Why is service so important? Service is our second core value and this is where we see Tharp’s major opportunity to differentiate itself in the workplace. There is a lot of complexity to custom cabinets, a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong, and focus on “delivering boxes”. Most companies have accepted this as part of industry. NOT US! We believe that the more customers that have an awesome experience, the more customers we will have come back, and the more their friends will buy from us. Always remember that customers never have to give us their hard earned money, but they CHOOSE to give it to us. It’s not about the boxes, it’s about the journey and the finished product! We, as a team, buy into service for all our customers, not just those that pay us directly. In other words, the department downstream from you, whether that be for information or product, is a customer, and they deserve to have a good experience. We can’t forget the adage that happiness equals reality minus expectation: high expectations + poor reality = unhappy customers; lower expectations + great reality = happy customers! [Note: that just setting low expectations is not a smart way to manipulate this equation] This means we also have to set expectations through good proactive communication: “It’s going to take 16 weeks and cost $200,000 to build the customer’s cabinet out of their extinct dream wood?” – tell them early! We have shown vast improvement in our level of service and customer experience over the last couple years, and still have improvements to make. I look forward to the results as we all work together to continuously improve!

– Garth Rummery