I’m approaching a RV industry “anniversary date” of the day
I said “Yes” during an interview for a Marketing position in Country Coach, Inc. There has been a level of good, the great and very miniscule
portion of the ugly during a 23 year long (and still going) addiction to all
things Country Coach!
You know I took the original Country Coach job interview as
a “favor” to a job placement manager at Trend Business College, whom I feared
might not give me a “good job interview” if I didn’t go to this one. Boy! Did
I not know what a good thing this job interview was to be!
In that interview the
story of Country Camper, all the way back to the Barbie Toy of Bob Lee’s
daughter for which the company was named, captured my imagination, my interest,
and my journey began.
Through the years, I met thousands of Country Coach
motorcoach owners, and their other brand motorcoach owner friends. The company treated me very well, from Bob Lee and Ed Read and
other upper management staff members on down the thousands of CC employees who
worked for the company during my years there. Quality people through and
through, all passionate about building the world’s finest motorcoach. Bob Lee said, "Build it as if your own mother is going to drive it." It sparked a passion in me, I poured my mind and soul into helping build
the Country Coach brand, to market the company and its motorcoaches, and to promote
the enjoyment the CC lifestyle through the world’s finest rallies.
When the company closed its doors and went
through a bankruptcy auction in early 2010, a dream job ended. But I had no
regrets—I received far more than I gave in my opinion, and oh what great
friends I now have across the nation. Today in fact as a motorcoach found a new
home at Premier RV Services in Junction City, I got a BIG hug and a “Thank you
for all your help,” from the proud new owners. It feels good to work in this industry.
If I could have
someone speak the highest praise of me, it would be: I will
never compromise the customer experience. Ever. I have always been an advocate for delivering the
very best for the customer, refusing to downgrade the quality of services
and unwilling to sacrifice the customer’s experience at any event for which I
was responsible for managing.
There are only a couple potholes I went through on my Country Coach journey. Once
a rally was cancelled and monies motorcoach owners had committed in rally registration
fees had to be sorted out and returned.
The company was struggling and when the decision came down the hall to marketing that they were going to cancel the
rally, the limited part I had in the ‘refund’ process was providing a spreadsheet
to the accountants noting who had registered. Accounting and
the bank (who was involved by that time) handled the refunds. It was not an expedient process. Since I had
signed the customer up originally for the rally, I wanted to bulldog it
through. It was HARD not to be able to simply put in the check requests to accounting and then see them immediately printed
out. It got straightened out eventually, but I hated the process.
The Job I Didn't Take. All who know me know that I hold Bob Lee, the founder of Country Coach, in high esteem. He is one of a kind. He had called one day after the closing of Country Coach and asked me
to meet him down at the airport offices. He said he
wanted me to write his story—the story
of Country Coach, the Lee family and how the company grew and evolved in tandem
with the industry’s growth. We’d include Kay from Monaco, and Matt from Safari, and
other movers and shakers in the industry during those formative years. Include their stories too… I wanted to say YES in the worst way. Who wouldn’t want to work with Bob researching, fact
gathering, sifting through historical stuff, his photos and news articles across the country, and telling the story. What a wonderful
coffee table book it would be. But…I
had to keep my word already given just the day before to the then president of one of the owners clubs to help build back up a member benefits
package. At that time that club's member benefits package had shrunk. All the Company Gimmes "benefits" were gone. Membership was down. I worked just over a year at the task. I will always regret having not accepted Bob Lee's offer instead. If Bob and Terry
revisit the idea of that coffee table book, you can be very sure this time I will make myself
available.
As a senior manager of marketing I got to interface with
various departments across Country Coach. There were so many craftsmen and women who were actually artisans. There was Julie Otis who covered more ground and juggled more
balls than anyone I ever met in office administration, Karen Smith who was my Country Coach friend-truly without conditions of what she could get from me "friend". There were experts like Dave Stevens & Rick Ramirez in technical publications; Opal Hale as rally coordinator
was unmatched; Mark Anderson, Ed Read in
upper management were the best of the best; and so many others, Dave & Barb Diamond, Matt Howard, Jack Courtemanche, Nancy
Read, Carolyn Gsell, Jim Cooley, Star Wood, Scott McFarland, Craig Burden, Kevin Atkinson,
Brian Keys, Becky Crowson, Chris Snyder, Larry Sherwood, Doug Rutherford, Kari Reynolds, Laurie Freeman and many more. … Couldn’t begin
to name them all. I think many of them had Country Coach motor oil coursing through the veins!
People in this industry are the best. The RV-related business owners, the motorcoaching enthusiasts, and the business professionals across the industry that I work
along side are some of the most capable service providers and promoters of this wonderful lifestyle...
And the Country Coach
owners….I wouldn’t dream of trying to name them….I'd leave some out. I got to coordinate multi-day events for upwards of 300 coach families. Those were great big parties! I got to meet SO many motorcoachers....I call them friends and many are now family. I look forward to
seeing them at the Friendship Rally each
year, and at Premier RV, where I now work. Some I don’t get to see as they don’t attend rallies
any more, or they have sold their coaches. Others have gone on to motor on heavenly highways…My sweet friend
Blanche Miller is one of those. Vern Meighen said “Country Coach Friends are Lifelong
Friends,” and boy, is he right. I count Vern and Phyllis among my strongest friends.
For me, the
journey continues in the RV industry today at Premier RV Services. Gary Obermire and
Louie Courtemanche were mid-management and upper management friends at
Country Coach. They know their stuff and they love people! They have a great business in Junction City! What makes me
excited to come in each day to 325 East First Avenue is the
knowledge that they are basing their entire business on the Customer
Experience. Friends serving friends. Boy does that strike a chord for me. A company based on 20+ acres of the original Country Coach
campus, owned by gentlemen who respect their customers as friends first and
customers second….Taking care of their customers, doing what's right. It’s almost like being back home at my Country Coach LLC marketing desk again. Well
not quite, because now I do a fair amount of accounting functions too, and if you know me, you know I’d
much rather WRITE YOU A STORY ABOUT ACCOUNTING THAN DO ACCOUNTING.
Every day brings friends through the doorway. Motorcoachers visit Premier RV to get service, or store their coaches, or shop for a new to them pre-owned highline motorcoach. Tom Connor is in house right now at Premier. He and his wife attended so
many Class Reunion Rallies through the years... I have enjoyed seeing them.
I’ll see some of you
at the Friendship Rally this August. I also help out the Country Coach Friends Incorporated Board of Directors in any way I can....and these past weeks its been serving as Pat Detloff's helper. He's rally host at the 4th Annual Friendship Rally. Thanks Country Coach Friends for all the great things this club has brought to my life too!
...so, I am a Country Coach Cheerleader through and through.
I love the RV industry! What a great gig--23 years and counting….
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