#365 in the Project was suggested by Barry Dalton of Customer Service Stories
Barry referenced a post from Kristina Evey. Here is an excerpt from Kristina:
Rite Aid
“I love being a mom more than anything else in the whole world, even chocolate. But, one of the things I dread as a mom is getting that phone call from school informing me that one of my children has “Pinkeye.” So, last Tuesday, I picked up my daughter from school and headed to the doctor’s office for the diagnosis that I already knew was coming and then to the drug store to pick up the prescription drops.
Now, putting drops into the eyes of a six year old is no easy feat. Especially when that six year old has decided that she is a drama queen and is going to milk the situation for all it is worth. When I picked up the drops, the pharmacist at Rite Aid suggested some methods for administering the drops that might make it easier and less stressful. Nonetheless, the suggested methods were just as torturous as me literally sitting on my daughter and squirting the drops in her eyes.
However, after two days of drops every four hours, my daughter and I came to a point where we did try the pharmacist’s suggestion and were able to administer the drops with no drama at all.
So, this is a pretty mundane situation. Nothing really noteworthy.
Until………. we get the call from the pharmacist two days later asking how my daughter’s eye infection is doing and if we had any problems administering the eye drops. No, this wasn’t a call from the doctor’s office. It was the pharmacist from Rite Aid delivering excellent customer service. She was taking the time and interest to call and see how the treatment was working, if we had encountered any problems, and if we had any questions she could answer. She was connecting with me, the customer. The business transaction, for all practical purposes, was complete. She was following up to nurture the relationship. That’s effectively managing the customer experience. Now, they may have designed this into the process at Rite Aid. But that’s the point – they design a positive customer experience into their plans.
This really might not seem like a big deal, until you think about how often this doesn’t happen. How many times do you receive a follow up phone call from the provider of the product or service you purchased from to see if there was anything they could help you with? I’ll bet it’s less often than you think.
The noticeable thing is that it wasn’t the physician who treated her, or even that office. I paid them much more for the physician’s time and diagnosis than I did the drug store for the drops.
Customer satisfaction comes from the extra step that we put on to our delivery of service. I was happy just to leave the pharmacy with the drops I needed and the fact that they were nice and pleasant to me. I’m delighted that they called to follow up. Even though I know I may pay a little more to go to Rite Aid, the fact that I received that follow up call tells me they care about my business.”
Marketing Lagniappe Takeaway: We’ve seen the follow up call cited a couple of times in the Project. It’s a smart move for the following reasons:
- Demonstrates you care – The transaction isn’t over when money is exchanged. It shows the customer that you are concerned about their satisfaction.
- Low cost – This is something that can be done by the pharmacist or business owner during a lull in the ordinary course of business.
- Troubleshooting – The vast majority of people will not complain. Following up allows you to correct any service issues and extend the life of your customer relationships.
Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) – Larry David ponders the question . . . Doctor vs. Pharmacist. Who wins?
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?
What’s Your GLUE?
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