The idea of writing this article appeared in my head when I came across an internet picture showing a letter from one of the Russian airlines (I will keep the name a secret). The letter was a reply to a complaint of some customer, whose iPad “mysteriously” disappeared from his luggage during the flight. The airlines apologized for the incident and agreed to pay a compensation for each kilogram of the missing luggage. Since iPad doesn’t weigh more than one kilogram, poor traveler received a compensation of approximately $20 for his missed iPad.
This story got me thinking whether perfect customer care still exists or has it disappeared just like dinosaurs? Good news everyone, companies who truly care about their customers still exist.
Studies show that customers nowadays tend to believe their friends’ and family’s feedback about the company rather than commercials. That is why companies are spending more money and effort on improving their customer service. A recent study held by an American center ‘Enter’ shows that 7 out of 10 happy customers spend 13% more on their next purchases of the company’s products and services. 9 out of 10 satisfied customers recommend the company to 15 of their friends. At the same time 5 out of 10 customers, who were not satisfied with the service, will not come back to the company and talk their 24 friends out of turning to this company.
How do you improve your customer service? Here are a few inspirational stories of companies who really know how to make their customers happy.
Jet Blue Airlines
Unlike the Russian airlines mentioned above, Jet Blue Airlines work hard to raise their customers’ loyalty level. They even have a special job called People Officer. One of the passengers told a story of seeing such an Officer on a regular flight. A man got up in the middle of the flight and started giving away free tickets to any destination Jet Blue airplanes flew. All the passengers played a game of trivia and received free tickets for giving correct answers to questions. All in all around twelve tickets were given away and practically all of the airplane’s passengers became the Jet Blue fans and life-long customers.
Amazon
I wouldn’t believe this story if it didn’t happen to a friend of mine. She enjoys reading as much as a small kid enjoys ice-cream. One day she decided to purchase an e-book so she could read even more books. After a long process of decision making she finally bought an Amazon Kindle and registered it in the Amazon Kindle database. Later that year she was traveling to Thailand and of course took her Kindle with her. During a boat ride she accidentally dropped in on the floor and the screen broke. My friend was very upset and wrote a letter to Amazon asking them whether the screen could be replaced. Amazon replied saying they were sorry that such an accident happened and sent her a brand new Kindle so that she could enjoy reading books again. After hearing this story my family purchased 3 Amazon Kindles.
Zappos
This story I actually got from “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hseih. For those of you who haven’t heard of Tony Hseih, he is a CEO at Zappos which is one of the biggest online stores in the world. In his book he tells a story about his visit to the “Sketchers” conference in Santa Monica. After the conference Tony and a few of his friends went to the hotel room and decided to order pizza from room service. However room service did not deliver food past 11 p.m. A woman from Sketchers suggested calling Zappos service center to order pizza just as a joke. She dialed the number and explained the operator that she was in Santa Monica and that she really wanted pizza. The operator was confused at first but in a few minutes she named five nearest pizza places that were still open at such a late hour. Well done Zappos!
Lego
Luka Apps, a 7-year-old boy from England, received a Lego Ninjago kit for Christmas that he dreamt of for so long. Later on he went on a shopping trip with his father and took all the Lego people from the kit with him. As it often happens with children he lost one of his toys – Jay ZX – and was really upset. The boy wrote a letter to Lego asking for a new toy under a promise that he would never ever ever take it to the shop again. To his surprise he soon received an answer from Richard (Lego Consumer Services Manager) who not only sent a new Jay ZX mini figure to the boy but also included a set of weapons and a bad guy for Jay ZX to fight with. Isn’t that a perfect customer care?
Arby’s
Arby’s restaurant chain has a very unusual employee whose name is Pearl. Pearl is an 83-year-old woman and her job is to make people smile. Once a customer comes inside the restaurant Pearl weaves her blue-and-white pompon saying “Hi, welcome to Arby’s”. This simple gesture makes customers smile and leaves an unforgettable first impression. Pearl has been working in Arby’s for 19 years and has made the restaurant extremely popular in Pennsylvania.
These 5 short stories give us a great lesson on perfect customer care. Deliver more value to your clients than they normally expect from you (just like Amazon, Zappos and Lego). Make a great first impression (like Arby’s) as first impressions are the most lasting. And finally don’t forget to give something extra to your existing customers from time to time (just like Jet Blue Airlines).
