Guts, Grace & Gusto

AFedEX truck delivered a surprise this morning, along with a pair of pants ordered last week from Coldwater Creek, one of my favorite retail therapy stores. While shopping at their Fair Oaks, VA location in search of ivory pants, Susan, one of their fashion consultants, provided extraordinary service. She took me to the rack with pants just the right color, but none in my size. She tracked their nationwide inventory and located a pair in Mission Viejo. Wish her approach to customer service would be cloned because she made buying a pair of sale pants memorable.

Tucked under the layers of tissue wrap, I opened an envelope. Inside was a handwritten card on Coldwater Creek stationery, a simple note of appreciation, yet another memorable customer service experience. Handwritten notes are becoming a bit of a rarity with the frequency and easy of email.

In our Get Along with Anyone book featuring tips for creating quality connections with customers, coworkers and kin, co-author Arnold Sanow and I write about how our increasingly electronic culture invites impersonalization with potential of severing connections with key audiences.

Kudos to Coldwater Creek for creating a quality customer experience from coast-to-coast. A small gesture that says a lot these days and was greatly appreciated.

Labels: appreciation, Coldwater Creek, customer service