Your Customers Matter...Don't They?

How Will The Pet Food Companies Recover From This Blunder?

If you’re a pet lover you’re acutely aware of the recent tragedy of pet foods contaminated with rat poison. 

Families around the country are losing their beloved pets at an alarming rate from 92 well-known, prominent, pet food companies who used menufoods to produce their products.

My heart sank to my stomach when I first read the news a few days ago.  With a lump in my throat and extreme reservation I clicked into the site that was about to tell me whether I’d unknowingly been killing my kitty by filling his belly his favorite food. 

As it turned out, at least so far, the canned food we use, Friskies and 9 Lives have not been included in the list.  Both sites have posted messages of reassurance.  With reservations, we continue to move forward.

My question to you is this…

Suppose you’ve been feeding your little fur people Eukanuba, Iams, Hills, or any of the rest.  What will it take for you regain trust in the company to nourish your pet in the future?

Share your thoughts here…

One Reason To Shop At Chowhound Pet Supply Warehouse In Grand Rapids, MI Plus One Reason To Think Twice

Chowhound Pet Supply Warehouse is a locally owned and growing small business.  For many years I’ve made a point of doing some of my pet supply shopping there simply because they have always delivered excellent customer service.

I’ll never forget the day I happened to be talking to the manager about finicky kitties when she offered, “Anytime your cat won’t eat food you’ve purchased here, you just bring it back …even if it’s opened.”

That was the moment in time that Chowhound solidified our relationship.  Since then, I’ve made it a point to do business with them whenever their prices are relatively close to the competitors. 

A few times I’ve even taken them up on their return policy.  Every experience was delightful.  Even once or twice when I didn’t have my receipt.

Sunday (5 days ago) I stopped in to pick up a treat of fresh cat grass for my kitty.  Quite honestly, it didn’t look fresh, but I thought, “What the heck, it should last him a couple of weeks, and if it doesn’t, I’ll just bring it back”.  They charge $4.99 for a cup of dirt with 3 cents worth of seed growing in it.

Sure enough, as the end of the week approached, it was beginning to die.  So today as I was heading out on my errands I stuck it in a bag and grabbed the receipt to return it.

Today’s return experience was a totally different, and I’m not quite sure why. 

The young cashier picked it up, looked it over and said, “Didn’t it work for you or what?”

I must admit…she caught me off guard.  I said, “Look at it, I bought it 5 days ago and it’s dieing.”  In a teenage like tone of “I’m going to have the last word” she then decided to start quizzing me about how I’d taken care of it. 

Mind you, the remainder of the cat grass stock is about a foot away from me and it all looks like they’re squeezing the last bit of life out of it.

By the time we reached the third quiz question, I’m sorry to say, my fuse had been lit.  I’m not proud to admit that I looked her in the eye and said, “Don’t mess with me!  Just take it back!”

I’m not sure what happened there today.  It’s possible the cashier was new.  It’s possible that Chowhound has changed their return policies.  The only thing I know for sure is that it wasn’t my usual great experience.  And even though the past great experiences outweigh the one “not so great” experience, you can be sure that I’ll think twice about where I’ll go next time.

Everybody Starts In Customer Service At Fog Creek

What a brilliant idea!  I can’t think of a better way to integrate a new employee into a company than to start them out in Customer Service.  Whether their career path is Finance, IT, HR, or Sales it simply doesn’t matter.  Serving customers for the first year gives employees first hand experience in truly understanding what the company is all about.

Joel Spolsky, CEO of Fog Creek Software, reveals his secrets in his post “Seven Steps To Remarkable Customer Service”.  It’s a MUST READ, if you haven’t seen it yet.  The seven steps he uses are:

1. Fix Everything Two Ways
2. Suggest Blowing Out The Dust
3. Make Customers Into Fans
4. Take The Blame
5. Memorize Awkward Phrases
6. Practice Puppetry
7. Greed Will Get You Nowhere
8. Bonus Step – Give Customer Service People A Career Path

If you skim over this list and don’t take time to read his full article, you’re missing out.  The secrets of “how” are revealed in the detail.  Go there now!

Seven Steps To Remarkable Customer Service

Come back here and weigh in on what you think about the concept of “Everybody Starts Out In Customer Service”.

Thanks go to Lifehack.org for pointing us there.

Random Acts Of Service - Toshiba

The final Random Act Of Service for the day was a call to Toshiba.  I had a simple question about whether my warranty would be violated if I installed additional memory on my laptop.

The friendly woman I reached required the serial number before she could talk to me further.  I said, “Just a second I need to find some glasses.”  She snickered a bit and said “Don’t feel bad I’m up to using a magnifying glass.” 

Then of course I had to turn it upside down and flip it around before I could position it in a way to find the serial number.  I suggested that there must be an easier way to make this information more accessible. 

She responded, “I found an easier way!  I got tired of crawling all over and going through the gyrations so I just collected all of my pertinent information and put it in a Rolodex!”  Great idea! 

Even though she couldn’t answer my original question, I was most appreciative of her sense of humor and her great idea!  Once again…making a personal connection matters.

So…what about you?  What Random Acts Of Service stories do you have to share? 

Random Acts Of Service - Target

The Target store was next on my list of errands.  I called earlier in the day and asked if they could hold a (sale priced) digital camera for me.  “No problem” the young man replied.  “You can pick it up at the service desk”. 

When I arrived to make the pick up, I noticed that it was packaged in one of those molded plastic packages that are practically impossible to open without losing a couple of fingers.  In a joking sort of way I said, “Hey, can you open it for me too?”  The young lady looked at me and in a bit of a sarcastic tone she said, “And would you like me to set it up for you too?”  I just ignored the quip and commented something like, “You know how hard it is to get those things open.” 

After she rang up the sale, to my surprise she grabbed a pair a scissors and proceeded cut through that plastic packaging like she was and expert.  An example of another much appreciated and personal connection.

So…what about you?  What Random Acts Of Service stories do you have to share? 

Random Acts Of Service - My CPA

The day started with a meeting with my CPA to go over my taxes.  Now I really like my CPA as a person, but like most people, tax day is certainly not one that I look forward to.  Yesterday was different though. 

We spent a little time catching up with each other on what’s going on in our lives.  We quickly went through the necessities of the tax details.  Then he took the time to share some very thought provoking wisdom about my current financial situation, suggested some strategies for going forward, and even offered to help me connect with some people in his network. 

That’s a personal connection that matters!

So…what about you?  What Random Acts Of Service stories do you have to share? 

Make A Personal Connection With Every Customer

In an earlier post I asked for your help in finding examples of Random Acts Of Service. Quite honestly, the response wasn’t overwhelming. One thing that did happen though is that the post increased my personal awareness. I became increasingly aware and appreciative of the little things some service providers do to add a personal touch.

Looking back on just yesterday, I experienced 3 entirely different encounters that absolutely made my day. Details follow in the next 3 posts.

Random Acts Of Service  - Target

Random Acts Of Service - Toshiba

Random Acts Of Service - My CPA

So how do you go about making a personal connection with every customer?

Here are three simple ways:

Acknowledge Them – If you work face to face, look them in the eye and smile. If you work over the phone or through email, say something like, “Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help you with this.”

Show Empathy – Say something that helps them understand that you know what it feels like to experience what they are experiencing. It could be, “Oh, I’m so sorry that happened”, or “I hear what you’re saying. That can be frustrating”, or even, “I’d be upset if I were you too. Let’s see how we can work this out”.

Take Personal Responsibility – Let them know that you are personally going to do everything possible to get them what they want. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, but let them know that they can count on you to advocate for them. Say something like, “I’m the perfect person to help you with this”, or “I may not have all of the answers you need, but you can count on me to troubleshoot this for you”, or “Make sure to write my name down, because I want to personally see this through for you”.

Making a personal connection with every customer takes more initiative and more effort…but it’s worth it in the long run.

What else would you add to this list?