Love Them Up and Keep Them Forever™

Every month, I met a group of friends for an early morning breakfast to set goals and lend support for all the exciting things we each want to make happen in our lives. At our last get-together, a couple weeks ago, two of the ladies gave me the exact same calendar from Borders bookstore to celebrate my birthday. I left the restaurant and drove to nearby Borders to return the extra calendar. Since neither calendar had a gift receipt, the sales clerk said she could only give me the sale price which was half off the original price. I was fine with that. The manager came over to run the transaction, and repeated that I would only get half the original price. I said, ‘That’s okay. I got two of these as birthday gifts this morning but I only need one so I might as well return it, even if I’ll only get a credit for half the price.’ The manager said, ‘This was a birthday gift? Let me see what I can do.’ A few moments later, I received a store credit for the full amount of the original purchase price. ‘Happy Birthday,’ the manager said smiling.

Wow! That felt great.  It was so unexpected. I’ve had sales people go the extra mile after prodding them, or asking for an exception to be made, but that was the first time I ever received something extra when I wasn’t asking for it. I felt so good about it, that I ended up happily spending more than I intended at the store that morning and it really increased my desire to shop there again.

I wonder if that store manager realized the positive impact she would have on me by doing that? She probably did. Whenever you find an opportunity to show your customers that you care about them, they begin feeling the love for your business, and that helps your business grow and thrive.

Reflections:

Do you look for emotional links to draw your customers back to you?
How and when do you give that unexpected something?
What positive results have you received by showing customers you care?

Posted by Marilyn Suttle at www.LoveThemUp.com