Lacoste delivers on helping a customer and creates an evangelist

0
206

Share on LinkedIn

#673 in the Purple Goldfish Project was submitted via e-mail by Jim Joseph, author of ‘The Experience Effect’. Jim talks about an experience with Lacoste:

“I submit to you a great example of amazing customer service that
transformed a brand in my mind … the ultimate purple goldfish.

Last summer I was visiting Palm Beach with my son. Just looking to get a little R&R. Some friends who live nearby invited us out for dinner one night, which was great, but I hadn’t really packed anything appropriate for my fourteen year old son to wear.

So we went shopping in town, and of course he didn’t find anything
that he liked .. I figured that I would just make due, and we went
back to the pool.

Lacoste logoWhile we were sitting there he remembered a Lacoste shirt that he thought would be perfect. I was thrilled because he rarely cares how he looks and we were going to be visiting friends.

We didn’t have a car so we needed to take the hotel shuttle downtown, but I was afraid that we would get there too late. So I called the store only to find out that they were in fact closing for the day.

I guess the person on the other end of the phone could hear the
disappointment in my voice, and she asked me what was wrong.

Half way through my explanation, she interrupted me to ask me where we were staying. She offered to bring the shirt to us!

lacoste-polo-shirtSo I told her the size and color, which they had in stock, and in fact thirty minutes later she personally pulled up to the store to hand
deliver the shirt.

That was a wow. Totally made my night, and completely changed my perceptions of the brand. I am now a loyal consumer time and time again, especially for gift giving occasions. Maybe because every time I think of the brand I smile!

Clearly, the brand knows the importance of customer service in the
total experience and has made sure that they deliver on it at the
store level.

A true purple goldfish!”

rene_lacosteToday’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) – Rene Lacoste, a famous French tennis player (one of the four musketeers) from the 1920’s who invented the polo in 1933.

The logo was a tribute to Lacoste’s nickname, ‘The Crocodile’. Here is a 2 minute video on the history of the polo:

Lagniappe defined: A marketing lagniappe, i.e. purple goldfish, is any time a business goes above and beyond to provide a ‘little something extra’. It’s that unexpected surprise that’s thrown in for good measure.

How do you stand out in the sea of sameness? How do you win repeat customers and influence word of mouth? Are you Giving Little Unexpected Extras?

Is Your Marketing Sticky? What’s Your GLUE?

Download the FREE eBook here

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Stan Phelps
Stan Phelps is the Chief Measurement Officer at 9 INCH marketing. 9 INCH helps organizations develop custom solutions around both customer and employee experience. Stan believes the 'longest and hardest nine inches' in marketing is the distance between the brain and the heart of your customer. He is the author of Purple Goldfish, Green Goldfish and Golden Goldfish.

ADD YOUR COMMENT

Please use comments to add value to the discussion. Maximum one link to an educational blog post or article. We will NOT PUBLISH brief comments like "good post," comments that mainly promote links, or comments with links to companies, products, or services.

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here