Earlier this week, when buying a birthday present for my husband, I just happened to find something for me. Don’t know how that happens, but it usually does. Unfortunately, they didn’t have my size (again, don’t know how that happens but it usually does). The pleasant girl at the cash register offered to call their other stores to find what I was looking for. When the first 3 calls were unsuccessful, she told me to go do the rest of my shopping while she worked on it. I left thinking I really didn’t need a new skirt anyway, so I probably just saved myself a bit of money.
Half an hour later my phone rang with the news that the skirt had been found in an Edmonton store and would be delivered to my house, with no charge for shipping, within 5 days.
And it was. Very impressive. Good service, I thought. Until I opened the package, tried on my new skirt (fit perfectly!), and opened a nice little gift card with a hand written note from the store in Edmonton. A hand written note! I was so impressed I probably would have worn the skirt even it hadn’t fit! Two days later I still have a warm and fuzzy feeling for this retailer. The good service had just turned into great service.
Now I don’t know if this was corporate policy, or if it was a particularly sharp sales associate who had some time on her (or his) hands. But it worked. I will shop there again, I will order from this retailer, and I might even follow them on social media.
The lesson? It sometimes doesn’t take much to turn good service into great service. The personal touch, the little extras, go a long way to creating customer loyalty. And frankly, this will be as true in other sectors (think hospitality, health care, financial services) as it is in retail. We all like to be treated as though we’re the one and only customer.
