After the tornado my team at Relay for Business began immediately working with our processors to close pending credit card batches. Our main goal was to make sure there was no loss of pending transactions. Our laser focus on being a part of our client’s successful cash flow never changed. We spent three weeks getting our clients who were trying to reopen for business back to accepting credit cards.
On the morning of June 14th, John Claybrook of Standard Transportation called me at 6am. Yes, I take calls from my fellow BNI’ers that early! He and his wife spotted a fire in Joplin and it appeared to be near my business. It was due to this call that I made it to the site to watch both of my companies burn to the ground. Knowing my staff was safe, I began to make mental assessment and I was left with the feeling that it was indeed going to come down to “who I knew”.
As I stood there my BNI family began to show up. Katie Bell of Katie Bell State Farm reassured me it was all ok. It was through her prompting a year earlier that I took out an additional $25K policy to cover my computers. Suzanne Nelson of Suzanne’s Natural Foods, a long-time client, showed up for moral support. Right beside her were Ginger LaMar and Christine Bryant of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce. My assessment came down to realizing that I had all the help I needed at my fingertips. I had backed up all of my data off-site through Al Johnson of Stronghold Data, outsourced all of my payroll with Marshall Spurrier of Employer Advantage, my client management system and accounting systems were all on-line services. I truly had only STUFF in that building, and that stuff was insured properly.
As the next two days unfolded we were able to be up and running with key help. Stronghold Data drove my hard drive to Joplin the next day, Fred Warden of Lakeland Office Systems wheeled in a loaner copier and Tim Weathers of Culligan of Joplin delivered a loaner cooler to our temporary offices. Community Bank and Trust had already heard through the chamber where I located and called to confirm changing my addresses on my accounts!
You’ve heard it before, and “they” were right. It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know. I love my BNI and chamber family and I know that those relationships matter
Priscilla McKinney
BNI Greater Joplin Business Conection
1 comments:
You are THE example to your friends and colleagues. What an amazing testimonial of poise, purpose, and leadership. You already know how I feel about it, but... you're amazing.
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