Atlantic Cellular honored for customer satisfaction
Alan Lehman is not surprised his business has been recognized for its commitment to customer service. “A phone’s a phone. It’s how you service the people that come to you,” he said.
Lehman, who owns Atlantic Cellular on Route 1 in Lewes, recently won this year’s Top Customer Satisfaction Award for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The company beat out 100 other Verizon Wireless agents. The award is based on customers who complete a survey rating their Verizon Wireless agent on a one through ten scale. Atlantic Cellular received the most nine and 10 ratings in the tristate area.
“My staff puts themselves in the customers’ shoes,” Lehman said. Since the store’s opening 22 years ago, Lehman has built a strong customer base.
One customer, he said, drives from Washington, D.C., to do business with Atlantic Cellular because his staff takes the time to explain new cell phone technology to customers they often know by name.
“What used to take 20 minutes now takes 45 minutes to an hour,” Lehman said about assuring his clients understand the operation of the phone they purchase. He goes one step further and offers a free informational class every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. as a way to teach people to use the internet, send text messages and take pictures with their phones, as well as answer any specific questions they have.
“It’s endless as to where this is going,” Lehman said. The latest craze is for the smartphone, a mobile telephone that can also be used as a handheld computer and which supports more advanced applications than a basic feature phone. Lehman cited an application called “Talk to me,” that takes a sentence spoken into the phone and plays it back in a foreign language.
“It boggles my mind,” Lehman said of how quickly technology is advancing. “We’ve gone from something the size of a briefcase to something as small as a lady’s compact.” Lehman also said cellular technology gives customers more service for their money than landline phones, which do not offer free long-distance calls or internet access.
With Long Term Evolution, Verizon’s next-generation wireless broadband network, Lehman thinks there is no end to progress. “It’s going to keep getting bigger and better,” he said.
Lehman said he will continue to be supportive and fair to his employees. Some have worked with him for years. His plan for the future is to stick to the company’s customer service-oriented roots, keeping his “churn rate,” or customer turnover, low. Lehman said there are only three ways to lose a customer: They die, they are unhappy with their service or they do not need the service anymore. “We don’t lose many customers,” he said.
Atlantic Cellular is open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday; from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday; and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday. The store is located on Route 1 in Lewes; call 302-644-2644 for information.
