General Information Archives

Great Customer Service Stories!

Everyone is always quick to share a negative experience with a company, aren’t they? While there are some positive stories through in, it seems that people are more inclined to share the negative.

I went in search of some “feel good” customer service stories to share, and stumbled on a great article. Not only does it share some great examples of customer service, but it also elicited many comments from readers who also shared their positive experiences.

You can read the entry from MentalFloss in its entirety, as well as the many positive comments that followed the article. In case you’re short on time, here are my favorites from the list:

1. Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s, a grocery store in the U.K., must have been pretty amused when they received a letter from a three-year-old girl named Lily. “Why is tiger bread called tiger bread?” she asked, referring to one of their bakery items. “It should be called giraffe bread.” Lily was just being observant – the pattern on the breaddoes resemble a giraffe more than a tiger. To everyone’s surprise, Chris King, a customer service manager at the chain, responded. “I think renaming tiger bread giraffe bread is a brilliant idea – it looks much more like the blotches on a giraffe than the stripes on a tiger, doesn’t it? It is called tiger bread because the first baker who made it a looong time ago thought it looked stripey like a tiger. Maybe they were a bit silly.” He enclosed a gift card, and the bread was renamed earlier this year.

2. Zappos

I could do an entire Quick 10 on Zappos customer service superstars alone, but I’ve limited it to one of my favorites instead. A customer’s mother had recently had some medical treatment that left her feet numb and sensitive to pressure – and also rendering most of her shoes totally useless. She ordered her mother six pairs of shoes from Zappos, hoping that at least one of them would work. After receiving the shoes, her mother called Zappos to get instructions on how to return the shoes that didn’t work, explaining why she was returning so many shoes. Two days later, she received a large bouquet of flowers from Zappos, wishing her well and hoping that she recovered from her treatments soon. Two days later, the customer, her mother and her sister were all upgraded to “Zappos VIP Members,” which gives them all free expedited shipping on all orders.

3. Southwest Airlines

While these other stories have been nice, this one might actually make you teary (it made me teary, and I’m a hard sell). A man was en route from a business trip in L.A. to his daughter’s home in Denver to see his three-year-old grandson for the last time. The boy, beaten into a coma by his mother’s live-in boyfriend, was being taken off of life support at 9 p.m. that evening so his organs could be used to save other lives. The man’s wife called Southwest to arrange the last-minute flight and explained the emergency situation. Unfortunately, the man was held up by L.A. traffic and long lines at LAX and didn’t make it to the gate on time. When he finally made it there 12 minutes after the plane was scheduled to leave, he was shocked to find the pilot waiting for him. He thanked the pilot profusely, and the pilot said, “They can’t go anywhere without me, and I wasn’t going anywhere without you. Now relax. We’ll get you there. And again, I’m so sorry.”

Do you have a great customer service story? Please pay it forward and keep the positive stories going!

Take Every Interaction Seriously – You Never Know Who You’re Talking To

If you’re looking for some light-hearted reading fun, especially if you’re a parent, you’ll want to check out The Honest Toddler. Whoever the creator is, they have developed a Facebook page, Twitter feed, and a blog, all with content from the eyes of a somewhat cynical toddler. As a parent myself, some of the posts are quite amusing, and I’ve been fascinated with it simply because of its following – it’s not a brand or company, or someone trying to sell something, yet the following “the toddler” has is staggering and increases daily. Just goes to show people need some fun in their (online) lives.

The other day I watched in amusement as The Toddler had issues with the blog he/she runs, and turned to GoDaddy’s online chat for help. In true form, the conversation unfolded in a way that is anticipated from a highly gifted toddler if one were actually in need of website assistance. Below are some of the screenshots:

Status update: Trying to fix my site. My chat with Godaddy is going nowhere and they are being very belligerent.

Status update: i feel like Brian W. isn’t listening.

Status update: why is he rushing me?

To add insult to poor Brian W’s public debut, it looks like The Toddler tried the chat again, this time with a different GoDaddy representative, which went much smoother:

Status update: Like most adults, Brian W. had a hard time admitting he didn’t know what he was talking about. Spend the last few hours with Jiri who just ripped up and put back together this server like it was a piece of American cheese.

Jiri, you give terrible advice and struggle with intimacy but you fixed what 8 other people in your company couldn’t so you’re OK. You’re OK.

While my heart went out to Brian W, as I’m sure he wondered if he was being pranked, he did do a pretty good job of sticking with his spiel as though it was a real customer. It’s a tough place to be in, but as the title of this post suggests, you have to take every interaction seriously because you just never know who you’re really talking to.

While it was humorous and kept me amused that evening, there was a turn of events that made me take note. As I mentioned, The Toddler has a huge following – of course there was significant conversation surrounding these status updates. Again, I felt for Brian W because he probably didn’t realize his interaction would be made public.

In the sea of comments that night, I noticed that GoDaddy became aware of the situation and joined the conversation:

While we all know this is an actual customer, and not just a toddler gone mad, it was likely very difficult to tell that from an online chat. However, the representatives stuck with it and ultimately assisted their customer.

Kudos out to them, and a huge Kudos to GoDaddy for taking note of what was going viral online and attempting to resolve the issue publicly. It not only shows that you’re staying on top of online conversations, but that you are invested in ensuring customer satisfaction to all customers, even when they appear to be Toddlers trying to give representatives a hard time.

Customer service is vital, and everything should be taken seriously – you just never know where it might end up. Had Brian W or Jiri taken a different course or attitude with this customer, it could have ended very differently.

How To Make Your Loyalty Program A Success

Loyalty card programs are everywhere we turn. They’re a great way to encourage repeat customers and build excitement about doing business with your company.

Below are some ways to make sure you’re making the most of your loyalty program:

1. Make it easy to sign up: employees should encourage every customer they come in contact with if they’d like to register. Offer registration on your website, social media pages, and anywhere else you can think of.

2. Make it easy to remember: one trend that we’ve seen in loyalty cards is offering a regular sized card as well as a key ring card. Key ring cards are convenient and an excellent way to keep your brand in the minds of customers. Even our local library offers key ring cards!

3. Make rewards attainable: decide on your goals for the loyalty program; do you simply want people to visit the store/restaurant more often? Make more purchases in a particular area of your business? Whatever your goal, think about customers who will not fall into that category – how will the program benefit them?

A popular drug store launched a loyalty card program, and the perception seems to be to reward those who use the retailer for prescriptions. That’s fine and dandy, but I am a regular customer at this store while I rarely need prescriptions. For the life of me, no matter what I purchase (and I’m at this store more than I probably should be), my loyalty points rarely increase. It’s frustrating and makes me feel as though it’s not worth being a part of the program at all. So, while their goal may be encouraging more prescriptions, they are alienating customers like me who spend quite a bit at their locations on a regular basis. Something to think about.

4. Cross reference rewards: work with other businesses to partner in loyalty programs. A great example of this is Jewel-Osco’s newer loyalty program. For every $50 you spend in qualified purchases, you can earn $.05 off gas at participating Shell stations.

I rarely shop at Jewel or purchase gas at a Shell station, but the first time I needed gas badly and the nearest station was a Shell, I remembered the loyalty card I had with Jewel, as it asked for it at the pump. I swiped it, thinking that it probably wouldn’t work because I hadn’t shopped at Jewel that much, and, remembering my experience at the drug store retailer I just mentioned, I figured that whatever I purchased didn’t fall into the “qualifying” category.

Imagine my surprise when it announced that I was getting double off my per gallon price – $.10 instead of $.05. This small savings caused me to do a happy dance at the pump, much to the embarrassment of my children.

After that, I realized it was a game for me – when I need to purchase gas now, I do look for a Shell station to see if I have any discounts. Sometimes I don’t, but many times I do. Cross referencing loyalty programs is good for both businesses – I tend to think of hitting the Jewel more often than I used to, and I now look for Shell gas stations to play the “gas lottery.”

Think outside the box for this – can you work with other businesses to create a loyalty program that gives discounts for their business? Think of things outside of gas stations – restaurants or even online businesses such as Amazon.

5. Talk to your customers and get their feedback: I was recently in a store and used my loyalty card (okay, I’m starting to realize I have quite a few of them!), and the next day I got an email from the company saying that they know I recently made a purchase and asked if I would provide feedback. If I chose to, I would either be an instant winner and be notified immediately after the survey, or could be entered into the drawing.

For a second I wondered how they knew I made a purchase, but then I remembered that I swiped my card and my account has my email address. Very good way to capture feedback!

Make your loyalty program fun and unique, and customers will keep coming back, as you’re now making routine tasks, like grocery shopping and purchasing gas, fun and “game like.” We can all use a little fun in our day!

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