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December 01, 2005
Giving VIP customers something extra
J.C. Patrick from Sugar Land, Texas writes:
I'm a Hallmark shopper -- so much so that I own a platinum Hallmark member card. I go every year and purchase a couple hundred dollars of holiday ornaments, putting them on layaway in June and springing them in November. It's an annual ritual, and I chat a little with the clerks every month when I go in to pay my $50 installment.
I went to Suzy's Hallmark in Sugar Land, Texas yesterday to pick up my final group of ornaments. Instead of the usual Hallmark shopping bag, they brought my ornaments out in a bright red and white striped holiday bag. I exclaimed that they were so great to put them in a gift bag. It got better. Inside the gift bag was another ornament, an ornament from the previous weekend's ornament preview, a box of Christmas cards, a pad of post-it cards, a matching holiday mug and a coupon off Hallmark flowers. They just thought that it would be nice to give their "VIP customers" a little something. I was amazed. In all the years that I have shopped -- and I'm a "power shopper" -- no store has ever done anything like this for me.
I wrote them a thank-you note last night, and I can guarantee that I'll continue to drive past two other Hallmark stores (with horrible service) to reach this one any time I want to shop at Hallmark. They really lived up to what the spirit of that company is all about.
J.C.'s story is a nice one of a business taking an idea and amplifying it, but it also illustrates how rarely it happens. How often do you show your best customers that you appreciate their business? Sometimes recognition alone is the best reward imaginable.
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Excellent! My hat's off to Hallmark.
My compliments on your blog and your philosophy. I linked to your post but my trackbacker doesn't seem to be tracking back today. If there's such a thing as a customer evangelist evangelist, I'm it.
Creating customer experiences like this empowers both the customers and the staff. It encourages warm appreciation and a sincere thank you from the customer while uplifting and and enfussing the employees with reason to believe that what they deliver in their attitude has real value.
