Reman U
- Author: Andrew Hicks
- Subject Matter: Customer service
- Issue: Give your best every time
Business Training
I have never been very handy. Most of my youth was consumed with soccer and more soccer. I learned how to change my oil in high school and helped with some small projects around the house, but that was about it.
As I have “grown up” and gained appliances, electronics and properties, the desire to fix things on my own has not only been fiscally responsible but interesting as well. My greatest feat yet to date is fixing a dryer belt (Hint: YouTube has some quality videos of how to fix everything on your dryer!). Now, I still have a long way to go, but I’m committed to figuring out each new project.
Recently I went to my local big box hardware store in search of oil to fix a squeaky door hinge. I have always had mediocre service at this place—nothing great, nothing bad. It’s usually a high-schooler walking around who doesn’t know much of anything but will give a half effort at pointing you in the right direction. They have decent prices, and almost always have the parts I need in stock, so I return again and again.
This time though, I had an excellent experience. Though usually self-sufficient in navigating the aisles to find what I need, I was obviously looking lost as an associate stopped me and asked what I was looking for. I told him the specific product I had in mind and we were off on a mission down the long aisles.
While exploring our options, he asked me why I needed this product in particular (a 3-in-1 oil that I thought would help the ol’ squeakers back home). This is when the magic happened: He turned away from the product on the shelf and told me that he and his dad, property owners and regular DIYers, use Vaseline for this very problem. He described how to apply it to the hinge pins and assured me that it would fix the problem immediately. I thanked him kindly and felt pretty funny walking out of the store empty-handed.
Not surprisingly, the Vaseline trick worked great, and a few weeks later? The door hasn’t made a peep.
It was an impressionable experience that this store associate guided me away from the sale. In his mind, it was the right thing to do. I know I’ll go back to this store when something needs fixing – I owe them one for the stellar service I got that day.
This story is about more than the couple of bucks I saved. I have incorporated that mindset into my own work. Anybody who reaches out to me will get my best effort no matter if it leads to a sale or not. In fact, I recently had a 20-minute phone call with a man who needed insight on a custom job he was doing (not at all related to what I had to sell him), and one of our other employees even got involved to help.
I know I am not alone in this way of service. Sometimes it takes experiencing good service to give it, and a number of my colleagues help customers each day with whatever it is they need. I have even heard The Sales Cyclist help a wrong number caller find a good deal on windows!
Bottom line: give it your best every time. Just because you didn’t sell something in that conversation doesn’t mean you didn’t earn a customer.
