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Retirement and a heartfelt thank you to customers

Retirement and a heartfelt thank you to customers

CK Cathy Klouwens Updated May 11, 2021

Andy Santos has made it his goal to say a special thank you to his many loyal customers as he heads into retirement this month. I caught up with him as he closes the doors to his successful satellite and tv install business Santos de Santos. He shares a thank you to customers, and his business wisdom about how customers have always been integral in his work ethic.

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Andy has been a ‘techy’ at heart since preschool in Silicon Valley, California where he was intrigued by cables, plugs and how these all worked together. This early interest in electronics led to a career in several High Tech companies in Silicone Valley, and in New Zealand, roles including auto mechanic, computer and home electronics salesperson (Whitianga Beta Electrical and 100% Electrical) and as a Sky contractor.

With a raft of technical and customer experience under his belt he established his satellite and television installation business Santos de Santos in Whitianga during the summer of 2008. Andy says key to getting contacts and customer comments was to include a link to his All About Whitianga web page when he emailed customers invoices. His other primary means of contacts was customer referals.

Over the 13 years that Santos de Santos has been in operation Andy estimates he averaged 6-8 jobs a day across the Mercury Bay. The last couple of years not being as busy. However, a particularly memorable period was during 2013-14 when analogue systems were switched over to digital systems. This created a four to six-week backlog of work where Andy was grateful that customers were so patient for him to come and assist.

Retirement comes with a thank you to customers for success

In 2021 Andy is now ready to retire and focus on traveling New Zealand with his wife, Shirley, personal projects and to create more time to spend on his interest in music. He says that oddly enough he is not really a tv person – although some good movies and YouTube instructional videos will be slotted into his newly created spare time.

In farewelling this successful career and business that he has been so passionate about Andy has some key words to share with his customers.

Without my customers I would not have had a business, they have really made my business a success. As I head into retirement, I really just want to acknowledge all of my Santos de Santos customers from over the years for their loyalty, confidence and trust they have put in me. And I thank them for recommending my services to others. I don’t want to leave my customers without future assistance so I would recommend if they need help with a job to contact James Winter at Logic AV who I have regularly worked with over the years.

– Santos de Santos, retiring owner Andy Santos

Man sitting at table with cup of tea

Parting business tips – 'techy' with a strong customer focus

As a small business owner Andy has applied timeless principles that put customers at the heart of the way he operated Santos de Santos.

Treat people with respect - no one knows everything that there is to know
Provide the advice and assistance that is best for your customer
Customers were doing me the favour by contacting me. Without my customers I wouldn’t have been in business
When customers contact you it’s a golden opportunity to give them information, and to make intelligent decisions together.