Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Going the Extra Mile in Customer Service

I was at the Wallets Shop in one of the shopping malls. I was looking for a pouch to carry my mini hard disk around, and I was attracted to a black colored pouch printed with very catchy phrase. I loved it and decided to buy it.

I approached the sales girl at the counter, a young girl with a very pleasant smile, for a new piece. After searching through the stock, she apologized, “Sorry, this item had been sold out and we only have that display piece left.” Sensing that I was disappointed, she suggested, “Do you want to consider the red colored one with the same design?”

I said ok, but after looking at it, I did not like it. “Never mind, I think I will try your other outlets.” And I was ready to walk out of the shop.

“Do you want me to check with the other outlets before you go there?”

I was surprised that she offered without me asking, so I said yes. In the end, she managed to find an outlet which has the pouch I wanted and reserved the item for me. I was obviously very pleased with the outcome.

Honestly speaking, while I love the pouch I saw, I may not have bothered to visit other outlets just to get the item, after all, this pouch is a common item that I can find in many other shops, and I am pretty sure I can easily find another design that I like. However, because of the extra mile that this sales girl had gone, I had decided to stick to this design. And this weekend, I will definitely make an effort to pick up the item from the other outlet.

No comments: