It's good to maintain positive relationships with clients

Just had a client get a hold of me a few days ago, we have been picking up from them for the last three years or so. He said he had some equipment that he would like to drop by, and that he had tried to get bids for it, but the best bid of $1000 wasn't enough to palletize and ship it out. Color me surprised that he would then call me and offer it for free!

So, yesterday he pulls up in his van and starts pulling the equipment out. 1st out, and older Dell blade server, which I've torn apart before and found very nice heat sinks. Some desktops and two Juniper switches. And at the back of the van is another blade server - dirty but looks really great. I can see stacks of SAS drives loaded up as we pull it out. (20 x 300GB 10k - I had to check)

We chat and get everything moved into our building, and he heads off to go about the rest of his day...now it's time to see what is in that chassis. He mentioned that it was around 2 years old so and that his boss wanted to give us something good since we always take their "crap". Write down some model numbers and head home to research system value because even though I would love to keep it, the wife would kill me and so would the power bill.

Let me tell you, I am absolutely blow away. This one blade chassis/servers are worth a good amount of money 8-l . I have two bids already coming in from contacts in the reseller markets, and should have some more in the next couple days.

Does anyone have good ideas about how to thank someone like this? Fruit baskets? Steak baskets? :)

And pics

I have done mail order t bones before lol. Also dropped off cases of monster energy drink and a few other goodies.

Obviously you have to gauge what type of place it is, but I bring six packs of adult sodas frequently to the guys at the scrap yard.

Used to buy a dozen Dunkin donuts then just bought gift cards from Dunkin. I'm not promoting Dunkin but if you don't want a donuts then a cup of coffee should be welcome.

I got some really good legal advise from a lawyer who refused payment so I got him a couple of $50 gift cards. I figured some one in the office could use them. 73, Mike

I think I may do steaks, it's a professional office so we can't hang out with beers unfortunately...but you did make me think of something, there is a local British pub down the street I could get gift cards to. Steaks and beer for ya fellas!!

Since I started this venture I have sent Omaha Steaks to alot of my customers who have given me steady shipments of a token of appreciation. Many of the customers have thanked me and said its unnecessary as I am providing them a good service but I think that showing some kind of appreciation to your customer is needed. As you all know that your customer may find someone else offering a few cents more or willing to pay them for what they have and the small things you do for them may make the difference.

I paid for a pizza party for a crew on this site once....i probably should do more but with hungry mouths to feed at home i just do what i can

For those who will see this later in the archives the point of this thread is this: Show your customers you appreciate their loyalty, in a way taht is appropriate, the office crew gets a few eatery gift cards while the yard crew might get brews...and omaha steaks are ALWAYS a solid bet lol.

I think it should also be noted that while it can be a nice gesture I don't think anyone in the industry actually expects pizza parties or beer or steaks.........ETC.........

I had some nice pens made up, they are relatively cheap and people really like a nice pen.

Update for everyone, I've decided on a good chunk of our 1/4 beef that we are buying from our local farmer - the next time they call to drop off I'll gift it to my direct contact with the company. I was able to flip the servers (after wiping all drives properly) for ~4k. Thanks for the blessings of our forum!!