Remembering your customer's names

This is a true story -- I got a buzz from the front door. It's "Paul" from FedEx the voice said. I buzzed him in. I am actually not at home, but someone else is. The front door buzzer rings my cellphone. Useful when you are not at home a lot. I was expecting a package. Moments later the house phone called my cell. They accepted the package, and put the FedEx guy on the phone with me. I thought they needed a special signature or something. Paul, turned out, use to run a car cleaning service in a garage that I use several times a year, about ten years ago. He is now a independent FedEx delivery guy. He recognized my name on the package, and he wanted to see if I was one of his customers. I was.

Paul was always good with names. I use his company to detail my cars about four times a year, for a few years when I was working in that area. I doubt if I was one of his top customers in terms of sales. Yet each time I drop off the car he would greet me by name before seeing the car. I thought he had great memory or sales or people skills back then. But ten years later? This is impressive. He would make hack of a salesperson.