Letter From the Owner
This time of year is always charged with excitement
for me. This is the start of a new season and my favorite time of year. Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, is the time I reflect on how lucky I am. I have a wonderful family and the perfect career. What makes these both so special, is the people. You may find it odd that I rank my family and my career so closely but for me they are one and the same. I work in a family business, side by side with my parents, my children often running through the store or warehouse and my wife trying to keep us all together. Beyond that I run an operation built on the same values I grew up with, treat people with kindness and respect. As a result I consider my staff and customers amongst my closest friends, and as my Italian grandmother taught me; friends are family. I see that we have done a good job teaching this to our staff because I see them establishing the same strong relationships with their customers. They go beyond the call of a regular salesperson, they truly care about getting the customer taken care of by answering their questions and finding appropriate solutions.
As I look around at retail these days I am frustrated by the gimmicky RETAILTAINMENT I see. The big corporations wonder why retail is having a tough time but they aren't willing to really get out there and see what the customer truly wants. It is my impression that people want simplicity, connection and problem solving. They want it to be simple to get the answers and the merchandise they need, they want to feel connected in the sense that they want to know someone will be there to help them out and they want someone who is willing to go the extra mile to solve whatever problems may arise. When I see our customers joking around with our staff, trying gear on and getting excited about the winter I realize that is the only entertainment they need. When other retailers ask me if I am loosing business to box stores
and the internet my simple answer is, "No". Our customer loyalty is based on strong relationships
built on trust. Our customers come back because they want to, not because I've lured them in with some ruse. They value our opinion and trust our judgement because we have earned it. Our customers are well
cared for and they know that if there is ever a problem someone will do the right thing and get it taken
care of because we truly care about making sure our customers get what they need for the slopes.
This years issue of the Willi's Web Site has a great deal of information regarding feet, boots and custom fitting. The foundation of our customer support is built on our boot fitting. We feel it is what makes us special. We guarantee the fit of our boots because we know how important it is for both performance and comfort. A proper boot fit can also be the foundation of trust, it is the point customer relationships either grow or fail. I intended to make them grow. When I was a child I was in awe and so proud of my father as he would close a sale and say, "My name is Willi Klein, if you ever have any problems, you find me, I'll make it right. It is still our motto today.
Greg Klein