We occasionally hear stories about customer service that seems to be so over the top it makes one wonder what drives someone think to go above and beyond? Why do we consider it over the top? Why isn’t it considered standard practice? I suggest we need to be striving to make our normal everyday customer service over the top customer service.
It would be very easy for me to become discouraged in the market I service and throw my hands up in disgust and proclaim I give up. Why, because as I like to refer to my world I am still pushing a rock up a hill. No, I don’t work with rocks. I am an electrician and I have been the Service Manager for many years now. However, I am the new kid on the block here in the Charleston area. I have learned two things would open doors a lot faster for me, neither of which I possess and I can’t obtain. The first one is to be born and raised in the Charleston area. Sorry folk, even though my brother-in-law built a recreation of the time machine from the first Back To The Future movie (yes he bought a DeLorean and has everything in it and on it just like the movie) it does not work so I cannot have my mother and father move to Charleston prior to my birth. Secondly, I didn’t attend the Citadel. I would have welcomed the opportunity but I chose to attend Sidewalk University, School of Hard Knocks and go to work in the electrical field for my continuing education.
So since I posses neither of the keys to quickly open doors in this area, I push the rock up the hill. It will take time for people to accept me and get accustom with me as a transplant to the area.
But I knew within a few hours after arriving here in the Charleston area I was home. When my Vice President offered me the opportunity to start up a service division here I took a giant step into the unknown. Knowing no one here, my closest family members are 3 hours away in the upstate, and never living anywhere but Virginia here I was, a little fish in this big new pond. I love the area I think I was supposed to be here all along. Given time I will start getting a few doors to open. All I want is a chance.
My company is not originally based here in the Charleston area, but we started out 60 years ago in Virginia, just like every other company, with one man’s desire to provide for his family and be of service to his community. Mr. M.C. Dean past away earlier this year and I unfortunately never had the pleasure to meet him. His son ran the company for years and continued the tradition. His Grandson is the President now, a very innovative and motivated leader just like his Grandfather and Father before him. But as large as M.C. Dean, Inc. has become, it still comes down to the same original ideals that started this company 60 years ago, excellent customer service.
I searched the internet the other day for “customer service” and I found two categories, customer service and excellent customer service. In an effort to raise the bar I would like to share some of the “excellent customer service” stories I have come across and challenge you to transformer the level of customer service you read about into the “norm” for your customer service. I have paraphrased the stories somewhat to keep you from falling asleep reading my blog, but they are worth searching out and reading the full stories.
Trader Joe’s is a grocery store located in 29 states currently. A snow storm was due to hit around the holidays in the Pennsylvania area. The daughter of an 89 year old Pennsylvania gentleman contacted the store after trying multiple other stores trying to find someone that might deliver. She feared her Father didn’t have enough food to last through the holidays. The Trader Joe’s employee took her order, and even though they did not normally deliver they would in this situation. It was only about $50 worth of food that needed to be delivered and the store employee told her to have a Merry Christmas, it was on them. Within 30 minutes of the phone call the food was delivered.
In several cities CVS operates the Samaritan Van. Among the list of free services they offer, cost free disabled vehicle repairs for stranded motorist, EMT or paramedic level Emergency medical assistance, animal rescue, open vehicles with the keys locked inside, assist lost motorists and vehicle and brush fire containment. Remember CVS is a pharmacy.
I read a story about a lady that worked in the junior’s department of a clothing store. A customer called in looking for a pair of jeans for her daughter and that all the other stores in the area did not have them in her size. The store employee found they could be ordered but it would take 3 weeks, which the customer said was to late. The employee took the ladies name and number and promised to call back. She then proceeded to call around and located them in a sister store an hour away. Now instead of calling the customer and telling them where they were, the employee put the jeans on hold, drove to the store on her own time, brought them with her to work the next day and notified the customer they were being held for her to be picked up.
Peter Shankman is a CEO and is known worldwide for his thinking about PR, Social Media, advertising, marketing, and customer service. On a recent business trip he knew he would be returning home to late to stop for dinner short of fast food at the airport which he decided against. Now it seems he is an avid customer of Morton’s Steakhouse and just prior to takeoff on his way home he tweeted as a joke, “Hey @Mortons – can you meet me at the Newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks. J” Well to his surprise someone at Morton’s corporate office saw his tweet, obviously they knew who Peter Shankman was, got permission to make this happen contacted the nearest Morton’s to the Newark Airport. When he arrived a gentleman from Morton’s in Hackensack was standing there with a 24oz. Porterhouse, shrimp, potatoes, bread, napkins, and silverware.
Wouldn’t be nice if we lived in a world where stories like this weren’t news worthy, they were any everyday occurrence?
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