Every once in a while we encounter a business that provides outstanding customer service, and it’s marvel. First I must caveat that I myself have never done business with easyplant nolita, based on Spring Street in NYC. I’ve never been there and the odds are low that I will visit anytime soon…though I am now intrigued.
I was visiting my daughter in Winter Park, Colorado recently, when she received a package via UPS with a drawing of a plant on the side of the box. When she got home she opened it and pulled out a plant, sitting it next to a beautiful one she already had. It is a self-watering plant – what a great idea for those of us (like her) who often forget to water their plants, but like to have them in the home!
This new plant, however, looked a little sickly after it’s journey in the cardboard box. She took a photo and sent it to the business she had ordered it from. A reply came about an hour later. The company representative agreed – based on the photo – that the plant didn’t look perfect. She apologized, promised to send out a replacement asap and told my daughter to just keep them both.
Now that’s how you create loyalty.
My daughter told us the story of how she came across this little business. She was in NYC once and passed by the store called easyplant nolita, located on Spring Street. The windows attracted her so she went in. The lady in the store spent time with my daughter just educating her on the pros and cons of many different plants. The lady in the store didn’t try to sell her anything, just explained and educated. My daughter was intrigued and particularly impressed with the ‘self-watering’ device they had designed, but explained that she lives in Colorado. “No problem,” the lady explained, “we can ship to you for free.” Bingo, she was hooked.
Why do I go on about this plant store? I just love great customer service. I used to wax on about it when I was in corporate life. Nothing creates loyalty like customer service – not even great products. A poor experience (like a damaged plant) is an extraordinary opportunity to provide excellent customer service and create loyalty.
People tell these stories to their friends and family (here I am, eh). Of course the converse is equally true – bad customer service stories spread like wildfire. Rude customer service representative, or poor responsiveness – like the folks at Starluck Flowers – just irks me.
I ordered flowers to be sent to my daughter-in-law a few weeks ago. I then emailed the day before the order was to be delivered to confirm some details and was informed that the order had been cancelled (gee, what if I hadn’t reached out?). That really annoyed me. Even worse, it is now several weeks later and I haven’t received my refund. I have emailed the company now four times and receive a polite note from Robertha Kiley, the Customer Service Manager saying that she was personally going to take care of this, and offered an apology. the first time she wrote this I was mollified. The 4th time i was wondering if she was incompetent or just trying to mess with me and avoid refunding me. I am now interested enough to see this out and find out if they will actually send me the refund (is it that difficult?).
So you see, both stories are worth telling.
mikesteinharter.com 