While this isn’t a customer service blog, per se, good communication is often a part of good service, and I wanted to call out an example I experienced today.I was leaving for a trip and found out at the last minute that I lacked a piece of equipment. A call to a local Wolf Camera at the mall got me “we don’t have that“. I mentioned the web site showed a particular model and inquired if they had it, since they clearly didn’t know their own product line. They still didn’t have what I needed, so I got a “why don’t you call our Big Store Across Town — they have a larger selection” reply. The BSAT wasn’t exactly convenient, so I called another store I found on the Internet, which was (unknown to me) actually right across the street.Steve answers and responds to my inquiry with knowledge of a few options. I inquire if the product is in his store. He says no, but we can get one. I am disappointed — I needed to leave for the airport at 3pm. His voice lights up and he says he’ll see what he can do, can he have my number? I’ve been down that road before — the phone doesn’t ring. I left for lunch, resigned that I might actually have to go to the BSAT. I checked my voice mail and there was, in fact, a message from Steve. He’d have the product at 3pm (and he left his phone number twice — good communication). I called him back and he said he actually had it in his possession right then. I was 8 minutes out and he met me at the counter with the product even though he’d never seen me before. He answered my questions, took the product out and made sure it’d work for me. Discussed something else that I thought about.When I asked if they had an inter-store courier, he just smiled and said “we have ways of getting you the products you need.” Since there was just him and the instant photo person in the store, I don’t know how he found it and got it there. But he did. For a $34.95 product. Amazing.It’s a simple principle:
Good customer service will bring customers back.
