I was just logged into our Apple Service portal and saw a link for “Fourth Quarter Excellence Awards”, so I clicked on it out of curiosity.  It was a post congratulating the top 5% of all Apple Authorized Service Providers in the US and Canada for earning the “Commitment to Excellence Program Recognition Award” for Apple’s Fourth Quarter.  I scrolled down to see who was on the list and was pleasantly surprised to ******** on the list.  That’s us!  Wahoo!

I must give credit where credit is due.  Blake Allen, our service manager, is largely responsible for us receiving this award.  I continue to be impressed by Blake.  He’s worked for me for just over a year now and is always looking to improve his own performance as well as the overall workflow in the service area.  Since he has become service manager, our average repair time is consistently been between 1-1.5 days (the regional average is right around 3), and he pays attention to each repair individually, even looking over the repairs performed by other techs.  Beyond the numbers and metrics and objective measurements, I receive an incredible number of UNSOLICITED comments praising Blake either by phone or email on a fairly regular basis.  It seems I’m not the only one who appreciates Blake!  :)

Our award plaque should be mailed some time this month.  Stop by, if you’re in the area, and be sure to say thank you to Blake when you’re in.  You may not have needed him yet, but I think it’s safe to say we’re lucky to have him here when he is needed!

******the service award was given to the Apple Authorized Reseller that used to exist inside iCafe and was managed by iCafe and its employees.  However, as of 10/1/12 that store no longer resides inside iCafe or has any relationship to iCafe, but does still exist in Lawrence under different management.  We have been asked to remove every instance of its name from our website.  We hope that if you are reading this blog post, that you understand that has been left on this website purely for historical record, and that the information on this and other posts may no longer be current