In The Simple Truth of Service, Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz tell a great story. Barbara was sharing with a group of front-line supermarket workers examples of how anybody can generate return business by creating meaningful memories for customers. A month later she got a call from 19 year old bagger. He proudly informed her he had Downs syndrome, and told her he didn’t think he could do anything; “I’m just a bagger.” But he loves quotes, which gave him the idea to share with his customers a new thought each day. His dad helped him enter his daily quotation 6 times on a page, print out 50 and cut them out, each with his name signed on the back. When he finished bagging someone’s groceries, he put the thought of the day in the bag and said “Thanks for shopping with us.”
A month later the supermarket manager called Barbara to update the story. He arrived one day to find the line at Jonny’s checkout three times longer than anyone else’s. Assuming a customer service disaster, he called for “more cashiers up front”; more lanes opened – but no-one moved! He went over to people in the line and they said “No, it’s OK; we want to be in Johnny’s lane so we can get his though for the day.”
What are you doing to create great relationships with your customers? Share your stories!