Jim Kelm of Kelm Management, a CenterPoint Accounting and Payroll customer was elected to a second term as president of the Farm Financial Standards Council at the organization’s annual conference in Billings, Montana.

If you’ve read this column for any length of time, you know I like to share experiences I’ve had in customer service. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. And, if you read the column two months ago about word-of-mouth marketing and how I virtually promoted someone’s product, and then read this one, you’ll think I’m being paid to promote other companies. But, I have to, again, share an experience I had recently.

I was in Wichita, KS, last week and my brother took me to a restaurant called the Redrock Canyon Grill. It must be a small chain, as I learned there is one in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa, as well. The building looked like many average priced restaurants, and the menu prices were average, too. But, that’s where average stopped.

The food was excellent, and even if the food had been mediocre, I would go back just for the service. Of course, we had our regular waitress that was assigned to our table when we arrived, but everyone else that worked there seemed to know exactly what was going on at our table. When our food arrived, delivered by someone that we hadn’t seen before, she knew who ordered what and where to set each plate. Another person noticed an empty beverage glass and offered to bring another, then when our regular server passed by a few seconds later, she said “that beverage will be out right away”.

When we started a conversation with the person clearing the plates when we were finished, another person noticed the conversation, took the plates, and finished clearing the table so the first person could continue talking to us. They understood that talking to their clients and making them feel like guests was important to securing repeat business.

I was so impressed with the efficiency in this place I wanted to go back the next night just to see if I could figure out how they do it. Wouldn’t it be nice if the service in every one of our companies was so good that, even if our product was average, people wanted to continue to do business with us just to get great service? Now, put a quality product with that service and you will have people telling all their friends about your business.

- Ken Hilton, President

Payroll may not be the most fun part of running a business, but it’s a necessity for those with employees. Red Wing Software® has been developing payroll software since 1979, and over the years our payroll systems have solved the payroll needs of many business organization types. In case you are wondering what kind of businesses purchase and use Red Wing Software’s CenterPoint Payroll Software, here is just a sampling of the businesses and organizations who have become customers recently!

• Accountant/Payroll Service Providers
• Farms
• Golf Courses
• Label Printers
• Law Offices
• Machine & Tool Shops
• Manufacturers
• Municipalities
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Orchards
• Restaurants
• Schools
• YMCAs

From a small farmer with one employee to a franchise owner with 70+ restaurants in 8 states, CenterPoint Payroll can solve a huge variety of payroll woes. Need better garnishment options? A way to pay an employee for different jobs on the same day? Pay by piecework? Local tax calculations? Reports the way you want them? Just a very few of the things people call us about each and every day.

Many people ask which industry is CenterPoint Payroll best for. The truth is that CenterPoint Payroll is not focused on only one industry and can work well for nearly any business or organization. We do see quite a few people who were using a basic payroll program and need something better, and also quite a few people using a payroll service who want more control or cost savings. If you would like to learn more about CenterPoint Payroll, please visit this page: CenterPoint Payroll Software. Or give us a call at 800-732-9464.

Leah works in Technical Support at Red Wing Software, supporting CenterPoint products and doing on-site training for our customers. Leah started working for Red Wing Software in 2001. Over the past several years, her family has grown quite a bit! She got married in 2013 to her husband Brett, and together they have six children: four girls and two boys. Leah loves spending time with her family! They enjoy going to Valleyfair Amusement Park, having bonfires, swimming in their pool, and watching the boys at their baseball games.

Leah’s favorite part of her job is talking to customers and helping them with any questions or issues they have.

Check out this eye-opening article about ways to prevent fraud, written by Dr. Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA, founder and Chairman of the ACFE.

10 Pointers for Fighting Fraud