Companies Becoming Legendary

[Vigilante]

If you want to sell your company some day, you need it to become legendary. In general, people don't buy shitty companies with bad customer service and an internet full of horror stories.

Legendary.

The urban dictionary says the word legendary is an : "Intensifier added to any word to take it's meaning to its highest power imaginable."

Is the customer always right? Nope. Does who's right and who's wrong really matter in an era where in 5 minutes I can eviscerate a company on a worldwide basis with one carefully crafted, publicly posted review?

Extraordinary measures. Extraordinary actions. Doing unexpected things.

There's a legend about Nordstrom accepting back a return of snow tires from a customer. Nordstrom didn't sell snow tires, but the legend lives on because Nordstrom's reputation made the story believable.

The much maligned United Airlines delayed a flight so that a passenger could make a connection to be with his dying mother. Trader Joe's delivered food to an 89 year old, snow bound man. Zappos sends flowers to a customer after learning her feet were damaged by harsh medical treatment. Ritz Carlton --- have you ever stayed at one? I was recently at one with my wife and daughter. We wanted to use a microwave to heat up some toddler food. Instead, they came to the room, picked up the food, heated it up, and returned it to us on a fancy silver platter. CVS pharmacy has a fleet of good samaritan vans who just roam the highways and help people.

Legendary. If you have never attempted to bring any of these types of practices into your own business, I propose to you it is within these moments that real life exists. The take your breath away, magic moments where opportunities to exceed someone's expectations turn legendary.

I read posts occasionally from people who take the opposite approach. Let's fight with a customer over $4 postage. Let's answer a shitty review with a shitty response. Let's assume customers who trusted us with their order now are lying about their experience, because they want something for nothing (hell, some do, right...?)

If you think like a small, insignificant business, you will BE a small, insignificant business. What if you had a chance to do it differently? What if you had a chance, in the course of your day, to change someone's life? What if you simply took the approach that you were not going to miss opportunities to go above and beyond? What if you decided that above profits, above stress, and above any other motive... that you simply were going to make a difference...?

Legendary.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

There's a legend about Nordstrom accepting back a return of snow tires from a customer.

I used to work for Sam's Club back in the early 90's. I worked in the tire department. I witnessed on several occasions members bringing in damaged tires that were never sold at a Sam's Club or even Walmart. They insisted they were bought there and demanded refunds. The management always, without question, without receipts, refunded them. At the time I thought Sam's was crazy but have come to understand why this is done.

 

[Vigilante]

Legendary.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...ed-up-and-shocked-a-fan-at-her-bridal-shower/

 

[million$$$smile]

Epic post. Vig.

EPIC

 

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[LibertyForMe]

Thanks for this, this is good stuff.

 

[DeletedUser2]

do guys see why his posts are marked under "legendary contributor"?

 

[jacob montemayor]

... this post is Legendary...

 

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[Vigilante]

One of Walt Disneys key philosophies was "It's not my fault, but it's my problem" - which means even though visitors may approach a Disney employee with a random question or a predicament, the employee is taught to "own" the problem, and stay with the customer until it is solved.

 

[pro]

Good reminder. Check out Like a Virgin by Richard Branson. This is one of the key themes of his book.

 

[Goobii]

Couldn't agree more Vigilante!!

I've been in the service industry for over 7 years now & the one feedback that I get over and over again from my clients is that my customer service and ability to go above and beyond is unparalled to others around. I've had alot of my clients go for cheaper alternatives, but they've always returned.. and in that process of appreciating my value, I end up securing more $$$ from them than before.

They stick to you like glue and in a business where cowboys rule, I've managed to secure some great clients, building better relationships and increasing my profits.

 

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[jahmeeahh]

@Vigilante yet another great post!

This is hands down the best advice any business owner can implement today. It works wonders on your customers... I know because I've tried it with my wedding industry business!

 

[Get Threaded]

If you want to sell your company some day, you need it to become legendary. In general, people don't buy shitty companies with bad customer service and an internet full of horror stories.

Legendary.

The urban dictionary says the word legendary is an : "Intensifier added to any word to take it's meaning to its highest power imaginable."

Is the customer always right? Nope. Does who's right and who's wrong really matter in an era where in 5 minutes I can eviscerate a company on a worldwide basis with one carefully crafted, publicly posted review?

Extraordinary measures. Extraordinary actions. Doing unexpected things.

There's a legend about Nordstrom accepting back a return of snow tires from a customer. Nordstrom didn't sell snow tires, but the legend lives on because Nordstrom's reputation made the story believable.

The much maligned United Airlines delayed a flight so that a passenger could make a connection to be with his dying mother. Trader Joe's delivered food to an 89 year old, snow bound man. Zappos sends flowers to a customer after learning her feet were damaged by harsh medical treatment. Ritz Carlton --- have you ever stayed at one? I was recently at one with my wife and daughter. We wanted to use a microwave to heat up some toddler food. Instead, they came to the room, picked up the food, heated it up, and returned it to us on a fancy silver platter. CVS pharmacy has a fleet of good samaritan vans who just roam the highways and help people.

Legendary. If you have never attempted to bring any of these types of practices into your own business, I propose to you it is within these moments that real life exists. The take your breath away, magic moments where opportunities to exceed someone's expectations turn legendary.

I read posts occasionally from people who take the opposite approach. Let's fight with a customer over $4 postage. Let's answer a shitty review with a shitty response. Let's assume customers who trusted us with their order now are lying about their experience, because they want something for nothing (hell, some do, right...?)

If you think like a small, insignificant business, you will BE a small, insignificant business. What if you had a chance to do it differently? What if you had a chance, in the course of your day, to change someone's life? What if you simply took the approach that you were not going to miss opportunities to go above and beyond? What if you decided that above profits, above stress, and above any other motive... that you simply were going to make a difference...?

Legendary.

One word= WOW.

(Now I will say a few more words than one haha)
Thank you for this extraordinary post that resonated with me. I have compiled into an email that I sent my franchisees, titled- inspiration. We have something called our Get Threaded WOW which equals legendary.
Thank you for validating what I believe and am trying to create.

 

[jockinbox]

this is gold
i had a couple customer service books in my shopping cart but was hesitating to purchase..after reading this i automatically went and checked out

thank you so much Vig

 

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[RogueInnovation]

Its about being the business people want, not the masterbatory self serving and forever stupid businesses that they seem to get.

We can exceed the market expectation and give what astounds people daily.


Biz is about being legendary

 

[GuestUser113]

Bookmarked! Thanks @AllenCrawley for mentioning the thread! Thanks @Vigilante for posting this!

 

[timmy]

Love this post Vigilante....great lesson on LIFE.

 

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[Vigilante]

Our company received this email this morning. I redacted the customer's specifics, but the gist of this underscores what we are trying to accomplish in our quest to become legendary :From: <xxxxxxx@aol.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 3:58 PM
Subject: xxxxxx
To: xxxxxxx


To whom it may concern,
It is without a doubt the most considerate and incredibly generous bit of customer service I've had in a long time,that your company would go out of the way and not even hesitate to send us another xxxxxxxx.
We thank you, and will continue to share the word of the product and great customer service that you have given. We look forward to more purchases and doing business with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. xxxxxxxx

One small step towards becoming legendary. Exceeding expectations. Treating others how you would want to be treated. We are fortunate our customers pick us, and we treat them like they deserve to be rewarded for selecting us when ever possible. - Vigilante

 

[AllenCrawley]

Our company received this email this morning. I redacted the customer's specifics, but the gist of this underscores what we are trying to accomplish in our quest to become legendary :From: <xxxxxxx@aol.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 3:58 PM
Subject: xxxxxx
To: xxxxxxx

To whom it may concern,
It is without a doubt the most considerate and incredibly generous bit of customer service I've had in a long time,that your company would go out of the way and not even hesitate to send us another xxxxxxxx.
We thank you, and will continue to share the word of the product and great customer service that you have given. We look forward to more purchases and doing business with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. xxxxxxxx

One small step towards becoming legendary. Exceeding expectations. Treating others how you would want to be treated. We are fortunate our customers pick us, and we treat them like they deserve to be rewarded for selecting us when ever possible. - Vigilante

I get a natural high when I get emails like this. Well done sir.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Treating others how you would want to be treated.

You mean I can't charge their credit card when they click "Add To Cart"? :joyful:

 

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[AllenCrawley]

You mean I can't charge their credit card when they click "Add To Cart"? :joyful:

And you can't hide behind, "Customers have a personal responsibility to read the fine print.".

 

[RazorCut]

Great post @Vigilante. There will always be customer complaints and issues and sometimes that is a good thing because that gives you the opportunity to go above and beyond.

If there wasn't a problem it just becomes another purchase, if there is a problem and you go all out to exceed the customers expectations not only will you get a loyal customer but you can bet your boots they will tell all their friends. Great PR. Screwing them over just does not make sense.

I'm currently dealing with two clients with issues both have nothing what so ever to do with us:

I'm helping a friend in his business at the moment and we have an awkward customer, very demanding and needy and expects us to help her with issues from other companies and with items she has never purchased from us. She is also a late payer but does pay eventually (and we are talking the thick end of 20k at the moment). A real pain which is why I have been lumbered with her, (must be my diplomatic nature.)

Anyway, she is a socialite and there has been quite a lot of business from her circle of friends simply because of the outstanding service she receives. High maintenance but great PR. Treating the customer as special is part of this business.

But the thing people don't get is that it DOESN'T COST YOU MONEY to offer great customer service IT MAKES YOU MONEY.

My friend used to take out very expensive whole page adverts in glossy magazines. Hasn't done that for years now and the business has difficulty keeping up with demand. The costs vs benefits speak for themselves.

 

[RazorCut]

Vigilante's post reminded me of a book I was recommended through a guy that had created a wonderful jetset life for himself all by applying what he learned from one book called How To Be Brilliant by Michael Heppell.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Be-Bril...410602094&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+be+brilliant

It's a great read and talks about exactly what Vigilante is expressing.

The story of Captain Denny is a great life lesson too:

You might need a translator for his accent though.

 

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[Formless]

 

[Vigilante]

Here's an example of what not to do :

Every member of my immediate family, for years, has purchased Tervis tumblers. http://www.tervis.com

There's a million companies out there that make plastic tumblers. Tervis quality has always been fantastic, and their customer service was legendary. You pay way more than you should to buy a plastic glass from them, but the quality/value/service proposition always exceeded the monetary trade. One of the coolest things they did was if you ever had a defective glass (with a lifetime warranty on their workmanship) you could bring it in to them, they would melt it down, and give you new cups. Because the product was 100% recyclable, their guarantee cost them nearly nothing, but the good will they created was legendary. It was one of the reasons my immediate family spent in excess of $600 per year amongst 4 households.

My father made his annual commute to their headquarters this year with a few cups that needed to be traded in. Typically, the way that works is you bring them back a cup or two, get a new cup or two, and drop a few hundred bucks while you are there. He went there yesterday for the legendary and fun annual ritual.

What once was legendary had him leave the store mad. With cups in hand. Likely never to return again. They changed the policy. Now, they required him to buy a box, pay for postage, and mail them in to the same location he was standing in. They couldn't explain to him why he had to pay and go to the extraordinary lengths to facilitate what they promised him they would do when he bought them. In short, in something so simple that could have been remedied on the spot, they let him leave. He left. Mad. With his cups in hand, feeling bad and vowing to not go back there again. They lost out on a huge immediate sale, and the ripple effect of his extended family following in his exiting footsteps. Over a few cups, and a changed policy.

Satisfied customers tell a few friends. Dissatisfied customers tell many more. We talk on the forum about the cost per acquisition of customers. How much did Tervis lose by walking my Dad to the door over 2 cups? How much more will they have to spend to find a half dozen customers that buy like we buy?

From their web site, they now state :

"Mail-in returns will be processed within 30 days of receipt."

30 days? http://www.tervis.com/returns

We know the process takes 30 seconds. They obviously changed the policy, and now want to make it as difficult as possible for someone to do what they used to be legendary for doing.

So, you win, Tervis. You avoided taking the cost neutral exchange from a 70 year old man. You saved yourself a few cents. You cost your company thousands of dollars, based on your inability to meet a simple request from a long term customer. You won the battle.

But... you will lose the war. Your company, that used to be legendary, can now be added to the plastic recycling heap of history.

An executive at Tervis showed in a board room how this decision might save the company x% to the bottom line. He only forgot about one thing along the way. He forgot about the customer.

And this is how you lose the vision, and along the way, lose your companies position towards becoming legendary.

Rest in peace, Tervis.

 

[Iwokeup]

Here's an example of what not to do :

Every member of my immediate family, for years, has purchased Tervis tumblers. http://www.tervis.com

There's a million companies out there that make plastic tumblers. Tervis quality has always been fantastic, and their customer service was legendary. You pay way more than you should to buy a plastic glass from them, but the quality/value/service proposition always exceeded the monetary trade. One of the coolest things they did was if you ever had a defective glass (with a lifetime warranty on their workmanship) you could bring it in to them, they would melt it down, and give you new cups. Because the product was 100% recyclable, their guarantee cost them nearly nothing, but the good will they created was legendary. It was one of the reasons my immediate family spent in excess of $600 per year amongst 4 households.

My father made his annual commute to their headquarters this year with a few cups that needed to be traded in. Typically, the way that works is you bring them back a cup or two, get a new cup or two, and drop a few hundred bucks while you are there. He went there yesterday for the legendary and fun annual ritual.

What once was legendary had him leave the store mad. With cups in hand. Likely never to return again. They changed the policy. Now, they required him to buy a box, pay for postage, and mail them in to the same location he was standing in. They couldn't explain to him why he had to pay and go to the extraordinary lengths to facilitate what they promised him they would do when he bought them. In short, in something so simple that could have been remedied on the spot, they let him leave. He left. Mad. With his cups in hand, feeling bad and vowing to not go back there again. They lost out on a huge immediate sale, and the ripple effect of his extended family following in his exiting footsteps. Over a few cups, and a changed policy.

Satisfied customers tell a few friends. Dissatisfied customers tell many more. We talk on the forum about the cost per acquisition of customers. How much did Tervis lose by walking my Dad to the door over 2 cups? How much more will they have to spend to find a half dozen customers that buy like we buy?

From their web site, they now state :

"Mail-in returns will be processed within 30 days of receipt."

30 days? http://www.tervis.com/returns

We know the process takes 30 seconds. They obviously changed the policy, and now want to make it as difficult as possible for someone to do what they used to be legendary for doing.

So, you win, Tervis. You avoided taking the cost neutral exchange from a 70 year old man. You saved yourself a few cents. You cost your company thousands of dollars, based on your inability to meet a simple request from a long term customer. You won the battle.

But... you will lose the war. Your company, that used to be legendary, can now be added to the plastic recycling heap of history.

An executive at Tervis showed in a board room how this decision might save the company x% to the bottom line. He only forgot about one thing along the way. He forgot about the customer.

And this is how you lose the vision, and along the way, lose your companies position towards becoming legendary.

Rest in peace, Tervis.

But WHY??? WHY does a company allow itself to turn away from the legendary customer service? In the past year so many businesses have lost my family's business because of LOUSY C/S. When if they had come through and been legendary, they would have had a loyal customer with HIGH lifetime CTV.

Thanks for posting this story, man. Sorry about your dad's experience.

 

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[RazorCut]

Most probably because the policy was changed without forethought or consolation with the ground staff who actually dealt face to face with the customer. Maybe management knew about the replacements but not the extra sales it generated. Maybe it was the decision of the bean counters trying to streamline the system. Maybe a supervisor didn't have the balls to override the policy in your fathers case knowing full well from previous visits he was bringing far more value than he cost.

There could also be another reason. Maybe your Father was the exception to the rule and most of the time walk-in's just wanted goods replaced with no up-sell for the company, just extra time and effort.

I don't know so I have sit on the fence here as I have seen it from both sides. With a warehouse supplying over different 1000 products via mail order my last business was totally geared up and streamlined for online sales only. We didn't even have a company name on the side of the warehouse as I wanted no cold callers but we got them anyway.

People would make an impromptu 100 mile round trip just expecting to come in, browse and help themselves. This would create a lot of work and would be a nightmare on a Monday when we had all the weekend sales to process. All the products were on shelving and in dump bins, NONE of it was priced as price was not relevant to the warehouse.

We would often get someone take up 40 minutes or more of a staff members time for the equivalent of less than $20 when she would have picked and pack 100's of dollars worth in that time. Then someone had to manually put together an invoice when they are normally generated on the fly. Then mess around with payment processing or trying to find change as they want to pay cash.

It was a lot of hassle for very little reward (or it actually cost us money). I had a policy which varied with the customer. We would ask them what they wanted and if the spend was likely to be worth it or they had travelled great distance specifically to visit us we would help them but tell them it was a one time service as our lease expressly excluded trading from the premises (which was true).

I'm sure we probably lost a few small customers over time because of it. But it got to be a pain point for us as favours we did for low spend local customers would balloon as they would tell their friends and they would come up expecting the same service.

 

[VegasMan]

This thread is too good and needed a bump. When I read the linked article about Taylor Swift I was reminded of this one too:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...n-Jovi-walks-fan-aisle-Las-Vegas-wedding.html

You can't buy PR that good. It hit all the major news sites, blogs, social media, etc. And his fans will tell that story for years to come. And all it took was a couple hours of his time and doing something nice for a fan (customer).

 

[VegasMan]

A classic on how Disney does it:

Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1423145844/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

 

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[luniac]

Customer Service is ALWAYS #1 in my book. I would and have bought a technically inferior product because the customer service didn't make me feel like an idiot if i had trouble understanding something.

For the software i use, the #1 plugin provider has a notoriously unhelpful customer service on their support forum. I avoid them like the plague even if it hurts me in the short term, i just hate snobby people and their condescending tone.

 

[Jamie T]

It's threads like these that make this forum awesome.

I'm sitting here thinking, "why is this the first time I'm seeing this thread?" Somehow I never saw it before.

I was casually reading @AllenCrawley 's progress thread on the inside and he made a point about having "Legendary" customer service. Next thing I know, I'm reading this:

Legendary. If you have never attempted to bring any of these types of practices into your own business, I propose to you it is within these moments that real life exists. The take your breath away, magic moments where opportunities to exceed someone's expectations turn legendary.

I just helped a person earlier today. They want to know if a particular product I have was right for them...the truth is, no it wasn't. So I explained why and recommended a competitor's product which had exactly what they needed.

Yes, I lost the customer and a sale (it would have been returned if they bought), but I did my best to help them. And that's a great feeling. They took the time to thank me and express how much they appreciated the help.