Nichols Pizza and Grill, on Los Osos Valley Road, has been named a 2016 Bizzie Award Winner by online review manager, Yelp. The company has initiated the Inaugural Bizzie Awards, with the 25 most customer-friendly small businesses in America.
“For twelve years, consumers have been coming to Yelp to find outstanding local businesses,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, Co-Founder and CEO of Yelp in a news release. “For business owners, we know that engaging with Yelp is a great way to delight past and future customers.”
Mari Nichols, co-owner of Nichols Pizza said that the award was a testament to their customer service and care for regulars since 2013.
The award-winning owners had just gotten back into town after a rare excursion when they found out about the award.
“We didn’t believe them at first,” said Darren Nichols, who channeled the sentiments of several renowned award winners who were tempted to hang up the phone in the early morning hours.
While they didn’t rate the Nobel Prize for Hospitality, if there is such a thing, Bizzie Award winners are selected based on, “their proactive approach to customer engagement online with Yelp,” which includes, “sharing information with customers about their business history, specialties and service offerings. Another key factor in determining these businesses is their engagement with customers on Yelp via review responses…”
In the selection process Nichols shared screen time with; a taco shop in Las Vegas, a cardiologist in Beverly Hills and a “Thumb Fresh Market” in Scottsdale, Ariz. Not to take anything away from the others, but said Darren Nichols, “Mari and I have been in customer service our entire lives. It’s important to listen to their – the customer’s – feedback because that’s how you grow.” For more information go to: Nicholspizza.com or call 534-0222. – Camas Frank
