DavidGervino.com

New Favorite Book

Until now, How to Master the Art of Selling, by Tom Hopkins was my favorite sales book.  I just got The Sales Bible, by Jeffrey Gitomer and it is, by far, the absolute best sales book I've ever read.  I would highly recommend this book to everyone in the sales profession.

Borders

I used to have to take the CTA Red Line down to the the Borders on Michigan Avenue or State Street but now there is a Borders at Lawrence & Broadway I can go to.  So I went there today to pick up some books for work.  They did a great job rehabbing the old building that the new store is in.  It kind of surprised me though to see that they have a pay toilet! You don't actually have to "pay" money, but you have to find a clerk and get a token.  I'm sure this cuts down on nefarious acts that one or more persons might engage in inside a public restroom, but a "pay" toilet!?? How ghetto is that???

I got my suitcase back!

I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to know that I got my suitcase back last night.  Nothing was stolen but the suitcase was damaged (One of the zippers got ripped off).  As soon as I can set aside 45 minutes to get through to United Airlines, I plan on calling to see if they'll do anything about the damage.

Travel Tip

I think that Hotwire.com  and Priceline.com  are the two greatest travel sites on the web.  The hotel I stayed at in Philadelphia last week advertised their "special Internet price" to be $128 per night. I went on Hotwire and got the same room in the same hotel for only $53 per night!  And when my relatives come to Chicago to visit, I go on Priceline and it isn't uncommon for me to find a Chicago-area hotel for under $50 per night!

Where is my suitcase?

Roughly 24 hours have passed since I got home to Chicago and United Airlines still has no idea where my luggage is.  I tried to call the airline to follow up but their automated system said, "Your call will be answered in approximately 22 minutes."

Back home from Philadelphia

I had a GREAT trip.  I am so glad I was able to be there for Clare's First Communion! It was also cool to be able to see my family.  It has been ten years since I had seen some of my cousins!

Click here to see more pictures of my trip

As I had feared, United Airlines lost my luggage.  At least it happened on the way back home to Chicago.  I have plenty of other clothes here.  If it had happened on the way to Philadelphia, I'd be a lot more upset. 

It's late and I have to work early tomorrow.  I'll write more about my trip later.

Kevin J. Moore

My good friend, Kevin Moore has moved up to Chicago with his wife. He just graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in engineering. It is great to have some friends in Chicago who are from back "home" in Tulsa, where I grew up. I look forward to showing Kevin and his wife some of the cool places I've found during my past five years living in Chicago.

Speaking of Kevin.... One of the most fascinating things about him -- Not counting the time when I was teaching him to drive a stick-shift transmission and he drove my Jeep over the edge of a steep embankment and on to my landlord's newly-sodded lawn -- was when he droppped everything he was doing to help me out in a tough situation.

I had decided to start my own business. My business took off so fast that I had way more accounts than I could handle. I was talking to Kevin on the phone and I told him how stressed out I was because I didn't see how I could single-handedly handle all the different accounts at once. The next day he was on a plane to Chicago to help. This is just one example of the kind of person Kevin is -- a true friend. That's something I'll never forget.

Great customer service at Target

Anyone who knows me well knows that I expect a lot when it comes to customer service. Since I provide my customers with an extremely high level of service, I expect to be treated the same when I am a customer somewhere. Having these high expectations normally means that I am let down during various interactions with different businesses. For whatever reason, it seems as though customer service has fallen by the wayside at most places. If you ask for help, many employees will look at you as though you're really putting them out by expecting them to do their job and assist you....

I was delighted to experience an exception to this saddening trend the other day when I was shopping at Target in Bloomingdale, Illinois (On Army Trail Road). Janette (sp.) was the cashier who rang me up. Not only did she smile and greet me, she was extremely pleasant and I could tell that she went out of her way to take care of me. I guess the fact that this stood out shows how poor most places are doing when it comes to customer service. But nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that there are still people out there like Janette who take pride in their job and taking care of their customers.

It is amazing how a warm smile and a few kind words from a stranger can totally change the course of a person's day....

My trip so far....

I'm in Philadelphia right now visiting my brother, Grady and his family. His daughter, Clare (My goddaughter) is having her first communion tomorrow. I will have some great pictures to post when I get back to Chicago on Sunday.

My flights here went amazingly well. I was delighted to learn that my "United" flights were actually being operated by U.S. Airways. I've never been a huge fan of United and with the current labor relations situation between management and employees at United, it is just as well that I didn't have to deal directly with the company. Of course, it did create some confusion because my tickets said "United" but when I got to the terminal I was told that I had to go check in 4 terminals over at the U.S. Airways terminal. But my bags arrived okay so I'm not going to complain.

Probably the coolest thing about flying over here was my layover in Pittsburgh. The airport there has an actual mall in it -- not a group of those over-priced stores that you would never go to under normal circumstances -- an actual mall with cool stores and restaurants. So I went to T.G.I. Friday's and had a burger while I was waiting on my connecting flight.

I look forward to sharing more about my trip to Philadelphia later on.

United Airlines & "C.H.A.O.S."

So I made the mistake of booking some non-refundable flights on United Airlines for an upcoming trip.  The next day, the news announces that it is extremely likely that United employees will  start C.H.A.O.S. ("Creating Havoc Around Our System").  Rather than going on strike, since they can't legally do so right now, this is where their employees deliberately do things to make things difficult for the customers.  One of these things includes not showing up for work, which means flights have to be canceled at the last minute. Also, the news is reporting that employees will deliberately route luggage to the wrong destinations!!! I can totally appreciate how employees would be upset about losing their pension and benefits but WHY TAKE IT OUT ON THE CUSTOMERS??? Do United employees think that creating problems for their customers will somehow HELP their situation????