We were lucky to catch up with Savannah Pipenhagen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Savannah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

It is important to us that every customer feels valued and appreciated as soon as they open the door. We pray every morning over our business and for the customers that will be walking in that day. We pray that they feel the presence of God, that they feel His love and comfort. That the load of stress and burdens to be washed away when they enter the shop. We also have on our door a message that says “You Matter” so even for people that try to open the door during closed hours or for just people walking by that look will see the message and know that they matter. Every drink that goes out our door gets a sleeve and every sleeve has an encouraging message on it. Some of my favorite messages say “you are loved”, “you are enough”, and “all of heaven is rallying for you”. These are just some ways we strive to let our customers know they are valued and appreciated. Our employees also go above and beyond to serve the customers and even getting to know customers on a first name bases and praying for them at the counter when they are going through a difficult season. This is not just a business this is the well where all kinds of people in different places in their life come to get coffee and food, but hopefully leaving with Jesus filling their cup

so they never thirst again.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Our business is ran by a mother and daughter team! I (Savannah the daughter) have always wanted to do coffee and Stephanie (the mother) has always dreamed of running a breakfast restaurant and has always enjoyed baking. Our favorite thing to do together was to drink coffee. So it has always been a passion of ours to do a coffee shop and bistro. We started this adventure right after my dad Ronnie passed away of 01/01/2018 a owner of a previous coffee shop wanted to sell so we purchased everything and opened The Well 4:14. We named it The Well because that is where everyone would go once a day to gather the water they would need for that day. It did not matter who you were you had to come to one place where everyone came to get something that everyone needs… water. 4:14 came from the verse John 4:14 “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst… indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” We wanted our shop to be a safe place a place for people to receive more than just physical products, We want them to receive the Holy Spirit. To truly never thirst again, we wanted to plant seeds and be the hands and feet of God, to serve and love on His people. So what better place to do that than customer service where you interact with tons of individuals everyday who needs some coffee and food. We have a mission here at The Well to serve with kindness, grace and love. To allow the Holy Spirt to work in all of our interactions with customers and staff. To serve to quality products that are truly homemade with love (all our pastries, breads and sauces are made from scratch by Stephanie). The Well has been a safe haven for us and we pray that it feels like a safe haven for others that walk into our door expecting nothing more than a good cup of coffee, but receiving so much more.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What has helped us build our reputation within the market is word of mouth. Bolivar is a smaller community so word travels fast. We actually don’t advertise or do social media as much or as often as a lot of other businesses do. We pride ourselves in quality customer service. That is number one for me and we have the best and friendliest customers. I always tell new employees that us having good product is just a bonus that the reason why customers come back is the positive experience they had with you . Example if you received a great product but had a bad experience will you go back? The answer most of the time is no. What keeps them coming back is the positive and uplifting atmosphere that we offer. Positive customer service paired with quality product is what has helped build our reputation.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing a team can be hard and difficult. Finding good reliable help is probably the number one complaint from small businesses. So how do we keep a positive atmosphere and keep morale up? Well attitude comes from the top and works it’s way down. So if you don’t have a positive attitude neither will they, it starts with you. Making sure to care about their personal life, they are most likely working more than any other thing that they do in the day. Keeping updated on things that are going on in their life makes them know you care about them as a person. Making constructive criticism productive and not harmful. The point of constructive criticism is to correct something that was not done correctly and not to get frustration out, I think as owners we care very deeply about every little aspect and that can make us passionate and emotional about how things are done and how we correct our team. Lead by example, as the owner I will still do the dishes, clean the toilets and take out the trash. Those things are not above me I believe that if you are going to have someone else do something for you, you first have to be willing to do it yourself. Also throwing a little healthy competition never hurt anyone, for example whoever can answer the phone the most in one hour wins a free cheesecake (we actually did this today!) It keeps the work atmosphere light and playful, it also makes them try harder at their task and makes it not feel like work. What if you just get a team member who is an Eeyore? Well just like in Winnie the Pooh you just love them and include them anyways. Maybe them being on your team is more about how can you help encourage and grow them instead of how they can serve the business. See it as a good learning opportunity for you because if you are always getting Tigers and Pooh’s you aren’t growing as a business owner. Remember every employee is only there for a season and this is where they are meant to be at that time so make the most out the season.

Contact Info:

• Website: thewell414.com
• Instagram: thewell_414
• Facebook: The Well 4:14

Image Credits
Garrick Allen Jordan Brittley Henson