Comments on: 25,228,800 Moments of Truth: My 48 Years As a Customer

By: Jeanne Bliss

Jeanne Bliss — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 20:46:50 +0000

How great are all of these stories? The interesting thing about our warm memories, as you mention Ann, is that it’s about the service, the experience. And most importantly, the memory.
Memory Creation is the “currency” of beloved brands.
The sad thing is that ‘back then’ when we were growing up and David your grandparents had their store, this was not something that was learned. It was in people’s natural DNA to act this way. Down deep as humans of the world, I have to believe that as individuals we’re wired this way.
But once we walk through the doors of our corporate jobs, something clicks and we do things that don’t let that service ethos shine through in our actions.
And this I think is the secret sauce to getting corporations to re-wire for their customers. We are “metric-ed”, how we are rewarded and what “score” means in business is not measured by moments of human kindness but by sales and scores on report cards.
The companies that really get it understand that those measures and results are earned. They do the right thing and trust and honor that customers will stay and honor them as a result. So simple – we just make it so hard in organizations to get this golden rule which it seems the masses knew and understood in our early days -but only the “enlightened” now get.

By: Marsha Keeffer

Marsha Keeffer — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:23:03 +0000

Service is the one thing a vendor can provide that will bond me to her/him faster than anything. If I can get the technology I want, availability, delivery, price – and everything else – service will keep me coming back to your business no matter what. Cafe Siena in Los Gatos is an example – they call me by name and smile when I get my tea! I’d pay ‘em twice as much, they’re so nice to deal with.

By: David Reich

David Reich — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:35:10 +0000

B.L., you are right in saying will be the next trend. In some cases, it already is. I read not too long ago (maybe it was in the WS Journal) about some retailers who are using outstanding service as their point of difference. Isn’t that a sorry statement — that good service has become a marketable point of difference?

By: B.L. Ochman

B.L. Ochman — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:34:59 +0000

Belated happy birthday Jeanne!
I agree with ann. I go out of my way to spend my money with local stores that know my name and have a cookie for the pup, even if it costs a little more to do business with them.
I wonder if service will ever be the next big trend? Businesses that provide it would be so successful.

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:09:48 +0000

Fun idea for a post, Jeanne, and interesting comparisons.
One point, though… as consumers, we often have choices. Not always, but sometimes.
There’s a gas station (“filling station”) in my large-ish town that’s a Sunoco or Mobil or something (to tell you the truth — I don’t even know). What makes a difference is the customer service. The kids who pump gas are still typical teenagers — but the mechanic who owns it runs a tight ship — he doesn’t allow their friends to swing by to say hi when they are on-duty, for example, and he requires them to look you in the eye and smile when they take your charge card, and they always clean the windows. What’s more, they keep a box of dog biscuits on the pumps to give out when there’s a pooch in the car.
It makes a *huge* difference to me… and I actually drive out of my way to get gas there. I have no idea whether the price is competitive… it’s just a better experience.

By: David Reich

David Reich — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:28:28 +0000

Jeanne, thanks for bringing back the memories of good and caring customer service. I have about 2 million moments on you, so my memories go back to most of the 1950s.
My grandparents had a candy store, and they knew almost everyone by name. They had a notebook by the cash register, and if Jimmmy from down the street was a little short on cash, my grandfather would write down his name and how much he owed. And without fail, within a day or two, Jimmy or whoever else owed, would come in and settle up. (Lewis Green recently wrote about his grandparents and their Mom & Pop store. No credit cards back then. Just trust and honesty.)
Until I was in my late teens, my parents owned a children’s clothing store. Service was what they were all about. I can recall going with my father to deliver customers’ purchases to their homes in the evening. My parents would do beautiful gift-wrapping — fancy paper and colorful ribbons that they’d make in the back of the store. And before the summer camp season, my mother would spend countless evenings at her sewing machine, stitching name tags into clothes customers had bought at the store. All of this, by the way, was at no extra charge.
My parents had to shut the store in the late 1960s because everyone was running to the discount stores in the new shopping centers to try to save money.
Years later, we complain about the lack of service at the big stores. Can you get helpful answers from a saleperson — if yoiu can even find one? And how much do you pay now to have something you just bought gift-wrapped at the same store? (Do they even wrap it for you or do they just sell you the box and a sheet of paper, for you to do it yourself?) Home delivery from a big store? Fuggetaboutit!
Sour grapes from this son of Mom & Pop storekeepers? You bet! People didn’t realize what they had when they had it.

By: Lewis Green

Lewis Green — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:51:38 +0000

Jeanne,
Brings back fond memories, especially the penny candy (in the ’50s) that we could pick, mix and match.