various settings. The recalled products made by PCA, such as peanut butter and peanut paste, are common ingredients in cookies, crackers, cereal, candy, ice cream, pet treats, and other foods. Consumers are advised to discard and not eat products that have been recalled. To help consumers identify affected products, FDA has initiated a searchable database of recalled products that is updated daily or as additional recalls are identified. To date, more than 2,100 products in 17 categories have been voluntarily recalled by more than 200 companies, and the list continues to grow.

In January, the recall list was expanded to include some pet-food products that contain peanut paste made by PCA. Salmonella can affect animals, and humans who handle contaminated pet-food products also are at risk. It is important for people to wash their hands – and to make sure children wash their hands – with hot water and soap before and, especially, after handling pet-food products and utensils. More information for consumers is available in the Frequently Asked Questions section of this web site. The recalled pet food products are also included in the searchable database of recalled products.

The large number of products and brands recalled already, and the large quantities of some products recalled, makes this one of the largest food recalls ever in the United States.

Major national brands of jarred peanut butter found in grocery stores have not been among the products recalled.

Affected Products at Baskets by Bonnie
We were lucky to have used just 2 products that have been recalled. These products are Austin Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies and Kashi Granola Bars.

We have contacted any recent customers that have received a basket with these items, however if you have any questions or concerns please give us a call.

Category: Cracker
Brand Name: Austin Quality Foods
Product Descriptions: Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter
Recalling Firm: Kellogg Company
Size: All
Lot Numbers: All
Stock Numbers:
Product Code:
Label: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/photos/kellogg01_09.html
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/photos/kellogg7.jpg

Category: Snack Bar
Brand Name: Kashi TLC
Product Description: Chewy Granola Bars in Trail Mix and Honey Almond Flax varieties "Best if Used Before" SEP 19 2009
Recalling Firm: Kashi
Size: 7.4-ounch box
Lot Numbers:
Stock Numbers:
Product Code: 1862703000, 1862703001, 1862723959, 1862728409, 1862731567
Label:

Chocolate Fix - the No-Cal Dessert!

Chocolate Fix™

"A Mouth-Watering Game of Logic"

We added this puzzle to our inventory a few months back and love it! If you like puzzles similar to Sudoku and have a sweet tooth, you'll love Chocolate Fix.

Features • 4 Levels of Play, Beginner to Expert • 40 Mind Challenge Cards™ with Solutions • 9 Chocolate Pieces (Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, and Raspberry)

$16.95

Click Here to Buy

We also have a link so that you can try this game online for FREE.

Click Here to Try

We do need to warn you that you may find this game just as addicting as a box of fine chocolates!