Little Things Mean Everything
By Art Sobczak on Nov 11, 2008 in Customer Service
In this ever-increasingly high tech environment, with emails, texts, instant-messages, Twitters (still not sure exactly what that is) and people punching on and gazing at their cell phones every five minutes, I suggest that the higher TOUCH approach will have even greater impact.
I’m talking about the little things.
Like personal, handwritten notes.
A phone call to thank someone for their business–which I received yesterday from my local Kinko’s at 140th & Center in Omaha, where I spend a fair amount of money.
Yes, the little things mean a lot. Especially in today’s environment. Allow me to share a touching example.
Do you know who your newspaper carrier is?
My carrier is pretty important to me. I have two papers per day delivered to my Omaha home. I get the Wall Street Journal in the morning, and Omaha is one of the few cities still with both a morning and evening weekday paper, so I get the main edition in the evening. Because we are gone a week at a time or more per month, I have my papers held so I can catch up upon returning.
So, for the past several years I would call Amy, my morning carrier, at least every few weeks or so to stop and hold the papers when I would be gone. She is always a delight to talk to, and without fail I always could count on a big bag of papers on my doorstep upon my return.
I have no idea who my evening and weekend carrier is, I just know Amy cheerfully and reliably always handled this for me. Not even sure if that was part of her job, but she took ownership of it and acted like it was.
Included with my bag of papers last week was this photocopied poem from Amy on bright neon green paper:
Nearly six years ago I stared my paper route,
It’s been an experience–that is no doubt!
I have amazing customers, six hundred eight or so,
But I’m sorry to say, it’s time that I go.I am grateful to each of you, this is true,
Thanks for subscribing and generous tipping, too!
I appreciate the gifts, cards, notes, and phone calls,
You are wonderful people and I will miss you all!It has been such a pleasure to take care of you,
It’s important you know I love what I do!
The phone calls we had were sure great to get,
How I wish we all could’ve personally met!I have so many memories, some you just wouldn’t believe,
Like the deer on 163rd Ave. running next to me,
The thieves in your cars and garages I caught,
And every trash day when I was such a great shot!Climbing up a tree through my car window,
And crawling under cars to fix my bad throws.
Hitting the wall that morning when I slid on black ice,
And totalling Hubby’s car, which wasn’t too nice. (Ooopps!)Double-bag or tie, which one shall I do?
I will be very happy when those days are through.
I won’t miss the wind, the rain, snow or the ice,
Those quiet moonlit morning were certainly nice.
I’m very sad to go, but it’s sleep that I need,
My hubby, children and I will be happier indeed!
I will miss you all, more than I can say,
but November 21st will be my last day.I’m not quite sure who your next carrier will be,
I’ve requested a good one who cares just like me.
Customer Service can help you ’til you get the new name,
but your weekend carrier will still be the same.Thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives.
I hope I’ve touched yours as much as you’ve touched mine.Amy
Now, even though we have spoken many times, I have never yet met Amy personally that I can recall. I have seen her arm toss a few papers out a car window in the dark of morning. But here is the handwritten note I had on the bottom of my poem.
Wow, first the thought that a newspaper carrier cares enough to put in the effort and creativity to write and produce a note like that…that is remarkable. And then for me to get that special handwritten note on top of it…well, you can imagine how I feel.
To put it in perspective, I had 500 people at a workshop a couple of weeks ago stand up and clap and whoop after I finished. I’m used to that, and it happens regularly in my business, I love it, will never take it for granted, and will never tire of it. This was better.
In looking at this, what did I do to deserve this treatment? I can’t think of anything other than being nice, courteous, and complimentary on our many phone calls, and perhaps a modest tip during the holidays. Which I guess shows that the little things mean a lot both ways as well.
So, how can YOU make a personal impact in the lives of others, especially your customers? Let us know…click on the Comments or Reply link and tell us.
Think low tech, high touch. The little things do mean EVERYTHING.
__________________
Addendum: After this post, I discovered a service that allows you to send personalized thank you cards, greeting cards, and postcards, in your OWN handwriting and signature, including a hand-addressed envelope, from your computer, in less than 60 seconds, for only 62 CENTS, plus the postage, which is a First Class stamp, not a meter. Amazing! See a video with all the details here.
7 Comment(s)
By Roy on Nov 11, 2008 | Reply
Low tech, high touch says it all.
Not complicated or expensive, plain (nice) and simple, come from the heart.
I had to laugh as well, I asked my teenage son what Twitter was!
Roy
By Kali on Nov 11, 2008 | Reply
In Louisiana we, as the nation knows, have had our share of hurricane problems in the last few years. As a member of the marketing department of LABI (the state chamber of commerce in Louisiana) part of my job after each hurricane has been to call our members in the affected areas and check on them. So many of them could not be reached by phone or email, but we kept trying until we got them - any way we could find them. We asked nothing more than are you and your family and your business ok?
Most of the time I just listened and that was enough. So many stories of loss of homes and businesss and those stories needed to be told to anyone who would listen. It was just a little thing, but I still hear from many of our members that it meant a lot that we cared enough just to ask.
By Eleanor Craig on Nov 11, 2008 | Reply
Art, your story about Amy reminded me of something that just took place yesterday. Like you, I try to be kind and courteous to everyone I come in contact with; basically, treat others like I want to be treated.
I spent the weekend in Maryland, in large part to spend time with my Mother, who is dying of lung cancer. I rose at 4am Monday morning in order to catch a 6am flight back to Atlanta. As I pulled into the rental car parking lot, I realized that I had forgotten to refill the car with gas. I figured I had little to no chance of mercy from rental agency, but that I’d try. At the rental car counter I greeted the clerk with a cheery “Good morning!” and handed her my rental agreement. She looked at me and said, “Thank you for handing your paperwork to me. It seems like tonight that everyone else has been throwing theirs at me.” I told her that I thought that was rude and was sorry that others had treated her that way. Then I explained to her about they gas and why I’d been in town. She replied, “Let me see what I can do.” Afer typing into her computer for several minutes she looked at me and smiled, saying, “Oh, I am so sorry. I made a mistake; I forgot to charge you for gas!” I am not sure which of us was happier as I walked away from the counter, but I can tell you that she made my day!
By Kevin Neufeld on Nov 12, 2008 | Reply
I recently had to take my car into an auto body shop. I dropped off the car and got driven over to a rental car company to get my loaner for a couple of days. The lady that dealt with me at the car rental was polite and efficient. It was good service, but quite frankly, it was nothing I hadn’t experienced hundreds of time before while renting a car.
Then, when it was time to hand over the keys, she did something I have never had any rental car person ever do. She said, “why don’t we walk out to the vehicle and have a look at it together?” We walked out to the car and she did the full walk-around with me, looking for damage. I should add that I was only mildly engaged in this process; IF I do a walk around, it is usually fairly cursory. She on the other hand, was really looking for damage for me and found a scratch that I missed which she promptly noted.
Then she did something that, again, I have never had a rental car company do: she proceeded to quickly go over a couple of the features of the car that were a little different than other cars. She showed me where the gas latch was, where the adjustments for the mirrors were, and then shook my hand, thanked me for choosing their company (Enterprise), got me to sign one last time for the car, and wished me well. The entire “little bit extra” took maybe 2 minutes tops but it left me with such a positive feeling about the place.
I thought, with all of the places to rent cars … the same cars, same pricing, same everything … how are they going to stand out and make sure I think of them next time? Kill them with kindness. Make the last impression is a LASTING impression. Make sure that when the customer gets in the car to drive off they are thinking, “wow, that was different. That was better than most places I deal with.”
It cost her nothing … save 2 minutes and some planning and process.
I call this section of the sale process the Product Delivery. It’s when your client takes ownership of the product. It’s a fantastic opportunity to do something that stands out in their minds and makes them think of you next time. If you combine a solid delivery with regular follow up – short term to find out how the product is working; long term to maintain and develop the relationship – you are going a long way to setting the stage for repeat business. With a solid process in place you now have your hands on the wheel to steer the business in your direction and differentiate yourself in the marketplace rather than sitting in the back seat watching and waiting for the customer to hopefully come back.
By Ross on Nov 18, 2008 | Reply
thanks Kevin, I’ve had similar experiences at the Honolulu airport location.
( ps I think it’s why CDI uses Enterprise as our product partners!
By Laurie Ragle on Nov 19, 2008 | Reply
Art, this is one of the best you have sent. Thanks so much for the great tips!
We really use them here.
PS. I am in the newspaper business so this one got spread around the building and to our corporate VP and sales managers.
By Stephanie Garcia on Nov 19, 2008 | Reply
Hey, Art. I just wanted to thank you for articulating perfectly how important the little things are. I’ve learned over 25 years of sales and customer service that it’s the things your customers expect the least that mean the most. I sell tradeshow space, and I
recently met the new tradeshow guy for one
of my largest customers. In passing, he mentioned that he loved dark chocolate. A few days later, I sent him a $2 Dove bar along with
a personal handwritten note that I had enjoyed meeting him and looked forward to working with him. Imagine my surprise when I got an
email from him a week later proclaiming that I was now his Favorite Account Executive! That $2 Dove bar cost me a few pennies and a few
moments of my time, but what I gained in social equity will undoubtedly come back
to me tenfold.
I don’t think we should underestimate at all the importance of customer service and the human touch. Let’s face it - we’re all competing for the dollars right now, and I, for one, would much rather spend mine with
someone I like or someone I know values my business. I’d like to think my customers feel the same way.
Thank you for a terrific article, and for validating for me what I’m already practicing daily. It’s a shame this had to be an email,
because I think it would have meant more to you if it had come snail mail, with an actual signature.