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Photo by Zitona Qatar

Photo by Zitona Qatar


We all aspire to be companies who deliver excellent customer service, who make our customers love us. But what kinds of things can we do to make our customers feel good about doing business with us?

Certain retailers are in spaces that are prone to recalls. Grocery stores, for instance, often find themselves in that unenviable territory. With another large, national recall of food going on, consumers expect it to be a hassle to have their recalled items processed for refunds. When Cheryl looked through her freezer, she found seven bags of various recalled items she had purchased from Trader Joe’s. On her next trip to the store, she asked her cashier about how to go about returning the recalled items. To her surprise, “he said ‘Just tell me how many of each item you have, and I’ll process your refund right now.’ I couldn’t believe Trader Joe’s didn’t need the food, or the bags, or at least the receipt and told him so. He said, ‘Nope, we trust our customers and never need any proof unless it’s a return of alcohol. We want it to be easy.’ I was really shocked. How often does a company tell a customer that they trust their word as a matter of policy? That’s incredible.”

Other companies process a lot of returns and exchanges just due to the nature of their products. Like any store that carries clothing or shoes, Zappos must constantly process items that don’t fit or customers don’t care for, but they make the process seamless. James had ordered a pair of sandals for his daughter, but they turned out to be too small. He called their customer service number and ended up in the queue. “I was immediately curious when I heard a prompt asking me to hit 2 if I wanted to hear the joke of the day while I waited for assistance. I did, and had a chuckle. Next thing I knew, the line was answered by a rep who was so friendly and cheerful. I just felt like she was really enjoying her day and her job (and I was calling after 5pm). I told her my daughter needed a bigger size and she processed it right away and told me that the new pair would arrive in two days; that I had 14 days to ship the old pair back without being charged for an additional pair. It was really nice to have everything in motion so quickly and I felt like they trusted me to return the too small pair so I didn’t have to front the money for 2 pairs or wait for them to receive the old pair before they’d release the new pair. It really couldn’t have been easier.”

When we want our customers to feel good about doing business with us, showing them that we feel good about doing business with them is the perfect place to start. Let’s follow the leads of Trader Joe’s and Zappos and find ways to make doing business with us not only easy, but delightful.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]