By Becky Minard, Senior Vice President & Founder

Sometimes you just have to brag. Please forgive me.

We have this thing that we do here at SmartPak – every single time we fail to meet a customer’s expectations, for whatever reason, we log that event as a ‘failure’ and we have a weekly meeting to review each and every failure to see what we could have done better. After awhile we realized we were very good at sharing our failures, but not as good at sharing our many successes.

And so was born the “Happy Customer Feedback” email. Now every time a customer compliments us we send their email around to the entire company. This is where the bragging part comes in: we get 2, 3, sometimes 5 of these EVERY DAY! Unsolicited feedback from the most important people in our world.

Here are a few things customers said about SmartPak THIS WEEK, really, I swear this is just from this week and none of these people are my mother:

“You guys ARE the best customer service I have ever dealt with, hands down. Thank you so much for your instant attention to the matter. With great appreciation.”

“I've used SmartPak for years now and have no idea how I'd manage without y'all! You were one of the first to carry the One AC that keeps my horse alive and finding you was a Godsend… at the time, our vet was unaware of this product. My research (I'm a librarian) led me to the product, and you were one of the VERY few places that carried it! We've been with you ever since. Your business concept is brilliant but what REALLY impresses me is your customer service! Whenever I call, I end up speaking with someone who knows not only your merchandise but also horses!! They take their time, and they KNOW what they are talking about. I don't know how you round up your staff....but each and every one of them that I have dealt with is a star!”

“Thank you for such great service and products. I always thought that I shouldn't/couldn't afford SmartPaks. Now I don't know how I could afford to do without them. I only have the 2 horses and 1 dog so it's not like I couldn't scoop out of buckets for them, but I love not having to go to the store or reorder every 4-6 weeks. I also love the packaging and lack of more stuff for the landfill. Thanks so much!”

“Thank you SmartPak! You have helped me learn so much about giving my horse their supplements. I love how easy it is to give my horse his supplements, and when we go to shows, we just take one or two or three SmartPaks and don't have to fiddle around with bags and buckets. It makes going to shows with every horse in the barn fun, and not as stressful. I really love your products, the customer service, and the quick shipping. I'll always use SmartPaks!”

“Thank you for responding to my question regarding the SmartFlex Senior formula! SmartPak Equine always puts the extra touches on its products, and its customers... Other Equine catalogs do not give adequate descriptions on their products they're selling, which makes it extra difficult to see if it is appropriate or not for the horse. At SmartPak, your descriptions are almost like talking to the maker of the supplement themselves, and almost right there you know if it's right or not. Even if there are questions, you have educated staff willing to help you anytime. We also go to SmartPak for the cutest embroidery options, and high quality items with decent prices. What would horse people do today without educated people and a company like SmartPak to help them with their questions?”

And here’s my personal favorite from this week: “SmartPak is the best thing to happen to a barn since the wheelbarrow!”

Nothing can make you love your job more than knowing you are making people happy and that you work with total ROCK STARS! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

by:  Becky Minard, Senior Vice President & Founder

As we turn the corner on 2007 and head into 2008, we want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your continued support of our business. SmartPak was founded to solve a problem – proper administration of supplements to your horse. And, as we have expanded our business and product offering we hope to continue to stay in touch with you and to provide products and solutions to make your lives easier and keep your horses and dogs happy and healthy. If there is something we could be doing better, if there is a great new product that you are craving, or if you just want to say hi, please feel free to contact us. We are always happy to help and love to hear from you!

Best wishes to you and your pets for a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!

By Becky - Founder and VP of Marketing

I started SmartPak in 1999. At the time I had a great job that I really loved and lots of free time. I had to quit my “day” job as SmartPak began to take shape in the Spring of 2000. And that free time? I don’t remember what it’s like to have free time anymore! But I’d do it all again. And here’s why.

Easily the best part of starting a company is the opportunity to work with people you really like. I look forward to coming to work each day because I get to see my friends. We’ve got lots in common. We work HARD. Really hard. But we love what we do. We are horse owners and dog lovers. So we care deeply about our products and our customers.

The people who work at SmartPak are a special breed. I hope you enjoy getting to know them and their animals. I can guarantee we can keep you entertained because there is always something going on here! Plus we go through the same things you do. Mysterious lameness, training issues or the excitement of a new horse or puppy.

With our Peek at the Pak we hope to share the good, the bad and the ugly of what it’s like to live in our Pak.

If you are interested, here are the gory details on why I started SmartPak.

Westley – the original SmartPak horse:

It was the blizzard of 1997. April 1st, 1997. We got three feet of snow that day. And I got a horse. Accidentally really. He was just at our barn to escape the weather as he had been living out in someone’s paddock after a failed trial at a local riding school. He didn’t have a name. He was a skinny, skinny chestnut gelding. Age unknown. Background unknown. But there was something about his kind eye. He didn’t steer very well but he loved to jump. And that was enough for me.

It’s been ten years and we’ve been through many issues. There was the “biting my leg as I was riding” phase, the rearing phase, the time a dressage judge told me to find another sport (that was harsh). But there have also been the victories – High score at a show, a beautiful jumping round on a grass course and the most important one, the deep trust between us.