Last week, Jack, DiAnne, Heather and I attended the viewing of Nicholas Mangione, Sr. His passing was sudden and unexpected – they always are that way. The viewing was held at Ruck’s Funeral Home in Towson. He was survived by his wife, Mary, 8 children and 37 grandchildren. Mr. Mangione’s business enterprise has been a customer of Jack’s for over 30 years. Reflecting on the relationship we maintained with the Mangione Family for all of my 23+ years and many more with Jack, I came to a revelation. Our customers are a blessing, well beyond the business relationship.
I picked up Jack and we rode together to this event. The traffic to turn into Ruck’s was so bad that we parked down the street and walked several blocks to get into the funeral home. Once inside, the room for the viewing was so crowded that it was impossible for us to connect with his children and offer them our condolences. You see, Nick was a very successful businessman and the room was packed with family, friends, associates, vendors and clients. The busiest bar in Fells Point on a Friday Night had nothing on this room. The majority of our dealings with Mr. Mangione’s family businesses have been filtered through two of his daughters, Rosemary and Linda. We were able to connect with them in the packed room and as I think about the exchanges, I could see two daughters putting on a brave face and thanking us for coming. It had been a few years since they had seen Jack, so his attendance was especially meaningful. Underneath the stoic façade, I could see something else – the pain of losing a loved one. I could see in Rosemary, Nick’s oldest daughter, a pain that was so human that it haunted me since the evening.
I knew Mr. Mangione first as a customer and he was a very tough business man. Jack started the business relationship when he was able to outperform Mr. Mangione’s golf partner. In one memorable exchange, Jack was warned to never let anyone outperform his work. The gauntlet was set. Do right by me every year, and I will reward you with my business. Mess up just once and you are done. Not unlike many, if not all, of our customers. Business is business.
It was probably 15 years after I started at DII that I met Mr. Mangione personally. We were having dinner in the same restaurant and I felt compelled to introduce myself and let him know that I worked for Mr. Wurfl. He and Mary were so gracious that I was taken aback – where was the tough man how dropped the hammer on his ill-performing friend? Instead, he spoke glowingly of Jack and thanked me for all that we were doing to help his company. Some of this was polite platitudes and yet, there was much more; and I knew it. You see, Nick was a family man first. He had a very close family and involved his children in his businesses. They were close and he knew more than I expected. Mr. Mangione started with little more that his devoted and loving wife. He built a business and a family with equal skill. This family sticks together.
Now back to Rosemary. Linda Senez once said that Rose was the nicest, tough person she ever met. I began dealing with Rose after a few years and would echo Linda’s sentiment. Customers are demanding – they want and deserve our best. Rose once allowed me to reconsider the quote we provided because she was comparing it to a better option. In my career, I consider this a “get out-of-jail card.” At the time, I probably didn’t deserve the consideration, but Jack and Linda had earned Rose’s confidence. I would imagine she didn’t consult her father first, because he might have said we no longer deserved his business. Rose made a call and I learned a valuable lesson – take nothing for granted.
We have the privilege and honor to serve customers and it is easy to group them all together. “My customer is so demanding.” “They are always impatient.” “They don’t seem to appreciate all that I do for them.” All are regular comments made about customers.
It might be easy to classify Rosemary as a “customer”, but as I was watching her talk to Jack in the funeral home, I saw so much more. I saw the daughter of a man grieving his loss, thanking us for coming to pay tribute to her father. Thanking us, how ironic. I am thankful for her because I was once again reminded of the best part of our business. We have the privilege of connecting to a very small segment of our society – the American Family Businessperson. This person has spouses, children, grandchildren and many friends and associates. Let us never call their expectations demanding. We must understand what they want and need and provide this to them. It is only when we fail to perform our best that we jeopardize the business relationship. Trust me when I tell you this – even the most “demanding” appreciate our efforts.
That is what I call a customer.
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