Father’s day is fast approaching and, of course, thoughts turn to the gifts we all at Hay Hampers could buy our dads.

But it also got us thinking about all the lessons and teachings they have given us to grow the persons we are today. So we have made a sort of brain storming while having our lunch together.

The result? We have come up with three things we all learnt from our dads that are helpful in offering our service to you now.

1. Love your work: it’s all about them, not you

Finding a job you love is age-old advice. Confucius probably has the best longstanding quote about “do what you love.” His words, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” have been repeated throughout history. We did not have to look far to find the advice of Steve Jobs, who said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” And we can definitely reassure you that we are passionate about our job and the delicacies we offer to you. We love the stories about the food and wine we sell, the people who produce it, the places it comes from.

The point is, loving your job is one thing — the activities and responsibilities we have on a day-to day basis. But loving the impact your job has on someone else is another. And this is really what makes us even more enthusiastic about our job. We believe that only the best will do - from vineyard and specialist food producer to your gift delivered on time. For Hay Hampers, customer care is paramount for loyalty before profit and positive comments from our customers can really make our day:

“Excellent customer service, and a truly amazing cheese hamper. I usually have very low expectations for hampers, but Hayhampers really are something special. The cheese is some of the best I’ve ever had and very unique. Highly recommended”, Melissa O.

2. A sense of humour goes a long way

All successful relationships have one thing in common: they depend on their sense of humour. Surveys and extensive interviews identify a sense of humour as the most important thing to look for when making a commitment. Love and humour are similar in a very special way —both are meant to be shared. A sense of humour lightens any situation and helps us build strong relationships with not only our customers, but our suppliers too.

Taking the time to get to know and laugh with our customers is important to us. And this is the kind of customer service that we strive to offer: no call centre but a friendly, helpful personal service from a family-run business.

3. The importance of family

While work is important, it doesn’t last forever. The heritage of family does and brings great joy. We believe that good food and wine bring everyone all together, no matter where we are spread across the world. For this reason, we send our gifts to most of the countries worldwide.

Besides that, we think that strong family values can prove extremely productive in business. They can stabilize the structure and dynamics in the family. As such, they can substantially influence the way the family business is organized as well as the way both family members working in the firm and those who are not interact with each other around company decisions. So we are proud to be a family-run company.

What have you learnt from our dad over the years? Tell us about your dad's lessons.

And Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!