We should praise those companies that go above and beyond. A couple weeks ago I went to Kent’s Alignment in Newport, RI and was amazed at the level of service, flexibility, and honesty. They fixed the car and when I pulled out the plastic they explained that they did not accept credit cards to keep prices down, but I could just leave to go down the road to get money and come back. Trust. They explained what was wrong and did not rotate my tires since it would be a waste of money since one of them was bald. Cool, that is honest service.

Check out this comment that came in today from a fishing listserv I am active on. WOW, this guy is one of the few that goes out of the way to promote a business. You can’t pay enough to get this kind of positive marketing done. It went out to thousands of New England fisherman. Check out what Brian said on the Southern New England Angler’s listserv a few minutes ago.

“Yesterday for the first time I went to Jamestown Distributors in Bristol to buy some parts for my boat. The staff there went out of their way to make sure what I was buying would work for the project I was doing. If you’ve never done business with them, check them out, they have a huge online catalog.

Another company I had a recent experience with was Attwood Marine. I needed a new scupper flap on the boat. I had seen a posting in the Seaswirl owner’s forum to contact Attwood for the replacement. I followed the email link, it was answered promptly asking for the size etc. The rep then mails out two flaps to me free of charge. Brian”

Thank you Brian for sharing a positive experience. 1,000s of people reading this from a trusted source. Nice referral without doing anything. Attwood and Jamestown Distributors just did the right thing and treated him with respect and he was “WOWed” and compelled to tell everyone.

Back in the 80s an HP study shoed that for every dissatisfied customer they tell 20, yet a satisfied customer only tells 3. Brian beat the stats here and maybe the internet will balance out that statistic in favor of the companies going above and beyond.

Remember that Seinfeld episode where the arrogant cook had such addicting soup that people waited in line putting up with his arrogance just to get “the soup”? Everyone called him the Soup Nazi. I met the Banana Nazi last week while vacationing on Block Island, RI. My son was excited to go on a banana boat ride which is water tubing on steroids where 10 people hold on for dear life! My son was eager so I sucked it up.

The Encounter

The Banana Nazi starting barking out orders right from the start.

Banana Nazi: “You need to shower before you get on the boat, give me your glasses, hat, and anything else you have.” (No smile. Stone cold.)

I started thinking this lady must have had a rough summer and couldn’t wait for it to be over. She acted like the owner so I let her slide on this one. Maybe she was having a bad day.

I went on to say, “I can’t see without my prescription sun glasses so do you think I can wear them as we drive out to the tubing area? Also, I am a little light in the hair department so can I wear my hat to avoid sunburn of the head?” All said while chuckling a little to loosen things up and maybe brightening her day.

Banana Nazi: “Well, you are better off leaving your glasses here and being able to see the rest of the day than losing them aren’t you? The hat needs to go. I will do you a favor and put your stuff in my car so nothing happens.”

Again she was stone cold looking at me like I said something offensive or idiotic! I starting boiling a bit and thinking “She didn’t really say that?”. I couldn’t go on that boat blind no matter how she felt about it. I handed the Banana Nazi my stuff while white knuckling my glasses before she left me blind!

Banana Nazi: (No reaction as she took my stuff).

I was thinking “I don’t need this abuse and arrogance. I’m leaving.” Then looking at my son I had a change of heart. For my son’s sake I sucked it up and said “Thank you.” With a smile of course!

At that point we met two other people working the boat. They were great! Very polite and made the trip a memorable one. The driver with dread locks was awesome and fit the part perfectly, looking like he grew up water skiing and knew how to throw people! They explained to me right out of the gate why I could not wear my glasses on the boat. It made perfect sense since I was getting dragged out on the tube from the dock! Why didn’t she say that?

Customer service people make or break the deal. They got lucky this time.

Lessons learned:

1) Be careful with who works directly with customers. They may be blowing deals before you have a chance to know about it. The best customer service people are other-centered, patient, and listen to customers. What employees work directly with customers, but are not trained in customer service skills? Be careful.

2) Don’t assume prospects and customers know the reasons you do what you do. I now know why I could not bring my glasses and hat, but she did not listen to me, explain and communicate the reasons! Do customers know why you do what you do?

3) Customer Service people must start with communicating before we can show what your product or service does. It all starts with connecting and communicating the way your customers prefer. Be flexible and change your communication approach to fit your customer.

4) No product or service is so good that customers will put up with arrogance to get the goods. The Soup Nazi found this out the hard way and hopefully the Banana Nazi figures this out before it is too late.
Is your business just pumping out product? Are you in the customer service business? The end product is important, but customers want to buy from those they can connect with.