RM Online - 'Positively outrageous' customer service builds equity in the business

Vince Gauthier of Valley Rent-All in Waitsfield and Waterbury, Vt., and incoming director of A.R.A. Region One, passed on this letter from one of his customers:

"A brief note to describe a service situation with your company of which you should be aware. On Thursday of last week I dropped off a couple of chains for sharpening. In conversation with Nels [Olson], I explained that I needed them on Friday, as I was planning quite a lot of work with my chain saw over the weekend. All seemed in order, but when I called in on Friday afternoon, Nels indicated that in the rush of other things he had not managed to get to the chains. In discussion, Nels said he would probably be able to get to them later that day, but I was not going to be back in town to pick them up.

"On Friday evening at 7 p.m., our door bell rang and there was Nels with two newly sharpened chains. My weekend was saved and Nels showed a great sense of understanding as to the real meaning of good service. You might wish to add this to your Positively Outrageous Service file - I most certainly appreciate the extra effort involved." - James Plumpton, Warren, Vt.

It happens that when I received Vince's note, I was noodling an editorial about this very thing, based on an experience I had just had myself. I had ordered three pieces of glass cut for a kitchen remodeling project that I needed to complete on a Saturday. I called the glass store Friday morning and found out that my order wasn't ready to be picked up during the lunch hour and the store closed at 5. But the woman on the phone said she would wait for me - even though she had a Christmas party to go to. But when I got there, it turned out the shop had cut only two pieces of glass, not three. So what did the woman do? She refused to charge me for the third piece and she said she would deliver it personally to my home Saturday morning, even though I was about 10 miles away.

And she did. I tried to pay her for her trouble, but she wouldn't hear of it. I told her that at least I would write an editorial about this experience. She thought I was kidding, of course.

And then the next week, I got Vince's note about a similar incident.

We spend a lot of time jawing about customer service, but it's front-counter people like these who make it true. They build equity in the business day in, day out, and the boss may not always see their good work.

There are dozens of glass stores closer than this one. But where will I go, next time I need glass? Guess. And how did I happen to go to this one in the first place? It had been recommended to me, word-of-mouth.

"I believe our job, as leaders, is to move employees to a higher plateau," Vince wrote in his note, and finished with this question: "Isn't this the kind of employee you have hidden in your rental store?"

If so, that person deserves thanks. If not, the store needs a leader who, in Vince's words, "can move them to a higher plateau."

My guess is, there are a lot more of the former than the latter. And I doubt there are many managers, myself included, who say thanks as much as they should. Thanks, Vince - we needed that.