Just Give 'Em a Pickle

Literally? Huh? What you talkin' bout? Why would I want to give anyone a pickle? 

No, I'm not seriously telling you to get out the pickle jar and hand someone a dill spear. What I am saying is that in terms of customer service, in order to have the BEST relationship you can with your customers, turning them into raving fans, you have to do just that little bit more, that unexpected, pleasurable action that creates a fan for life.

Let's step back a minute and look at how many businesses are run. I have an excellent example right here. There's a restaurant in my hometown that I eat at once in a while. It is owned by a friend of my parents and a colleague of mine. When you walk in you are greeted with smiles and "how are you today". Small talk and pleasantries are passed. Food is good and you leave with a full belly.

Well, my husband and I went in for lunch the other day. But you know how you get feelings of something not quite right? Our friend wasn't there to greet us. New people were everywhere. The waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, but nothing came to the table. We had to repeat our drink order 3 times before we got it. Then, she upended a basket of Mexican chips all over the people in the next booth and laughed at it. The food, when delivered, was cold and not very tasty. There was definitely something not right here. And then, we get the waitress telling us we had to sign for two separate checks as they rang up the order wrong first and then rerang it. Huh? I paid twice. And then was told that they had tried to void it but it didn't go through right. When asked where the owner was -- well there was a NEW owner, and he wasn't there. Sorry. End of story.

Now, here's where the pickle comes in -- There's a restaurant in Seattle, Washington (it used to be a national chain at one time) called Ferrell's Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor. And they were known not only for great ice cream but for GREAT pickles. One day a customer came in and order his usual lunch and asked for his additional pickles. The waitress, new to the restaurant, told him, "I'm sorry. I can't give you a side order of pickles, but I can sell you some for 75 cents". This infuriated the regular customer who in turn wrote to the head of the restaurant. "Mr. Ferrell, if you're telling your staff to do things like this now, you've lost a lot of loyal customers." Ferrell, on hearing this, got so upset that he started the slogan for the business, "Just give 'em a pickle." Of course this meant, give your customers EXTRA SPECIAL SERVICE. And when you do, you'll create raving customers for life.

Back to the story of my lunch -- I called the restaurant back and asked to leave a message for this new owner. Thankfully, he called back and was very apologetic. He told me he would even drive to my house to give me my money back. He was so upset by his staff that he was going to sit them down and explain how service was to be handled from then on. Whether this happened or not, I don't know; but I was impressed by his offer to meet me wherever. That was a sign of his caring about his customers. I think I'll give them another try after all!

Ask yourself what is the most important thing in your business. You can have many different answers. Money, good employees, a great product -- all of them are terrific responses. But, to me, I believe that customer service is the one and only true answer and I'll tell you why. 

You can have a terrific product that solves a big problem for your customers. Great. You can have decent employees that show up for work on time, do their job, and show respect for the owner and the business, (I could go on, but I bet you get the idea), but if you don't have customers (returning customers, and those who provide you with great references and referrals), you aren't going to have a big influx of dollars, you are going to lose all but first time customers, and you won't be happy with your business for long. You need to be sure that you are providing people with experiences that bring them back over and over. Experiences that they can't wait to tell other people about, and experiences that provide high quality products and services. When you give them that pickle, they will be satisfied for life.

Stay tuned for ideas on how to get out of your comfort zone, offer things that make for exciting adventures for your customers and bring them back again and again.