Miracle on 34th Street

One of my favorite parts in the movie "Miracle on 34th Street" is when Kris Kringle, acting as the Macy's Santa Claus, begins directing parents to other stores to purchase toys that Macy's doesn't carry. The parents love and appreciate this. Macy's management is at first upset and then realize all of the goodwill it is creating with their customers and adopt the practice throughout the store.

I remembered this part of the movie this afternoon as I was speaking with a friend. He was recounting to me an experience that one of his friends had recently with a college admissions office. This friend is thinking about going back to school to finish their bachelor's degree. They were speaking to an admissions representative at the college they were originally planning to attend. The two were discussing prior credits, plans for the future, and the reason for going back to school. After discussing all of this the admissions representative did something out of the ordinary: he recommended that they attend another university to complete the bachelor's degree. He explained his reasoning: at the other college it would only take a year and a half to complete and would be cheaper (there may have been another reason or two but these were the main ones). He also mentioned one of the cons: that at the other school there were only a few majors to choose from. However, this didn't matter too much because they did have a teaching program which is what the prospective student wanted to study. The friend of a friend was very thankful for the help that the admissions counselor provided and highly satisfied with the interaction. There are no hard feelings or animosity toward the original school. Sure they may have lost one student this year but the good things that could come of this down the road (i.e. possible referrals, future donations, positive word of mouth, etc) far outweigh losing one student.

Congratulations to the school that hired such a down to earth, friendly, and helpful admissions counselor. That's idea behind customer service: to help the customer get what they want (even if sometimes they don't yet know what they want).

United States Postal Service

Yesterday as I was walking home for lunch I was talking to my wife on the telephone. Suddenly she tells me to hold on for a second. In the background I hear her open the front door and begin talking to a man. As our house came into view I saw the mail man standing at our door waiting for my wife to return. She returned, handed him something, and then he walked down our front walk back to his mail car. I met him at our front gate and we chatted for a minute or two about what a beautiful day it was, some of the trees on our property, etc. Then we wished each other a wonderful afternoon and parted ways. I walked in the house to ask my wife why the mail man came to the door but didn't have any mail to deliver. She responded by telling me that a letter we had mailed the day before (to the IRS) didn't have enough postage and that our mail man had stopped by and asked for 17 cents to complete the postage. He didn't have to do that. He could have just slapped one of those "insufficient postage" stickers on it and brought it back leaving it in our mailbox for us to discover later. But he didn't. He took the time to come to our door, explain the issue, suggest a possible resolution (to which we agreed), and then exchanged pleasantries with me. I was blown away at the wonderful service this gentleman provides to my family and me. He is definately getting a Christmas card again this year. Such a simple thing made us feel special and cared for. He gets today's gold star for service.

Small and Simple Things, Round Two

This last weekend my wife and I went to a new restaurant with our kids and my wife's sister's family. The restaurant is called Macado's and they thought that we would like it because it is a sandwich joint and my favorite food is sandwiches. We had a great time. The food was delicious, the atmosphere enjoyable, and the company pleasant. These were all things I expected and had they been the only things I would have been satisfied and probably returned in the future. However, the thing that ensured that I would return was a simple gesture of kindness performed by our waitress for our oldest son. There was a group on the other side of the room from where we were having a small birthday party. The waitress had given the children helium balloons (I didn't even notice, my wife did). As she walked by where we were seated she stopped and gave a balloon to our son. He was ecstatic! (we still have the balloon in our dining room tied to a chair. Even though it has lost the helium he won't let us throw it away). We thanked her and as she walked away my wife looked at me and said "I feel a blog post coming on." She was right. It is the small and simple things that build customer loyalty. It is the small and simple things that make people feel good, tell their friends, and keep coming again and again.

Shopping Cart

A few weeks ago I was at a large retail store and had paid for my purchases. I was heading to the car with my wife and two children and the shopping cart full of merchandise. We arrived at the car, buckled the children into their car seats, and loaded the trunk. As I was finishing loading the trunk of the car an employee happened to be walking by. He jogged over and asked if I was done with the cart. I responded that I was and he asked if I would like him to put the cart away. I once again acknowledged in the affirmative. He grabbed the cart and as he began to push it back to the store (mind you he was smiling the entire time) he thanked me for shopping there and wished me a good evening. I have gone back to that same store (one I don't normally visit often) at least 4 times since then. Small and simple things. It's all about the small and simple acts of kindness. That is what great customer service, common "cents" customer service, is all about.

Small and Simple Things

I was talking with my boss today about customer service and my recently acquired fascination with it.  He chuckled as he recalled several years ago when we began working together and I routinely expressed my desire to be away from the customers, that the customers were always interrupting me, and that I couldn't get anything done with them around (I obviously had the wrong perspective, without customers I wouldn't have a job).  I began to quickly explain from whence my fascination has arisen.  I told him something along the following lines:

I am not interested in customer service simply because I like people (though I generally do).  What really interests me is how small acts of customer service can and do impact the financial statements.  A quick smile, a wave, a spirited "Hello!  I'm glad you're here" can make a huge difference.  Maybe that customer was having a rotten day and because you took 15 to 30 seconds to acknowledge them (in a positive and friendly manner) the day ended much better.  A brief interaction can leave a lasting impression.  30 seconds can make all the difference.  One customer retained (especially in higher education) is worth thousands of seconds of friendliness.  That one customer equals thousands of dollars in revenue that year and in the years to come and saves the recruiting team thousands of dollars (not to mention hours) in finding and bringing a new body to campus.  This is what fascinates me, how the small and simple things make a HUGE difference in people's lives and on the financial statements.