On Donna’s twentieth anniversary we sent her to Hawaii with her husband, Kaz. She remains one of our top salespeople today. In March of 1978, we bought Harrell’s answering service. It was owned by Mark and Joan Harrell. Joan was planning to stay a few months to help us transition. Over 40 years later she is still with us! Joan is the maven of the answering service. She is a wonderful people person with a heart of gold. Encouraging our staff, listening close- ly, and helping them to succeed is her specialty. On her twentieth anniversary, we spon- sored her and her husband Mark to take the dream trip of a lifetime to Israel, not long after Mark passed away. Over the years we bought about half a dozen of our competitors, including one we could not have even considered in the begin- ning because they were too large, Proxy Answering Service. They had offices in both Texas and Florida. We purchased the Florida portion of the business only. Before the purchase, I encouraged Steve to get his Real Estate license. It was just a side thing for him, but it came in handy. When we made the deal, we found they also owned their building and gave the listing to him. It took many weeks to move Proxy’s accounts to our office. It was a substantial busi ness. Meanwhile, the property was sold! That’s when Stephen got an obnoxious lesson in busi- ness he never forgot. He was summoned to
Donna Dudchock Jan. 13th, 1988
at night. I also learned how to deal with hard issues when confronted and move past them. Herman would say, this too shall pass. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about doing the right thing for customers. Problems are opportuni ties to win the trust of clients on a long-term basis.” “The most important thing I learned was to never take NO for an answer when we wanted a customer’s business!” “The best part has been watching the families start, and their kids grow into the spectacular young people they are today. Each one of them is special, a reflection of the good ness of Herman and Dorothy’s lives.” Herman Shooster - When you buy a small company, you need to tread lightly. It has a culture, sensitivities, and customers that have loyalty to the people they work with. It’s called goodwill on the financial sheets, but it’s much more than that. It’s just common sense to give everyone a chance to feel included. I kept an open mind about Donna. It didn’t take long to realize she was a very capable solid citi- zen. All she needed were challenges to stay engaged. Eventually, she became a part of the core sales team with her dogged approach to getting things done. She is a very skilled team member who can be trusted with the vicissi- tudes of managing lots of customers.
Donna Dudchock with husband Kaz Paradise Cove, Hawaii Sponsored by Global Response, 2013
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