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October 16, 2004
Positively outrageous service
I would not have picked out and bought these awesome shoes from Nordstrom the other week were it not for a salesperson… who doesn't even work for the store.
Last month, I needed an outfit for a friend’s wedding, and I’d found a black wrap dress from Banana Republic (I wouldn’t have picked this out either, but the sales person suggested it.)
I was somewhat unsure of the wrap dress, so I visited a favorite store in Chicago: Femme de Carriere. Some of my favorite suits are from this shop and the manager, Jhanice Nelson, is always helpful.
Jhanice was at the store, so I told her about my wedding attire needs. I’d brought the wrap dress with me in case I found something better and wanted to return it.
She found a few dresses to try, which I did. She insisted I model Banana’s wrap dress as a comparison. She thought Banana’s dress was the best, but she didn’t like my choice of shoes I’d brought with me.
Here’s the part that creates durable, long-lasting loyalty and word of mouth: She insisted on taking me next door to Nordstrom, her competitor, to help me pick out new shoes to go with a competing store’s dress. I thought she was kidding.
A few minutes later, after scouring racks of shoes, I realized she was serious. Jhanice picked out funky shoe after funky shoe, ones I never would have picked. The winner was the ones you see above. (I don’t own a single polka-dotted thing and could hardly believe I was actually buying them.)
She asked if I had a clutch purse to go with the dress. I didn’t. She thought a perfect black clutch was on another floor of Nordstrom’s. So up we went, and I bought that too.
Why was this clothing store manager helping me buy clothes from a competitor?
“You came to me with a wardrobe problem, and I wanted to help you solve it,” she said. Just because she didn’t have anything to sell me shouldn’t stop her from helping me, she said
“And I’m betting that the next time you need a new suit or dress, you’ll come to me first.”
She’s right.
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I thought about this for a while and the outstanding customer service experience is the owner's ability to get close to you as a customer.
It would be very freakish if you went to a store and the attendant went shopping for you for the rest of the afternoon.
Yet the owner already had a strong relationship with you to build on. At this point she was already oustanding.
...and you know who will be visiting Femme de Carriere the next time she's in Chicago? Me, that's who... not only does Jhanice want you to return, she hopes you'll spread the word as you've done here. Way to influence, Jackie! :-)
