Customer service a la Gary Radtke

Schilke B3Lb · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2002 6:46 am Post subject:

Customer service...how often do we, as customers, feel that we have been serviced? I'm in the process of switching horns, and am encountering resistance which is different then what I've been used to for the past ten years.

Before I get to my story, let's take a look a hypothetical situation. Your car is not running well, so you make up your mind to buy a new one to replace it. You go into the dealership where you meet with the person who is both the sales manager and the service manager. After discussing your situation with the sales/service manager and expressing your desire to test drive new vehicles in order to purchase one, this person performs a tune up and oil change...at their expense. Then the person sends you home, asking you to call back in a couple of weeks to report your progress.

Could never happen, right? Wrong! I realize that we're not talking cars here, but on Sunday I called Gary Radtke to leave a message that I would like to see him sometime this week in order to try out new mouthpieces to solve my newfound lack of resistance. To my surprise he had me come to his shop at 7:45 PM Sunday to try out mouthpieces. He was already familiar with my playing on the old horn, as I had worked with him in the selection process for the initial mouthpiece. First, he had me play on the new horn with my current mouthpiece. Then he selected various mouthpieces from the display cases and made notes on a sheet of paper each time I alternated. Each mouthpiece had slightly different dimensions then the previous one...standard backbore/tighter backbore, different cup volumes, slightly different rim sizes, etc.

By this time, it was 10:00 PM and I was ready to choose between two or three mouthpieces that I really liked, yet I wanted to hear his recommendation. Ready for this? He insisted on NOT selling me a new mouthpiece. Instead, he printed off some exercises from his computer and asked me to use them as a warmup for the next week or two and then call him back with my progress report.

I would urge anyone who is looking to make a mouthpiece change to check out Gary's product line. This guy is a refreshing change of pace from today's status quo of non-customer service.

John W. MacGregor
Waukesha, WI

[ This Message was edited by: Schilke B3Lb on 2002-02-25 09:48 ]

Cozy · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2002 9:43 am Post subject:

Such a heart-warming story. I've read a similar one, too. A music major spent time with Gary, too. He analyzed, made opinions, but did not try to sell?!?! The lady was impressed.
I've had similar experiences in person with Gary and Brian Scriver. In my case, I bought.

Cozy
http://www.cozychops.com

Mark Heuer · Veteran Member Joined: 23 Nov 2001 Posts: 232

I've been in the Dousman shop at midnight play testing mouthpieces with Gary and Brian. Amazing guys. Good players too! GR Tech is THE model for good customer service.

TptProf · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:56 am Post subject:

The service from GR and Brian is truly a breath of fresh air! I have always been given the red carpet treatment and have never felt pressured into buying a mouthpiece. Brian told me he does not have to pressure people into a sale, the mouthpieces sell themselves. He simply points you in the right direction.
Keep it up guys!
Robert Keith

BrassClass · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2002 6:33 pm Post subject:

I agree, great service. If they didn't have that "no return policy" I'd have to call them perfect.