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patients.”

As a pharmacist in the Beaverton community, Tom is looked upon as a local health consultant. He’s aware of the interactions between various drugs and vitamins and offers personalized assistance and service when request-ed. “The discount stores are missing out on personal service and trusted knowledge,” he quips.

Consumers ask for the best values, fast, reliable serv-ice and trusted manufacturers. His customers are his first concern, and he offers a drive-through window and is open seven days a week. He views his store as a cash-and-carry health care center. His inventory of support hosiery, walkers, wheelchairs and bath safety products is extensive. His hosiery display is 24 feet long.

To help remain strong, five years ago Tom partnered with Healthmart. By banding together with other phar-macies to order a greater volume of products, he receives better pricing. And for 15 years, the pharmacy has had ongoing relationships with Creekside Village and Beaverton Lodge to provide orders, information and cus-tomer service to the residents living there. The relation-shipss help both his business and customers.

Providing excellent customer service is not just a cliché to Tom. He attributes it to his landmark status in the neighborhood.

Modern technology has found its place in Tigard. Consumer Cellular, which goes back to 1995 when two marketing guys began to develop easy-to-understand cell phone plans and cater to seniors and those in need of simple, straight-forward cell phone service.

Tucked away in a Durham business center, the head-

quarters of Consumer Cellular employs about 200 local workers. About 170 of those workers man the phones in customer service. The n a t i o n w i d e provider of cellular phones doesn’t have a retail pres-ence, but provides its information over the phone. Recognized as one of the top 100 best green companies in Oregon, all of its service people are either in Tigard or Phoenix, Arizona.

“They way we do business is by virtual sell,” says company co-owner John Marick, 46. “Customer focus is the meat and potatoes of our success. We provide top-ranked customer support.”

Ranked by Inc. 5000 as the fastest growing private company in America, Consumer’s focus has been to offer premiere phones from top manufacturers such as Doro, Nokia and Motorola, with simple, flexible plans. According to Marick, Consumer Celluar achieved a 262 percent revenue growth rate from 2006 to 2009. By offering automated usage alerts, customers can temporarliy increase their minutes prior to getting hit with overage charges, and decrease them when usage is down. Users have control over their wireless phone charges and there are no signed contracts. Online account statements are available at any time.

Marick and co-owner Greg Pryor, a West Linn resi-dent, don’t offer go-getter, unlimited minutes, confiden-tial-touch-care dazzle plans, but they do recommend plans that fit consumers’ different needs and budgets. They claim to guarantee the best cellular network avail-able. “Casual usage, means greater power for the user,” says Marick.

Keeping things understandable and affordable could be Consumer’s motto. There are six different plans to choose from and plans start at $10 a month for the sim-plest. “Customers can customize a plan that works for them,” says the Lake Oswego resident. “We want our customers to stay with us long-term. We stand behind our service and offer a free trial period.”

Essential to Consumer’s success is their strong part-nership with AARP. AARP members can learn about the cellular phone company in AARP bulletins that are reg-ularly mailed out its members. Members also receive phone plan discounts.

Serving seniors, and any other customers, Consumer is the only U.S. cellular phone provider offering the Doro PhoneEasy phone. It features an easy-to-read color dis-play with large text and is hearing aid compatible. Casual users may appreciate its speakerphone qualities, emergency contact key and large keypad. The range of phone styles includes those with full features such as Web surfing and text message capabilites.

In an effort to compete with the big-name players, this local company demonstrates its strengths by listen-ing earnestly to its customers and keeping up with the trends. According to Merick, Consumer has managed to keep prices down and quality up. Saberiyan and Herbage would agree: Good, old-fashioned customer service pays off.