February 28: Customer Service

I'm a stickler when it comes to customer service. Maybe it's because I've had the opportunity to be on both sides of that relationship - customer and employee. Maybe it's simply because I'm so damn tired of the same "meets expectations" performance that you typically get when you go to any retailer, restaurant or service provider around town. "Good enough" is now status quo. You know this country's customer satisfaction expectations have a hit a new low when you actually expect to be treated poorly by store associates during any given shopping trip. Even worse, it's sad, almost shameful, that when you are treated decently, and I'm talking about the bare minimum you deserve, nothing extraordinary, you can't stop raving about the service. Fortunately, on this day, I experienced something completely different. I was blessed with the "Exceeds Expectations" employee! Yes, the local Home Depot restored in me hope that one day we may all come to expect this same type of treatment everywhere we shop. Here's how it all went down. The whole family stopped in after Church to select our new water heater (see the 2/27 blog entry for the reasons why). After being directed to the Plumbing section, we still had not located the water heater showroom that resides within the walls of the Home Depot. Thus, I flagged down the first employee who crossed our path to request a map that would point us to the exact location of the "X" that is the water heater aisle (I found out later such a map does not even exist). Kevin, the gentleman who was lucky enough to inherit our needs, was kind enough to walk us one aisle over and, by George, there were the water heaters! At this point, I expected Kevin to run for daylight as quickly as he could, but no, he stayed. And, he proceeded to share a Wikipedia entry worth of information about the particular water heater in which we showed interest. He explained the new safety features found in today's models (like the push button to re-ignite the pilot light), he shared facts about the EnergyStar ratings and how we could get a tax break as a result of such an investment, and he translated all of the technical jargon into simple easy-to-comprehend selling points like "everyone in the family can shower before you will start running out of hot water". He even actually listened when we shared our concerns and reservations. Imagine that. I could tell he was listening because he was able to paraphrase my statements and respond directly to my dialog; as opposed to simply return to a rambling, Stepford-style sales pitch. And, in the middle of this conversation, Kevin received a phone call in which another associate said to him "aren't you supposed to be on lunch". So, this whole time, Kevin had forgone the hot dog vendors hunger calls and stuck with us on this one til the end! By the time he finished reviewing all of the key product information with us, I could swear I had a small tear of joy draining from the corner of my left eye; the result of being treated with the highest courtesy and respect one could ever desire from a home improvement warehouse. But Kevin didn't stop at "good enough", no sir or madam, he pushed the envelope one step farther as he walked us over to the Service Desk where he was going to find someone to help us place our order. And find someone he did. In less than 20 minutes, we had identified, selected and purchased our new water heater and scheduled the installation - next day! So, as we exited passed the front registers, I interrupted a young associate watching customers pass by and asked to speak to a Manager. And, I shared Kevin's customer service performance with his Manager, praising his attitude and commitment to ensuring that we, as his customers, were completely satisfied with the entire experience. Turns out old Kev is going to get some kind of reward as a result of my feedback or so his Manager indicated. So, who knows, maybe he'll get some extra cash in his wallet or maybe just a plaque on the wall of their break room. Regardless, at least he knows that his dedication to customer satisfaction made a difference for one customer. And, that's something I don't think too many employees can claim to have accomplished these days.