Customer Service Manager

Assistant Store Manager

Store Manager Assistant Customer Service Manager Customer Service Team Leader

Austin Joseph Gaylord

N/A

New Hope for Kids 205 E. State Road 436 Fern Park, FL 32730 Phone 407-331-3059 Fax 407-331-3063

Visit www.newhopeforkids.org

December 17, 2014 RE: Recommendation for Austin Gaylord To Whom It May Concern:

Austin Gaylord served as a volunteer for New Hope for Kids through the University of Central Florida’s Pegasus of Hope Cornerstone Team. This group of business majors uses their training to benefit charitable organizations in the Central Florida area. New Hope’s Wishes for Kids Program improves the quality of life for children with life-threatening illnesses by granting them wishes and providing ongoing support programs for their families. Austin’s team worked to grant a wish for Miguel by raising funds, doing comparative pricing, research and planning. The team had to formulate a timetable, budget and overall project plan. They also hosted a party to celebrate Miguel’s wish. This project required organizational, marketing, people skills, professionalism, self-motivation, team cooperation and creativity. The Pegasus of Hope Team was the top team this semester not only raising $2,479, but providing a professional as well as caring approach to their entrepreneurship. Austin played a major role in the team’s success. He has the rare ability to connect with others in a meaningful and comfortable way. Upon their first meeting, Austin and his team established an easy rapport with Miguel and his family. In addition, his leadership skills will ensure future success in his future business career. Austin exhibited organizational skills, a conscientious attitude and willingness to work with his team. He and his team gave Miguel and his family a day at Sea World that they will never forget. There they presented Miguel with his wish for annual theme park tickets. I highly recommend Austin Gaylord. He will be an asset to any program or organization in which he participates. If I can be of any further help, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Wishes for Kids Program Director

SSSSHERI HERI HERI HERI LLLLYNCHYNCHYNCHYNCH 9831 Violet Drive ♦ Orlando, FL 32824

Cell: 321-436-0618

E-mail: slynch16@cfl.rr.com

December 17, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to recommend Austin Gaylord for a position with your organization. I have had the

pleasure of working with Austin in an intensive course study and serving on a team together for

the 2014 summer semester at UCF.

Austin served as our team leader and gave careful assessment in choosing each of our team

members. In addition, he also served as a successful project manager for a major fundraising

activity, in which our team raised a substantial amount of donations in just a few short weeks for

a local charity. His communication skills, both written and verbal, are excellent. Our

Cornerstone course was very challenging and fast-paced and Austin handled the demands with

confidence, meeting all goals and objectives before they were due.

I believe that Austin is a highly qualified candidate for a position with your organization. In

summary, I highly recommend Austin for any position or endeavor that he may seek to pursue.

He will be a valuable asset for any organization.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours truly,

Writing Example (unedited):

Cornerstone Team Recruitment Letter

From: Austin Gaylord <austin0gaylord@Knights.ucf.edu>

Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 1:42 PM

To: Sheri Lynch

Subject: GEB 3031L - Summer Term Section 16

Hi Sheri! I'm not sure if you remember, but we met yesterday. After listening to your

introduction and reading your virtual business card, I realized that you're a person who has

some very valuable experience and a skill set that I can learn from. I'm putting together a team

of people for this class that I believe will give us a high degree of success as well as personal

satisfaction. Your personality and your refusal to accept procrastination combined with your

skills and experience would be invaluable to the team.

All of our tasks, duties, and responsibilities are subject to change as we go about this semester,

this is just something I put together based on what I had gleaned from both the in-class

introductions as well as your virtual business card. This is of course, all subject to change with

your approval or disapproval.

The team I wish to put together includes: Porter (marketing and leadership), Carl (budget

planning, organization of revenues/expenses, graphic designer), Jeanette (communication with

client(s) and those involved in fundraising projects, presentation), Yourself (Risk analysis for

fundraisers, strength/weakness analysis, procrastination elimination/general upkeep of moral),

Myself (writing, proofreading, analyzing, planning/directing tasks, leadership (if warranted and

needed), organization of schedules, generally helping out with and identifying tasks/goals).

With this team in mind, I believe we can achieve our goals, both efficiently and effectively.

Below, you'll find my business card,

My name is Austin Gaylord, I'm a Business Management major here at the UCF college of

business and I'm currently in my second semester here as an undergraduate. When not in

school, I work at Publix two days per week on Tuesdays and Fridays (soon to be just Tuesdays).

Having said all of this, here is a list of my skill set in regards to this course:

High writing and proofreading proficiency

MS Word (Intermediate)

MS Excel (Intermediate)

MS Access (Intermediate)

MS Power Point (Intermediate)

Able to identify key items, tasks, and goals, and clearly communicate to other team members

how to go about achieving those desired objectives.

Effective at managing people, and willing to step up or down from the position of leader as the

situation demands it.

Availability is as follows:

Monday - all day

Tuesday - after 5 P.M.

Wednesday - all day

Thursday - all day

Friday - after 5 P.M (this will be changing shortly, as I am taking off Fridays at work to dedicate

them to this course).

Saturday - all day

Sunday - before 7 P.M. (this is flexible, it says before 7 P.M. because at 7 P.M. I attend a church

service, it is not mandatory, however, so I can skip if needed for the completion of other tasks).

You can contact me at:

austin0gaylord@gmail.com (please note that it is a 'zero' and not a capital 'o')

austin0gaylord@knights.ucf.edu (prefer gmail or phone as I do not check this very often)

407-496-6488 (can text or call)

If any of this sounds even remotely appealing to you, please do not hesitate to get in contact

with me. Thank you for your consideration and I'll see you tomorrow!

Warm Regards,

Austin Gaylord

Publix Supermarkets

Aloma Shopping Center, 2295 Aloma Ave

Winter Park, FL

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter outlines a proposed improvement to our retail store operations and will improve the

sense of hominess that our customers feel upon entering a Publix Supermarket. The improvement

identified in this letter is based upon my experience as a retail associate. The suggested

improvement will address our primary differentiation strategy: Premier Customer Service, while

increasing engagement between our retail stores, our suppliers, and our customers.

Background

As an associate in our Florida stores for more than four years, I have seen areas where our

differentiation strategy could be strengthened, particularly toward the products we have readily

available to customers and in our relationship with local businesses and suppliers. Given the

opportunity, I believe that we can improve and turn our connections with the local community,

into an advantage that allows us to further our brand recognition. The proposed advantage comes

in the form of a new aisle (or section, dependent on the options available by region or store) that

focuses on foods, drinks, and other items that are local to the geographic area of a Publix

Supermarket. I believe that this proposal offers customers a unique experience every time they

enter our store. It also allows local suppliers and businesses a competitive platform to market

new products and services, thereby allowing us to further distance ourselves from the

competition since no two stores will carry the same local products.

Suggested Improvement: Local Aisle by Geographic Area

First, the additional aisle could start similar to a proven model we already have in our stores: the

Greenwise section. This means that Publix could very easily afford to test market this suggestion

in different regions by simply adding on an additional section to an already existing aisle. Similar

to the Publix Greenwise section, as the local section becomes more popular and more products

become available, via local businesses and suppliers entering the marketplace, we could see the

section expand until there is a full aisle available to our customers. This means that the initial

investment for this project is small, while the profit margin has the potential to be quite large.

Second, large manufacturers know they have to pay us a slotting fee for shelf determination. This

impacts whether the product makes it to the shelf and its placement. There are also other factors,

such as promotional, advertising, and stocking fees. Without quantifying anything, the question

needs to be addressed; What if, for a reduced fee (similar to a loss leader) we could charge local

businesses and suppliers for the same opportunities? This would bring in additional revenue by

creating a local community or specialty draw to our stores. Additionally, it would also create a

competitive platform for local businesses and suppliers to compete for customer access to their

product. Local businesses and suppliers already trust the Publix brand. Our customers trust us to

Publix Supermarkets

Aloma Shopping Center, 2295 Aloma Ave

Winter Park, FL

bring in fresh quality products; products they may not be able to get elsewhere, while ensuring

that shopping at our stores is a pleasure.

Finally, some checks and balances would need to be in place to ensure the local businesses and

suppliers are safe and reputable. This process could be similar to ones used for larger

manufacturers, such as certifications, licenses, etc. By using this existing process, we would be

holding local suppliers and businesses accountable for their products using the same high

standards that have made us successful as a company.

I believe that this proposal benefits Publix Supermarkets in the following ways:

1. By allowing us to adhere to our prime differentiation strategy of Premier Customer Service:

having locally sourced products available to our customers.

2. By allowing our customers to have an engaging experience every time they walk into a Publix

Supermarket.

3. By allowing us to further establish ourselves as a major national retailer with connection to

their local community.

4. By creating a draw for customers to purchase local specialty products that they cannot get

elsewhere, we solidify and retain continued customer loyalty while subsequently attracting new

customers.

5. By allowing local businesses and suppliers a platform to further market their products and

services in our stores.

6. By strengthening our relationship with local businesses and suppliers.

Overall, I believe that this suggestion is low risk and high reward. By using the proven model of

the Greenwise section and expanding the product and shelf space from there, the risk to gain

ratio is simply too high to be ignored. In addition, as mentioned above this suggestion also

supports all of our core businesses strategies.