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With more than fifty years in the parking control business, Gorrie-Regan has seen just about every new trend that has hit the parking market. As an answer to the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent ‘hottest thing’ is the use of Touchless Operations for your parking system. In other words, a hands-free operation where the driver of the vehicle does not have to physically interact with the controls of the system itself.

Gorrie-Regan has an impressive array of the latest touchless buttons to use on your TIBA parking systems as well as many other approaches for your legacy equipment already in use. We have some very cool phone apps and remote controls to be used in the comfort and safely of your own car in addition to award winning LPR (license plate recognition) systems that actually can recognize your car as you arrive at the parking facility. Similar systems can be retrofit for vehicle identification to be used on your existing parking systems.

Please, let us show you all the ways that your system can be converted to a Touchless System. Contact us below for more information on how you can implement this critical safety measure.

 

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Are You a Problem-Solver?

Our 4^th CORE Value is Be a Problem-Solver. Sounds pretty straight forward, but what does that mean?

I have our CORE values posted right beside my desk and see them many times a day. It’s kind of fun as every time I re-read them, I think of a different example of each one. The other day when thinking about being a problem solver, I thought of Ross Perot. You younger folks may not know who he is- so have some fun and watch him on YouTube.

He is a Texas business man and, in many cases, is larger than life. He first emerged to national prominence as the head of early tech giant, EDS. But he became truly famous during the late 70’s when some of EDS’s people were kidnapped in Iran. Dissatisfied with the assistance he was getting from the Carter administration, he formed his own team of former US military commandos and rescued them himself. True story.

In 1992 he ran for president as an Independent. The votes he took from George Bush put Bill Clinton in the White House. Perot was nothing if not a character.

Like much of the nation, I was initially captivated by the thought of this “out of the box” thinking leading our country.

One story that I can easily recall, is a great demonstration of his creativity.

Perot grew up very humbly in a small Texas town. Later in life when he was a very wealthy man, he had a plan to buy his childhood home and restore it to the original condition. So he hired the best contractors and carpenters and set to work. Over the years the house had been painted many times, and the plan was to have it sandblasted and returned to the original brick façade. But no contractor was able to remove all the paint from the many coats applied. Finally, in disgust, Perot fired the latest paint removal company and decided to take matters into his own hands. His solution? To take the bricks off the house and turn them around…therefore using the other side of the brick as the new exterior surface. Brilliant! This is an idea of an original thinker and yes, a person who could solve a problem.

Today, each of us will be given many opportunities to solve problems. For customers, for each other, and for friends and family at home. Are you a problem solver? Of course, you are…we all are. It is truly a blessing to be in the position to help another person.

-Charlie

 

 

 

What does it mean to be service-hearted? The word service has its roots in the word “serve”. To serve mean to be of use. It can also mean to be favorable, opportune, or convenient and worth of reliance or trust. As a result, a person that serves discharges a duty or function. So, with serve being at the root of service, it stands to reason that service is the act of serving. It’s the act of being of use to the world and whatever portion of the world we’re in. As a result of our usefulness, the people that we come into contact with can trust that what we provide is of quality and is favorable.

Gorrie-Regan embraces service and requires those we work with to be service-hearted.

What does that look like? Because service requires empathy, it looks like putting ourselves in our customer’s shoes. That’s what empathy is. Putting ourselves in our customer’s shoes helps us to communicate in manner that shows that we care before we can put what we know into action. This approach also helps to exceed our customer’s expectations. Viewing challenges, concerns, and opportunities from our customers standpoint helps us to see ways that we can go beyond their expectations. When we take this approach, it leaves them feeling great about themselves and the decision they made to go with Gorrie-Regan.

 

There was a man that worked as a bank inspector and traveled the southeast in this capacity. One summer he was called back to a bank that he had previously inspected due to a reporting error. Since it was summertime, the bank inspector decided to bring his son along, knowing this could be an invaluable lesson for his son to witness.

When they arrived at the bank, the manager explained that an accounting error had been discovered and the initial report and associated deposit submitted was in fact wrong. The bank manager didn’t have to report the accounting error. After all, no one would have known that anything was wrong if he had not said something. However, HE would’ve known and because he knew, he had to do the right thing. In that moment, he acted like everything he would’ve done would’ve been public – leaving no room for deceit. He reached out to the bank inspector to let him know that he had made a mistake, he had corrected his mistake, and he needed to replace the report that had been given to the bank inspector.

Although the son probably didn’t know it, he had witnessed integrity in full bloom.

The bank inspector never thanked the manager for doing the right thing, which confused his son. When his son asked him about it, his father explained that while the manager’s actions were good and honest, they were also simply the right thing to do. To thank somebody for doing the right thing implies that they had the option to do something else. Even though reality has proven that we all have the capacity to choose to do the wrong thing, we must ALWAYS think and act as if the only option we have is to do the right thing. As the manager of the bank, his job was to do the right thing. A person should never be thanked for doing what they are supposed to do, because it is what we are all called to do.

Here is the lesson that was learned: integrity is always the right thing to do. This is what we live by at Gorrie-Regan. This is one of our core values.

Have you ever experienced a customer service issue? Maybe it was at your house or working with another vendor on the job site, or even at a restaurant. Maybe it was a vendor that you have a great relationship with but still had a bad experience.

Whatever the case, the customer service issue stems from the fact that it appears that you and the service provider aren’t on the same page.

And if we’ll be honest, it’s a very frustrating scenario.

Late last year, the president of our company, Charlie Regan Jr. challenged us to revisit the core values of our company. Our core values reflect the way that we do business and treat our customers. One of those core values is Strive For Excellence. Clearly, this is a lofty goal. However, as Charlie told us, it’s succeeding on a small level. What does that look like you might ask?

For us, it looks like a prompt response when an issue has been identified. It’s working to ensure that we are properly trained and well informed. It’s coming to work every day with the intent of being our customer’s favorite vendor. It’s making ourselves better every day by listening to our customers, improving our processes, and being open and intentional about making changes.

Our intentions are clear. Every day we are challenged to strive for excellence. This does not mean perfection. This means delivering quality work and enjoying the journey to quality. This is what Gorrie-Regan strives for and this is the culture we promote.

When I was a kid in school, I once learned that it takes hearing or doing something seven times before it finally sticks. I assume that is the same for grown-ups as well. Therefore, we will never cease in speaking about our CORE Values. As you may recall, the way we determined our CORE Values came in a very unique exercise conducted a few years ago. During the drill, our senior leadership team was asked to name the people they would choose from Gorrie-Regan if we were starting over as a brand-new company. Very quickly, the whiteboard was filled with the names of our best and brightest. Our coach then asked us to list what traits were embodied by this group of people. This very list was the foundation of our CORE Values. Our first CORE Value is integrity.

INTEGRITY
•Always do the right thing.
•Act like everything said or done would be public.
•Always DO what we say we’ll do.

Having just lost my Dad, the lessons that he taught me are becoming even more important. I think the most important things he taught often came in the most nonchalant ways when he was not intending to impart a life lesson. One story I will never forget was a situation that happened to his childhood best friend. While they were kids, the friend’s father worked as a bank inspector and traveled the southeast in this capacity. Once, the friend’s dad was called back to a bank that he had already inspected. It turns out that an accounting error had been discovered and the initial report and associated deposit submitted were in fact wrong. It was the summer time and the young man rode with his father on the return visit. Together, they walked into the bank and before long were leaving with the new report and amended deposit. On the way home, the kid asked a question of his father, “Why didn’t you thank that man for what he just did for the bank?” The father then turned to his son and said that you never thank a person for doing the right thing.

This story made me realize that we should all do the right thing without expecting a “Thank you” in return. I heard my father tell that story many times and it comes to mind each time I think about our first CORE Value. We all have such stories from our lives, but I felt incline to share this one with you today.

Have a great day, and thank you for all that do.

Charlie

Happy Thursday Everyone!

In honor of Get To Know Your Customers Day, we reached out to one of our most valued customers for a quick interview. Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina is located on Goat Island!! Special, thanks to their Human Resources Director, Cassandra Crombie for taking the time to answer a few questions!

Question 1: How did you learn about Gorrie-Regan?
Answer: Gurney’s learned about us through Davidson Hotels.  They transitioned from Davidson Hotels to Gurney’s resorts in January of 2017.

Question 2: What challenges has our product helped your company overcome?
Answer: Cassandra  loves the organization that working with Gorrie-Regan has afforded their resort.  She says that it has helped to keep the associates accountable, as they are able to track them much more efficiently, and she especially loves that they are unable to punch in if they are not scheduled.

Question 3: What’s an interesting fact about your company that you would like everyone to know?
Answer: The most interesting fact about Gurney’s Newport Resort and Marina is that they have brought on two new team members, who happen to be goats.  They have their own, custom built mansion, which overlooks  the beautiful view of Newport Bridge and Harbor!

They are located on Goat Island, thus the reason for the goats being brought on as team members~

Check out Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina on the web and on Facebook!

We’re excited to be partners with Attendance on Demand and are really looking forward to the new products and services that they are working on.  Several of us from Gorrie-Regan had the opportunity to travel last week to their annual Channel Partner meeting, to see their beautiful new headquarters, learn about some exciting new product developments that will be coming in the near future, and discuss some topics and solutions that are important all of our clients such as compliance issues and scheduling challenges.

Just like your business is constantly changing and adapting to meet your clients needs or shift with the market,

the folks at AOD are always looking for new ways to help you manage and work with your employees to ensure a great experience for both of you.  We look forward to introducing you to these new developments as soon as they become available.  I’m sure they will add even more value to the Attendance on Demand and Attendance Enterprise software that you already know and love.

Sincerely,
Gorrie-Regan Time Committee

Gorrie Regan at 57 Years – Still Making Waves.

Another Gorrie-Regan fishing trip is in the record books. For those new to the show, we have taken a company fishing trip off Dauphin Island for as long as I can remember. This year, the weather was ideal with calm seas and temperatures in the low 80’s. Perfect for catching fish and a few rays to usher in the summer. It was a banner harvest as we caught hundreds of pounds of amberjack, snapper, trigger fish and the occasional King Mackerel.

Our captain once again was Skipper Thiery, part of the Thiery family that is famous around the area as the apex captains in those waters. We have known Skipper for years as he was once the budding deck hand and crew aboard his father’s boat. He is now a seasoned captain in his own right and has two kids of his own. Seeing him each year is a true blessing as not only do I know we will catch fish, but it has been a pleasure to watch him grow into the fine Godly man that he is today.

Even those in the Gorrie Regan family who do not choose to join in the fishing have a blast on this trip. Whether it’s the shrimp boil or the karaoke there is always something fun going on. For me, my favorite part is to see all of our folks being together and enjoying one another’s company. As spread out as we are, this is a great venue for people who work together in service to our customers to actually take some time and get to know each other on a far more personal level. The trip is awesome and I am already looking forward to next year!

Charlie

My son was recently telling me that there are some more superhero movies slated for release this summer. Personally, I love these films as they are such a complete break from reality, at least for a few hours. Plus, who isn’t slightly jealous of people who so boldly wear a cape in public? One of the common phrases we have whenever we discuss these movies is the tagline, ‘use your powers for good and not evil.’ Although it’s cliché, it does have a ring of truth involved.

When I was growing up and being mentored by my father, he had a saying that he would use very often. He said,

“As a professional, you are to use all of your expert knowledge and experience to benefit a customer and never take advantage. They come to you in good faith, as they are not as informed on the subject as you are. You should never violate that trust; taking advantage of someone in that situation is simply immoral!”

I have heard him say this a hundred times over the years. Whenever my father would encounter someone who exemplified this principle, he would make it a point to tell me about it. Whether at the hardware store, the motorcycle dealership, or even some stranger giving directions, I was always taught by these examples on how we are to share knowledge. Conversely, the opposite was also pointed out. By this I mean my father had zero patience for anyone who would purposely not disclose all information that could benefit a customer. I vividly remember him firing a long term insurance provider when they intentionally had us using an insurance product solely because that policy paid them a greater commission, as opposed to a broader one that would have paid a lesser commission. This is using your power for evil.

As you may know, our first CORE Value is integrity. In my opinion, the disciplines mentioned above are just another extension of that aspect. So I guess you can say, that as we all strive to live out this virtue, we are using our powers for good and not evil. Maybe this way we can be in touch with our inner super hero.

Wonder is you can fit a Gorrie-Regan sticker on a cape? Have a great day, Charlie