A Little Sugar with my Veruca Salt

Sometimes when I get fixated on making something happen, little stands in my way from securing it. I’m not unreasonable; I just set my sights on something and go after it. I’m not talking about summiting Mount Everest  or inventing the first and coolest online savings system. I’m talking about other things — things that might not matter to some but, well, matter to me.

Like the time about five years ago that I saw a dress I wanted to get for our daughter’s first birthday. It was perfect — but they didn’t have it in her size. I looked for something else, but somewhat obsessively wanted that dress. I spent the better part of that weekend searching for it. Nothing. Bound and determined, I ended up talking to the children’s buyer for Von Maur who LOCATED the dress for me in our daughter’s size in their WAREHOUSE. Von Maur shopper for life? You betcha.

Let’s be honest — she could’ve told me that my cause was a lost one and to move on. Wouldn’t you have? Probably a little more than a minor inconvenience on her part, but imagine how happy I was!

Now the flip side. A couple of weeks ago, we were on vacation and found the snack bars we buy our kids in a flavor not available in Iowa. We nearly bought out the local stores of their Clif Kid Organic Zbars in Chocolate Chip.

I couldn’t email my favorite local grocery store fast enough to ask if they would carry the chocolate chip version. And about 30 minutes after I hit send, they replied that they were going to ask their purchasing manager if they could get them and would let me know right away. I was really impressed that they replied so quickly and were looking into it. I thought in no time my kids would have an unlimited supply of chocolate chip Clif bars! But … that was two weeks ago, and still no word. Sigh.

Does it really matter in the big scheme of things? No, of course it doesn’t. They are busy people with busy stores and other customers who want other products. I get it. No problem-o, really. But imagine if they HAD replied. Even if their reply was, “We tried, but sorry, no.” It would’ve been better than nothing.

So, the question(s) for today is: in your busy world, with all of the customers you have, do they truly understand that you appreciate their business? Do they understand that you know they have a choice of who they do business with and you’re sure glad it’s you? Do you feel good about your internal team communicating with these people — the lifeline to your company — and ensuring their satisfaction? Do you have things in place to measure that level of satisfaction?

These things don’t need to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money. We help our clients (who we try very hard to show our appreciation) with seemingly little things they can integrate into their business that might not look like a big deal but make an impact on how their customers view them within their business, their industry and within the communities they serve.

You should take away a couple of things from this entry…first, that we should always show the people we do business with how much we appreciate them, even if it means going an extra mile (heck, half-mile) to earn a life-long customer. And secondly, if you ever need help locating an item for your kids, I’m your girl.