Many of you that know my husband, Jeffery, tell me, “Bless your heart. I don’t know how you do it”
While I appreciate it, you should save a heap of that “blessing” for Frankie Love. He has been with Aberdeen Custom Gate & Iron for five years. Most of those five years it was just the two of them riding around in the same truck all day, every day.
We’ve added a couple more folks to our team since then, but back in the olden days, they liked to call themselves the “Frankie and Jeffery Show”.
Here is a phone conversation I had with Jeffery after one of their comedy hours.
PHONE: RING-RING
ME: “Hello”
JEFFERY: “Hey, so you know how I’ve been drinking those ‘flat-white’ coffees lately?”
ME: “Yes.”
JEFFERY: “I sat it on the truck bed while we were working today and when I went to take a sip, there was a bee in it that stung the roof of my mouth.”
ME: Laughing – “That sounds terrible.”
JEFFERY: “Yes well, it’s okay now because Frankie used the needle-nosed pliers and pulled out the stinger.”
Does this help you join me in saying “Bless Frankie’s heart!”?
PARTNER IN CRIME
Before I lead you to believe that Frankie is always the angel, I should probably fill you in on another “Frankie and Jeffery Show” episode.
Teamwork makes the dream work!
They conspired to pull a prank on our veterinarian, Brandon Dutton at Pet Western Animal Hospital. If you don’t know, their office sits off the highway in Mineral Wells.
The guys passed by often and noticed a big stump sat not far from where Brandon daily parked his truck. Then, they got the bright idea to jack the truck up and move the stump under the truck to high-center it.
There were plenty of fire ants, but that didn’t deter them. They were giggling with pride for their mischief all day.
Frankie and Jeffery working on a dual Viking electric gate operator installation.
Come to find out, Brandon had just gotten his truck back from being repaired. He was certain he was having mechanical problems until he happened to look under his truck. He asked all the vet techs at his office if they’d seen anyone in the parking lot. Someone threw the Aberdeen boys under the bus, but they didn’t care.
As these tales (and many more) hopefully illustrate, Frankie is like family. After apprenticing with Jeffery for three years, he found he has an aptitude for electric gate operating systems. Now, Jeffery lets Frankie take the lead on the technical gate questions.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
What makes him even more valuable as an electric gate technichian is his panache for customer service. Here are a few highlights …
If you want to see more of our reviews, go to Facebook, Google or Yelp.
Jeffery would like to take the credit for molding Frankie into a specimen of customer service genius. But, that is far from the truth. Frankie picked up a lot of it while working in the high-end, food-service business. He started in that business around 2012 and really studied how to be good at it. He soaked up any training made available to him.
Wendy Reese brought Frankie a hat and water when he worked on their keypad.
To help clients when he can’t get there, we’ve started making some YouTube videos for trouble shooting your electric gate. Here are a few:
- Safely Disable a High Security CNX Operator
- Trouble Shooting an iGazer Photo Eye
- Ninja Tip for Photo Eye Maintenance
- Grease Your Gate Hinges
MEETING FRANKIE
Jeffery used to do a lot of “networking” at the old Wild Mushroom restaurant. Since Frankie was working there, they got to know each other.
When Jeffery mentioned that he could use a hand, Frankie thought it might be a nice change of pace. So, he worked for Aberdeen during the day and the Wild Mushroom at night until it closed.
Now, some weekends you will still see him filling in at the Downtown Cantina. When Jeffery heard about that, he asked if he was having money troubles. Frankie said, “No. I just get to be paid for hanging out with my friends rather than spending money on the weekends.”
Frankie is saving for up for his first house. We are super excited for him and that plan!
FOR FUN
When Frankie isn’t having fun fixing your electric gate, you can find him playing some kind of sport. I’ve heard him mention basketball, volleyball, softball, and jujitsu. I’m sure there are more. I really can’t keep up.
He is always telling me about the latest-greatest diet that is going to improve his performance. I like hearing about that, but he gets over my head with some of the science behind it.
He enjoys hanging with his dogs. He has started a rotation of taking one of his dogs with him on his service calls, so you might get to meet them in person someday.
Thea
Dexter
Bruiser
Family is a priority. He is always taking time out hang out with his brother and nieces.
He and his girlfriend, Kallie Taylor, enjoy travelling to Seattle. They try to go each year.
The last time they went, Jeffery and I wanted to contribute in some way as a thank you for being part of our team/family. So, we gave them a gift card to a restaurant I’d heard about on one of my podcasts – Canlis-Secrets of Insanely Good Customer Service.
I thought it sounded like it would stand up to Frankie’s critical eye for good customer service. Apparently, it did. Frankie and Kallie said they plan to try and make it back there when they go again. I’m hoping we can join them next time!
MAKING ABERDEEN BETTER
Frankie said he believes that Aberdeen is different because of “the relationship we build with our customers and the constant work we do on ourselves to improve in all areas.”
So, I asked Frankie what he thinks Aberdeen needs to do to get to the next level. He said, “Just keep focused on our flaws and keep working to make improvements on said flaws.”
WE’RE GRATEFUL
We know we are fortunate to have Frankie in our world. I’m sure working for a husband-wife team has a set of challenges that is unique, but layer on the fact that part of that team is a man that has a burger named after him at Shep’s Place … well, all I can say is, “bless Frankie’s heart!”
Am I right? Comment below and let me know.
