(Our good friend, the majestic, lovely, and talented Steve Holstein, shared a national story with me that he realized had local implications. “This would make a good blog post!” Steve said. “You’re right,” I joked. “Please write it!” Looks like the joke was on me. To my delight, a couple hours later, this arrived in my inbox.)
Does your business try to think of ways to surprise customers?
Don’t you love a business that goes the extra mile?
Here’s a quick story about nuts, three scones, and a rotten Apple.
I visited a local bakery recently to pick up a couple of my wife’s favorite scones. She knows baking, and she knows a good scone — and this place has amazing scones.
I pointed to the scones in the case, asking for two. The first scone the employee picked up broke in half. As she placed it in a white paper bag she said, “This one is free.”
Then she added in two more scones. Well done, local bakery!
But… what if…
After the third scone went into the bag, my helper reached under the counter and started added something else.
“What’s that?” I would ask.
“That’s our new Chocolate Fudge Double-Nut Peanut Butter Brownie,” she would say.
Trying to stop her, I’d exclaim, “But I’m allergic to nuts!”
“That’s okay,” she’d tell me, smiling and shoving it in there, “I know you’ll like it anyway.”
Had this happened a shareworthy customer service experience would have been ruined. (Thankfully it didn’t end this way, and I got three delicious scones for the price of two.)
Nuts, right? Wrong.
Recently, when Apple—known, even revered, for its regular surprising of customers—held its latest product launch, fans were at first really impressed. But when the company forced U2’s new album into customers’ iTunes accounts they were really, REALLY annoyed.
Someone should have said to Apple, “Surprise, but verify.”
The moral of these stories: Your customers give you limited access to a small part of their lives. Be sure to ask before assuming they want more of what you have to offer.
(Thanks, Steve. You rock like chocolate fudge double-nut peanut butter brownies!)
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