How To Guarantee Customers For Life

Written by Matt Pillar, Editor In Chief, Integrated Solutions For Retailers Magazine

A colleague of mine (we'll call him Joe) recently shared a story that begs to be told in print. It's the story of his interaction with a store associate you wish you had. You might want to tear out this page, make copies of it, and distribute it to all of your store-level associates.

Meet Joe, The Valuable Customer
It all started when Joe's mom lost her treasured platter. This fine, expensive piece of pottery, a gift from her sons, was to become the centerpiece in the kitchen of her dreams. Five years into the planning, she set out one day, platter in hand, to match up paint and wallpaper colors. That's when the platter came up missing. Perhaps it was abandoned in a cart at Lowe's? Left on the hood of the car at The Home Depot? No matter, it was gone.

Shortly after the mysterious disappearance of the platter, Joe called the local outlet of the internationally known retailer where the platter was purchased more than five years ago. He inquired about the remote chance of a replacement. After quickly referencing the company's central inventory database, the sales associate confirmed his fear. The platter had been discontinued years ago. The associate also attempted to locate the platter by calling the company's local stores and outlets, to no avail. "Thanks for trying," Joe said despondently. "Please let me know if one turns up."

Meet Sue, The Relentless Sales Associate
Joe didn't expect to hear anything more about the platter, but only a few days later his phone rang. It was that same sales associate (we'll call her Sue) on the other end of the line. "Joe, I wanted to let you know we checked with all our warehouses and DCs in person," she said. "I'm sorry to say we were still unable to locate the platter you're trying to replace."

"Wow," Joe responded. "That's really nice of you to try so hard. Thanks again." When Joe hung up the phone, he once again assumed that would be the last of it. Safe assumption, wouldn't you say? But a few days later, Sue called back.

"Joe, I have great news," Sue said. "I tracked down an old purchase order for the platter you're looking for. We haven't done any business with this manufacturer in quite some time, but I managed to get in touch with him. He runs a small pottery shop in Italy. He didn't have any of your platters in stock, but he said he still has the cast. He agreed to make a new one, just for you!"

Needless to say, Joe is his mom's new hero. Equally obvious, all their family members are now customers of this retailer for life. When was the last time you had a similar experience with a customer service professional? When was the last time one of your customers did?