Last week I took my very dirty car to the car wash; I was glad that I remembered to take it in on Tuesday. Every Tuesday is “Ladies Day” at Danny’s Family car wash (link has locations) and they give me a small discount. Imagine my surprise when the cashier rang up the regular price with no discount! “Isn’t there a discount since it is Tuesday?” I asked. She thought a minute and then said, “But it is Wednesday.” I really believed it was Tuesday and she could tell; she laughed and added, “For a minute there I had to think if it really was Wednesday!” Here’s the cool part, she gave me the discount anyway. She punctuated it with a big smile and, “Have a great day!” It was a whopping total of $2.00; but it felt so much bigger. I thanked her for such a nice gift and told her that she made my day.
Empowered cashiers are a rare breed these days so when I came across this great young woman I had to write about her. Think about the impact of this little gesture and the loyalty that she just cemented in place. And it did not take much; just paying attention to the customer and genuinely smiling and offering a little discount (versus being irritated and looking at me like I had lost my mind).
How can you impact the people around you with little gestures? It is the little things that add up to a great quality of life. Share your little gesture in a comment!
photo credit: konomike via Flickr creative commons
Since I am now involved in a business that helps small to mid size companies with marketing and advertising and utlizing all the new and exciting digital media marketing channels, I have become much more conscious of customer service. I too had a really wonderful experience with a company called the silver superstore. Having just celebrated my 7th anniversary, I ordered a set of stainless flatware for my wife last night. This morning I get an email note indicating that the order ship ship within 1 business day. I wrote back, indicating that was great and that I was hoping to get it delivered by Friday, not really expecting anything out of the ordinary to occur. To my surprise I got a second note shortly after indicating that a note was placed on my order for the warehouse to ship it TODAY! and that I would have it by Friday. I too will be sure to do business with Silversuperstore next chance I get. Your post reminded me of my good customer service experience… Yes they are out there. Create a great day! and thanks for posting this.
Thanks for sharing your great experience, Lloyd! It is great to catch someone giving great customer service and great that you are celebrating your anniversary!! Paula